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Senators Grill USPS On Collection Changes and Potential Rural Slowdowns
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Summary
Senators pressed Postmaster General DeJoy about the Postal Service’s regional transportation optimization (RTO) and proposed service‑standard changes, warning that many rural single‑piece first‑class mailings could be downgraded. DeJoy said the proposals affect collection timing, not delivery, and pledged to consider PRC input and provide follow‑up data.
Postmaster General DeJoy told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that proposed changes to the postal network focus on collection schedules, not delivery, and are meant to integrate mail and package operations under the Delivering for America plan.
The committee’s ranking member, Senator Paul, and several other senators raised alarms about a USPS estimate that up to 68 percent of single‑piece first‑class mail originating in rural areas could be slowed under the Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) proposal. Paul and others said that downgrading outbound collections risks delaying critical items such as prescriptions and Social Security checks for rural residents.
DeJoy disputed that delivery would suffer, saying, “The changes we propose are to the collection, not the delivery of mail,” and that most inbound mail originates within a 50‑mile radius of processing centers. He told senators the collection adjustment could add ‘‘somewhere between 12 and 24 hours’’ to certain single‑piece mail dropoffs but that overall delivery times for most customers would improve as the network is rationalized.
Several senators, including Hassan, Hawley and Marshall, pressed for independent analysis of specific consolidations (for example, Manchester to Boston and White River Junction to Hartford) and for contingency plans in areas with severe weather or long drive times. Senator Hassan asked whether DeJoy would ask the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to analyze the service impacts of moving operations; DeJoy said he would not request that specific independent analysis but said USPS would carefully monitor performance and has response teams to correct problems.
Senators repeatedly tied the discussion to the PRC advisory opinion process. DeJoy said USPS filed modeling and analyses with the PRC and that the company will ‘‘evaluate everything they say’’ and make adjustments, while maintaining an inclination to move forward to achieve long‑term cost savings.
The committee left the record open for additional materials and requests for the record, and senators demanded that DeJoy provide the committee with USPS’s comprehensive responses to PRC recommendations and any data underlying projected service impacts.
