The U.S. Postal Service’s regulator said on Thursday the mailing agency’s plan to speed up delivery for some of the packages it ships could be costlier, require more staffing and drive fewer efficiencies than management has estimated.
USPS should go back to the drawing board to ensure it has taken customer input into account and relied upon reasonable assumptions as it seeks to ensure faster delivery for items sent through its Retail Ground and Parcel Ground Select offerings, the Postal Regulatory Commission said in its advisory opinion. Customers can use those products to send packages that weigh between one and 70 pounds, which currently arrive between two and eight days after they are sent. Under the new proposal, the Postal Service plans to deliver the packages within two-to-five days. It does so with just 40% of those packages in the existing system.
