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Lawmakers press USPS on slower delivery, network changes and the RTO plan
Summary
Members pressed Postmaster General Steiner about slower delivery standards, the operational performance of the Delivering for America network changes, the Regional Transportation Optimization effort and insourcing of local transportation; Steiner acknowledged service problems while saying the network is improving as operations mature.
Members of the House Oversight subcommittee spent a substantial portion of the hearing pressing the Postal Service to explain worsening delivery performance and to justify network changes under the Delivering for America plan.
Rep. Fox described personal and constituent examples of late mail, including Valentine's cards and wedding invitations delivered long after their expected dates, and asked for evidence that the network plan is working. Steiner acknowledged failures in execution but defended the network redesign as a necessary, long-term logistics change. He said the Service has built the hub-and-spoke network and is still learning to operate it, and that operations leadership had been reshaped to improve performance.
Members asked whether insourcing—bringing local transportation in-house—has raised costs despite claims of service gains. Steiner said the Postal Service has insourced local transport in some areas and cited roughly $44 million in savings in the local transportation example while stressing improved service reliability when internal teams are on site. Several members remained skeptical and requested data to verify claimed savings and the broader cost-effectiveness of insourcing.
The hearing also covered the Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) initiative, which the Postal Service's Office of Inspector General warned could slow delivery; Steiner said RTO affects collection processes and not delivery standards. Lawmakers pressed whether staffing and plant-level labor shortages, rather than the network architecture, were the dominant explanation for service deterioration in central regions; Steiner characterized service gaps in the Chicago-to-Memphis corridor as largely driven by staffing shortages in processing plants.
Members expressed concern about the social equity effects of network and service standard changes—pointing to rural or lower-income communities that rely on prompt bill and medication delivery—and sought rollout details for any future consolidations or closures. The Postmaster General said the Service would provide additional operational data and the five-year projections lawmakers requested to illustrate how network changes, staffing policies and price adjustments would affect service and finances.
What happens next: Members said they will review the operational data and the requested projections to assess whether the Delivering for America implementation should be slowed, altered or supplemented with targeted staffing actions to restore standards in the worst-affected regions.
