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By Aliss Higham
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The United States Postal Service (USPS) has rolled out numerous changes that will impact mail deliveries across the country.
Why It Matters
According to the USPS website, the agency delivers to nearly 169 million addresses across the U.S, handling more mail and packages than any other postal service worldwide.
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What To Know
As first announced earlier this year, starting April 1, the USPS began implementing new service standards for first-class mail, periodicals, marketing mail, and package services.
All first-class mail will continue to be delivered within the standard time frame of one to five days. Seventy-five percent of first-class mail will retain its previous delivery standard, 14 percent will be accelerated, and 11 percent may experience a slight delay.
To handle the delivery of the improved standards, postal workers are now permitted to leave facilities earlier and travel longer distances to enhance delivery reliability, particularly for customers in rural areas. Mail tracking has also been divided into three phases, providing customers with a clearer understanding of the mailing process.
The agency said that the announced changes will help it save at least $36 billion over the next 10 years through cuts in transportation, mail, and package processing, as well as real estate costs.
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Delivery Issues
While not a consequence of the new service enhancements, complaints have been mounting recently about delayed and lost packages, local news outlets across the country have reported.
According to an April 8 report by The Minnesota Star Tribune, delays to mail deliveries can last as long as five days, according to residents of suburban Minneapolis. According to an audit conducted in Minnesota and neighboring North Dakota in 2024, mail is being delivered on time less often than a year ago and is behind national averages in the area. Across six postal facilities in the two states, the report raised concerns over delayed mail, package scanning and timekeeping, as well as other problems.
Business owner Kat Schweitzer in Mid-City, New Orleans told local outlet WWLTV for a report that aired on April 7 that packages she sends to customers are regularly lost by the USPS, and that she spends as much time on making her business products as she does chasing down missing parcels.
Newsweek has contacted the USPS for comment via email.
USPS said in 2023 that on average it processes and delivers 152.3 million pieces of First-Class Mail each day, as well as 23.5 million packages.
DOGE and USPS
Former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who left his role in late March, announced earlier this year his intention to reduce the USPS workforce by 10,000 employees and cut billions of dollars from its budget. According to a letter sent to members of Congress in March, the USPS will be working with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to achieve its aims.
DOGE will support USPS in tackling "big problems" at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has faced challenges in recent years to remain financially stable. It is not clear when DOGE will begin its work.
What People Are Saying
DeJoy said in a press release issued on February 26: "The Postal Service has been historically burdened by service standard regulations and onerous business rules that have not been appropriately adjusted to account for volume and mail mix changes, forcing costly and ineffective operations.
"By implementing the new standards and the operational initiatives to which they are aligned, we will be better able to achieve the goals of our modernization plans and create a high-performing, financially sustainable organization, which is necessary to achieve the statutory policies and objectives established for the Postal Service by law."
What's Next
Changes to USPS services began on April 1, with a "second phase" due to begin on July 1.
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