August 5-9, 2024 Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
In March of 2021, the Postal Ser- vice announced a long-term strate- gic plan to address these issues and stabilize the agency. This plan, the Delivering for America (DFA) plan, is guiding the transformation of the Postal Service from an organization in financial and operational crisis to one that is self-sustaining and high performing. It involves the re- organization of the Postal Service’s processing, transportation and de- livery networks. Under the plan, USPS intends to reverse an esti- mated $160 billion loss by 2031. To realize these cost savings, the plan identified five objectives: modern- ize the Postal Service and make it capable of providing world-class service at affordable prices; main- tain universal six-day mail delivery and expand seven-day package de- livery; stabilize the workforce and invest in strategies to empower em- ployees and put them in a position to succeed; grow revenue through innovation and meet the changing needs of the marketplace; and be- come financially stable so that the universal service mandate is met. This plan is a massive undertak- ing with many implications for the work of city carriers. We spoke in- depth about the coming changes this plan would bring when we gathered in Chicago in 2022. We held back judgment, wary of how many of these objectives might be implemented, but encouraged by a plan finally focused on growing USPS business rather than the in- cessant proposals to slash service with no plan to grow our business that were put forth by previous leadership at USPS since the re- cession of the late 2000s. Top of mind for many was the need to ad- dress staffing issues, the newly an- nounced Next Generation Delivery Vehicle, and the creation of large delivery units called sorting and delivery centers across the coun- try. Much was still unknown at the time. Two years later, progress has been made, but we remain in tran- sition. Each of these elements has been a major topic of negotiation
like the Postal Service has been a step behind. Our delivery vehicles, many of which are nearly four de- cades old, weren’t designed for this many parcels. Facilities haven’t had the capacity or equipment to handle this change in the mail mix. Extraordinary levels of turnover and significant difficulty in hiring in parts of the country have had com- pounding effects, lowering morale on the workroom floor and causing delivery issues for customers. And, despite its new reliance on parcel revenues, the Postal Service seems to be losing ground to competitors, which have reported record profits in recent years while USPS has lost money. Amazon, for one, grew its immense network and became a significant player in the parcel mar- ket in only 10 years—taking advan- tage of the Postal Service’s univer- sal network to create and expand its own delivery business.
Volume 136/Number 8
August 2023
In this issue President’s Message National Officers
1
26
Branch Items 50 Branch Election Notices 57
The monthly journal of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS
DELIVERING for AMERICA Letter carriers’ involvement with USPS’s 10-year plan
—PAGES 12-16
24 The Postal Record August 2024
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