Rickochet - they've changed routes and carriers in my hood so mail is now 'normally' delivered mid to late afternoon when it has been in my box by 10:00 daily, and usually at 9ish. Occasionally I'd see some suit and tie slowly following the carrier with I'm guessing a stopwatch and clipboard - an efficiency study, I presume.
I live on a small city park (3 city blocks x 1 block) ringed by approximately 30 homes. Before the changes, the carrier would deliver mail to those houses with packages first and then park his vehicle. He'd then walk around the park house by house. Now, the new carrier(s) are going to the door to deliver the mail to each abode, turn around, return to their vehicle, then drive the 75 yards +/- to the next address, rinse and repeat around the park.
I sense an intentional, silent work slowdown. The loss of the overtime has impacted paychecks and I'm theorizing the Service's employees (union) is hoping postal patrons flood Congress with complaints to get more funding, and fast. IMHO