May 08, 2024

Manchin, Bipartisan Colleagues Call On USPS To Pause Planned Changes To Mail Delivery Network

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, joined his bipartisan colleagues in calling on the United States Postal Service (USPS) to pause planned changes to its processing and delivery network that could slow down mail delivery until the potential impacts are further studied and addressed. The Senators expressed concern over the impacts that these changes have already had on timely mail delivery in communities across the country, including West Virginia.

“We call on USPS to pause all changes, pending a full study of this plan by its regulator. While USPS claims these changes overall will improve service while reducing costs, there is evidence to the contrary in locations where USPS has implemented changes so far,” the Senators said in part. “USPS must stop implementation, restore service in those areas where changes were implemented, and fully understand the nationwide effects of its plan on service and communities.”

“The Postal Service’s primary responsibility is to provide timely and reliable delivery to every community across the nation. While USPS must continue adapting as an agency to remain stable and serve the public’s current needs, it must proceed with caution and understand the implications of its plans in order to protect mail delivery for all communities,” the Senators continued.

The letter was also signed by Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Barrasso (R-WY), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Steve Daines (R-MT), Kyrsten Sinema, (I-AZ), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Angus King (I-ME), John Hoeven (R-ND), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jon Tester (D-MT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and John Cornyn (R-TX).

A timeline of Senator Manchin’s recent efforts to support postal operations in West Virginia and across the country:

  • On April 17, 2024, Senator Manchin led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to express his opposition to the USPS’s recent nationwide consolidation and review announcements.
  • On April 2, 2024, Senator Manchin released a statement on the USPS’s decision to convert the Charleston P&DC into a LPC.
  • On February 27, 2024, Senator Manchin submitted a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to express his concern with the initial findings of the Mail Processing Facility Review.
  • On February 15, 2024, Senator Manchin published an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette Mail on the importance of protecting services at the facility.
  • On February 1, 2024, Senator Manchin released a statement on the USPS’s initial findings for the Mail Processing Facility Review.
  • On December 14, 2023, Senator Manchin submitted a public comment to the USPS to express his support for the Charleston postal facility and its employees.
  • On December 8, 2023, Senator Manchin visited the Charleston postal facility to support the workers and reaffirm his commitment to keeping West Virginia mail services in the state.
  • On December 2, 2023, Senator Manchin released a statement after speaking with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about the Mail Processing Facility Review.
  • On November 29, 2023, Senator Manchin released a statement on the USPS’s decision to conduct the Mail Processing Facility Review.

The full text of the letter is available below and here.

Dear Postmaster General DeJoy and U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors:  

We call on you to pause planned changes to the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) processing and delivery network under the “Delivering for America” plan, until you request and receive a comprehensive Advisory Opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission to fully study the potential impacts of these changes.  

USPS is moving forward swiftly with plans to consolidate and alter its facilities across the country, making irrevocable changes to its processing and delivery network which links all communities. This plan includes moving mail processing further away from local communities, by transferring operations out of local facilities (“Local Processing Centers” and Delivery Units) and into more distant hubs (“Regional Processing and Distribution Centers” and “Sorting and Delivery Centers”). The plan also includes “local transportation optimization,” an initiative that cuts the number of truck trips and mail collections at USPS facilities, causing mail to sit overnight in local offices. USPS has begun to implement this change without notifying the public, causing critical delays for mail that requires overnight delivery 

We are concerned about the impacts these changes have had so far, and the potential impacts that further changes could have. In regions where USPS has implemented significant changes, on-time mail delivery has declined. In addition, it is not clear these changes will improve efficiency or costs. Despite these concerns, USPS has moved forward with announcing and approving additional facility changes across the country. The nature of these changes creates concerns that local and rural service could be degraded. For example, USPS proposals to remove all outbound mail operations from local processing facilities seem to particularly harm local mail – since mail sent to a nearby locality would first have to go through a far-away processing facility, often in another state. “Local transportation optimization” has also caused disproportionate impacts on rural areas. In some rural communities, it has eliminated the possibility of overnight delivery for critical mail like medications and laboratory tests. Taken together, these changes have a nationwide scope and would affect service across the country. 

We call on USPS to pause all changes, pending a full study of this plan by its regulator. While USPS claims these changes overall will improve service while reducing costs, there is evidence to the contrary in locations where USPS has implemented changes so far. USPS must stop implementation, restore service in those areas where changes were implemented, and fully understand the nationwide effects of its plan on service and communities.  

In particular, we urge the Postal Service to request a comprehensive Advisory Opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), which would provide a robust and public process to study the impacts of these changes. The request and analysis must include the full scope of network changes, including the intersecting changes to facilities across the nation (conversions to Regional Processing and Distribution Centers, Sorting and Delivery Centers, and Local Processing Centers) and local transportation optimization. During a hearing before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Postmaster General DeJoy stated that USPS would consider requesting an Advisory Opinion – and suggested that USPS may slow down “mail move” changes in 2024. Disappointingly, the Postmaster General did not commit to the scope of an Advisory Opinion, or to meaningfully stopping changes until further study is complete. 

 The Postal Service must promptly request a comprehensive Advisory Opinion to study the impacts of its full plan. USPS should pause all changes, including administrative approvals and on-the-ground changes, until the PRC completes this study and USPS incorporates the results. USPS must improve service immediately in areas where changes have been implemented, and restore status quo operations as much as practicable. 

The Postal Service’s primary responsibility is to provide timely and reliable delivery to every community across the nation. While USPS must continue adapting as an agency to remain stable and serve the public’s current needs, it must proceed with caution and understand the implications of its plans in order to protect mail delivery for all communities. 

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.