Justin Sullivan/Getty

The Nationwide Trucker Shortage Has Hit the Postal Service

Recruiting and retaining both its own drivers and contractors is a big challenge.

For the past week, a group of truckers known as the “Freedom Convoy” has circled the Capital Beltway outside Washington, and begun to venture into the city. Perhaps some of the truckers might consider stopping off and filing a job application at the U.S. Postal Service while they’re in town. USPS, like other employers of truckers, is looking to hire. 

“The ongoing national truck driver shortage is…hugely consequential to postal operations,” the Postal Service inspector general’s office recently reported. USPS has been short about 1,000 drivers in its Postal Vehicle Service for several years. The vehicle service, along with private-sector suppliers in USPS’s Highway Contract Route system, handles mail between postal facilities that are less than 300 miles apart. Long-haul routes of more than 300 miles are handled exclusively by HCR contractors. 

So far, the vehicle shortage hasn’t had an impact on service, postal officials say. But it has put more stress on the existing trucking workforce. Officials at the American Postal Workers Union reported that overtime has dramatically increased since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the contract route side, postal officials told the IG there has been an uptick recently in what they call “omitting service”—failure to fully provide the level of service outlined in their contracts. At the same time, the costs of contracting have increased. Payments for long-haul trucking services increased by nearly 20% in fiscal 2021, to almost $3 billion. 

The National Star Route Mail Contractors Association said the difficulty of recruiting and retaining truck drivers has been a key factor in the cost increases. It has also led to a rise in the number of suppliers giving up their contracts because they can’t make a profit on them. 

The cost of hiring and retaining truck drivers may make it difficult for the Postal Vehicle Service to meet its workforce needs. But while it’s difficult for USPS to match private sector salaries, its employment policies can work to its advantage. For example, postal trucking schedules are predictable and consistent. Also, under union labor agreements, drivers must be given two consecutive days off per week. Likewise, USPS contracts with suppliers offer more predictable schedules than are typically found in private industry. 

Other factors besides pay and scheduling can adversely affect driver retention. Things as simple as access to bathrooms and amenities at loading facilities can make a difference. Trucking contractors told the IG that “drivers are instructed at some Postal Service facilities to wait by their vehicle and do not have access to restrooms within the facility. They also noted specific instances of [contract route] drivers waiting in lines outside facilities without access to bathrooms in November and December 2020, during peak season.”

The total pool of contractors USPS works with has declined by about a third since 2018. Postal officials said they are working to expand the number of contractors by bringing in new commercial trucking companies that don’t have prior experience serving USPS. But requirements that contractors pay their employees locally prevailing wages, along with security and equipment requirements, can make it difficult for the Postal Service to compete with private companies for trucking services. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.