The U.S. Postal Service has fallen far short of consumer expectations. America’s mail carrier delivered 84% of mail on-time for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, compared to around 91% for the same quarter last year. Consumers from Houston to Atlanta have complained that delivery slowdowns are leading to delayed paychecks, bills, and critical medications. Pundits and politicians have blamed the USPS’ “network modernization” plans (including facility consolidations) for delays.

In response to a May 8 letter signed by 26 senators calling for a halt to these changes, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy agreed to pause consolidations until 2025. This pause will only add to agency costs without addressing the root cause of delivery problems. It’s time for an honest conversation about red ink and delivery delays at the USPS.

In their letter to DeJoy, the senators claim, “In regions where USPS has implemented significant changes, on-time mail delivery has declined.” The lawmakers call on postal leadership to “pause all changes, including administrative approvals and on-the-ground changes, until the PRC completes [its] study [of the changes] and USPS incorporates the results.” While it’s critical that the USPS keeps the Postal Regulatory Commission informed of changes to its delivery network, the concerns expressed in this letter greatly oversimplify the delivery woes facing America’s mail carrier. The truth is that a variety of factors are detrimentally impacting on-time deliveries.

In a recent report about conditions at the South Houston Local Processing Center (LPC), the USPS inspector general found multiple issues including, “delayed mail awaiting processing; delayed mail awaiting dispatch; facility conditions with safety, security, and maintenance concerns; and a lack of communication with stakeholders.” The LPC had underreported the volume of delayed mail by about 60%, and there were approximately “224,000 pieces of delayed mail waiting to be dispatched to other locations across the nation.”

But, because “delayed mail was not reported due to a lack of communication among facility management” and “Postal Service management failed to evaluate and adjust the logistics schedule to align with the dispatch needs of the South Houston LPC,” the mail is destined to sit around as millions of Americans anxiously wait by their mailboxes. The inspector general stated what should be obvious to postal leadership. “When transportation is not properly planned and scheduled to align with the operational needs, the mail will not be delivered on time, which adversely affects Postal Service customers and harms the Postal Service brand.”

Another key cause of the slowdown is the increased prevalence of packages in the mix with the other mail. A May 6 inspector general report concluded that the Bemidji Post Office (in Minnesota) has been experiencing significant delays and staff shortages because “headquarters management did not have a comprehensive plan to assess resources at the [post office] before adding additional package volume to its delivery operations.” A large shipper began dropping off a significant supply of parcels at the post office, skyrocketing the number of work hours required to handle and sort through all the new packages. This kicked off a sad cycle of workers quitting and retiring early, leaving the remaining workforce to deal with more than 2,400 new packages per day. It didn’t help that, “[d]ue to the inaccurate reporting of delayed mail … management at the district, area, and headquarters levels did not have an accurate status of mail delays.” As was the case with the South Houston LPC, lack of communication was a critical factor in keeping the mail from reaching consumers.

Better communication, along with thoroughly planning for and evaluating mail mix, would go a long way toward delivering to consumers on-time. Facility consolidations should be studied in close detail, but painting the policy as the root cause of delivery delays is misleading and counterproductive. It will take an “all-of-the-above” approach to improve operations at the USPS.

David Williams is the president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.