USPS: More Optimized Collections Coming Next Year

Optimized collections will be implemented “at a rapid pace” next fiscal year, according to USPS, and could lead to further insourcing of HCR routes. 

The next three areas to roll out optimized collections are in Wisconsin — Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee — and all are planned for Jan. 8. That’s according to a Nov. 22 document in which USPS answered questions from the Postal Regulatory Commission. 

USPS also added that it’s phasing out the term “optimized collections,” as the agency believes it’s been misunderstood. In the future, it will be rebranded as “local transportation optimization.” 

Insourcing Plans

The document also notes that the Postal Service’s push for insourcing HCR contracts concentrates on “transportation lanes less than 350 miles.” 

“The Postal Service engages in modeling to determine the optimal trip schedules for local transportation lanes, which is also used to support HCR to [Postal Vehicle Service] conversion decisions,” according to the document. “The implementation of optimized collections is considered as part of that modeling exercise.”