Is The Postal Service Delivering Mail Today

USPS hikes prices and slows deliveries

USPS hikes prices and slows deliveries 02:05

Mail delivery for many Americans will dull starting on Friday, part of Postmaster Full general Louis DeJoy'southward pattern for overhauling the U.S. Postal Service in social club to slash costs. But critics say the slower delivery standards could crusade bug such as belatedly beak delivery while more broadly undermining the public's faith in the USPS.

Near 4 of 10 pieces of kickoff-course mail volition see slower delivery, co-ordinate to Paul Steidler, senior young man at the Lexington Institute and an expert on the postal service. That "means mail commitment will be slower than in the 1970s," he said, calling DeJoy's plan "disastrous."

Starting on October ane, the postal service's current 3-twenty-four hour period delivery standard for outset-class post — letters, bills, tax documents and the like — will drib to delivery anywhere within the U.Southward. within five days. In other words, Americans should now expect that letters and other postal service could take up to five days to reach their destinations, and vice versa.

The USPS will continue to have a two-day commitment standard for single-piece excellent mail traveling inside a local area, a USPS spokeswoman said, adding that the postal service has improved its delivery standards in 2021.

"The postal service has shown steady improvements for all first-class mail, marketing and periodical mail service categories over the last seven months," she said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. "We have worked tirelessly to overcome challenges from recent storms and continue to recruit thousands of employees for the upcoming vacation peak flavour."

But critics like Steidler say people in rural areas, the disabled and the elderly will feel the effects of the new mail delivery standards. "It'due south the least fortunate who will be injure hardest by this," he said. "Everything in American order is getting faster, information technology seems, except for the mail service delivery — which is at present going to get slower."

It's possible that people who are paying their bills by mail service and not prepared for the change could incur late fees, for instance, if their checks don't arrive on time. Others may face longer delivery times for important documents such as tax forms or passports. The modify could farther undermine customers' faith in the U.Due south. Post, which took a hitting in 2020 when delivery delays snarled everything from prescription medicationto election ballots, experts say.

$160 billion projected loss

The USPS contends that its x-twelvemonth plan is necessary to erase a projected $160 billion loss over the next decade. The effort aims to boost revenue through expanded parcel delivery and stamp hikes, with the latest postage increase having gone into consequence in August.

Only the Postal Regulatory Commission (People's republic of china), the federal regulator that oversees the USPS, earlier this twelvemonth questioned if the postal service's plan to slow delivery standards would save coin.

"Reducing service will only discourage use of the U.Southward. Postal service, which is not a formula for long-term fiscal health and stability," said Christopher W. Shaw, the writer of the forthcoming book "Starting time Class: The U.Southward. Postal Service, Democracy and the Corporate Threat," in an emailed statement.

On Friday, a bipartisan grouping of 40 lawmakers asked Postmaster DeJoy for more information nearly the consolidation of 18 mail-processing facilities, part of his ten-yr programme. In the October 1 alphabetic character, the lawmakers enhance concerns about whether endmost the facilities would "further dethrone mail service heading into the decorated holiday flavour," also as atomic number 82 to job losses.

"Nosotros believe that at a minimum, these consolidations should exist paused until farther information about the justification and touch is made public," representatives including Suzan DelBene, a Democrat from Washington, and Mike Simpson, a Republican from Idaho, wrote in the letter.

Slower delivery for Western states

Among the regions that will feel the greatest touch on are Western states like California and Nevada, also as Florida, according to a Washington Post assay of the USPS delivery changes earlier this yr. Other pockets across the nation will also suffer from slower commitment times, according to an analysis from Steve Hutkins, a retired New York University professor who runs a blog called Save the Mail Role.

Steve Hutkins, a retired professor who runs the "Save the Postal service Office" web log, submitted this analysis of average delivery times under the USPS programme to slow delivery standards. Western states, Texas, Florida and Maine are among the states that would be nigh impacted by the changes, he said. PRC/Steve Hutkins

Before this year, a group of 21 state attorneys general asked the Cathay to reject the USPS' plan to slow deliveries, calling it a "misguided try" that would impairment election mail and mailings of essential documents such as passports. They also said the slowdown would have a disproportionate impact on the elderly, rural residents and the disabled.

The USPS on Monday said consumers should await "a day or two of transit time" added for some first-class mail service and magazines "traveling the greatest distances."

"We'll make better use of our trucks and existing surface network to motility the mail, relying less on costly air transportation," the agency said in a statement. "By improving service reliability and increasing efficiency, we can keep costs at reasonable levels and help keep postage rates affordable for our customers."

That might help the USPS' bottom line, just consumers should be aware that their mail could take longer to reach their destinations — and that the change is permanent, unless Congress gets involved or attorneys general sue the USPS, experts said.

"When you reduce standards you perpetuate a vicious downwards cycle," Steidler said. "Yous tell people y'all can accept your fourth dimension delivering it. It causes people to lose conviction in the mail."