The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is taking steps to improve service reliability by implementing changes to the First-Class Package Service (FCPS) standards starting May 1.
The initiative is part of “Delivering for America,” USPS’s 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence. Modifying these service standards will allow for additional transport time for long-distance package deliveries and increased network efficiencies, USPS said.
The new FCPS service standards will also enable additional package volume to be transported by surface transportation, which is more reliable and affordable compared to air transportation. The postal service said 64 percent of First-Class Package Service volume will be unaffected by the proposed standard changes, 4 percent will be upgraded from a three-day to two-day service standard and 32 percent will see the service standard increase by one or two days.
“Modifying select service standards is a key growth element and enabler of our 10-year plan,” Postmaster General and CEO Louis DeJoy said. “This action will contribute to our cost savings efforts and improve our reliability across all product classes, including our growing package market.”
USPS is also removing an extra day for Priority Mail transported via ground. The extra day was temporarily put in place in April 2020 to account for ongoing global supply chain, transportation and employee availability challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Given the continued high demand on the overall air network, the postal service is retaining the extra day at this time for Priority Mail transported via air until the reliability of key providers improves.
As part of implementing the new service standards for FCPS, the Postal Service is removing the extra day that has applied to it.
With full implementation, the Postal Service’s 10-year plan aims to reverse a projected $160 billion in losses over the next 10 years. The plan’s growth and efficiency initiatives will spur cash flow and savings to make $40 billion in capital investments over the next 10 years, including $20 billion toward USPS’s mail and package processing network, facility upgrades and procurement of new processing equipment.