Three years ago Postmaster General John Potter defiantly insisted: “We intend to be around for decades and centuries to come.” But monopoly won’t be enough to save the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS). The Postal Service is locked in a death spiral of more losses, poorer service, fewer customers, more losses.
The system needs money, lots of it. However, Uncle Sam has none to give. The only answer is to turn mail delivery over to market competition.
The U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) most successful efficiency tactic in recent years has been reducing its workforce by offering Voluntary Early Retirement (VERA). But reports of disgraceful nine-month waits to start receiving full retirement checks discouraged many other employees from taking the offers.
The federal Office of Personnel Management in the first quarter of this year, processed more applications than ever in recent memory.
If normal funding is restored when the new fiscal year begins in October, the agency estimates it can whittle the backlog down to target levels by March 2014. But that’s a big if.
Two top Senators have introduced a bipartisan bill to overhaul the ailing U.S. Postal Service's (USPS), a contrast to House Democrats and Republicans who remained divided last week as Congress headed into its five-week recess.
Proposed by Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the legislation would restructure the agency’s prefunding requirement for retirement benefits and allow a gradual end to Saturday mail delivery, as well as general door-to-door service if financially necessary.
“Although the situation is dire, it isn’t hopeless,” Carper said. “With the right tools and quick action from Congress, the Postal Service can reform, right-size and modernize.”
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) takes pictures of every piece of mail processed in the United States—160 billion last year—and keeps them on hand for up to a month.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the photos of the exterior of mail pieces are used primarily for the sorting process, but they are available for law enforcement, if requested.
The images are generally stored for between a week and 30 days and then disposed of, he said. Keeping the images for those periods may be necessary to ensure delivery accuracy, for forwarding mail or making
The relationship the U.S. Postal Service has with its customers and employees would change considerably under legislation a House committee approved Wednesday night.
The legislation, which was voted for along party lines by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, represents the House Republicans’ efforts to stabilize sinking Postal Service finances.
Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), sponsor of the bill, said, “The common-sense reforms in this legislation will restore the United States Postal Service to long-term financial solvency while maintaining high-quality universal service for all Americans.”
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday approved a measure that would end door-to-door delivery to 37 million residences and businesses and Saturday mail service to more than 150 million homes and businesses.
Ending door-to-door delivery—which will force millions to get mail at curbside boxes or neighborhood cluster boxes by 2022—would save up to $4.5 billion annually, said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. Ending Saturday service could save an additional $2 billion a year.
Mail delivery costs the Postal Service about $30 billion annually. Door-to-door delivery costs an average $353 per drop a year, vs. $224 for curbside service and just $160
The U.S. Postal Service is marching towards a more "centralized delivery," where residents pick up their own mail from clusters of mail boxes located in their neighborhood. Local postmasters are sending hundreds of letters to fast-growing communities, warning that cluster boxes will be the way mail will be delivered to new developments.
Delivering mail is the agency's largest fixed cost—$30 billion. Ending such door deliveries would save $4.5 billion a year. That's more than the $3 billion it would have saved from ending Saturday mail service, according to government reports.
Michael Makin, president and CEO of Printing Industries of America, issued the following statement, in response to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s hearing titled “A Path Forward on Postal Reform.”
In his oral testimony before a a House committee yesterday, Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said that the Postal Service continues to face systemic financial challenges because it has a business model that does not allow it to adapt to changes in the marketplace and it does not have the legal authority to make the fundamental changes that are necessary to achieve long-term financial stability.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) needs to cut its operating expenses by more than $20B to return to a balanced situation, but needs Congressional action to achieve half of this, according to executives.
The US Congress failed to reach agreement on postal reforms last year, with the House of Representatives proving the key hurdle to legislation being passed.
The issue of postal reform is set to return to the US House of Representatives tomorrow, as the Oversight and Government Reform Committee examines proposals for legislation to rescue the Postal Service.
