Rural packages are likely to get to where they’re going faster now that contract negotiations between the U.S. Postal Service and UPS have fallen apart for last-mile service. But it’s also likely to be more expensive.
The UPS service known as SurePost was primarily something businesses used as an economic way to send less urgent packages, like a shirt or a pair of shoes from a retailer. Under the arrangement, USPS would deliver the last mile of those UPS packages.
Now that the SurePost contract has expired and the USPS is not interested in renewing it, UPS says it will handle delivery of these rural packages door to door — except deliveries to post office boxes and military APO/FPO/DPO addresses.
Those will no longer be able to get a UPS package direct as they had under SurePost. And this is where just a little bit of confusion has come into play, according to a postal worker in a small northwest Wyoming town who spoke with Cowboy State Daily on condition of anonymity.
“Amazon packages are being returned by the armloads for my P.O. box customers,” the worker said about the recently expired SurePost deal. “Neither UPS nor USPS is talking about it, but it’s affecting customers nationwide.”
Many Small Wyoming Towns Only Have P.O. Boxes
Cowboy State Daily sent an inquiry to the USPS about SurePost ending, but there was no response at the time of this story posting.
In national news media, USPS spokesmen said the old agreement with UPS failed to reflect actual operational and financial considerations, as well as ways in which the USPS is changing its services.
One reason the SurePost change could have far-reaching impact in Wyoming is that so many of its towns are rural, Bob Jacknitsky, Wyoming state representative for the National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 321, told Cowboy State Daily.
“I would say that this is beneficial for the USPS in the long run,” he said. “I would also say that this is beneficial for the UPS employees.
“Unfortunately, I would say this is bad news for the rural communities, per usual. Since only USPS mailing can go into mailboxes, people will no longer be able to receive their UPS packages that way.”
Many of Wyoming’s towns are so small all they have are P.O. boxes, Jacknitsky added. In the short-run, that could mean lots of small Wyoming towns with packages being returned by the armload while all the SurePost deliveries work their way through the system.
“I read that the Teamsters are rejoicing on the additional packages and are already saying UPS needs to hire more workers,” Jacknitsky said. “With UPS being a for-profit company, all additional cost will be passed onto the customers.
“The USPS will most likely benefit from more people wanting to have their packages delivered to their mail receptacles.”
Jacknitsky predicted that USPS Ground Advantage will likely be the cheapest option for people who want mail delivered to their P.O. boxes rather than their homes.
In the case of military addresses like APO/DPO/FPO boxes, that may be the only option going forward.
Why Packages Will Be Faster
Jacknitsky was referencing Facebook posts by the Teamsters Union that have called on UPS to add staff, in part to curb “excessive” overtime, as 3 million-some packages will be remaining on UPS trucks.
But what Cary Lambert, who delivers packages in the Happy Valley area for UPS, believes will happen in practice is just fewer layoffs. Because of that, he doesn’t expect costs to rise much at all.
“Traditionally, what happens is we have eight drivers who are not assigned who do not have routes,” he said. “So right after Christmas, two to three of those people after the Christmas rush slows down, those people are laid off.”
Lambert thinks those people will instead keep working their shifts for longer.
“We’ll be keeping everyone busy,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to come in the next week or two, after things start slowing down a little bit, but if people are laid off it’s going to be maybe one or two, versus like four or five, after Christmas.”
Lambert also thinks package deliveries will get faster for rural areas than they have been in the long run. In the past, what he’s seen happen is that there’s a lag time while USPS processes the SurePost packages it receives for last-mile delivery.
“The customer kind of doesn’t understand that,” Lambert said. “They think it’s going to be delivered that day when it goes to USPS, but (the mail carriers) have to receive them. They’ve got to check them in. It could be two to three business days later.”
And, if a package turns out to be too large for a rural route box, the customer gets a slip to come to the post office for their package instead, adding yet another day to the delivery time.
“So not only are you three days late getting that little slip, but you have to go get it,” he said. “So altogether that could be anywhere between a four- to an eight-day business day delay.”
By skipping the middleman, UPS packages will get to their locations faster, Lambert said, at what he believes will be close to the same rates.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
