Everyone felt a bit of relief on September 20 when the Postal Service announced it wouldn’t be raising rates next January. In the official quote included in the announcement, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy stated that “Our strategies are working, and projected inflation is declining,” and that, as a result, eliminating the January increase was possible. While the elimination of the…
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Although everyone knows the Postal Service will implement its plans regardless of what the Postal Regulatory Commission advises, the USPS nonetheless is following the required process and seeking an advisory opinion from the PRC on its latest round of service reductions. Filed October 4, the request, styled editorially as Operational and Service Standards Changes to Meet Statutory Requirements for Reliable,…
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In an unexpected announcement late Friday, September 20, the Postal Service announced that it will not be increasing prices for market-dominant products next January as had been forecast. In its press release and concurrent Industry Alert, the agency stated: “A recommendation by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy not to raise prices in January 2025 for Market Dominant products, which includes First-Class…
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A widely-redacted audit report, titled Planning and Deployment of the Matrix Regional Sorter, issued September 5 by the USPS Office of Inspector General, focused on another example of the agency’s recent shoot-ready-aim behavior. Background and findings As the OIG described the machine: “ … The MaRS is a package sorting machine designed to increase package processing capacity and efficiency while…
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It’s not often that ratepayers and a postal union can find common ground, but the Postal Service’s proposal to again reduce service standards has provided one. The example was an August 23 statement by Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union: “The American Postal Workers Union is deeply concerned regarding the August 22nd announcement from postal management, with…
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In speaking with our subscribers, a frequent and predictable topic is the price and service impacts of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-Year Plan. At some point in such conversations comes the question of how and by whom implementation of his Plan can be slowed or stopped. The answer is simple: only two entities can do that, and neither is about…
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The Postal Service’s continued poor service performance and the ongoing disruptions caused by changes to its transportation, processing, and delivery networks remain a concern to members of Congress. This was reflected in a June 24 letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy from nineteen members of the US Senate seeking additional information about the agency’s preparations for the election season. In…
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If Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is displeased by observations about his 10-Year Plan that are not complimentary, he surely will be piqued by an audit report released June 21 by the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General. In the report, State of the US Postal Service Financial Condition, the OIG sought “to evaluate the financial performance of the Postal Service…
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To no-one’s surprise, the Postal Regulatory Commission approved the Postal Service’s April 9 request to raise prices on its market-dominant classes of mail. In its May 30 decision, the PRC stated The Commission concludes that the planned price adjustments are consistent with the regulations of 39 CFR part 3030 and applicable Commission directives and orders. The planned price adjustments are…
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After years of compliant support for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-Year Plan, the growing outcry over decreasing service performance seems to have inspired a member of the Postal Service’s Board of Governors to offer a different opinion. Outsiders will never know whether that was a bold departure from the usual stilted consonance or a scripted preface to later events, but…
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