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In light of recent changes at and uproar surrounding the Postal Service, here’s a thread on the recent history of changes there in case it’s useful context for anyone 1/
Think your mail has been delivered more slowly in recent years? You’re not crazy! USPS reset its delivery standards in 2012. It essentially eliminated overnight delivery (which had been used for mail that never left a city) and changed its 2-3 day window to 3-5. 2/
It did this to allow it to close or consolidate a large number of its processing plants, a plan instituted by then PMG Patrick Donahoe. Mail volumes were declining at unprecedented rates USPS said it had to “rationalize” its network. 3/
It successfully shuttered or consolidated 141 plants. The effort did not receive nearly as much attention as the current changes, but USPS faced enough pushback from Capitol Hill that it abruptly ended its plan to close 82 more. 4/
The rollback was done as an olive branch to the Hill, hoping it would allow significant reform legislation to pass. Despite widespread, bipartisan agreement on what such reform should look like, this has not happened. 5/
Worth noting as new Postmaster General DeJoy says recent actions are necessary due to ongoing volume and revenue declines: The changes led to a spike in mail delays - even beyond the slower delivery standards - and saved only a fraction of the money USPS had hoped. 6/
Here is some of my reporting on that:
https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2015/08/mail-delays-spike-after-postal-service-consolidates-facilities/119209/
https://www.govexec.com/management/2014/07/consolidations-have-led-more-nighttime-mail-deliveries-putting-letter-carriers-danger/89744/
And of note - particular concerns about how delays would affect political mail are not new: https://www.govexec.com/management/2016/03/slow-delivery-could-cost-postal-service-millions-election-season/126784/ 7/
https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2015/08/mail-delays-spike-after-postal-service-consolidates-facilities/119209/
https://www.govexec.com/management/2014/07/consolidations-have-led-more-nighttime-mail-deliveries-putting-letter-carriers-danger/89744/
And of note - particular concerns about how delays would affect political mail are not new: https://www.govexec.com/management/2016/03/slow-delivery-could-cost-postal-service-millions-election-season/126784/ 7/
A 2018 IG report found USPS realized just 5% (!) of the savings it projected from slowing mail to enable facility closures. The agency said it would save $1.6B in 2016 and 2017, but instead saw only about $90M. https://www.govexec.com/management/2018/10/usps-realized-just-5-percent-projected-savings-slowing-mail-delivery/152143/ 8/
USPS has not laid out any projections for savings from its recent changes, and it’s unclear if it’s made any. DeJoy has made clear he plans more reforms, however, even as he’s admitted those already in place have caused more delays. https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/08/despite-calls-his-resignation-new-usps-leader-pledges-more-sweeping-changes/167592/ 9/
Postal management has for at least about 10 years said it would take steps to make its operations more efficient as it awaits congressional action. In addition to service cuts, it has shed about 300,000 career employees over the last two decades. 10/
It has slashed hours at thousands of post offices across the country under an initiative called POStPlan. This was a compromise to avoid closing post offices altogether. 11/
USPS once proposed eliminating mail delivery on Saturdays. Congress has blocked this from happening + postal mgmt has backed away from it. DeJoy’s predecessor briefly revived the proposal ( https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2019/07/usps-floats-big-cuts-employee-pay-leave-and-benefits/158170/), but DeJoy has said he has no interest in making such a change 12/
So where does that leave us? A lot of the low and medium hanging fruit for cost savings has been picked. The # of addresses USPS statutorily must deliver to is growing every day. Delays were already up during the pandemic (workers calling out, etc.). 13/
Recent history and current events show us USPS can struggle to implement cost-saving measures without exacerbating that trend. USPS/DeJoy insist this will be sorted out by the election, but that is hard to accept on its face, especially without details on plans. 14/
Congress may intervene, but bear in mind that will not solve USPS’ longstanding issues. Even a $25B cash infusion would only provide a bandaid, and funding alone would not address the election problem. 15/
There is inherent tension between the Postal Service’s mission (deliver mail affordably and quickly to every address in the country) and its statutory mandate to “operate like a business.” 16/
We don’t know for sure to what extent the current crisis is a result of that tension vs. deliberate political interference. The timing is suspect and if ballots are delayed the results are the same. 17/
I’ll end w/ this: the latest USPS reform bill, which had buy in from Rs like current WH CoS @MarkMeadows + Ds, large mailers, all major postal unions and USPS mgmt itself. It never passed, in part due to lack of political will. Maybe that'll change? https://www.govexec.com/management/2017/01/bipartisan-lawmakers-reintroduce-postal-reform-bill/135041/
And if you’re really interested in how we got here, check out this piece from 2014 in which I laid it all out in even more detail: https://www.govexec.com/management/2014/09/will-congress-save-us-postal-service/93833/ /end
