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How to cut postal delivery routes by half and still deliver next day service? Royal Mail published proposals to cut services, including changing the delivery of all non-first-class letters to every other weekday, though first-class letters would continue to be delivered six days a week. The plans are aimed at saving up to £300 million a year. If approved, the changes would reduce daily delivery routes by 7,000 to 9,000 within two years. From my experience, just changing the product definition can be a big risk. A lot more engineering is needed on the level of real efficiency of delivery in regions and cut-off times. Everything is clear on paper, but it's good to experience the real operations in mail centres after this bold move. Changes in Universal Service are a must, but how will they be implemented in roulette. What's your opinion Arkadiusz Kawa Slawomir Zurawski, EMBA Rafał Pietrwalski Mateusz Chołodecki Radoslaw Malkiewicz Sebastian Mikosz Last Mile Experts Mirek Gral Marek Rozycki Detlef Symanski Jacek Powalka Tony Jasinski Greg Krupa https://lnkd.in/dVX54YSQ

“In the pilot phase of the initiative, which affected 15 regions across the country, transportation costs actually increased by $7 million, the IG found.”

The U.S. Postal Service wants to save $3 billion annually on changes that reflect its greater reliance on streamlined regional networks — while retaining local mail delivery times of one to three days and allowing customers to track some delivery schedules with greater precision. Election mail won’t be affected, officials said. The proposal, announced Aug. 29, would adjust mail delivery times while maintaining a commitment to a maximum five-day delivery for the flagship Ground Advantage program nationwide and a maximum three-day delivery for local first-class mail. United States Postal Service Developing the right Business Transformation Plan – July 2024 - https://lnkd.in/gsSg9QTy

Rep. Budzinski Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Halt U.S. Postal Service Processing Facility Consolidations WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representatives Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) and Jack Bergman (R-MI-01) introduced the Protect Postal Performance Act – bipartisan legislation to halt plans to consolidate U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs) if they are located in underperforming postal districts. Facilities in Champaign and Springfield have been recommended for downsizing despite the region’s dismal on-time-delivery rates. https://lnkd.in/gbZmEJWy

Exciting developments: A challenge to DeJoy’s USPS reform! Last week Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont) introduced the PARCEL Act (Protecting Access to Rural Carriers for Every Location), aiming to place restrictions on DeJoy’s USPS reform efforts. The bill seeks to maintain local mail processing facilities and prevent rural service disruption. “USPS leadership has failed to listen to the people of Montana time and time again, and it’s time to put a stop to their attack on service in rural America,” Tester said. He added his bill would “bring full operations back to Missoula and ensure that Postmaster DeJoy won’t be able to strip rural America of reliable service without public approval and legitimate justification ever again.” The bill demands geographical reviews and public input on USPS changes, with a particular focus on concerns raised by lawmakers in states like Montana, Colorado and Nevada. Despite DeJoy’s defense of his restructuring plan, concerns persist over mail delays and service declines as highlighted in the recent IG report. This bill represents a new push to limit USPS management and safeguard postal service in rural America, echoing sentiments from Sen. Tester and others advocating for community-centered postal operations. Read more about the specifics of the bill here, courtesy of Government Executive: https://bit.ly/3Wocc1r #USPSreform #PARCELAct #USPSrestructuring #DeliveringForAmerica #RWTProduction

New bill would place restrictions on DeJoy’s USPS reform efforts USPS is stripping rural America of reliable service without "legitimate justification," senator says. The U.S. Postal Service would face new restrictions in implementing the reforms it says are necessary to save the mailing agency from financial ruin under a bill that adds to the mounting pressure on United States Postal Service management. The Protecting Access to Rural Carriers for Every Location (PARCEL) Act, introduced by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., would prohibit the consolidation of mail processing operations unless the Postal Service met certain conditions. Under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's 10-year Delivering for America plan, USPS is in the midst of consolidating mail sorting away from individual post offices in favor of centralized centers and moving processing operations away from hundreds of cities and towns in favor of 60 mega-centers throughout the country. In some cases, such as Tester’s home state of Montana, those changes will move major elements of mail processing out of a state entirely. Several lawmakers have voiced concern with that approach, citing the potential for increased delays as traffic and weather disrupt mail transportation.

Postal Service considers rural mail slowdown after election Allowing slower service to rural areas could improve the Postal Service’s finances, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said. By Jacob Bogage August 22, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. EDT Top U.S. Postal Service officials are considering plans to allow slower mail delivery in the coming months for long-distance and rural service to cut costs at the financially troubled agency — but not until after the election. The changes would give customers within 50 miles of the Postal Service’s largest processing facilities faster delivery service, which accounts for the vast majority of mail and packages, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told The Washington Post. But the agency cannot afford to maintain the same model for deliveries into far-flung areas, he said. That could add an additional day to current delivery timetables. “At the end of the day, I think some portion of the mail showing up 12 hours later, I think it’s a price that had to be paid for letting this place be neglected,” DeJoy said. “You look around every other country, [delivery] is longer, it’s much more expensive. We’re trying to save the Postal Service — not figuratively, not to advocate for something. We’re trying to literally save the Postal Service.” “Any effort to degrade service while raising prices is a recipe for a death spiral at the Postal Service,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a leading DeJoy critic, said in a statement. “This is the second time Postmaster General DeJoy has proposed lower service standards. He might as well announce a return to delivering mail by horse and buggy.” The GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee also rebuked parts of DeJoy’s 10-year plan, writing that it was “deeply concerned about the potential negative impacts on mail service to the American people, customer satisfaction, and cost overruns.” DeJoy in an interview shot back that lawmakers were “out of their league” with their critiques of the agency. “They don’t understand the business. Nobody knows what it takes to compete with FedEx and UPS and drives billions of dollars of cost out of here that’s in the critique business. Even though it’s Congress, they don’t know,” DeJoy said. The price and delivery changes have done little to stabilize the Postal Service’s finances. The agency is on pace to lose more than $7 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, and it lost $6.5 billion in fiscal 2023. In 2022, Congress passed a $107 billion plan to stabilize the mail service’s balance sheet after worries during the pandemic that it could not survive another financial shock.

USPS makes its pitch to again slow delivery for some mail The Postal Service is promising significant savings and to protect most mail from slowdowns, but the plan is facing some resistance. *** The existing delivery model, postal management said, in which mail is collected at every post office both in the mornings and in the evenings, is based on a “bygone era of significant single-piece letter mail volumes.” While the system may have made sense in that reality, USPS said, it has “engendered costs impossible to justify in today’s environment.” *** “While we understand the need for modernization and financial changes across the Postal Service, these changes cannot come at the expense of rural residents who rely on the USPS," the 18 House members said. “For many families that we represent, a one-day delivery delay could mean late fees on a bill, a held-up paycheck creating financial stress and increased health risks awaiting critical medication.” *** “At the conclusion of an absolutely dismal year of service performance, it is disappointing that the USPS response seems most focused on changing how performance gets measured and reported than on improving the experience of actual customers,” said Mike Plunkett, president of the Association for Postal Commerce, which represents large-scale mailers. He added the potential cost savings are significant, but the agency has a weak track record in meeting its ambitious accounting goals. https://lnkd.in/eraE9Fff

On Friday, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) announced that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will not raise prices in January 2025 for Market Dominant products, which includes First-Class mail. This announcement comes after Baldwin called out USPS leadership for unsustainable price hikes and poor service. “Wisconsinites rely on the USPS to run their businesses, pay their bills, and communicate with loved ones,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin. “The proposed price hikes would have burdened hard working Wisconsinites, and I’m pleased to see they heeded my calls and will not be raising the price of stamps at the postal counter. I will continue to push the USPS leadership to halt rate increases, especially as Wisconsin families and small businesses continue to be hurt by unprecedented mail delivery delays.” Senator Baldwin has repeatedly called on the USPS to address rate hikes and delays Wisconsinites are experiencing. Last week, Senator Baldwin called on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to immediately address costly mail delays suffered by Wisconsin newspapers that rely on the USPS. These delays have already resulted in lost revenue, customer complaints, and canceled subscriptions. In April, after USPS announced the price increase for First Class Mail stamps, Senator Baldwin questioned DeJoy’s leadership, which has resulted in higher prices for Americans and worse service. Despite the USPS enacting their new “Delivering for America” plan – which they promised would modernize and transform the Postal Service – customers continue to experience poor customer service and significant mail delays, including for rural newspaper delivery. #wisconsin

Representatives of small businesses and workers have expressed concern at “drastic’’ plans to reduce the frequency of second-class post deliveries, warning it could have damaging knock-on effects for the economy. Royal Mail is proposing to cut the delivery of second-class letters to every other weekday as it looks to tackle heavy losses and changing customer habits. First-class mail would continue six days a week but the business also wants to reduce the delivery speed for bulk business mail, to arrive within three days instead of two. The proposals were outlined in Royal Mail’s submission to a consultation on the future of the universal service obligation, its legal requirement to deliver letters to all addresses in the UK six days a week. It says the requirement has become “unsustainable” given a dramatic drop in the volume of letters