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The new chief of the United States Postal Service (USPS) has laid out some major operational changes in a memorandum Monday, including slow mail delivery in an effort to cut costs.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, one of President Donald Trump’s top donors, took over the mail service last month and has since enacted “difficult” changes to help the USPS financial situation.
Changes include delaying mail delivery by a day or more to reduce costs.
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Late travel will also not be authorized, according to a document obtained by the Associated Press. If a postal distribution center is late, “they will save the mail for the next day.”
Previously, mail carriers were trained to never leave mail behind and make multiple trips if necessary.
In addition to increasing mail delays, this change would eliminate overtime opportunities for hundreds of thousands of postal workers in the United States.
The memo, titled “New PMG’s [Postmaster General’s] expectations and plan “according The Washington PostThey said the changes are happening because mail deliveries have decreased in the past decade due to competitors like UPS, FedEx and other rivals. The decrease in mail deliveries generated large losses of income.
The coronavirus pandemic further exacerbated the situation, and the memo said the service had to “pivot” to maintain health and stability for years to come.
In the memo released Monday, the company US Steel was cited to demonstrate that USPS was not “untouchable” despite its decades-long service in the country. In 1975, US Steel was “the largest company in the world,” said the memo. “They left.” US Steel still remains the top steel producer in the country, despite what the memorandum alluded to.
Experts have warned that these changes could alienate customers from using the service, further exacerbating revenue losses. The company was also considering increasing packaging prices to increase revenue, but this move could encourage competitors to lower their prices.
Reports of the agency allowing delayed services came amid debates about voting by mail for the November election.
Democrats have called for mail-order voting to be an option across the United States, a proposal that Trump strictly opposes charges that it would increase election fraud. No research or study has shown that voter fraud increases by using mail ballots.
Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey was a vocal opponent against the new agency changes.
“Trump and his cronies openly seek to destroy the post office during the worst public health crisis in a century,” said Pascrell.
He added that it was a “direct attack on American democracy itself” to impact delivery service before the election, while also potentially affecting 600,000 jobs for employees during the pandemic.
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