USPS struggling to deliver on time
Report finds problems as Trump mulls changes
By: Trevor Hughes
USA Today
..... The U.S. Postal Service continues struggling to deliver mail on time, with delivery times for first-class letters slipping by 5% over the past two years, according to new internal review.
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The Report by the USPS Inspector General found that delivery times are slowing even though the service has repeated given itself more time to deliver that mail. The Postal Service has struggled for years to meet its goals, in part because its leaders have said Congress micromanages how the it operates.
..... But in a time when Amazon customers can track their packages second-by-second, the inspector general warned that continued mail delays may prompt postal customers to seek alternatives, further exacerbation the financial challenges. The IG also noted that the Postal Service needs to do a better job stopping its bulk-mailing clients from sending too-thick mailers hat clog up automated sorting machines.
..... The Postal Service in 2021 launched a 10-year transformation dubbed "Delivering for America" aimed at cutting costs and giving more attention to package delivery, which can be more profitable.
..... "It appear as the Postal Service's network will be in a transitional state for an undermined number of years," the IG report concluded. "Despite massive network changes aimed at cutting costs and improving service, along with various price increases to support DFA, service levels remain inconsistent and financial stability has not yet been achieved."
..... President Donald Trump has floated making significant changes to how the Postal Service operates, and officials have called in Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team to help stem finical losses that hit $9.5 billion last year, [2024]
..... Union representatives and other Postal Service booster say Congress has out the service in an impassible position and that making money shouldn't be the goal.
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The Postal Service has a current goal of delivering first-calls mail on time 88% of the time, significantly lower than its goal of 92.5% in 2023. Part of the challenge, the inspector general reported, is hat the postal service is delivering 80% fewer pieces like personal letters or bills today [05/16/2025] compared to the ;ate 1990s, but it hasn't adequately adjusted its delivery system.
..... The IG report also noted the Postal Service struggles with processing mail, in one case finding that a test package sent from Anaheim, California to Denver inexplicably first detoured to two processing sites in Florida, delaying delivery by three days. In another case, a package sent from Tucson to Denver detoured thought Wyoming and Utah - after the first arriving in Denver - delaying delivery by five days.
..... Priority mail deliveries have also slipped, although that data was kept confidential because the Postal Service competes on that kind of delivery with FedEx and UPS, among others.
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Trump has suggested merging the independent Postal service with the Department of Commerce, which would require congressional approval. Former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy stepped down earlier this year [2025] and is being replaced by FedEX board member and former Waste Management CEO David Steiner. Steiner is currently undergoing mandatory background checks and is expected to formally assume the post in July. [2025]
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DeJoy brought in Musk's DOGE team to help the service cut costs and improve efficiency as it delivers mail to 165 million addresses six times a week. That move drew nationwide protests in support of the American Postal Workers Union, which has noted public sentiment overwhelmingly opposed significant cuts.
..... In 2024, the service handled more than 116 billion pieces of mail, with most of that being presorted mailers, solicitations or other times that many people would consider "junk" mail. Overall mail volumes have been dropping since 2006, according to the Postal Service, but each year there are more and more addresses to which it delivers.
..... Private companies like FedEX and UPS are out-competing the USPS for some parcel deliveries in part because it's much easier for them to charge higher prices for harder deliveries in rural areas - or to simply not deliver. Some of the changes underway at the Postal Service aim to better position it to compete for those deliveries, where profits can be higher.
..... Congress mandates that the Postal Service deliver affordable priced first-calls mail to virtually every address in the country, regardless of how much it costs to do so. That's why it still sues mules or horses to deliver to Supai, Arizona, a remote Havasupai tribal village in the Grand Canyon of Arizona, or float planes to serve fishing village of the Alaska coast.
..... Longtime Postal Service critic and now-retired New Yoke University professor Steve Hutkins said the inspector germinal report makes it clear the service has a tough job ahead.
..... "The idea has been that at least they'd be able to achieve their targets with the lower standards, but the IG is suggesting things aren't going to get better for a long time," he said.