Dive Brief:
- Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said U.S. Postal Service performance is improving and trucks continue to run on time, in a letter sent Monday to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. DeJoy committed to providing United States Postal Service data to lawmakers during testimony given before the House last week.
- On-time trips hit their low point in late June. Late trips peaked in early July and have fallen since then and throughout August, according to the data DeJoy provided. Dedicated parcel services or parcel performance within first-class mail data was not included in the data.
- Processing was a greater drag than last-mile delivery on overall first-class mail performance, according to the data submitted by DeJoy.
Dive Insight:
Service improved while the USPS kept to predetermined truck schedules, Dejoy wrote — a sticking point for the official and one of a set of moves that brought the attention of both houses of Congress.
"These trend charts show that the goals of service and adherence to operational discipline are not mutually exclusive, but go hand-in-hand," DeJoy wrote. Postal workers and union representatives contend DeJoy instituted a strict ban on overtime that affected the time it takes to move mail within the postal service network and the ability of carriers to deliver it. DeJoy denies curtailing overtime but does acknowledge that his policies slowed down the mail.
Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, filed a memo earlier in the day Monday stating her intent to subpoena the Postmaster General for more information regarding service levels and his policy changes within USPS. Maloney accused DeJoy of underplaying the decline in service levels, citing internal USPS documents obtained by Maloney's office. DeJoy wrote he was "surprised and confused" by Maloney's statement.
"As I testified, the intervening service declines should not have happened, but the changes are fundamental and necessary," DeJoy wrote, promising to provide the committees with weekly updates through the end of the year.
The USPS data shows service levels heading in the direction of normal, though pre-sorted first-class mail has not yet returned to June service levels and remains below 90% on time. A continued improvement in on-time performance will be critical for shippers that rely on USPS, particularly as peak season approaches and shippers make delivery promises to consumers.
The data submitted by USPS is somewhat consistent with ShipMatrix data trends, a third party that monitors last-mile service. The data shows a marked service improvement in August, but since ShipMatrix includes priority mail in its data set, a direct comparison cannot be made.
