In brief: The USPS is getting a new Postmaster General (PMG) from the private sector who will have to get to work stemming the agency’s continuing flow of red ink. The paper markets are quiet for the time being. Domestic freight markets have been stable, while imports into the U.S. have diminished under the weight of tariffs.
Built on our roots as a printer, mail industry partner and logistics leader, Quad is a marketing experience (MX) company focused on delivering streamlined solutions at scale to our clients. As the largest USPS customer, we are uniquely positioned to provide clients with best practices and insights on the latest postal, paper and logistics topics. If you have any questions or concerns during these challenging times for our industry, contact your Quad representative. We’ll tap our in-house experts to investigate and get you the answers you need.
Postal
David Steiner is named Postmaster General
On May 9, the USPS Board of Governors (BOG) announced that it had chosen business executive, attorney and recent FedEx board member David Steiner to replace Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General of the U.S. Postal Service.
Steiner was CEO of Waste Management from March 2004 to November 2016. He joined the FedEx board in 2009 and resigned effective May 9. He will assume his new USPS role after undergoing ethics and security clearance background checks, expected to be completed in July.
In a USPS Industry Alert announcing the appointment, Amber McReynolds, chair of the Postal Service BOG, praised Steiner’s experience and ability to ensure “this magnificent and historic organization thrives into the future. … Our board looks forward to working with Dave as he takes on the core mandates of providing universal and excellent service for the American public and doing so in a financially sustainable manner.”
Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, had a decidedly different take. In a statement to The Washington Post, which broke the news on May 6, Renfroe called Steiner’s appointment “privatization by proxy” and warned that, “The apparent choice of a postmaster general that comes directly from service on the board of directors of FedEx, one of the Postal Service’s primary competitors … is an unmistakable push to hand business over to private shippers.”
USPS continues to struggle financially
On the same day the BOG announced Steiner’s appointment, the USPS reported weak FY 2025 second-quarter (January through March) results.
The USPS lost $3.3 billion in Q2 versus $1.5 billion in the same quarter last year. That brings the agency’s six-month year-to-date (YTD) loss to $3.1 billion versus $3.5 billion in the same period last year.
The YTD loss includes a $0.3 billion charge for workers’ compensation. The USPS also subtracted retirement liability amortization, saying that brought its “controllable” Q2 loss to $0.8 billion.
Here is a breakout of Q2 results for a few specific mail categories:
You can find more information on the USPS’ Q2 results here.
Miscellaneous updates
USPS delivery performance
We saw overall good delivery during the second half of April and the first week of May. The chart below shows the average in-home curves for the Marketing Mail clients who tracked their mail with Quad’s IMsight application during this period. Historically, May and June are the months when the USPS performs best, as volume is relatively low.
| Week of 4/14 | Week of 4/21 | Week of 4/28 | Week of 5/5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early | 29% | 31% | 25% | 24% |
| Day 1 | 58% | 60% | 51% | 48% |
| Day 2 | 77% | 79% | 73% | 66% |
| Day 3 | 89% | 88% | 86% | 81% |
| Day 4 | 95% | 94% | 94% | 91% |
| 1 Day Late | 96% | 94% | 95% | 93% |
Specific facilities struggled with processing mail in a timely manner. Letter mail was delayed in Bismarck, N.D., South Suburban Illinois and NDC Chicago. As usual, Flat mail experienced more issues.
Below is a list of locations where less than 70% of mail was in-home by the Service Standard during the past month. St Louis has been having issues since Fall 2023. Indianapolis has struggled since the USPS opened its new RPDC in January. The Ohio locations seem to be worsening rather than improving with lower volume. We believe the delays are related to the network restructuring.
| Entry type | City | In-home by Service Standard |
|---|---|---|
| NDC | Cincinnati | 62% |
| NDC | Indianapolis | 53% |
| NDC | Memphis, Tenn. | 67% |
| NDC | St. Louis | 64% |
| SCF | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 60% |
| SCF | Dayton, Ohio | 38% |
| SCF | Indianapolis | 39% |
| SCF | Jacksonville, Fla. | 61% |
| SCF | St. Louis | 35% |
We continue to see significant delays with mail entering the USPS in Milwaukee (DMU/local mail produced in Wisconsin). The USPS takes Wisconsin mail to its Oak Creek facility, then moves it to Chicago two to three days later. Processing in Chicago typically does not start until three to six days after mail leaves Quad’s Wisconsin plants, which is causing delays. Quad continues to try to get USPS attention on this matter. We are especially concerned with the coming elimination of NDC entry. This will increase the amount of mail that enters locally.
USPS volume
| Mail volume for the week ended May 10, compared to last year |
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|---|---|---|
| Total Mail Volume | Down 1.2% |
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| Packages | Down 7.7% |
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| Single Piece | Down 8.5% |
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| Presort First Class | Down 8.7% |
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| Marketing Mail | Down 6.7% |
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| Periodicals | Down 16.5% |
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| Mail volume for the week ended May 3 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Total Mail Volume | Down 9.9% |
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| Packages | Down 6.8% |
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| Single Piece | Down 11.7% |
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| Presort First Class | Down 6.8% |
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| Marketing Mail | Up 3.4% |
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| Periodicals | Up 27.3% |
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| Mail volume for the week ended April 26 |
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|---|---|---|
| Total Mail Volume | Down 5.9% |
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| Packages | Down 8.5% |
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| Single Piece | Down 11.5% |
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| Presort First Class | Down 8.5% |
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| Marketing Mail | Up 0.5% |
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| Periodicals | Up 4.6% |
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| Mail volume for the week ended April 19 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Total Mail Volume | Down 1.8% |
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| Packages | Down 3.0% |
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| Single Piece | Down 3.1% |
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| Presort First Class | Down 1.9% |
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| Marketing Mail | Down 1.6% |
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| Periodicals | Down 27.9% |
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Paper market
The paper world has been quiet recently, with no major developments to report.
Logistics
Domestic freight markets have been stable, while imports into the U.S., especially from China, have diminished under the weight of tariffs. New developments on the trade front include:
As always, your Quad representative will work diligently to find you the lowest rates with the most efficient transportation available.
