Middle Tennessee residents could see delays in mail service starting in October. 

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy confirmed over the weekend that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is changing its standard timeframe for delivering first-class letters, flat envelopes, and items like magazines.  Delivery is expected to go from a one-to-three-day window to a one-to-five-day window for mail sent within the contiguous United States. 

More News from the USPS:

The below remarks are as prepared for delivery by Postmaster General and CEO Louis DeJoy during the open session meeting of the Postal Service Board of Governors on Aug. 6, 2021.

“Yesterday, we announced our fourth-quarter service performance standards through July and there continues to be encouraging signs of improvement that Scott will later share with you. 

As I have been travelling the nation and working more broadly on our initiatives, our workforce continues to be an inspiration to me and I am committed to working with all our stakeholders in achieving a bright future for the Postal Service.

One of our most important initiatives that is currently underway is our preparations for peak season.

Across the nation, our teams are laser focused on major and transformative near-term initiatives that we have planned to deliver a successful holiday season to our customers and the American people. 

Facilities and equipment have been added at a magnitude not endeavored here in a long time and at a pace that rivals any high performing commercial enterprise."

"In addition, our commitment to growing the ranks of our long-term career employees is approaching 40,000 new teammates since January — providing greater stability and enabling us to provide career opportunities to tens of thousands of new employees.

Across the nation, Postal Service teams from Logistics, Processing, Retail, Delivery, Engineering, Technology, Facilities, Human Resources, Marketing and Commerce are working plant by plant, lane by lane, route by route, post office by post office and customer by customer to make your experience with us this peak season … very simply put … the best ever! So have confidence … and please send us all your mail and packages!!

I came to the Postal Service 14 months ago at a time when, for a variety of reasons, we were in a significant crisis. More importantly, we did not have a comprehensive plan to correct the trajectory of our future which—to sum up—was headed for continued financial insolvency and continued diminished use and relevance to the nation, despite the loyalty so many have toward our great brand.

Declining mail volume, unattainable service standards, billions of dollars in annual losses, lack of investment, employment instability, and a weakening position in the fast-growing package delivery market was taking us in only one direction—down! The numbers show it—
and to think otherwise chooses to overlook difficult truths."

"In March, we launched our “Delivering for America” plan, which attempts to change that direction. While not perfect—it can continue to improve as we move forward and work with customers, Congress, union leaders and other stakeholders.  We are committed to engaging and moving forward.

And as we do, stakeholder pushback and critique can be expected, and they are entitled to. We are listening and have adjusted some in response to feedback—and will continue to. But having said that—the majority of the roar is to stop what we are doing—study more, increase service, keep prices low, cut employee benefits and a host of other single interest issues disguised as solutions—which they are not. In fact, the best days of this thinking and what it has to offer has come and gone….and it resulted in the Postal Service that I joined 14 months ago—one whose very existence was threatened.

The DFA, while certainly proposing some uncomfortable changes, makes a commitment to delivering mail and packages through an integrated network to every address in the nation, six days a week, and strives for financial sustainability—the Congressional mandate, by the way. This plan calls for investments in facilities, technology, equipment, and people, enabling us to evolve our organization to address current economic trends, provide affordable and reliable service and therefore enhance our relevancy to the American people. The complete opposite of a threatened existence."

While I know the outcomes from our plan are yet to come, we are confident we are headed in the right direction, which is slightly away from what we have done in the past—as we know what we have done in the past has not worked. And that, in fact, has been proven.

As you know, we have made many filings and are moving forward with our plans.  We have received the PRC’s review of our first-class standards change—and will adhere to most of these recommendations and will move forward immediately with this initiative.

I would like to congratulate our management team for their commitment to our initiatives and their leadership.  Each day I see an increasingly vibrant organization working to serve the American people in an improving way.

I also want to thank the 644,000 women and men of the Postal Service.  Your commitment to our service is inspiring.”