Survey Indicates USPS May Be Prioritizing Amazon Packages

It’s long been suspected in certain quarters that the US Postal Service prioritizes Amazon packages over every other package and mail, and a survey of postal workers gives credence to the theory, according to a trade organization.

The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) is a coalition of four labor unions representing over 4 million workers that is “dedicated to improving the lives of working people,” according to its website.

SOC conducted an online survey of USPS employees during the 2021-2022 holiday season and found a substantial majority of respondents said they had been instructed by managers to prioritize Amazon packages over every other kind of mail.

SOC made the revelation in a filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) requesting details about a USPS Negotiated Service Agreement (NSA) with Amazon.

Save the Post Office tweeted the news and said SOC plans to file a complaint alleging management is pressuring workers to illegally prioritize Amazon parcels.

An excerpt of SOC’s filing with the PRC makes some troubling claims:

“According to SOC’s follow-up interviews with survey respondents, USPS management consistently pressures USPS employees to sort and deliver Amazon packages as fast as possible, but does not exert the same pressure regarding other types of mail. And as a predicable result, respondents reported that when, as often happened, it was necessary to choose whether to process and deliver Amazon packages or other mail, they would prioritize Amazon’s.

“In addition, respondents also reported that USPS does not seek recourse for physical damage caused by Amazon deliveries to USPS facilities, and that Amazon may cancel its use of a particular post offices without giving meaningful notice.

“This evidence indicates that USPS’s negotiated service agreement with Amazon likely includes terms that violate or have the effect of causing the Postal Service to violate its core legal obligations not to discriminate between users, to prioritize letter mail, and to the extent that the agreement has these impacts primarily in low-population-density areas, to provide effective services to rural communities.”

SOC said it was seeking access to certain documents for its counsel so that it may investigate and initiate a complaint before the PRC.

Amazon isn’t the only marketplace that has contracts (NSAs) with the US Postal Service. We wrote about Etsy’s NSA agreement with the USPS in 2019 on the EcommerceBytes Blog post, “Do Marketplace Shipping Deals Disadvantage Sellers?”

Even if the PRC allows SOC to access the agreement between the USPS and Amazon, it would be provided under protective conditions – meaning aside from any citations in a future SOC filing, the general public would not have access to it.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.