There is no question that a country’s postal service is a valuable national asset. On one hand, it is a functional asset that supports commerce and binds the nation together. On the other, postal operations are capital assets, with distribution networks, vehicles, machinery, and labor resources that have some sort of value.
In a time when everyone is examining the dollars and cents of the postal business, people have a tendency to overlook the bigger picture: the greater role of the Postal Service in modern society. With that in mind, the Postal Regulatory Commission requested the Urban Institute to study the Postal Service. The focus was not a traditional look at the business but a study of the benefits of the Postal Service and its infrastructure to the American population.
On March 2, Postmaster General John E. Potter presented a 10-year “action plan” to meet the challenges faced by the Postal Service as it encounters declining mail volumes combined with increasing overhead costs. The plan comes as a product of a yearlong study by the Postal Service and a number of leading consultants to identify and analyze over 50 different actions that could help counter the changing marketplace. The Postmaster General warned that if the Postal Service continues to operate as it is, it will run a cumulative debt of $238 billion over the next 10 years.
It’s not easy to find something the entire postal community can agree on. But the U.S. Postal Service’s need to replace its delivery vehicles just might get all heads nodding.
Given package volume growth, the Postal Service needs vehicles with increased cargo-handling capacity to replace...
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It’s that time of year again, when we release our Semiannual Report to Congress (SARC) — a twice yearly look at our work that reflects our mission of ensuring efficiency, accountability, and integrity in the U.S. Postal Service.
Through the first six months of this fiscal year, we issued...
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It’s a lot less expensive to retain a current customer than to acquire a new one. That’s a timeless marketing adage for a reason: it’s true.
In fact, it may never be truer than in today’s economy. Customers have an unprecedented array of choices and easy access to global products and...
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Highway transportation is the surface transportation of mail by means other than bus, rail or water. Service may be between two or more designated points (over the road) or in a local metropolitan area (shuttle service). Highway transportation contracts may include requirements for in-route...
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The Postal Service’s mail processing resources, information technology network, and transportation infrastructure delivers mail to every residential and business address in the country. The mail processing resources include facilities, equipment, and systems used to process, transfer, and store...
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The Postal Service has over 300 processing plants where more than 150 billion pieces of mail are sorted each year. The OIG has recently conducted a series of audits on facility conditions at retail facilities and is now looking at processing facilities nationwide. The safety, security and...
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