Postal Service Changes Have a Disproportionate Impact on Rural Areas

The results of US Postmaster General Louis Dejoy’s efforts to improve US Postal Service in the United States. Steve Hutkins and Mark Jamison have been following USPS issues for years and they have been featured on Angry Bear going back to 2016. This particular piece has been taken from Steve Hutkins site: “Save the Post Office.” I added a part to it to give more detail.

Rural Communities Will Experience Disproportionate Negative Postal Service Impact

As stated in the Commission’s Advisory Opinion, the Postal Service understated the negative impact its proposed changes are likely to have on mail sent in rural communities.

Postal Regulatory Commission:

The Postal Service recently implemented significant changes affecting service on a nationwide basis. Changes announced by the Postal Service as part of the Delivering for America plan include:

• Implementing the Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) initiative nationwide. Under RTO, mail dropped off at Post Offices and collection boxes more than 50 miles from a regional hub is collected the next day instead of the same day.

• When mail is entered on a Saturday, Sundays are no longer counted as part of the service standard for days needed to deliver mail. This change also applies to mail that is entered on a day before a federal holiday.

• Slowing service standards for some locations.

Service standards refer to the number of days a customer should expect for delivery of a mail piece. Standards vary by mail category based and the distance that mail must travel to reach its destination.

As required by law, the Commission issued an Advisory Opinion on January 31, 2025 analyzing the Postal Service changes. The Opinion highlighted negative impacts on rural communities. It also noted that pilot versions of RTO led to slower mail delivery and failed to save costs as hoped for by the Postal Service. The Commission concluded that the Postal Service’s plan is unlikely to achieve its projected cost savings or improve the financial health of the Postal Service.

Due to the recent changes, a Single-Piece First Class letter or postcard from Tulsa, Oklahoma to New York City now has a service standard of 5 days. Prior nationwide service changes in 2021, for which the Commission provided an Advisory Opinion as required by law, changed the standard for a single letter or postcard from Tulsa to New York City from 3 days to 4 days.

The Postal Service Substantially Reduced the “Targets” for On-Time Mail

The “targets” for on-time mail delivery are the annual goals set by the Postal Service for the amount of mail in each category expected to meet service standards (the number of days it should take for mail to arrive). Starting in FY 2025, the Postal Service reduced the targets to as low as 80 percent for several mail categories, including 3-to-5 Day First-Class Mail. The targets were above 90 percent previously.

Find the current service standards for your location here: Service Standards | USPS

See FAQs about the Commission’s Advisory Opinion here: FAQS-N2024-1.pdf.

“Postal Service Implements Nationwide Changes to Mail Service.” Save the Post Office, Steve Hutkins