PRC findings: USPS Remains Financially Unstable
The Postal Regulatory Commission (Commission) has issued its analysis of the United States Postal Service (Postal Service) Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Annual Performance Report and FY 2021 Performance Plan.
The Commission is statutorily required to review whether the Postal Service met its goals and may provide recommendations to the Postal Service related to the protection or promotion of public policy objectives. 39 U.S.C. § 3653(d).
In FY 2020, the most significant event affecting the Postal Service and the public was the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the pandemic occurred alongside both a decennial census year and a national election which, as a result of the pandemic, featured substantial increases in the number of voters voting by mail. And finally, late in FY 2020, the Postal Service undertook voluntary large-scale operational and structural changes. All of these factors taken together likely affected the ability of the Postal Service to meet some of its performance goals in FY 2020.
The Commission’s in-depth review of the Postal Service’s four performance goals: 1) High-Quality Service, 2) Excellent Customer Experiences, 3) Safe Workplace and Engaged Workforce, and 4) Financial Health finds that:
- The Postal Service did not meet the High-Quality Service performance goal, which measures on-time delivery of mail and packages.
- The Postal Service partially met the Excellent Customer Experiences performance goal, which measures customer service satisfaction, because it only met four of the eight targets associated with the goal.
- The Postal Service partially met the Safe Workplace and Engaged Workforce performance goal because it met the Total Accident Rate target but missed the Survey Response Rate target. The Postal Service also partially met the Financial Health performance goal—missing one target but meeting another.
The full report, including an appendix containing the Commission’s findings and recommendations for each goal, is available on the Commission’s website at www.prc.gov.
