UNITED States Postal Service customers are set to see worse service beginning in a few days as the agency makes significant changes to reduce costs.
The Postal Service is in the process of adjusting first-class mail, periodicals, marketing mail, and package services. This means that some customers may need to take additional steps to ensure that their mail is delivered on time.
The majority of customers using first-class mail will not see a significant delay in delivery services, according to the USPS.
According to the agency, 75% of First-Class Mail will maintain its current service standards, while 14% of First-Class Mail will actually experience an improvement in delivery times.
But, not everyone will enjoy faster service.
About 11% of customers will experience slower delivery times.
For example, some deliveries that used to take two days might now take up to three days.
NEW SERVICE TOOL
USPS has also launched a new service tool for customers, but it also means extra work to make sure your mail gets delivered on time.
Customers can now look up service standards on the USPS website for mailings from one ZIP Code to another on a particular mailing date.
The search results will display the available mail classes along with the expected delivery dates for each.
A new interactive map will also be available on the website that will display service standards.
Customers will have to enter the ZIP Code they are mailing from along with the mail class to check the expected delivery date.
Still, the postal network will try to keep similar standards but there will be variations.
The reason behind the service changes is to save USPS $36 billion over the next 10 years.
The enhanced service is part of the Delivering for America plan, which is set to take effect on April 1.
Despite the changes, the USPS insists it’s improving service standards to maintain current delivery times for first-class mail.
It will also enhance its dependability and give more accurate expected delivery dates, NBC affiliate WWLP reported.
Four changes needed at USPS
The head of the US Postal Service, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, issued a critical warning to Congress in March regarding necessary changes within the agency. In his letter, DeJoy identified four significant challenges that need to be addressed urgently.
- Retail Leases: DeJoy asked for help reviewing nearly 31,000 retail centers and the challenges of renewing leases due to ownership consolidation, urban development, and rising rental rates as long-term leases expire.
- Counterfeit Postage Crackdown: DeJoy highlighted USPS is combating an estimated $1 billion issue with counterfeit postage and called for “additional innovative solutions” to tackle the problem.
- Federal Law: DeJoy stated unfunded congressional mandates imposed by legislation are costing USPS between $6 billion and $11 billion annually.
- Regulations: DeJoy criticized “burdensome regulatory requirements” that limit USPS’s ability to operate normally, estimating that the Postal Regulatory Commission has caused over $50 billion in damage with defective pricing models.
Source: AXIOS
“I think it’ll be good for the post office,” Jimmy Egan, a resident of Agawam, Massachusetts, 4 miles south of Springfield, told the outlet.
“I think people will like it too. It’ll be more efficient, it sounds like.”
But another resident, Brian Kavanagh, said the changes are worrisome.
“I do know working in insurance, a lot of times people mail in checks, and there’s a due date on them and if they’re not there on time, the insurance will get canceled,” he said.
“So it’s always one thing we worry about.”
Despite potential delays, the agency says all deliveries will be made within one to five days.
Under the new changes, postal workers can leave facilities earlier to travel longer distances to deliver mail.
Allowing workers to leave early will help improve postal reliability for customers living in rural areas, USPS insists.
However, customers will see delays in their mail delivery when they drop off packages.
Under the USPS’s Delivering for America plan, about 49.5% of zip code pairs will see slower delivery times for single-piece first-class mail, like letters and postcards.
This is because USPS doesn’t yet have the technology to track service performance by full five-digit zip codes.
Instead, delivery standards are based on three-digit zip code pairs.
“The majority of mail and package volume, including those destined to rural communities, originates in zip codes that are within 50 miles of a regional processing and distribution center,” the USPS stated.
Hence, they can be processed quickly.
The service standards refinement is happening in two phases, the first phase begins on April 1, and the second phase will start July 1.
