
Is ending air mail unfair? Testimony for the PRC’s Advisory Opinion on Changing Service Standards
Steve Hutkins The Postal Service ended Airmail as a separate class of U.S. mail on May 1, 1977, almost sixty years after it had been established. By 1974 the Postal Service was using airplanes to transport nearly 30 percent of First Class mail— over 15 billion pieces — and there ... Read More

How the postal reform bill may help the Postal Service slow down the mail
Steve Hutkins In August 1970, Title 39, aka the Postal Reorganization Act, created the Postal Service. The first section, 39 U.S. Code § 101, is entitled “Postal Policy.” It’s just over 400 words long, but it is probably the most frequently quoted passage in the history of postal legislation. It’s ... Read More

A talk with the founder of the “Save the Post Office” website
The administrator and founder of the “Save the Post Office” website, Steve Hutkins, joins Bob Levi on NAPS Chat to discuss the website’s purpose and impact. Bob and Steve also talk about the Postal Service’s on-time performance problems and the plan to downgrade service standards, now being reviewed by the ... Read More

Mapping out the changes in USPS service standards
By Steve Hutkins The Postal Service has requested an Advisory Opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission concerning its plan to relax service standards on First Class mail and Periodicals. Much of the mail that is now expected to be delivered in 2 days would shift to a 3-day standard, and ... Read More

New dashboard on the PRC Advisory Opinion on the change in service standards
The Postal Service has requested an Advisory Opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission concerning its plan to relax service standards on First Class mail and Periodicals. We started a new website page that provides easy access to the PRC’s docket (N2021-1), as well as some charts, tables, and blog posts ... Read More

Spring 2021 CPWU Newsletter
The Spring 2021 Newsletter from Communities and Postal Workers United (CPWU) has articles about Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s ten-year plan, ironically named “Delivering for America”; the “People’s Postal Agenda” discussed at the online conference put on by the Grand Alliance to Save the Public Postal Service; Charlotte postal workers protesting ... Read More

What the USPS 10-year plan may have to say about future rate increases
The mailers were probably disappointed that the Postal Service’s new 10-year plan released yesterday, “Delivering for America,” did not reveal how big of a rate increase the Postal Service intends to make using the new authority it was granted by the Postal Regulatory Commission. While they wait in suspense, here’s ... Read More

This week marks the 51st anniversary of the largest wildcat strike in U.S. labor history: The Great Postal Strike of 1970
March 18th marks the day fifty-one years ago when postal workers walked off the job in New York City in what soon became the largest wildcat strike in U.S. labor history. Last March we posted this article by postal historian Phil Rubio, author of Undelivered: From the Great Postal Strike of 1970 ... Read More

“Save the Post Office” launches new Service Performance Dashboard
With all the attention to delivery delays over the past several months and the Postmaster General’s plans to relax delivery standards — as well as calls for more transparency about postal operations — this seems like a good time to launch a Service Performance Dashboard. The Postal Service itself publishes ... Read More

The Postal Service wants to slow down the mail, Congress says not so fast
By Steve Hutkins The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has just posted a discussion draft of postal reform legislation in advance of Wednesday’s hearing with Postmaster General DeJoy and the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Ron Bloom. The draft has three main sections — one about creating a ... Read More

Back to the Future: The USPS, PRC and Mailers revisit the meaning of PAEA
By Steve Hutkins Earlier this week a group of mailers’ associations continued their effort to convince the DC Circuit Court to stop the Postal Service from increasing rates under the new authority it was recently granted by the Postal Regulatory Commission. The Postmaster General has told the mailers that another ... Read More

How the pandemic could lead to a big USPS price hike
On November 30, 2020, the Postal Regulatory Commission issued a 484-page order revising the rate system for Market Dominant products. Under the new system, the Postal Service will be able to raise rates beyond the Consumer Price Index, which it was prevented from doing (aside from the provision for an ... Read More

City of Spanish Fort, AL, appeals closure of its post office
By Steve Hutkins Fairhope Courier, November 15, 1961: “Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Visits Spanish Fort Post Office: Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill A Mocking Bird, chats with Harmon Hanson (photo above) while admiring his newly opened post office at Spanish Fort. Miss Lee is ... Read More

PRC busts the price cap, lawsuits sure to follow
By Steve Hutkins The Postal Regulatory Commission has spent the past four years working on a revision of the rate system for Market Dominant products. Yesterday the Commission issued its final rule on the changes. The order is here. The PRC’s press release is here. The media kit contains a ... Read More

Updates on the USPS Service Performance Reports
We’re tracking all the reports the Postal Service has been submitting on service performance, the processing of ballots, and other data being shared in the various lawsuits. The Postal Service’s weekly on-time service performance reports submitted in Jones v USPS can be found here. The daily reports being submitted in ... Read More

Lawsuits against DeJoy, USPS & Trump over mail delays and election mail
Twelve lawsuits have been filed against Postmaster General DeJoy, the U.S. Postal Service, and President Trump over issues connected to mail delays and threats to voting by mail in the November election. We’re “live blogging” the latest developments on a daily basis. You can find a list of all the ... Read More

Stop girdling the Post Office
By Mark Jamison In forestry the practice of tree girdling is well known. Although there are some circumstances where this can be a useful practice, in most cases the technique is used for nefarious ends. Girdling involves removing the bark and layers below the bark, usually around the trunk of ... Read More

DeJoy’s 57 Varieties of Cost Cutting: What’s in the new OIG report—and what’s not?
By Steve Hutkins In response to several inquiries from members of Congress, the Office of Inspector General has issued a report on “Operational Changes to Mail Delivery.” The report discusses the Postal Service’s plan to eliminate 64 million work hours — the equivalent of 33,000 jobs — by implementing 57 ... Read More

Are USPS transportation policies still causing mail delays?
This week there have been several significant revelations about the operational changes that took place over the summer, their impact on service performance, and the Postal Service’s plan to eliminate 64 million work hours.
- According to an OIG report released yesterday, the Postal Service embarked on this plan — ... Read More