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with the Postal Service, both in bargaining over the contract, and in the daily work of addressing city delivery issues. The regulator has also turned its attention to the Postal Service’s DFA plan. In April of this year, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) is- sued an order directing the Postal Service to justify the major reforms the agency is implementing as part of its 10-year plan, suggesting that the reforms are having a larger neg- ative impact than predicted. This order represented a rever- sal for the PRC. In October of 2021, 20 states and commonwealths had filed a complaint with the PRC alleg- ing that the Postal Service should have been required to submit its 10-year plan to the PRC for an advi- sory opinion. Law requires that be- fore making a change in the nature of postal services that will gener- ally affect service on a nationwide or substantially nationwide basis, the Postal Service must seek an ad- visory opinion from the PRC within a reasonable time before the pro- posed change becomes effective. The states argued that the Postal Service should have sought an advisory opinion before adopting the DFA plan because its changes would have a nationwide effect. The Postal Service disagreed with this argument, and the PRC sided with the agency. However, three years further into the implementation of the plan, the Postal Service is facing pushback from lawmakers, customers and mailers over service declines re- lated to the redesign of its network. The PRC ordered USPS to request an advisory opinion from the regu- lator or explain why such a review is unnecessary. NALC will monitor this docket and submit comments if deemed necessary. Sorting and delivery centers With 68 S&DCs now in opera- tion around the country, we have a good understanding of how this transition will affect city carriers.
As some carriers have already ex- perienced, the establishment of an S&DC involves moving city let- ter carriers and their assignments from their current work locations to larger facilities, many of them located in former processing plants or other large postal facili- ties. Initially, the Postal Service is selecting markets where it ex- pects potential growth in package delivery. The Postal Service says that S&DCs will aid the plan by allow- ing the agency to implement three strategies related to the parcel market: expand local access for same-day and next-day delivery, improve ground delivery in one- and two-day package delivery, and move First-Class package delivery to an expanded ground network to help reduce the reliance on air transportation. By reducing the number of steps between collec- tion and delivery from the current number of 11 down to five, the Post- al Services hopes this network will help grow parcel volume. When NALC is notified that an S&DC is going to be established, representatives from NALC Head- quarters and the region’s national business agent’s office meet with the local branch to discuss the process. Each S&DC is also visited to evaluate the ongoing renova-
The Postal Record 25 August 2024
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