Why is your mail late? A look inside central Pa.’s increasingly dysfunctional postal service

Mismanagement, staffing shortages and changes handed down by the Trump administration have resulted in significant mail delays — and not just to mail-in ballots — rippling outward from the U.S. Postal Service’s processing center in Susquehanna Township.

The center grappled with delays and staffing problems for years before Postmaster General Louis DeJoy oversaw the removal of five sorting machines this summer. But that decision, in tandem with others, led to further slowdowns at a time of increased dependence on the mail due to the coronavirus pandemic and the Nov. 3 election.