Postal Service board names FedEx official as CEO before vetting complete

The U.S. Postal Service’s governing body on Friday announced it has selected FedEx board member David Steiner to be the nation’s 76th postmaster general and CEO, raising concerns from major unions about potential conflicts of interest and the Trump administration’s influence over the decision.

Steiner will succeed Louis DeJoy, who also came from the logistics sector and left office in March over reported disagreements with the White House about how much control to relinquish to a budget-cutting team led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The Postal Service said Steiner is expected to be officially appointed in July once background and ethics checks are completed.

The selection process was opaque. No vote was taken on Steiner during Friday’s board meeting. The Chair, Amber McReynolds, simply announced the selection at the end of the meeting. It appears the board took a vote in executive session, but the final tally wasn’t announced. When DeJoy was appointed in 2020 it was by a unanimous vote. The nine-member board currently has four vacancies.

Acting Postmaster General Doug Tulino will return to his permanent position as deputy postmaster general.

“Dave is the right person to lead the Postal Service at this time to ensure this magnificent and historic organization thrives into the future,” said McReynolds in a news release. “Dave is a highly regarded leader and executive with tremendous vision, experience and skill that can be applied to the long-term mission and business needs of the Postal Service. Our Board looks forward to working with Dave as he takes on the core mandates of providing universal and excellent service for the American public and doing so in a financially sustainable manner.”

Steiner said in a statement that he strongly believes in the Postal Service maintaining its role as an independent establishment of the executive branch, a status it has enjoyed since 1970. The Washington Post reported this week that Steiner was the choice of President Donald Trump, who pressed the board of governors to name him postmaster general. Other news outlets have also said the board of governors only considered candidates approved by the president.

Trump and his aides have repeatedly suggested that the White House should have direct control of the nation’s post office, including by making it an agency within the Department of Commerce.

“It is an incredible honor to be asked to lead the world’s greatest postal organization, with a history that stretches back before the founding of the United States,” said Steiner.  “I look forward to engaging with its employees, who provide such an important service to all our communities. As the entity with the largest union membership in the United States, I look forward to engaging with the unions and management associations to ensure that together we create a world-class employment experience. I also look forward to working with industry associations, customers, and policymakers, as we chart a positive path forward. I am excited by the challenges ahead and by the many opportunities to shape a vibrant, durable and increasingly competitive future for the Postal Service.”

Reaction

The Package Coalition, which represents e-commerce retailers and logistics providers, urged Steiner to review the 10-year transformation plan implemented by DeJoy to shore up the agency’s finances and improve delivery service. The modernization effort has included shifting a large amount of middle-mile transportation from air to ground carriers. 

“We encourage the new leadership team to take a fresh look at the current Delivering For America plan, under which financial losses have grown and service has deteriorated. Ensuring the independence and financial viability of USPS and maintaining reliable and affordable access to postal services are crucial. It is our hope that the new leadership recognizes the importance of public-private partnerships, which have proven effective in reducing costs, improving efficiency, and enhancing service performance,” the Package Coalition said in a statement.

Large shippers like Amazon, a member of the Package Coalition, didn’t like DeJoy’s move to insource more package volumes and compete with commercial parcel carriers rather than simply serving as a drop-off for their last-mile delivery needs. 

The National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents 295,000 active and retired workers, earlier in the week condemned Steiner’s reported selection, saying his position at FedEx constituted a conflict of interest.

The American Postal Workers Union said it is troubled by reports that the five members of the board of governors – two Democrats, two Republicans and one independent – took their cues for a postmaster general from Trump.

“The 1970 Postal Reorganization Act (PRA) created the modern Postal Service specifically to avoid political interference in the workings of the USPS. … No president, past, present or future, should have any say in who leads the independent Postal Service,” APWU President Mark Dimondstein said in a statement. “The hundreds of millions of people that rely on the Postal Service should be deeply concerned that the board of governors should select a postmaster general from the board of directors of FedEx. FedEx is not only a major competitor of the Postal Service in the package market, but [is] part of the chorus of billionaires, profit-driven corporations, and Wall Street that advocate for major privatization of postal services. By cowering to this administration, the board of governors has likely chosen a ‘fox to guard the hen house.’”

The National Rural Letter Carriers Association took a slightly more conciliatory position, saying it expected Steiner to honor the Postal Service’s tradition of providing universal service and engaging in collective bargaining. 

“Supporting the workforce means investing in people, not sidelining them. It means growing our parcel business — not shrinking operations. It means delivering on our universal service obligation — not abandoning rural America in pursuit of private-sector efficiencies,” the NRLCA said in a statement. 

“We recognize that USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy approached the role with a business-minded focus on ensuring the Postal Service could compete in the modern shipping and logistics economy. That vision, articulated in the ten-year Delivering for America plan, sought to modernize the Postal Service while balancing its public mandate. The plan came under great scrutiny, but it was anchored in core fundamentals — preserving six-day delivery to all addresses in the United States, protecting the agency’s public mission, and investing in a dedicated and loyal workforce. Abandoning or reversing these initiatives without careful, transparent review would risk unraveling critical progress and destabilizing a system relied on by every American, especially those in rural and underserved communities,” it added. 

“We are ready to work with Mr. Steiner to ensure USPS remains independent, competitive, and rooted in its mission. But we will be watching closely, especially since Mr. Steiner currently sits on the board of directors of FedEx, one of the Postal Service’s largely and aggressively non-union competitors. The stakes — for rural communities, for working families, and for the future of our cherished public Postal Service — could not be higher,” the union said. 

The board of governors said Steiner’s reputation as a corporate change agent led to his selection. As president and chief executive of Waste Management (NYSE: WM) for 12 years, Steiner is credited with transforming operations and the culture, and delivering strong financial results.  He established a new strategic vision for Waste Management that created new business lines in environmental services, a new pricing model widely adopted in the industry and a more efficient operating approach. During his tenure, Waste Management solidified its role as the leading provider of waste management and recycling services in North America, the board said in its statement.

Steiner moved up to CEO at Waste Management after prior roles as chief financial officer, executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, and deputy general counsel. Before joining Waste Management, Steiner was a partner at the law firm Phelps Dunbar.

Steiner will resign from the board at FedEx Corp. prior to joining the Postal Service. 

Steiner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Louisiana State University and a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

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