• Improves utilization of surface transportation while reducing air network usage, which is more costly and continues to face reliability issues
• Contributes to costs savings efforts and improves reliability across all product classes
  
• Aligns with 10-year “Delivering for America” plan’s commitment to service excellence
• Majority of delivery standards for packages unaffected by service standard changes
• Removes extra day for Priority Mail transported via ground established April 2020 for COVID-19
• Priority Mail transported by air will maintain the extra day for the near term

Sixty-four percent of First-Class Package Service volume will be unaffected by the proposed standard changes. Four percent will be upgraded from a 3-day to 2-day service standard. For the remainder of the volume (32 percent), the service standard will increase by one or two days.

“Modifying select service standards is a key growth element and enabler of our 10-year plan. This action will contribute to our cost savings efforts and improve our reliability across all product classes, including our growing package market,” said Postmaster General and CEO Louis DeJoy. “By implementing the elements of our 10-year plan, we will deliver the consistent, reliable service that the American people and our customers expect and deserve and grow package volume, spurring revenue growth that can be invested back into the Postal Service.”

The Postal Service previously received an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) regarding these service standard changes.

Additionally, the Postal Service is removing an extra day for Priority Mail transported via ground. The extra day was temporarily put in place in April 2020 to account for ongoing global supply chain, transportation and employee availability challenges across our network posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the continued high demand on the overall air network, the Postal Service is retaining the extra day at this time for Priority Mail transported via air until the reliability of our key providers improves.

As part of implementing the new service standards for FCPS, the Postal Service is removing the extra day that has applied to FCPS.

Service standards are delivery benchmarks for how long customers can expect the Postal Service to deliver different types of mail from origin to destination — Point A to Point B. Service standards are not the same as the percentage targets or the actual measured service performance.

With full implementation, the Postal Service’s 10-year plan aims to reverse a projected $160 billion in losses over the next 10 years. The Plan’s growth and efficiency initiatives will spur cash flow and savings to make $40 billion in capital investments over the next 10 years – including $20 billion towards the Postal Service’s mail and package processing network, facility upgrades and procurement of new processing equipment.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.