
Changes are coming to how mail is delivered across the United States as the U.S. Postal Service continues to find itself in the crosshairs of a Trump administration determined to slash federal spending and increase efficiency.
The United States Postal Service, older than the U.S. itself, delivers to 165 million addresses six times a week.
Although the postal service is technically an independent agency, Congress maintains close control.
But some critics who have long wanted to see the agency overhauled have pointed to the significant challenges the USPS has faced as Americans send fewer letters, Christmas cards and wedding invitations. Last year, the service handled more than 116 billion pieces of mail, with most of that being presorted mailers, solicitations, or other items that many people would consider “junk” mail.
Last year, the postal service lost $9.5 billion as private companies like FedEx and UPS outcompete it for some parcel deliveries.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy stepped down after inking a deal in March with billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
The agreed-upon changes included cutting 10,000 jobs through early retirements. More than 75% of the postal service’s budget goes to paying its roughly 635,000 workers, and those 10,000 job cuts reflect only a 1.5% staffing reduction.
According to a news release from the American Postal Workers Union, workers who opted to retire early were eligible for a one-time $15,000 incentive paid in two parts.
How will mail delivery be different?
The changes that went into effect this month will affect millions of customers across the country. While the moves are designed to improve efficiency and cut costs, some people may notice slower delivery.
According to the USPS, service standards will be “refined” for:
- First-class mail.
- Periodicals.
- Marketing mail.
- Package services (bound printed matter, media mail, and library mail).
- USPS Ground Advantage.
- Priority mail.
- Priority mail express.
Delivery of first-class mail is expected to take no more than five days, while the 2-5 day range for USPS Ground Advantage will also stay the same, the postal service said. Certain postage like marketing materials, periodicals and other packages may even be delivered faster, according to the USPS news release.
The majority of first-class mail, 75%, should notice no change to their first-class mail delivery services, the postal service said. However, 14% will be upgraded to a faster standard, while another 11% of first-class mail will be delivered slower, though still within the 1-5 day deliver window.
For more precise expectations, the USPS is now using 5-Digit ZIP code pairs, rather than current standards that are based on 3-Digit ZIP code pairs.
USPS already has a map online that will let customers see how long it will take to deliver mail from one ZIP code to another.
The next changes are set to take effect July 1. More information will be released closer to that date.
Source: msn.com©




