by Rob Pue, New American Prophet, ©2025
(Jun. 3, 2025) — I realize there are many more pressing problems in our nation and world today than what I’m about to discuss, but these issues are already being addressed very well right now by others. What’s not getting much attention — and I feel needs to — are the ongoing failures within the US Postal Service.
The USPS has been in a nosedive, downward spiral for years and it’s only getting worse. While this agency continues to raise prices and continues to operate as an unsustainable, failing business, the service has gotten so bad now I feel we must address the situation head on.
I visit the local post office just about every day. I know the workers there well, and they know me. Over the past six months, I’ve had three postal employees, on three separate occasions tell me that they believe the Postmaster General is deliberately trying to destroy the agency. They were referring to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who resigned this past March. In July, David Steiner, who has served on the board of FedEx will take over that position. Maybe that will be a step in the right direction, but the agency is so messed up right now, it’ll take years to straighten out, if it can be saved at all.
Just as an example, the mail service lost $9.5 billion last year, and $3.3 billion already this year. And recently, the USPS announced “Service Standard Changes.” Their fact sheet states the changes will come in two phases. The first began April 1st and the second will begin July 1st. While their fact sheet states that “all mail will benefit from more reliable service,” here’s what I’ve experienced since April 1st, when their first phase began.
As I ship large envelopes with copies of our printed newspaper to new subscribers, those envelopes, sent by first-class mail, which used to have estimated delivery times of 2-3 days are now showing up on my receipts as “expected in 7-8 days.” So, I don’t hold high hopes for their new “service standards.”
Things were bad enough already. And I’ve had a lot of bad experiences. Several years ago, I sent a flier to all of our readers and supporters in Wisconsin, to promote an upcoming Conference. I also sent one to myself, so that I’d know approximately when people would be receiving these. I used the USPS bulk mail service, and I mailed the flier six weeks in advance of the Conference, thinking this would be plenty of time, since, after all, I was only mailing to Wisconsin addresses, from Wisconsin. This was thousands of fliers we’re talking about.
They were shipped directly from our printing plant, which is approximately an hour away from my home. Take a guess as to how long it took for me to get my copy of the flier… eight weeks — two weeks after the Conference took place. Suffice to say that no one in Wisconsin received the mailing prior to our event, and we not only looked extremely foolish when people began receiving them two to three weeks after the Conference, but it was also a ton of money wasted on printing and postage.
We also use the USPS bulk mail service to ship subscriber copies of Wisconsin Christian News each month, since we’re mailing thousands of copies and first-class mail for all would definitely be cost-prohibitive. On the front page of the newspaper, near the address box, I do print the words “Time Sensitive Material — Please Deliver Promptly.” Of course, this really only serves to give the mailmen a good laugh. Even using bulk mail — and paying the bulk mail rate — we’re still spending a substantial amount of money to ship newspapers to subscribers, and it can take 2-4 weeks for our subscribers to receive their copies. Often times, they don’t receive them at all, and then I need to resend them, first-class.
Now, we’re shipping to subscribers in all fifty states, and the further away from Wisconsin you are, the longer it takes. Shipping bulk mail copies to subscribers in Texas or Florida — and other far-away states — can take 2-3 months to arrive, if they arrive at all. This, despite the Postal Service stating that bulk mail is delivered “nationally in 10 – 14 days, and locally within 4-6 days.” These are outright lies, because a large envelope, sent by first-class mail to an in-state address now shows me an “estimated” delivery time of 7-8 days.
This past November, we shipped our newspaper out as usual, but because it was bulk mail, even though our thousands of copies were hand delivered to the proper regional hubs that promised the fastest service, none of our newspapers went anywhere for a full three weeks. Then the long process of “bulk mail” service began. And although we shipped in mid-November, most didn’t get their papers until Christmas time or after, if they received them at all.
Read the rest here.