In a May 30 filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission, the Postal Service announced changes to its service measurement process. As stated in the filing: “In this filing, the Postal Service provides notice to the Commission about revisions to the SPM Plan and Methodology Documents related to necessary changes to allow the Postal Service to collect and report service performance…
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Everyone likely is familiar with the saying that “you can drag a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.” Often, the saying is used as a metaphor for persons who are given opportunities but fail to take advantage of them. The implicit basis for both is that the horse – or person – either fails to understand the…
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PQ II/FY 2025 service performance continued an unimpressive pattern; the Postal Service’s own data reveals that most district and area scores continued to be below targets, even though the targets were significantly lower than in FY 2024. Moreover, only mail “in measurement” is reflected in USPS service scores and, for Marketing Mail, little other than destination-entered mail is measured, clearly…
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Having been leaked to the press earlier in the week, the big news from the Governors of the Postal Service was somewhat anti-climactic when, during the Friday public session of their May 9-10 meeting, they announced the selection of David Steiner as the 76th postmaster general. The official press release and concurrent Industry Alert contained the predictable paeans about the…
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Most people who travel for pleasure, but especially those who travel for business, have developed loyalties over the years to particular airlines, hotel chains, car rental companies, etc. Often these loyalties are reinforced by the companies’ programs – frequent flyer miles and similar points systems or affinity credit cards – that reward the customer and deter switching to another provider.…
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In the past, when a postmaster general left, that person went into retirement or found other work but had no further involvement in the Postal Service. Most would say that’s how it should be – but the departure of Louis DeJoy has been different. Having been moved out his role unceremoniously and definitely not on his schedule, some people might…
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There’s another vacancy on the Postal Service’s Board of Governors: Robert Duncan resigned effective March 27. According to his letter of resignation that was included in the Postal Service’s press release, Duncan is now “coping with a chronic and progressive health condition that is preventing me from giving this role the full time and attention it deserves.” A supporter of…
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When Louis DeJoy announced February 18 that he’d “notified the Postal Service Board of Governors that it is time for them to begin the process of identifying his successor,” speculation began about how that process would unfold. In his statement, he clearly anticipated that the governors would have plenty of time to find his replacement and that he, in turn,…
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It’s doubtful that anyone doesn’t know the meaning of the analogy that something is “like putting lipstick on a pig.” With no offense intended to pigs, it simply means that the fundamental nature of something isn’t changed or improved by the addition of superficial or cosmetic devices. The analogy applies to the recent press release (and accompanying Industry Alert and…
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The Postal Regulatory Commission wasted little time responding to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s claim in his March 13 letter (see p. 2) that it’s an “unnecessary agency.” In a press release issued later that day, the commission said: “The Postmaster General’s statements about the Postal Regulatory Commission’s role during the recent mismanagement of USPS are false. The Commission follows the…
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