CHICOPEE, Mass. (NEXSTAR/WWLP) – New changes at the United States Postal Service (USPS) are set to begin on Tuesday, the first of two rollouts.
The cost-saving measures aim to save $36 billion in the next decade, however, the Postal Service says they’ll be able to preserve delivery times and give people more information on when they can expect their packages.
The measures come after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced in a letter in March that he had reached an agreement with Elon Musk’s DOGE to cut spending and reduce the USPS workforce by 10,000 employees via an early retirement program. DeJoy announced in February that he would be stepping down from his role, thrusting the future of the Postal Service into uncertainty.
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While several, especially Democrats in Congress, have sharply criticized cuts to the USPS, which is tasked with delivering vital items such as checks and medicine to the most remote addresses in the country, the Postal Service says the changes will increase efficiency overall.
The Postal Service is now counting on increased zip-code precision, improved processing organization and an expansion of turnaround service – mail that is processed and delivered in the same region – to make the USPS more efficient.
As a result of the changes, the Postal Service says some regions and local areas will receive 2-3-day turnaround service, however the USPS did not specify which would receive the service.
USPS estimates that 75% of Americans won’t see a change in First-Class Mail delivery, while 14% will see faster delivery times and 11% will face longer delivery times. Overall, the day range will still be within the current 1-5 day standard, according to the USPS.
“Under the new approach, while most mail will retain the same service standard, some mail will have a faster standard, and some will have a slightly slower standard. For First-Class Mail, the current service standard day range of 1-5 days is staying the same, while the day
ranges (the estimated delivery time) for end-to-end Marketing Mail, Periodicals, and Package Services are being shortened,” the USPS said in a fact sheet.
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This comes as part of the “Delivering for America” 10-year plan to modernize the postal network, achieve financial sustainability, and improve service quality across all mail and shipping categories. The plan was launched in 2021, but has received bipartisan criticism and lost an estimated $9.5 billion in 2024.
The USPS says they’re streamlining networks, cutting work hours, and closing unnecessary facilities, but politicians on both sides of the aisle have expressed concern that cutbacks may disproportionately affect many Americans.
President Donald Trump himself has long been critical of the USPS, previously calling it a “tremendous loser” and even speculating in the past, along with Musk, about making it private.
The Postal Regulatory Commission, an independent watchdog agency that has been overseeing USPS since 1970, says the service is downplaying the effects these cuts could have, adding that they jeopardize the reliability of the USPS, especially in rural communities.
They say that 49.5% of zip code pairs will experience downgraded services for single-piece first-class mail, because the postal service “currently lacks a system” to accurately measure service performance at the five-digit level, as current standards are based on three-digit zip code pairs.
In a March 13 statement, the commission said that the USPS “Delivering for America” plan has so far wasted congressional financial assistance, “making USPS less efficient, and collapsing service, especially for rural Americans.”
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“On April 1, USPS is planning to amplify that negative impact on rural areas by deliberately slowing mail to thousands of rural communities nationwide,” the statement continued. “The Postmaster General has also tried to ignore USPS’ traditional role in mail delivery while expanding the role of the government in the competitive package market, a strategy which has failed miserably to this point.”
The USPS has stated that “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,” and therefore can be processed more quickly after Tuesday’s rollout.
According to a USPS report, some rural customers may experience “a service downgrade” for mail they are sending, but will enjoy faster deliveries thanks to “increased efficiencies.”
Customers can look up their zip codes on the Service Standards Map for expected delivery times, however, the Postal Service advises customers that delivery times are not guaranteed.
The second phase of streamlining efforts is scheduled for July 1.
