(AP) – The U.S. Postal Service is planning to make changes that could result in slower service to rural areas.
The proposal, announced Aug. 22, would adjust mail delivery times while maintaining a commitment to a maximum five-day delivery for the flagship Ground Advantage program nationwide and a maximum three-day delivery for local first-class mail.
USPS said the changes would save $3 billion annually.
The details were unveiled by the Postal Service ahead of a Sept. 5 meeting in which the proposed changes will be discussed with stakeholders before they are submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission.
Election mail and holiday shipments won’t be affected because the proposed changes would not take place until the next calendar year, officials said. Medications also should continue to be delivered at their current speed, or faster, under the proposal, officials said.
The proposal reflects the Postal Service’s move to overhaul its processing and transportation network with an emphasis on regional hubs, something that is already beginning to take place in Atlanta; Richmond, Virginia; and Portland, Oregon.
Changes to better utilize existing ground networks mean the Postal Service must adjust pickup and drop-off times between post offices and processing plants, a process that will increase the speed of some of the mail, officials said.
Postal customers who live closer to regional hubs will see the greatest reductions in transit time for mail. However, transit times for some rural customers could grow while still falling within existing service standards, an official said.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the changes to take place next year are necessary to “enable us to operate more efficiently and reliably, grow our business and give us a chance for a viable future” after an80% drop in first-class mail since 1997 and a corresponding growth in packages. All told, the Postal Service has amassed more than $87 billion in losses from 2007 through 2020.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a frequent critic of changes under DeJoy, was unimpressed by the proposal.
“Any effort to degrade service while raising prices is a recipe for a death spiral at the Postal Service,” Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, said in a statement. “This is the second time Postmaster General DeJoy has proposed lower service standards. He might as well announce a return to delivering mail by horse and buggy.”
This proposal aligns with the organization’s mandate to be financially self-sufficient while continuing to deliver to every address across the nation six days a week. If adopted, 75% of first-class mail will see no change from the current service standards, and around two-thirds of mail will be delivered in three or fewer days, the Postal Service said.
