The US Postmaster Want Elon Musk’s Doge to Save “Broken” USPS

The American Post Officer General knew sooner or later that Doge would call the US postal service.

So Louis DeJoy decides to work with him.

This week, the country’s best mailman will sign an agreement with Elon Musk’s government efficiency agreement, collaborate on reforms to vast services, delivering letters and packages from Tropical Guam to the Alaska wilderness. Rather than waiting for Doge’s crew to decide on changes, Dejoy wants to shape them.

“It was a short, healthy conversation,” DeJoy said in an interview a few days ago. “We’re out to race.”

read more:Postal Service Headsign Doge contracts to promote reform

He also wants to pinpoint a series of reforms he has pursued over the past four years. Unnoticed by most Americans, the venerable post office is trying to reinvent itself, trying to cut costs while moving to a modern hub-and-spoke distribution system similar to its competitors United Parcel Service Inc. and Fedex Corp.

For customers at least, Dejoy’s “American Delivery” reform plan has produced limited results, and many Americans are now waiting longer to get mail. but, letter Disclosing Doge’s deal to Congressional leaders on Thursday, Dejoy advertised the costs, saying staff have already cut and services are heading for better days.

“Postal Services once faced the threat of bankruptcy that required taxpayer relief,” he wrote. “Now, the post office is finally experiencing an unprecedented period of growth and innovation.”

Dejoy has already announced that he intends to step down from his office, despite the fact that America plans for a decade-long delivery are not yet in the middle. President Donald Trump is musing about keeping services private.Fold to the Ministry of CommerceMusk also called for privatization. In contrast, Dejoy’s letter sought to ensure that some versions of his own reforms continued after his departure.

According to those familiar with the details of the plan, at least two DOGE employees and GSA employees will work under Dejoy’s supervision, looking for potential savings and efficiency. “It’s not the military,” DeJoy said. “I’m still running the organization.”

Reforming the nearly 250-year postal service, employing 635,000 people, is a complicated task for its mission. Unlike its private competitors, USPS isRequiredTo reach Americans, no matter how small the population is. In fact, UPS and FedEx pay for services to cover “last mile” delivery in many rural areas. And while it is an independent government agency that is not under White House control and faces regulations and legal requirements, it is not the case with private competitors.

“The level of change required for US post offices is the level that is essentially needed to become a profitable network in 2025, and there’s a big disconnect between the two, while Dejoy was actually able to move the dial.”

Big loss

In his letter, Dejoy, a former private sector logistics executive and Trump donor who took office in 2020, said he inherited the organization he experienced.Nearly $100 billion lossesThey were on track to lose another $200 billion.

“When I got there, they didn’t consider how broken we were,” DeJoy told Bloomberg in December.

He never imagined staying at the agency for such a long time. “I originally came here for three years and fell in love with people,” DeJoy said Thursday. “That’s a very important job.”

Some of the changes he implemented were relatively simple. For example, instead of sending drivers in a half-empuri trailer, make sure the truck is full before you leave the route. Others have become even bigger, including consolidating facilities and changing the volumes from expensive air transport to ground trucks. The service has also established a series of 60 regional distribution centers.

He increased his revenue by focusing more on the package and increasing the fees.Stamp CostIt rose 33% between January 2019 and July 2024. The service is primarily self-funded through revenue from operations.

Dejoy also cuts immeasurable salaries for its services, with 30,000 labor workers expected to cut voluntarily from fiscal 2021, with another 10,000 people moving forwardEarly Resignation Program. Still, for all changes, the service posted a loss of $9.5 billion last year, but first-class mail delivery has declined.

Dejoy believes slower delivery is a temporary growth pain. He pushes employees to “step up and act like FedEx or UPS.” They were “a formidable organization, and we had a lot of transitions, a lot of heavy loads,” he said. Come in the summer, “We’re going to shake.”

In his letter, Dejoy asked Congress to fix some issues that could not be able to service itself. In particular, he said that unfunded federal legislative obligations will addle the agency at an annual cost of between $6 billion and $11 billion. And he specifically aimed to be the Postal Regulation Board, which oversees the fees and performance of services. He calls it “an unnecessary agent” and is attached to “a flawed pricing model and a bureaucratic process several decades ago.”

“I failed miserably.”

The committee was quickly fired and issuedstatementOn Thursday, Dejoy’s Dearive for America program reduced the efficiency of services, particularly in rural areas, and its performance was reduced. The Commissioner also focuses on a highly competitive packaging market, calling it a “strategy that has failed miserably so far.”

In February, Dejoy asked the Postal Service Committee to startLooking for a replacement for himthe process he wants will take months rather than years. Even critics of his plans praise him for his difficult work.

“In short, he’s confused with his successor.”Paul Steidlera senior fellow at the Lexington Institute, a think tank in the middle right of Virginia. “His plans aren’t working, but I’ll give the guy some credibility. At least he took a shot.”

Dejoy himself feels more confident now. “They know what they need to do, and that’s why I feel comfortable giving them a vacation,” he said. “And once I get this help from just laying out these issues, the postal service will be in great shape for a long time.”

This story was originally introduced Fortune.com