The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced it will pause plans to consolidate its network of processing facilities following concerns raised by senators about the impact on mail deliveries.
In a letter to Senator Gary Peters made public on Monday May 13, US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said that plans to consolidate facilities would be stopped until at least January 2025, delaying the expected cost saving to USPS of between US$133m and US$177m.
“Further to our conversation yesterday, I agree to pause the movement of processing operations associated with the Mail Processing Facility Reviews,” DeJoy wrote. “In response to the concerns you and your colleagues have expressed, I will commit to pause any implementation of these moves at least until after January 1, 2025. Even then, we will not advance these efforts without advising you of our plans to do so, and then only at a moderated pace of implementation.”
According to Reuters, there has been mounting anger in Congress about changes that USPS has said are necessary to cut projected financial losses. Some lawmakers have raised concerns about closing a processing center in one state and shifting processing to another state.
In response to DeJoy’s letter, Senator Peters said, “I appreciate Postmaster General DeJoy’s efforts to work with me on this issue. However, I still have concerns about additional changes, including to local transportation trips, that impact Michiganders. I urge the Postal Service to pause and reverse local transportation changes in addition to facility changes, until we have more information about their effects.
“I will continue to push for a comprehensive study by the Postal Regulatory Commission to ensure any changes implemented do not impact mail delivery. It’s absolutely critical that we understand the full scope of these changes, as well as their impact on service and communities, before moving forward.”
Complex evolution
The consolidation of its processing facilities is part of USPS’s wider 10-year restructuring plan, which DeJoy continues to support. In a statement on USPS’s website last week, DeJoy said, “The Delivering for America strategic plan embodies our ambition to modernize and transform the Postal Service. This massive and complex evolution includes correcting decades of haphazard decision making and neglect to our physical infrastructure and overall network.
“Throughout this journey, we recognize that there have been impacts to our customers, especially in regions like Atlanta, Houston and Richmond, where transformation activities have been elevated. We apologize for these conditions and are working hard and know that we will soon be delivering the service the American people deserve.”
Addressing financial woes
The postal service has faced financial difficulties for many years and reported a US$6.5bn yearly net loss in November 2023 as first-class mail fell to the lowest volume since 1968.
To counter these losses, USPS has called for price rises in first-class mail to US$0.73 from July 14 and has also recommended an average 25% increase for Parcel Select services.