Federal News Network: The Postal Service is planning to roll out several changes next year to drive down its operating costs and ensure more reliable service to most of its customers.
USPS says the next step of its network modernization plan, which will happen next year, is to get mail and packages to their destination in fewer trips between mail processing plants and post offices.
The agency expects these adjustments will not only help it squeeze $3 billion of annual overhead costs out of its operations, but enable faster delivery of mail and packages to customers within 50 miles of the agency’s largest regional mail processing plants.
For customers outside that 50-mile radius, however, USPS, anticipates ”some mail and packages will experience a longer service standard,” according to a filing submitted to its regulator on Thursday.
In those cases, mail and packages in those more rural areas will remain in transit for about a day longer before reaching their final destination.
USPS, however, told the Postal Regulatory Commission that these changes will have a “net positive impact” on service for first-class mail, packages and marketing mail, and will be delivered “at the same level of service or faster,” for most customers.
“The Postal Service has significant discretion to determine how to fulfill our statutory obligations, including the discretion to determine how to best balance considerations of service adequacy with the need for economical and cost-effective operations,” USPS told its regulator.
USPS says 75% of first-class mail won’t see any change, and that it will deliver about two-thirds of mail in three days or less.