TL;DR
Postal and delivery systems in North America are showing sustained declines in reliability and mounting financial losses. Public and private carriers face structural pressures—fewer letters, more addresses, rising costs—and customer trust is eroding.
What happened
A mixture of long-term structural shifts and recent operational failures has driven noticeable deterioration in postal and logistics performance. U.S. first-class on‑time delivery fell from roughly 93.6% in 2022 to about 81% in 2024, while average transit times increased by nearly a day. The Postal Service revised performance targets under the 2021 Delivering for America plan but subsequently missed benchmarks, prompting further downward revisions for fiscal 2025. Local breakdowns have been severe: an Atlanta regional center saw on‑time rates collapse and long truck backlogs, delaying passports and medically time‑sensitive screening kits. Canada Post has run consecutive losses—more than $5 billion since 2018—with a large 2024 loss and emergency government funding in 2025 to avoid insolvency. Private carriers show their own reliability problems: a study found a high incidence of delivery failures and incentives that can encourage false “attempted delivery” reports. Observers describe the sector as under stress despite a larger global logistics market.
Why it matters
- Delayed or lost deliveries can have direct health, legal and personal consequences (examples include invalidated medical tests and missed travel documents).
- Postal reliability is an indicator of broader institutional capacity to move information and goods across society.
- Financial instability in public postal operators requires government intervention to avoid service collapse, at taxpayer cost.
- Private carriers are not consistently filling the gap; systemic incentives and operational shortcuts undermine trust.
Key facts
- U.S. first-class on-time delivery: about 93.6% in 2022 vs ~81% in 2024.
- Average delivery time for a first-class letter rose from 2.96 days (2022) to 3.76 days (2024).
- Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 2021 Delivering for America plan lowered service standards; the Postal Regulatory Commission warned the 95% target was unreliable.
- A new regional distribution center in Atlanta coincided with on-time 3–5 day mail dropping from 80% to 56% in Georgia; at one point Atlanta delivered only 20% on time.
- Examples of operational harm: passports delayed by over a month and 870 at‑home colon cancer screening tests arriving so late they were medically invalid.
- USPS reported $9.5 billion in losses for fiscal year 2024; postage rates for Priority Mail and Ground Advantage increased in January 2025.
- Canada Post has recorded more than $5 billion in losses since 2018, a $841 million loss in 2024, a $407 million loss in Q2 2025, and received $1.034 billion in emergency funding in mid‑2025.
- Canada Post workers staged a 32‑day national strike in late 2024 during peak season; many customers who switched carriers during the strike reportedly have not returned.
- A Descartes study found 73% of consumers experienced a delivery failure within a three‑month period (failures include lost packages or incorrect delivery notifications).
- The global logistics market was estimated at $11 trillion in 2025, up from $9 trillion in 2023, even as parts of the sector face a quiet recession.
What to watch next
- Whether USPS meets its revised FY2025 performance goals after recent downward revisions.
- The impact of Canada Post’s emergency funding on its long‑term finances and operational reforms (not confirmed in the source).
- Whether customers who switched to private carriers during strikes or outages return to public postal services, and how that affects parcel volumes (not confirmed in the source).
Quick glossary
- Logistics: The planning and execution of moving goods or information from origin to destination, including transport, warehousing, and distribution.
- First‑class mail: A class of postal service typically used for letters and small packages that usually receives priority processing and delivery.
- Parcel volume: The total quantity of packages handled by a carrier, a key revenue driver as traditional letter volumes decline.
- Performance target: A measurable service-level goal set by an organization to track operational reliability (e.g., percentage of on‑time deliveries).
Reader FAQ
Why are deliveries getting slower?
The source links slower service to falling letter volumes, more delivery points, operational bottlenecks, staffing and infrastructure pressures, and changes to service standards.
Is the U.S. Postal Service losing money?
Yes; the USPS reported $9.5 billion in losses for fiscal year 2024.
Is privatization solving the problem?
Not according to the source. Private carriers also show high rates of delivery failure and practices that can reduce actual attempts to deliver.
Will emergency funding fix Canada Post?
Not confirmed in the source.
Logistics is Dying; or – Dude, Where's my Mail? llms.txt Jan 8, 2026 / 19 Nivôse 234 170 Alex S. 9 minutes / 1795 words ↳ Pony Express Rider, oil…
Sources
- Logistics Is Dying; Or – Dude, Where's My Mail?
- How the Largest USPS Mail-Trucking Collapse Since …
- The Parcel Delivery Industry is collapsing under its own …
- Why One Late Delivery Can Throw Off an Entire Day …
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