USPS has been a stable service used by millions of Americans for decades. However, as years went by, the US Postal Service, or USPS, had issues with its delivery.
During the first three months of 2021, at least 20% of first-class mail across the United States was sent out late. Now, it will get slower for 160 million Americans that rely on the service.
USPS to Reveal New Plan
Starting Oct.1, the USPS will launch new standards for its first-class mail. This new plan will lengthen the delivery time by about 30%, according to CNET.
This means that some mail and packages that will be delivered to longer distances could take up to 5 days to arrive, instead of the traditional three days.
The changes with the postal service are part of a new plan called "Delivering for America" in its attempt to solve its $160 billion debt.
The new plan would reduce the agency's hours. Also, it will increase the prices, and there will be more postage hikes during the holiday season, according to Reuters.
Every hour, around 17.7 million mail is delivered by the postal service. A portion of the mail are packages from retailers like eBay and Amazon.
USPS Struggling to Catch Up
However, there has been a massive decrease in the number of first-class mail like cards, letters, and bills because Americans prefer electronic payments and emails instead.
Even when USPS did not ban Chinese products during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, it still did not help with the numbers.
With the rising demand for e-commerce, the postal service is struggling to match the overnight delivery services of FedEx, UPS, and Amazon.
What USPS Changes Mean for the Public
The new plan could cause major delay, which means wedding invitations, unemployment checks, and child tax credit payments will come in late, according to ABC.
The postal service stated that it is having issues in meeting the delivery standards. It has been financially underwater for years now.
The pandemic last year exacerbated the USPS' slow service and money issue, as staffing shortages clashed with both the surge of online purchases and the increase of 2020 election ballots.
One way that the US Postal Service plans to decrease its costs is by using fewer airplanes to deliver mail.
The postal service will use more trucks, which can deliver a higher volume of mail, and it will cost less money. However, it will take a lot longer to get received.
Despite the delay, group transportation is more reliable, according to USPS.
The Postal Service's new plan will last for ten years, and it will include a multibillion-dollar contract that will modernize the ancient delivery car fleet of the service. The new trucks of USPS will appear in 2023.
There are also investments in equipment and infrastructure to help transport the high number of packages more efficiently. It will also upgrade the postal facilities.
A USPS spokesperson stated that the new service standards would make the delivery of mail more reliable, consistent, and efficient for customers.
However, critics of the postal service wonder why it would rather have slow mail when it is already struggling to deliver mail on time.
The Postal Regulatory Commission issued an advisory on July 20, and it found out that the annual cost savings for the postal service standard changes won't lead to much improvement of the agency's current problems.
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Written by Sophie Webster
