April 29, 2021

USPS moving ahead with service standards

The Postal Service is moving rapidly ahead with a change in First Class Mail service standards effective this September.  About 30 percent of current First Class that travels by air to try to meet a 3-day standard will move to ground and 4- or 5-days delivery.  Some 2-day First Class will move to 3-days.

USPS promises these changes will result in much more reliable service and cost savings.  Where First Class standards are increased by 1 or 2 days, the standards for end-to-end Periodicals that are merged with FCM will increase by the same number of days.  The USPS slide show on these changes is available here.

Nonprofits will need to adjust their expectations about the return of donations, bill payments, subscriptions, and memberships.  But they should be more reliable.  No rate reductions are planned for the service reductions.