WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mail deliveries could be delayed by at least a day, perhaps even longer, under cost-cutting measures being enacted by the nation’s new postmaster general, according to a memo obtained and reported on by The Associated Press. 

The plan, per the AP report, eliminates overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers. 

As such, late trips will no longer be authorized. If postal distribution centers are running late, the AP reports, mail will be held for the next day. 

The overhaul comes a month after Louis DeJoy was appointed as the nation’s postmaster general and amid significant financial losses being incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Officials from the Postal Service have warned, the AP noted, the USPS will run out of money by the end of September without Congressional assistance. 

For the quarter ending in March, before the full brunt of the pandemic was felt nationwide, USPS reported a $4.5 billion loss, per the AP. 

Losses will increase by more than $22 billion over the next 18 months, the AP reported.