Recent storms have already slowed down U.S. Postal Service delivery in the tri-state area and new service changes going into effect Friday are expected to further delay packages during the busiest time of the year.
Starting Oct. 1, the U.S. Postal Service will be implementing new service standards for first-class mail and periodicals. The move is part of the agency’s 10-year plan intended to improve service and achieve financial sustainability, but it's expected to slow down delivery times.
The good news is that 70% of first-class mail will not be affected. The bad news is that long distance first-class mail will definitely take longer. Depending on how far the package is going, it could take up to 3-5 days for it to arrive.
USPS says it will use overland truck routes instead of costly airplanes for transport.
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"Definitely across the board, expect to pay a little bit more, wait a little bit longer for the things that you would have normally taken for granted," said Bindiya Vakil, the CEO of supply chain risk management company Resilinc.
Mail service was already being slowed by a roof collapse at the Newark processing center caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida a month ago. Now the USPS says it's adding one day of service in more than a dozen zip codes from Newark to Hackensack and all the way up to Poughkeepsie.
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The USPS is also hiring 40,000 seasonal workers as it expects to transport a record of number of items being sent all over the world this holiday.
