Top 10 Postal Stories of 2025

Happy New Year to all our Pushing the Envelope readers! Now that 2026 has started, we want to take some time to reflect on 2025, the Postal Service’s 250th anniversary. That’s right, the Postal Service predates the Declaration of Independence!

As we do every January, we looked over the biggest postal stories last year and developed our top 10 list. Let us know if you agree or disagree in the comments below. Now...drumroll, please...here’s our list:

10. Delaware animal shelter takes in thousands of stranded baby chicks from a misrouted postal shipment. The incident raised questions about the Postal Service’s handling of day-old poultry, and the OIG issued a report examining the issue in September. 

9.  St. Louis mail carrier rescues 96-year-old woman after fall during snowstorm. It’s just one example of the many instances USPS employees providing lifesaving assistance to members of the public.

8.  PostNord, Denmark’s postal service, ends letter mail delivery after 400 years. The post donated its traditional red collection boxes to charity and offered a video tribute to the last letter. Another operator will still provide some letter service. 

7.  The end of the $800 U.S. de minimis exemption for tariffs challenges postal cross-border commerce. Many major foreign postal operators temporarily suspended service to the United States until they could implement new customs solutions. 

6.  Congress and the media continue to focus on mail theft. USPS OIG Deputy Inspector General Julius Rothstein testified about our efforts to combat mail theft at a House hearing in July. 

5.  Deaths of postal employees raise deep concerns about Postal Service workplace safety. The death of a maintenance worker at the Detroit Network Distribution Center garnered particular attention from USPS stakeholders, including the OIG. We plan to announce an audit on maintenance personnel safety in the coming months. 

4.  The Postal Service pivots its last-mile strategy for packages. The Postal Service announced plans to accept bids from shippers for access to delivery services from its more than 18,000 delivery units. 

3.  David Steiner becomes 76th Postmaster General on July 15. Previous Postmaster General Louis DeJoy stepped down on March 24. 

2.  The Postal Service changes service standards. The new standards reflect that mail from post offices more than 50 miles from a regional processing plant is now collected the next day to reduce transportation trips. OIG work has shown that this change can disproportionately affect rural areas.

1.  Postmaster General Steiner warns the Postal Service may run out of cash in early 2027. USPS lost $9.0 billion in fiscal year 2025, and even its controllable loss was $2.7 billion.

What postal stories will 2026 bring? Only time will tell, but it’s also a year of historic anniversaries. It’s the 250th birthday of the United States and the 30th birthday of the USPS OIG as well!

Postscript:

Today commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. We honor his life and the legacy of his work to end discrimination and advance civil rights for all.