Steiner’s move to head the Postal Service had come with questions about the future of the DFA initiative. Image: Karolis Kavolelis/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffNew Postmaster General David Steiner has indicated that he plans to continue his predecessor Louis DeJoy’s Delivering for American reorganization initiative, saying that after several weeks in office “my initial conclusion is that the 10-year plan positions the Postal Service to be on the right path. The strategy is sound. Now we have to execute.”
“Our recent transformation and modernization efforts have brought the Postal Service closer to private sector logistics practices. Both the pricing and product strategies have improved our competitiveness. We will continue to aggressively pursue those strategies,” he said in his initial remarks at the monthly Postal Board of Governors meeting.
Steiner’s move to head the Postal Service had come with questions about the future of the DFA initiative. While DeJoy called for continuing that program as he exited, the Trump administration has pushed for more privatization of postal operations, and postal unions called the choice of Steiner a move in that direction.
Another oversight body, the Postal Regulator Commission, questioned whether the projected savings—which it also questioned—will prove to be worth the disruption of closing and reorganizing many facilities and the decreased levels of service in certain delivery categories and areas. Some members of Congress have raised similar objections, and the USPS inspector general recently reported that the program fell short of its goals for reducing work hours at processing facilities over 2022-2024.
In his first remarks to the Board of Governors, Steiner sounded the long-running themes of challenges of operating “in a financially sustainable manner” in the face of factors such as declining mail volume and increasing competition for package delivery from private sector carriers. Steiner himself had a role in the latter, having served on the board of directors of FedEx; previously he was CEO of Waste Management.
“We will strive to align our costs to revenue on a consistent, long-term basis. To do so, prioritizing strategies to drive operational efficiencies and generate sustained revenue growth will be key. We will also focus on being your provider of choice any time you ship a package,” he said. Also, “service improvement will be a top priority for me and the management team, and we will remain committed to continuous improvement in our operational performance.
He added: “We all need to be rowing the oars in the same direction. That means getting buy in from all levels of the organization; holding each other responsible for executing the strategy; and sharing the rewards of the strategy with our employees. So, I intend to serve as a strong advocate for our employees and would ask each and every one of our employees to be a strong advocate for our customers. Together, we will identify lasting solutions and shape a stronger, better outlook for the Postal Service.”
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