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A US Postal Service chief has warned that the post office will undergo a major shake-up in just weeks, and customers will notice the difference immediately.
The USPS is set to introduce artificial intelligence to streamline operations, speed up responses, and overhaul its call center system.
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Marc McCrery, the agency’s VP of customer experience, revealed the bombshell changes during a keynote session at the Salesforce World Tour DC event.
After the pandemic, the postal service faced an overwhelming surge of complaints, handling nearly 100 million calls and 13 million service requests.
McCrery commended the service for handling unprecedented business levels but said there was always room for improvement.
While handling the service requests, the USPS was able to collect a vast amount of data, reported Next Gov.
Now, with new AI tools, executives hope to learn from their hard work and optimize sectors like the call center.
“In the summer, we’re going to be switching our call center platform to a cloud-based application where we have natural language interactions,” McCrery said.
“That’ll be the start of our AI journey.”
Package complaints make up a staggering 65% of all USPS customer grievances.
Execs hope that AI will be used to give more accurate, real-time updates on package deliveries.
McCrery said the tool will help track packages inside specific agency containers, pinpointing whether a delivery delay is widespread or an isolated issue.
“That’s very manual today. We can be learning and growing where we can then start to monitor the improvements of resolution and bring those into the innovation,” he said.
But there’s a new wrinkle in the plan.
The Trump administration, along with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, has thrown an extra layer of scrutiny into the USPS overhaul.
Last week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers he signed an agreement with the General Services Administration and DOGE to ramp up efficiency across the agency.
In a letter to Congress this week, DeJoy called for swift action as he sounded the alarm about the failing federal mail service and cited four changes he wants to implement.
Four changes needed at USPS
THE head of the US Postal Service issued an urgent warning about changes needed at the agency. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy laid out four big challenges in a letter to Congress in March:
- Retail Leases: DeJoy asked for help reviewing nearly 31,000 retail centers and the challenges of renewing leases due to ownership consolidation, urban development, and rising rental rates as long-term leases expire.
- Counterfeit Postage Crackdown: DeJoy highlighted USPS is combating an estimated $1 billion issue with counterfeit postage and called for “additional innovative solutions” to tackle the problem.
- Federal Law: DeJoy stated unfunded congressional mandates imposed by legislation are costing USPS between $6 billion and $11 billion annually.
- Regulations: DeJoy criticized “burdensome regulatory requirements” that limit USPS’s ability to operate normally, estimating that the Postal Regulatory Commission has caused over $50 billion in damage with defective pricing models.
Source: AXIOS
He also specifically asked the Department of Government Efficiency for help in addressing four main challenges.
The first concern centers around leases for USPS’ post offices and retail centers.
DeJoy said the agency is also battling a surge in counterfeit postage, which he said is costing an estimated $1 billion annually.
He wants help looking for “additional innovative solutions” to crack down on the fraud.
The third issue he noted was federal laws burdening the Postal Service.
He said unfunded congressional mandates are costing USPS between $6 billion and $11 billion every year.
And lastly, he highlighted regulatory restrictions that have piled on $50 billion in losses.
DeJoy, who has pushed aggressive cost-cutting and operational streamlining, is set to step down once a replacement is found.
President Donald Trump and Musk have previously voiced support for privatizing the USPS.
Adding to the uncertainty, The Washington Post reported last month that Trump was preparing an executive order to dissolve the service’s leadership and fold USPS into the Commerce Department.
That order has yet to be released, but the shake-up is looming.
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