57BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK- THE VOTE
universalmail-invoting,” he told Fox
BusinessonAug.13.
Thismuchiscertain:TheUSPScan
handletheelection.Theagencydeliv-
ers 433 million piecesofmaila day,
almosthalftheworld’s volume.The
totalamountofelectionmailexpected
thisyearwillamounttolessthan2%
ofitstotalflowfrommid-Septemberto
ElectionDay.“It’sliterallya dropinthe
bucket,”saysPaulSteidler,a seniorfellow
attheLexingtonInstitute,a conservative
thinktank,whostudiespostalissues.
Theremovalofmailboxesandsort-
ersisn’tasominousasit mightappear,
either.It’snormalprocedurefortheUSPS
anda directresponsetothecollapseof
mailvolume.Totalvolumehasfallen
33%,to 142 billionpiecesannually,sinceit
peakedin2006.Volumefortheservice’s
mostprofitableproduct,first-classmail,
hasfallen44%,andthepandemichas
onlysteepenedthedecline.Meanwhile,
withstoresclosedandsomanypeopleat
home,packagedeliveryrose50%from
AprilthroughJune.ThePostalService
is strugglingtokeepupwithChristmas-
levelloadsata timewhenCovid-19 has
sidelinedmanyofitsworkers.
Inshort,it mightnotbethemostfor-
tuitoustimetomakemajoralterations
totheUSPS.Butthat’snotstopping
DeJoy.Foralltheallegationsthathave
beenmadeabouthim,thetruthis sim-
pler.He’sa guyfromthebusinessworld
who’stryingtoimposethekindofdis-
ruptivechangesona federalagency
thatmightbeapplaudedintheprivate
sectorbutareguaranteedto provoke a
backlashinWashington.
AlthoughthePostalServiceis required
bylawtobreakeven,it’shardlya busi-
ness.Itwascreatedtohelpdemocra-
tizethecountrybybindingit together.
Becauseofthis,youcansenda letter
fromanywhereinthecountrytoAlaska
for55¢.Ashasbeennotedmanytimes,
itmight be thegreatest bargain on
Earth—andone that no private company
wouldoffer.
Inthe nameof savingtheUSPS,
DeJoyismullingchangesthatnotonly
wouldaffectdeliverybut couldalso
underminetheservice’smission.Even
inthebestoftimeshismovesmight
have eroded public confidence in
theagency.Comingnow,ata timeof
intense politicization, with the integrity
oftheelectionatstake,they could lead
to something worse.Asa businessexecutivecommittedto
showinga federalbureaucracya thing
or two aboutefficiency, DeJoy isn’t
unlikeformerairlineexecutiveRichard
Anderson,whoputAmtrakona pathto
profitabilitybutresignedinAprilafter
a littlemorethantwoyearsofbattling
membersofCongressandrailenthu-
siasts.Orperhapsa betterexampleis
MarvinRunyon,aka“Carvin’Marvin,”a
onetimeautoindustryexecutivewhose
tumultuoussix-yearstintaspostmaster
generalwasmarkedbystaffdepartures,
mailscrew-ups,anda federalinvestiga-
tionofhisinvolvementintalkstoput
Coca-Colamachinesinpostofficeswhen
hisfamilyheldsharesinthecompany.
DeJoy’sambitionsdwarfwhatthose
menhadinmind.Duringanappearance
onAug. 21 beforetheSenateHomeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee,heconfirmeda reportin
theWashingtonPostthataftertheelec-
tionhe’llpursuewhatpromisestobea
wrenchingtransformationoftheUSPS
involvingslimmer discountsfornon-
profitmailers,higherpackage rates,
andincreaseddeliverypricesfordis-
tantplacessuchasAlaska,Hawaii,and
PuertoRico.“We’reconsideringdra-
maticchangestoimprovetheserviceto
theAmericanpeople,yes,”hesaid.
Specifically,DeJoysaidhewaseye-
ingtheAlaskaBypass,a USPSprogram
thatusesbushpilotstoflynotonlymail
butalsofoodtoareasofthestatenot
accessiblebyroads.TheAlaskaBypass
is oneofthoseextraordinarythingsthe
USPSdoesinthenameofconnecting
thecountry.DeJoycomplainedthatit
cost$500milliona year.Thenumber
seemedsteep:A spokesmanforAlaska
SenatorDanSullivan,a Republican,says
theprogram’scostlastyearwasactually
$123million.Eitherway,DeJoy’scom-
mentsraisedquestionsaboutthepost-
mastergeneral’scommitmenttoparts
ofthecountry that are more expensive
toserve.
Fornow,however,DeJoyis focused
on a singleinitiative: gettingPostal
Servicetruckstorunontime.“FedEx
andUPS,everybodyrunstheirtrucks
on time, right?” DeJoy testified.
“That’s what glues the whole networktogether.”Perhaps,butFedExandUPS
deliver 16 millionand 22 millionitems
a day,respectively,a sliverofthePostal
Service’svolume,andhavenosimilar
publicserviceresponsibilities.
DeJoy’scriticshavefrequentlysaid
he lacks experience with the USPS
andis thereforeunqualified,butthat’s
untrue.BorninBrooklyn,N.Y.,hegrew
uparoundthelogisticsbusiness.His
fatherrana smalltruckingcompanyon
LongIsland.DeJoyseemeddestinedfor
a differentcareer,gettinganaccounting
degreefromStetsonUniversityinFlorida
andworkingfora timeasa certified
publicaccountant.HereturnedtoNew
York,though,in1983,afterhisfather
wasinjuredinanassaultbytwobusi-
nessrivals.DeJoytookoverthefamily
business,whichbecameknownasNew
BreedLogistics,andmovedit in the early
1990stoHighPoint,N.C.
Theturningpoint forNewBreed
camewhenitwona contracttopro-
videlogisticssupportforUSPSmail-
processingcenters,refurbishingand
transportingmail-sortingequipment.
DeJoyparlayedthedealintobusiness
withclientssuchasBoeing,WaltDisney,
andVerizonCommunications.“Ifyou
havea Verizonphone,I shippedit to
you,”hetoldanaudienceseveralyears
agoatElonUniversityinNorthCarolina,
wherehe’sa boardmember.
DeJoyassiduouslyavoidspublicity.
(Hedeclinedtobeinterviewedforthis
story.)“He’sa purenumbersandoper-
ationsguy,”saysformerNorthCarolina
Governor Pat McCrory, a friend of
DeJoy’s.“Hedoesn’tlikeBS.Hedoesn’t
giveBS,andhedoesn’ttakeit.”DeJoy’s
waspishnesswasevidentwhenhetes-
tifiedbeforetheHouseandSenatein
August,mockinghisquestionersforfail-
ingtodomoretohelptheUSPS.
In2014, DeJoy negotiated a deal
tosellNewBreed,whichbythenhad
6,800employees,for$615millionto
XPOLogisticsInc.,a companythatpro-
vides truckingsupportforthe USPS
duringtheholidayseasonpeak.DeJoy
stuckaroundfora yeartorunXPO’s
North American supply chainbusi-
ness,thenjoinedtheboardbeforestep-
pingdowntwoyearsago.Hestillholds
morethan$25millionworthofstockin
XPO,a holdinghesaysthe USPS’s ethics
department vetted.