USPS Office of Inspector General

“Undercover Boss,” a CBS show that began airing in February, follows Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) as they go undercover to work primarily in lower-level positions in their own companies. Beyond its entertainment value, the episodes have exposed a significant disconnect between senior management and employees. While featured CEO’s have not recently, if ever, worked in entry-level positions in their companies; in contrast, the Postal Service has a proud history of promoting from within. Many of its current officers have carried mail, sold stamps, or worked in mail processing plants.

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.

According to a representative on the Postal Regulatory Commission’s staff, a Postal Service-run lottery “could offer the potential for substantial profits for the Postal Service and utilize its current retail infrastructure with its 36,000 retail outlets.” Popular lottery formats in many states include drawings and instant lottery tickets. The claim is that running a national lottery could help the U.S. Postal Service close its multibillion-dollar budget gap.  It could also build foot traffic to post offices, increasing retail sales of postal products.

The Postal Service uses forklifts to move mail in its mail processing facilities. To improve efficiency and cut the costs associated with using this equipment, the U.S. Postal Service purchased a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-based tracking system called the Powered Industrial Vehicle Management System (PIVMS). [poll id="80"] Features of the system that help productivity include weight sensing, real-time location of vehicles, two-way messaging, driver authentication and maintenance scheduling.

By Robert Cohen