THE US Postal Service will shake up mail delivery in mere hours, creating new wait times for packages and slashing mail pickups despite customers already being frustrated with the current system.

Americans who have been complaining about the USPS over long package delivery times will face a new challenge with the mail service as the agency rolls out new changes starting on Tuesday.

The USPS is overhauling service standards in an effort to save money as the agency faces a tough and uncertain future.

The goal is to save at least $36 billion over the next ten years “through reductions in transportation, mail and package processing and real estate costs,” per the USPS.

But it will come at a cost to some customers.

Service standards for first-class mail, periodicals, marketing mail, package services, USPS ground advantage, priority mail and priority mail express will be adjusted.

Under the new changes, 14% of first-class mail will be adjusted to a faster standard but 11% will be adjusted to a slower standard.

Most first-class mail will maintain its current service standard and all first-class mail will still arrive between one and five days.

USPS workers will be allowed to leave facilities earlier to travel longer distances to deliver mail, which will help improve postal reliability for rural customers.

At the same time, people in rural areas will have to wait longer for mail they dropped off to be delivered.

The USPS plans to end afternoon mail pickups, for the most part, at post offices far from regional hubs.

Cities like Kansas City, St. Louis, Des Moines and Omaha could be affected by this change, per Kansas Public Radio.

Kimberly Karol, president of the American Postal Workers Union’s Iowa chapter, said, “There’s a growing concern amongst the employees all across the state that rural communities are going to be harmed by these changes.”

She added: “We’ve already seen a slow down in delivery in the state, a gross slow down. It’s just mind boggling.”

The USPS will also stop counting Saturdays or the day before holidays as transit days for packages.

Additionally, the Postal service will use 5-digit zip code pairs instead of 3-digit zip code pairs.

CUSTOMERS ANGRY OVER DELIVERY TIMES

Dozens of USPS customers have complained about their packages getting stuck at the USPS Regional Processing Center in Indianapolis.

One person told local NBC affiliate WTHR earlier this year that his package had been shipped to Indianapolis on January 8 before moving to Fort Wayne and then back to Indianapolis on January 19.

He still had not gotten his package at the time that the article was published on January 30.

Another customer said their package was stuck at the processing center for at least nine days.

TOOLS FOR TRACKING PACKAGES

Customers can figure out when their packages are expected to arrive by going on usps.com and looking up the service standards for deliveries from one zip code to another on a given mailing date.

The USPS also has a new interactive map where customers can plug in the zip code they are sending their package out of and its mail class to see an estimated delivery time.