Yesterday, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) released its Advisory Opinion on the Postal Service’s proposals to slow the First Class Mail service standard to as many as five days, and issued a serious warning to postal management about their proposal. The PRC found that management’s planned changes are untested, unlikely to improve the Postal Services finances, and risk further alienating the mailing public, who justifiably expect to receive their mail quickly and reliably.
The PRC confirmed the Postal Service’s proposals would slow down the mail for millions of users and billions of pieces of mail, including extending the current three-day delivery standard for First Class and Periodicals to up to up to five days (six for periodicals), depending on distance of travel.
“The PRC’s opinion echoes what the APWU has argued since management first introduced their plans to slow down the mail,” said President Mark Dimondstein. “We strongly opposed these proposals and we are heartened that the Commission shared many of our concerns.”
While the PRC acknowledged that the USPS proposals may save money, they remained unconvinced that any modest savings were worth the cost to service expectations; noting: