Protect Postal Performance Act Mandates 15-Mile Service Buffer and New Delivery Speed Benchmarks

The Protect Postal Performance Act is a major overhaul of how the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) manages its physical footprint. Under this bill, the USPS can no longer close or consolidate a post office if it is the only one within 15 miles or if it serves a population of 15,000 or more. Beyond these hard limits, the bill forces the USPS to slow down its administrative process: any proposed closure now requires a public hearing with a 7-day turnaround for a public summary, followed by a mandatory 180-day waiting period before the doors can actually close. This effectively shifts the power from headquarters in D.C. to local residents who rely on these branches for everything from medication to small business shipping.

Delivering Accountability

The bill isn't just about keeping the lights on at local branches; it puts the USPS on a strict performance diet regarding its massive processing and distribution centers. If the USPS wants to move operations or close a center, it first has to prove it is actually doing its job. Specifically, a district cannot lose a processing center if it failed to meet delivery benchmarks in the previous year—defined as a 93% on-time rate for 2-day First-Class mail and 90.3% for 3-to-5-day mail (Section 3). For a small business owner in a state like Alaska or Hawaii, the bill adds an extra layer of protection by prohibiting the closure of the last processing center in any 'geographically non-contiguous' region with over 100,000 people.

The Regulatory Speed Bump

One of the most significant shifts is the new requirement for the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to weigh in on almost every major logistical change. The USPS is prohibited from implementing 'transportation optimization' plans—basically, changes to how often trucks pick up or drop off mail—if those changes reduce service frequency without a green light from the PRC. If the Commission issues an opinion stating that a change will lead to slower mail, the USPS has to publish a public 'fix-it' report and wait another 180 days before acting. This adds a massive procedural hurdle that aims to prevent 'stealth' service cuts, but it also means the USPS will have a much harder time pivoting its operations to save money or adapt to new shipping trends.

Real-World Friction vs. Reliability

For the average person, this bill means your local post office is much less likely to vanish overnight, and your mail pickup schedule is legally protected from being trimmed down. However, there is a practical trade-off. By freezing the 'United States Postal Service Mail Processing Facility Review' and requiring months of waiting periods for nearly every operational tweak, the bill makes it difficult for the USPS to cut costs. While this protects service levels for a rural senior or a remote worker, it could lead to higher long-term operational deficits. The bill prioritizes 'performance' and 'presence' over 'efficiency,' betting that the public would rather have a slower-moving bureaucracy than a faster one that closes their neighborhood branch.