It is January, so that means it’s time once again for our annual list of the top 10 postal stories (2024 edition). Let us know which story you think is most important or if we missed anything in the comments below.
And now, counting down from 10 . . .
10. Postal employees and retirees pick new plans for health. Open season for the new Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program began in November with some hiccups due to new login processes. The PSHB was created as a separate program under the current federal plan by the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022.
9. Twice-a-year price increases continue. USPS raised rates on letters and flat products in January and July 2024, as the Postal Regulatory Commission launched a docket to review the ratemaking system. Following a break this January, the Postal Service announced it has no plans to stop the twice-a-year increases.
8. Financial pressures bring disruptions to Canada Post and Royal Mail. Canada Post faced financial challenges on top of a month-long strike before the holidays as the post and workers’ union failed to reach agreement on a contract. In the UK, controversy arose after Royal Mail’s current owner decided to sell it to a foreign bidder. The UK government approved the sale in December, negotiating a “golden share” that provides some approval rights over future ownership and any move of Royal Mail’s headquarters from the UK.
7. USPS changes partners and partnerships. UPS became the Postal Service’s major air partner, taking the place of longtime partner FedEx. The Postal Service is also renegotiating its agreements with companies that consolidate packages. It will no longer offer them discounts for packages dropped at the delivery unit.
6. Congress conducts oversight of the Delivering for America plan. With members troubled over Postal Service finances, network changes, mail service, and other issues, the PMG appeared at four Congressional hearings (two Senate and two House) over the course of the year, facing tough questioning from both parties. Congressional concerns did lead USPS to pause some network changes. Inspector General Tammy Hull testified in two of the hearings.
5. Mail theft keeps making headlines. Concerns have grown about the role of organized groups in the theft of checks and credit cards. In response, we are combining advanced analytics with our investigative work to identify and stop criminal organizations that target and recruit postal employees. (Read about some cases.) We also released an overarching audit on how to mitigate internal mail theft and separate audits looking at mail theft in Queens, NY, San Francisco, CA, and Chicago, IL, in 2024.
4. Next Generation Delivery Vehicles finally hit the road, but . . . Our audit found delays in the acquisition schedule.
3. USPS delivers for Election 2024. The Postal Service announced it delivered at least 99.22 million ballots to or from voters, and 99.88 percent reached election officials within a week. OIG teams traveled around the nation visiting processing plants and delivery units to look for problems and notify Postal Service management. (Learn more about our election mail work.)
2. Service. Service. Service. It was a year full of service concerns ranging from problems with the rollouts of Regional Processing and Distribution Centers (RPDCs) in Atlanta in February and Richmond in 2023 to the Postal Service’s local transportation optimization effort, which ended evening mail collections in certain areas, to the November reduction of service targets, to USPS’s advisory opinion request to change letter and flat service standards themselves.
1. USPS losses accelerate worries about the Postal Service’s financial sustainability. The Postal Service lost $9.5 billion in FY 2024 and projects to lose an additional $6.9 billion in FY 2025. While the reported controllable loss is smaller, the results raise fears that current plans may not be enough for USPS to break even.
And as a special bonus:
USPS Board of Governors gets a new Chair.Governor Amber McReynolds was voted in by her fellow Governors in November, taking over from Governor Roman Martinez. The Board currently has three governor vacancies.