USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announces March 24 as his last day

Following a February 18 announcement by the United States Postal Service (USPS), which stated that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy notified the Postal Service Board of Governors to begin the search for “identifying his successor,” DeJoy announced yesterday that March 24 would be his last day in the role.

DeJoy was named the 75th Postmaster General in May 2020, replacing Megan Brennan, who served in the role from 2015 to May 2020. He was the fifth Postmaster General to come from the private sector since the USPS became an independent establishment within the Executive Branch in 1971. DeJoy’s background is heavily focused on logistics and supply chains, with more than 35 years of experience. During his tenure as chairman and CEO of New Breed Logistics, he spent years collaborating with the USPS, Boeing, Disney, Verizon, and United Technologies, among others, providing supply chain logistics, program management, and transportation support, according to the USPS.

Until a successor is named, Doug Tulino, USPS Deputy Postmaster General, will serve as interim Postmaster General.

“I strongly believe that the organization is well-positioned and capable of carrying forward and fully implementing the many strategies and initiatives that comprise our transformation and modernization, and I have been working closely with the Deputy Postmaster General to prepare for this transition,” said DeJoy. “While our management team and the men and women of the Postal Service have established the path toward financial sustainability and high operational performance—and we have instituted enormous beneficial change to what had been an adrift and moribund organization—much work remains that is necessary to sustain our positive trajectory. I am confident that Doug will continue our positive momentum during the period when the Governors undertake the important work of identifying and selecting the next Postmaster General. I also have no doubt that the entirety of the Postal Service will aggressively shape its future and become more efficient, capable, and competitive as it continuously changes and improves to best serve the American public.”

As previously reported, in a February letter to the Board of Governors, DeJoy explained that the role of Postmaster General is demanding and made more difficult by the “devastating condition” the USPS was in when he first started, adding that there was “an almost unceasing resistance to change—without offering any viable solutions—from stakeholders motivated by parochial and political purposes.”

He noted that in the early days of his tenure, during the onset of the pandemic, the USPS was in disarray and on the verge of running out of cash within 60 days. At that time, the USPS had incurred two decades of losses, totaling $90 billion, and faced more than $20 billion in deferred facility maintenance. Additionally, the USPS's 10-year projections forecasted another $200 billion in expected losses over the next decade.

DeJoy observed that the USPS business model had been broken for more than two decades, citing the organization’s structure—31,000 national facilities serving 260,000 routes covering more than 168 million delivery points at least six days a week—as a massive system that required precise alignment between revenue-producing products and services, operational costs, and performance expectations.

“This alignment requirement was long ignored or abandoned, causing catastrophic losses, diminished viability of our products, and significant service performance disappointments,” he wrote.

That situation led to the USPS Board of Governors and USPS associates moving forward with the organization’s “Delivering for America” plan, which was introduced in 2021. The plan focused on achieving financial sustainability and service excellence to meet customer and business needs. DeJoy stated that the plan had several objectives, such as meeting the USPS’s legal obligations to provide prompt, reliable, and efficient service, while also being financially self-sufficient. He also emphasized that the plan required the USPS to cover its costs through the sale of Postal products and services and by running a cost-effective operation.

DeJoy outlined several major strategies and outcomes required for the USPS to stay on the right path for future decades, including:

• transportation cost reductions of $2 billion annually;
• mail processing cost reductions of approximately $1.5 billion annually;
• revenue growth initiatives of approximately $5 billion;
• a significant incentivized reduction in the workforce to right-size the organization enabled by an improved operating model;
• a major deployment of new vehicles;
• an air and ground network modernization that rivals those of its formidable competitors;
• maintenance, rehabilitation and equipping efforts to several thousand facilities to recover from years of neglect;
• a suite of new package shipping products to generate billions in new revenue at a lower cost;
• a sales organization that successfully penetrates the marketplace;
• an engaged and productive workforce; and
• new rules for mail and package flow that aggregate and accelerate significant volume

Rob Martinez, founder of San Diego-based parcel consultancy Shipware, told LM that under DeJoy’s leadership, the USPS has undertaken significant financial and operational reforms, leading to some improvements in financial metrics and viability. But conversely, he noted that these changes have also led to service delays and Post Office closures, particularly in rural areas, higher postage costs (which many argue has contributed to volume declines in First Class mail), and customer dissatisfaction and distrust.

“It will be interesting to see which candidates will be considered by the USPS Board of Governors to replace DeJoy,” said Martinez. “After a tumultuous five years of constant change at the hands of an outsider, the Board may again consider individuals with a background in postal operations.”

John Haber, Chief Strategy Officer, for Transportation Insight, said this represents an interesting development, while adding he is not surprised that DeJoy is transitioning out of the role

“While he became Postmaster General during Donald Trump's first term, there was certainly friction between Trump and the USPS over election ballots in subsequent elections—as we have clearly seen, there has been massive turnover within many sectors of the Federal government since Trump started his second term,” explained Haber. “There is considerable speculation that President Trump would like to privatize the USPS. The USPS continues to lose billions of dollars every year and is in massive financial debt. It's a unique entity in that it's more like a quasi-government entity—it's funded by the Federal government, has a monopoly on the First-Class stamp, yet competes in the private sector against public companies such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL. The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) is not pleased to say the least, and Mark Dimondstein, President of the APWU has publicly stated 'make no mistake, the Postal Service is under attack.' This will be very interesting to follow, as many unions and union members supported Trump in the most recent election—I'm not suggesting the APWU supported Trump during the election, but unions across lots of different industries pay very close attention to developments that have significant impacts on other unions.”

USPS Postal Service Chair Amber McReynolds said that the Postal Service Board of Governors greatly appreciate DeJoy’s enduring leadership and his tireless efforts to modernize the Postal Service and reverse decades of neglect.

“I commend Postmaster General DeJoy for inspiring the Postal Service with strategic direction, a competitive spirit, and a culture of achievement that comes from the successful implementation of large-scale change,” she said. “I have seen this spirit of purpose grow steadily during my time on the Board of Governors, and I am confident it will continue to grow as progress begets further progress, and the promise of a transformed and modernized Postal Service is fully realized.”

In February, the USPS issued fiscal first quarter earnings results, which saw some annual gains.

Operating revenue, at $22.499 billion, increased 4.1%, annually, paced by what the USPS called strategic price increases, as well as a strong political and election mailing season. Net income, at $144 million, marked a solid turnaround, compared a $2.1 billion net loss a year ago, largely driven by various strategic initiatives through the organization’s “Delivering for America” plan. Total quarterly volume, at 31.015 million pieces, rose 1.8% annually.

Since then, it has been making headlines on various fronts, including reports noting that the White House intended to make major changes to the organization, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that members of the USPS governing board would be fired and also put the USPS under the direct control of the United States Department of Commerce. And a Washington Post report said that the board has retained outside counsel and gave “instructions to the White House if the president removed members of the board or attempt to alter the agency’s independent status.”

But this development is far from a done deal, with reports citing the White House as saying that it has no plans to issue an executive order.

And various reports published last week highlighted a letter sent to Congress by United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy indicating that the USPS is eyeing cutting 10,000 employees through a voluntary retirement program, which the USPS announced in January, in the coming weeks, coupled with the USPS saying it will work with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Last week, the USPS said it is taking steps to implement refinements to service standards, including new online tools and a fact sheet to help customers prepare for the changes, which it said will  affect First-Class Mail, Periodicals, Marketing Mail, Package Services (including Bound Printed Matter, Media Mail, and Library Mail), USPS Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express.

USPS said that these measures are estimated to save the Postal Service a minimum of $36 billion over the next decade through reductions in transportation, mail and package processing and real estate costs. And it added that the service standards refinement will occur in two phases to ensure effective operational implementation: the first phase will begin April 1, with the second phase slated to start July 1.

Gordon Glazer, Independent Parcel Consultant, USPS Specialist, told LM that it is disheartening to see these sweeping changes impacting the Postal Service, especially given its existing challenges.

“While it's often described as a quasi-governmental agency rather than a fully federal one, these adjustments seem likely to further diminish service quality, particularly in Rural America,” he said. “It appears DeJoy's strategy relies on averages, which could mask the disproportionate impact on the heartland.”

From a shippers’ perspective, there isn’t much of substance in regards to this initiative, according to Matt Bohn, Director of Carrier Mix Optimization, for Shipware.

“Overall, most of the highest used services should receive roughly the same transit time,” said Bohn. “The ability to look up service standard on a zip-to-zip basis is starting today. They are estimating a $36B+ savings over a 10-year period, which would hopefully lead to further improvements.  It will be interesting to see if the ‘2-3-day turnaround service within regions and specific local areas,’ will improve transit and/or pricing in those areas. Overall, there really isn’t much that I see that will be major changes.”