The Office of Inspector General report shows the U.S. Postal Service racing to put significant resources towards what will certainly be another record for parcel delivery. While the actions show significant progress, the is an acknowledgement that the the resources may not be in place to handle the deluge of packages.
The postal agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) report from November 19th shows the post office fully committed to meeting the challenges. While most headlines report the possibility - or even likelihood - of a lack of resources - we find the report to be an encouraging sign of the USPS team efforts.
Here are some insights into what the inspectors report revealed and tips for international ecommerce merchants shipping direct to the USA
Automation and sorting machines
The Postal Service has installed 84 of the planned 89 package processing machines for processing facilities with contingency and alternative processing plans in place.
Labour availability to USPS
The Postal Service’s plan to hire 45,000 temporary employees for this peak season is expected to fall short due to the nationwide shortage of labour.
Ground Transport Capacity to USPS during Peak Season
The shortage of commercial truck drivers is expected to impact the ability to secure needed capacity. USPS plans to minimize this risk by consolidating at STC’s and having greater utilization of capacity. The Postal Service - according the to the report - has increased air transport capacity by 12% from last year’s peak
Less maniac Monday thanks to Sunday USPS Delivery
The agency launched its expanded Sunday delivery service. It expects to deliver more than 9 million packages each Sunday throughout the holiday period.
USPS: The Peak keeps getting higher
The Postal Service expects to handle close to a billion packages this peak. Last year’s number was 0.925 billion.
Better Service but not without challenges
The report mentioned that postal executives “very confident or confident” of timely delivery during this peak season. The main area of concern is the ability to secure the necessary surface transportation capacity.
More Ports of Entry and Better Access to USPS
For international e-commerce sellers seeking access to the USA, It is best to take advantage of a multiple port access. Although this can thin out the volume, the advantage of being able to inject directly into major population regions significantly increase service. The increase cost of having multiple processes are not significant and more than offset by dynamic zip code based routing.
Increasingly, global shippers are building enough volume to mix and match local regional carriers with postal solutions via multiple port dynamic labeling and routing.
USPS: Global Direct Entry from the World
The USPS is the most critical element for e-commerce direct to consumer merchants. The agency services as a platform that is open to both domestic and International e-commerce merchants. Their reactivity to the challenge of exponential volume growth is an encouraging sign.
Link to OIG Report: https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library-files/2021/21-206-R22.pdf
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