The new head of the U.S. Postal Service established major operational changes Monday that could slow down mail delivery, warning employees the agency would not survive unless it made "difficult" changes to cut costs. But critics say such a philosophical sea change would sacrifice operational efficiency and cede its competitive edge to UPS, FedEx and other private sector rivals.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told employees to leave mail behind at distribution centers if it delayed letter carriers from their routes, according to internal USPS documents obtained by The Washington Post and verified by the American Postal Workers Union and three people with knowledge of their contents, but who spoke anonymously to avoid retribution.
"If the plants run late, they will keep the mail for the next day," according to a document titled, "New PMG's [Postmaster General's] expectations and plan." Traditionally, postal workers are trained not to leave letters behind and to make multiple delivery trips to ensure timely distribution of letters and parcels.
Analysts say the documents present a stark reimagining of the USPS that could chase away customers -- especially if the White House gets the steep package rate increases it wants -- and put the already beleaguered agency in deeper financial peril.
The Trump administration has consolidated control over the Postal Service, traditionally an apolitical institution, during the pandemic. President Donald Trump in April called the agency "a joke" and demanded it quadruple package rates before he'd authorize any emergency aid or loans.
The documents circulated Monday on shop floors around the country called for specific changes in the way postal workers will do their jobs.
"The shifts are simple, but they will be challenging, as we seek to change our culture and move away from past practices previously used," it says.
The first memo says the agency will prohibit overtime and strictly curtail the use of other measures local postmasters use to ameliorate staffing shortages.
Even a common method for mail delivery -- "park points," in which a letter carrier parks the mail truck at the end of a street, delivers mail items by foot for several blocks, then returns to the truck and drives on -- is under scrutiny. The document bans carriers from taking more than four "park points" on their routes and claims "Park points are abused, not cost effective and taken advantage of."
The second memo says the Postal Service will first look to cut its transportation costs, and estimates that late and extra trips cost the agency $200 million annually in "added expenses," or about the same amount the agency lost in May. The memo warns postal workers that it may be "difficult" to "see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor," but that the agency "will address root causes of these delays and adjust the very next day."