PRC ISSUES ADVISORY ON MAIL SERVICE CUTS

WASHINGTON, DC — The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued its Advisory Opinion on proposed USPS service changes for First-Class Mail and Periodicals July 30, 2021.

Click to read PRC Advisory Opinion On Service Changes For First-Class Mail And Periodicals

Based on its findings, the PRC issued recommendations to the Postal Service for consideration before implementing its plan.

“The Postal Service should:

— Communicate realistic performance targets. Because the Postal Service has yet to monitor, evaluate, and assess these new service standards in the field, it should consider a 95 percent on-time target as aspirational, due to the highly dynamic factors involved in the postal mail network; the Postal Service should regularly update and publicly communicate realistic targets throughout its implementation.

— Monitor implementation to balance savings and service. The Postal Service should ensure cost savings are realized but balanced with and not prioritized over maintaining high-quality service standards.

— Monitor implementation to drive transportation efficiency. The Postal Service should closely monitor the implementation of its plan to determine whether the new potential surface transportation network actually increases efficiency and capacity utilization.

— Gauge customer satisfaction specifically for its proposed changes. The Postal Service should monitor customer satisfaction going forward, particularly for customer and mailer segments that may be most impacted by the change.

— Allow transparency into ongoing feedback and consider changes due to that feedback. The Postal Service should be more transparent in the feedback it receives from stakeholders and keep its plan flexible to the needs of customers, stakeholders, and the general public.

— Limit the use of econometric demand analyses for purposes in which it does not provide meaningful results. The Postal Service should not rely upon its filed econometric analysis to estimate the impact of the proposed service changes on volume.”