The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) announced changes to its mail delivery times in a move that is expected to save billions of dollars.
The agency said it “will deliver 75 percent of First-Class Mail at the same standard; 14 percent will be upgraded to a faster standard; 11 percent will have a slower standard, but all will still be within the current 1–5 day service standard day range.”
According to the agency, 80 percent of the “market dominant” volume is not expected to be impacted by the new rules.
USPS estimates a savings of at least $36 billion over 10 years from reductions in mail processing, real estate, and transportation costs once the new measures are implemented.
The adjustments shall be implemented in two phases, with the first phase beginning on April 1 and the second on July 1.
USPS plans to offer user-friendly tools which allows customers to understand the duration it takes for mail to reach the destination.
Outgoing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said that the USPS has been burdened by rules that have not been adjusted to account for changes in volume and mail mix, which has resulted in “costly and ineffective operations.”
“For decades—and most specifically during the last three years—Congress has actively resisted operational solutions and meaningful change,” he said.
“By implementing the new standards and the operational initiatives to which they are aligned, we will be better able to achieve the goals of our modernization plans and create a high-performing, financially sustainable organization.”
The jump in losses came despite revenues rising slightly from $78.18 to $79.53 billion. The agency twice raised postal rates last year.
Trump and the USPS
Last month, President Donald Trump suggested that the USPS could be merged with the U.S. Department of Commerce. His comments were made after Howard Lutnick was sworn in as the new Secretary of Commerce.“We want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money, and we’re thinking about doing that,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Feb. 21.
“It‘ll be a form of merger, but it’ll remain the Postal Service, and I think it'll operate a lot better than it has been over the years.”
The president called USPS a “tremendous loser” for the country and said that Lutnick will be looking into a potential merger. He assured that the USPS would be kept intact.
The president had also previously suggested privatizing the postal agency.
Democrats have pushed back against the possibility of Trump dissolving the USPS board. “If President Trump moves forward with this action to take over and privatize the Postal Service—not only will it be completely illegal—it will harm veterans, small business owners, rural communities, and all Americans who depend on the Postal Service for timely and reliable mail delivery,” said Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.).
