The commission faulted defective modeling, unrealistic savings projections, and degraded rural service. Image: Karolis Kavolelis/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe dispute between the Postal Regulatory Commission and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over his Delivering for America restructuring plan has escalated after the PRC released an advisory opinion saying the plan “is irreversibly changing its network without laying a foundation for success.”
“The Commission urges the Postal Service to reconsider whether the speculative, meager gains from this proposal outweigh the certain downgrade in service for a significant portion of the nation,” it said, citing service complaints that have continued since the first implementation steps in 2021.
Those include, it said, the potential for downgrading First Class delivery to half of Zip codes, a disproportionate impact on mailing from one rural Zip code to another and “significant downgrades” in periodicals and packages services.
Further, savings are “speculative and likely overstated” due to “a lack of historical or empirical foundation, an unclear timeline for savings to be realized, and a lack of clarity regarding the overall effect on the Postal Service’s financial health,” it said. The projected savings of $3.6 billion to $3.7 billion, “even if fully realized,” would represent only 4 percent of operating expenses, it said.
DeJoy in turn told the Postal Board of Governors that the advisory opinion “fundamentally mischaracterizes and trivializes” the DFA program. “What business in the private sector or government entity in the public sector would scoff at and trivialize nearly $4 billion in annual savings? And what expertise or relative experience does the PRC have about running the most complicated and demanding logistics system in the world in a cost-effective manner?” he asked.
He said the PRC members “have limited operational, logistics or business experience, and no real responsibility for assuring the financial viability of the Postal Service. On the other hand, the Board of Governors, including me, do have that responsibility, which is why we can’t allow paralysis by analysis, or to continue to fiddle as Rome burns.”
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