REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
- If you’ve noticed slower delivery times for your USPS first-class mail, that’s by design.
- The time for standard first-class US mail delivery has jumped from 1-3 days to 5 days in some cases.
- The changes are part of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year plan to raise revenue at the USPS.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
No, you aren’t imaging slower delivery times for your first-class US Postal Service mail.
The USPS instituted longer delivery times on October 1 as part of the postmaster general’s decade-long effort to cut costs at the agency.
Prior to October 1, the postal service said delivery for standard first class mail across the US should take no longer than three days, according to The Washington Post. Beginning this month, the USPS says standard mail delivery could take anywhere between two and five days.
Mail being delivered 280 miles or less typically made it to its destination in two days under the previous guidelines, while mail being delivered further within the US typically reached its destination within three days.
Under the new guidelines, Americans can expect:
- Mail being delivered 140 or fewer miles to be delivered within two days;
- Within three days for mail traveling between 140 and 930 miles;
- Four days for mail traveling between 930 and 1,907 miles;
- And within five days for mail traveling longer distances.
According to the USPS, the increased time stems from a change that moves more mail delivery to roads and out of planes. About 20% of first-class mail was previously transported by air, but USPS said just 12% of mail will be sent by plane under the new changes, The Post noted.
According to an analysis by the newspaper, a third of first-class mail and packages sent to 27 states will be slowed under the new guidelines. It will take 75% of mail sent to Nevada longer to arrive than before in one of the starkest examples of the change, according to The Post’s analysis.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, an ally of former President Donald Trump, is the mastermind behind changes at USPS. They’re part of his 10-year plan to increase revenue for the historically cash-strapped agency.
His plan, dubbed the “USPS Delivering for America Strategic Plan” sets out to turn the projected $160 billion in losses anticipated at the agency over the next decade into $200 million in income.
DeJoy assumed the role last summer after he was appointed by the Postal Service Board of Governors, a group of nine people appointed by the president. Some of DeJoy’s cost-cutting measures, especially those planned around the time of the 2020 presidential election, spurred widespread criticism and backlash.
Prices at USPS are also expected to rise, with USPS officials announcing earlier this year a plan to change them twice annually – in January and again in July. A holiday season surcharge began on Sunday and will last through December 26, the USPS announced earlier this year.
Those changes range from an increase of $0.75 for flat-rate boxes and envelopes to an increase of $5 for heavier packages in some postal service zones.
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