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USPS Network Plan Includes Insourcing of Linehaul Work

| Mike O'Brien

A U.S. Postal Service plan to insource all line hauling of mail and parcels between hubs and local delivery units, which had been handled by contractors, will be completely phased in by 2025, according to a source with knowledge of meetings with USPS officials. The USPS says “some” contract carriers will be affected by the change, which is part of its 10-year Delivering for America overhaul plan.

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DeJoy Details USPS Network Overhaul

| Mike O'Brien

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy detailed how his team is working to implement an extreme makeover of the U.S. Post Service’s distribution and delivery network, in an effort to “unwind” past mistakes that created inefficiencies and hobbled its ability to execute on its mission.

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USPS: $2.5B Net Loss, Parcel Volume Drop in Q2

| Mike O'Brien

The U.S. Postal Service reported a net loss that ballooned by $1.8 billion and a 5% decline in parcel volume for the second quarter, as the USPS faces the same ecommerce declines as other major carriers while wrestling with pain from a major network overhaul, union unrest and battles over its up-and-down EV adoption. Parcel revenue was down 2% to $7.6 billion, but first-class mail inched up to $6.3 billion.

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Pitney Bowes Gains 4 of 5 Hestia-Backed Directors

| Mike O'Brien

Pitney Bowes shareholders voted to add four new directors from a slate of five proposed by activist firm Hestia Capital Management to join the nine-member board, backing a group of investors looking for wholesale changes to reverse the fortunes of the postal consolidation and cross-border ecommerce firm. Both sides pledged to work together for the betterment of the company. The market boosted the stock.

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Pitney Bowes Reports Q1 Decline Ahead of Shareholder Meeting

| Mike O'Brien

Pitney Bowes reported a 10% drop in Q1 revenue and a net loss of $8 million vs. income of $21 million in 2022, and announced unspecified staff cuts in its global ecommerce and domestic parcel units, as it looks at a contentious shareholder meeting with major investors eager for wholesale changes. The opposition group has put forward turnaround specialist Lance Rosenzweig as an interim CEO candidate.

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PRC Orders Review of USPS Overhaul Plan

| Mike O'Brien

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) has ordered a public review of various aspects of the U.S. Postal Service’s ten-year overhaul plan, including consolidating sort and delivery operations into regional centers, opening up public input on the impact of the changes. The PRC will issue information requests to the USPS about proposed network changes as part of the Delivering for America plan.

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USPS Getting EVs from Ford, Diesels from Chrysler

| Mike O'Brien

The U.S. Postal Service has awarded Ford a contract to deliver 9,250 electric delivery vehicles, while ordering an equal number of diesel-powered Dodge Ram vans to fill its immediate needs, plus 14,000 charging stations from three separate firms. Overall, the USPS will purchase at least 66,000 EVs between now and 2028, or 62% of the total fleet.

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USPS Parcel Volume Drops, Revenue Increases

| Mike O'Brien

Pricing increases on parcel delivery helped the U.S. Postal Service in Q1, as parcel volume declined 3.5% to 70 million pieces, while parcel revenue gained 2.4% to $8.84 billion. Overall revenue increased 1% to $21.5 billion, with a net loss of $1.03 billion, an improvement over $1.55 billion a year earlier.

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Opinion: Will There Be DeJoy in USPS-Ville?

| Mike O'Brien

It’s an open question whether Louis DeJoy will survive in his highly politicized position as Postmaster General long enough to see the wide-ranging reforms he wants to enact realized, or at least started. Considering the critical importance of the USPS, with its every-ZIP-every-door-every-day mandate, a lot hangs in the balance.

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USPS Posts in the Black, Promises to Address Problems

| Mike O'Brien

The U.S. Postal Service had a very rare quarter in the black, and the Postmaster General promised to implement a bold 10-year plan to address shortfalls in service, infrastructure and the workforce, saying the disastrous delivery performance over the holidays was unacceptable.