USPS network changes tied to service declines, OIG warns for rural areas
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Summary
The Postal Service’s Delivering for America reforms and a pilot local transportation optimization (LTO) program have, according to the USPS Office of Inspector General, contributed to lower on‑time delivery — with rural areas disproportionately affected — and the OIG says the Postal Service has not publicly updated earlier financial projections.
Tammy Hull, inspector general for the United States Postal Service, told the subcommittee that changes to USPS mail flow under the agency’s Delivering for America (DFA) plan have created widespread implementation challenges that have harmed on‑time delivery in many places.
"When mail flows change, it's a big network, and when changes are made to the mail flow, a lot of things break," Hull said, citing the launch of a regional processing and distribution center (RPDC) in Atlanta and a local transportation optimization (LTO) pilot in Richmond as examples where implementation problems hurt service. She said the Postal Service had not publicly refreshed the DFA's original financial projections despite large deviations between projected and actual results.
In questioning, committee members cited specific performance shortfalls. Chairman Joyce noted that in the first quarter of FY2025 one USPS district that includes the 14th Congressional District reported on‑time two‑day single‑piece First‑Class mail at about 72 percent and three‑to‑five‑day service near 59 percent. Hull testified that work‑hour reductions and other expected savings in DFA had not materialized as quickly as projected, and she said inflation and some large, non‑controllable liabilities also contributed to deviations from the plan’s earlier forecasts.
The OIG said it will continue field audits of LTO rollouts and processing consolidations; Hull said teams would visit recent rollout areas to validate the Postal Service’s own service measurements. Several members told the inspector general they had experienced deliveries delayed for weeks and expressed concern about an April rollout of LTO at scale.
Ending: Hull urged the Postal Service to update its financial projections so Congress and stakeholders can evaluate future steps; the OIG said it will continue audits of DFA implementations and LTO impacts, with particular attention to rural service.