WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Thousands of postal workers in different cities across the country rallied on Tuesday to request for better staffing and mail service.

In Wichita specifically, members of the American Postal Workers Union are worried that proposed changes made by the U.S. Postal Service could lead to Kansas’ only mail processing facility being moved out of state.

The rally by postal workers follows a FactFinder 12 Investigation in late September that looked into the proposal and the potential negative impacts it could have on mail delivery speeds in rural areas. The U.S. Postal Service is trying to get back in better financial standing by saving up to $3 billion annually. In part of this effort, USPS is putting more of an emphasis on regional hubs.

Christine Pruitt, the President for the local American Postal Workers Union, said those proposed changes could end up moving the mail processing facility in Wichita out of state. Currently, the Wichita facility is the only mail processing plant in Kansas.

“We are actually the only ones left processing here in Wichita,” said Pruitt. “They want to move our mail to Kansas City, Missouri. Think about how much longer that is going to take to get your mail delivered if they ship all of it in a truck to Kansas City to get it processed.”

A CBS report states that mail would be delivered within two to five days if the proposed changes are approved, but in some rural areas, delivery could take an additional half day or full day to arrive.

Pruitt argued that the five day delivery time frame would not start until the mail reaches Kansas City. She added that because of this, people living in rural areas could see their mail delivery delayed further than just five days.

“The five days is just when it gets back to Wichita as the transfer station,” said Pruitt. “When we are talking about rural delivery, we are talking that it could be 10 to 12 days from the time they mail it in Wellington until it gets across the street in Wellington. That’s unacceptable.”

The APWU and the local mail carriers union said they do have a plan in place to ensure that they have workers on each shift every day handling mail-in ballots with the November 5 election coming up.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Employees of the United States Postal Service in Kansas City and throughout the country held rallies Tuesday to raise awareness about short staffing within the agency.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the agency is prepared for a “heroic” effort to deliver mail-in ballots ahead of the November presidential election.

The rallying postal employees want that same dedication during the other 11 months of the year.

Toni Robinson is president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 67 in Kansas City.

She said mismanagement has led to a staffing shortage in the Kansas City area.

Robinson also said the agency needs to improve training for both new hires and managers.

She said these issues are partly to blame for mail delays around the region, which have led congressional leaders to send letters to USPS and launch audits on the topic.

“We want to provide a service to the customers out here and we want to do it in a timely fashion,” Robinson said. “We cannot do it without the proper staffing.”

The delivery of mail-in ballots came into question last month when Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab sent a letter to DeJoy showing election offices were unable to tabulate roughly 1,000 mail-in ballots in the August primary because of late deliveries or ballots arriving without postmarks.

Robinson said her 1,200 union members are prepared to make sure mail-in ballots arrive on time in the November election, but they’ll need more help longterm in the Kansas City area.

“We’re ready to handle it; we did it before,” Robinson said. “We can move the mail. We know how to move the mail. We just need more staffing to assist moving that mail, but we’re gonna get the mail out. We’re going to work the 12 hours or whatever is decided to get that mail out, but we’re going to get that mail out.”

KSHB 41 News received this statement from a USPS spokesperson:

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KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.

Josh Berry and his No. 4 team had a short, yet eventful day during the Round of 12 opener at Kansas on Sunday.

NASCAR parked Josh Berry for the remainder of the race after he was involved in the Lap 1 accident. Berry, who had multiple flat tires after the multi-car wreck, was unable to drive his car back to pit road. In accordance with the rulebook, NASCAR deemed his race over since his car sustained further damage from the accident. That confused the entirety of the No. 4 team, as well as Denny Hamlin, who said on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast “there’s no reason why” Berry shouldn’t have been able to continue.

“I was confused. I asked you guys, I said, ‘Well, why didn’t they just tow them to the pit box?’” Hamlin said. “Because that’s what NASCAR said they would do if you just had flat tires. But apparently, they deemed him to have damage… So, because he had contact with another car, they said he had damage. And so therefore they’re not towing it back to the pit box.”

The sanctioning body further reiterated the rule to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic.

“NASCAR reiterates the rule is if a car is involved in a wreck and has flat tires and can’t drive it back, they’re out,” Gluck wrote on X. “Can only get towed back for new tires if it’s a spin without contact.”

Rodney Childers furious with NASCAR over Josh Berry getting parked

Hamlin predicted a rule change as a result of the confusion over the Berry incident.

“I predict they’ll change that rule,” Hamlin said. “They’ll be enough uproar, and they’ll respond to social media stuff, and they’ll allow that. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t have been able to continue. So, where in the loophole of rulebooks can you come up with a way to change this to make it to where he’s able to put four tires on it?”

Berry’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, was heated at NASCAR for ending their race early, and let out his frustrations in a heated post on X.

“I’ve seen a lot of things over my 25 years in the Cup Series, but that’s the most screwed up thing I’ve ever seen or been involved with. All we needed was tires with air in them,” Childers wrote. “And how many times have we drug cars to the pit stall to put tires on them. Why today?!?”

Unfortunately for Berry, he didn’t get the chance to go racing much at Kansas. In his first full-time season in the Cup Series, Berry sits 26th in the points standings. He has finished 22nd or worse in now seven consecutive races.