Postal Service watchdog finds 'little convincing evidence' reforms will help; instead, plans will hurt rural communities

Despite its struggles, 72% of Americans see
the USPS favorably. (Adobe Stock photo)

The United States Postal Service is hemorrhaging money while struggling to complete its basic mission of delivering mail to American citizens.

An advisory review by the Postal Regulatory Commission found that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 'Delivering for America' plan "offers ‘little convincing evidence’ its reform plans will succeed," reports Eric Katz of Government Executive. PRC said planned USPS reforms could negatively impact rural service areas.

In its review, PRC "examined two parts of DeJoy’s plan: its Regional Transportation Optimization initiative, which requires mail to sit overnight at post offices instead of being collected each evening for transportation to a processing center, and its processing plant consolidations that will result in the 60 regional processing distribution centers," Katz explains. PRC regulators said the initiatives lacked planning and were unlikely to streamline work, increase efficiency and produce impactful savings.

Regulators noted how the USPS was "glossing over how much more significantly rural communities would feel the impacts of the changes," Katz reports. "Some populations will not receive First-Class mail pieces for six or more days, it said. Those impacts may render the reforms in violation of the law, the commission added."

USPS has not responded to PRC's recommendations; however, DeJoy "previously promised to lawmakers he would take the PRC’s opinion seriously and tweak his plan as he saw fit," Katz writes. "PRC made more than three dozen recommendations for updating DeJoy’s reforms. . . . Postal management also recently announced lower on-time delivery targets for 2025."