Who We Are and Why We Blog...
The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) plays a key role in maintaining the integrity and accountability of America’s postal service, its revenue and assets, and its employees. The USPS OIG achieves its mission of helping maintain confidence in the postal system and improving the Postal Service’s bottom line through independent audits and investigations. Audits of postal programs and operations help to determine whether the programs and operations are efficient and cost-effective. Investigations help prevent and detect fraud, waste, and misconduct and have a deterrent effect on postal crimes.
With $73 billion in revenue, the Postal Service is at the core of a $900 billion mailing industry that employs more than nine million people. The 800,000 employees and contractors of the Postal Service comprise the largest civilian federal workforce in the country. The employees of the Postal Service impact every American on a daily basis.
We are sponsoring this blog and related discussion forums to facilitate an ongoing dialog on relevant issues affecting the U.S. Postal Service. We intend to gather and enrich ideas from a large number of perspectives to address emerging issues and attack critical challenges facing the U.S. Postal Service. We will also use this tool to explore complex Postal issues that are sometimes misunderstood.
We invite participation from Postal Service employees and customers, other Inspectors General, as well as colleagues from international posts and their audit and investigative organizations. Our goal is to add further value to the U.S. Postal Service. We want to hear from you!
What are some critical challenges facing the Postal Service that you would like to see us explore through this blog?
What could the Postal Service do to improve its service to you?
What could the Postal Service do to increase its revenues?
Do you view the Postal Service a business or a public service, and why?
Leave a Comment
This leads me to some recent ideas for revenue generation. I will admit that they have not yet been well-thought out, but I believe they are worth throwing out for consideration in case there are any HQ people listening.
1) Why do we deliver the mail for free? What if we start charging an annual fee for delivery. If anyone does not want to pay it, they have the option of coming to the post office to pick it up. The mail is already sorted and the post office is already staffed so there is not additional cost to us to have the customer pick up their mail. Those who don't want to pay for delivery could be flagged at the carrier case and left in the building for pick-up. Those who want delivery would have to pay a small annual fee for that service which we would increase each year! Of course this would trigger some changes i.e. route reductions is the first that comes to mind, which would be a cost savings. Hmmmm....additional revenue plus cost savings. I would bet that if FedEx or UPS were handling first-class mail there would be no free delivery or free forwarding, which brings me to my second revenue generating idea......
2. Why do we forward people's mail for free? I don't know how much revenue Premium Forwarding is bringing in, but the revenue would be alot more if we charged every customer a set fee if they wanted their mail forwarded. I find it irritating that the public expects these services for free and then don't hesitate to call and complain if we make a misdelivery or a forwarding error. If we have to resolve their complaints, it should at least be for a service that they are paying for. I'm talking about letter mail here and not packages. Surely, .42 an ounce is not near enough to cover all that is involved in the processing of a letter. We need to first, determine what it actually costs us to deliver a letter and then pass that cost on to the consumer - just like every other viable business does!
3. My third idea which is least practical of all - but these are desperate times - is to start selling products and services that we currently don't offer. Here is where some creative thinkers might jump in. What can we offer in our post offices that people need and want that we don't currently offer. We've tried phone cards - we were on the right track but they did not prove fruitful. I'm not sure how much revenue OLRP brings in. Maybe we could start offering a fax service like Staples does, or a copying service. What about milk, bread, gas, car wash, daycare, pet sitting - I know this sounds outrageous at first, but what conveniences can we offer to the customer while they are at the post office that won't incur extra expense but will bring in revenue. Any ideas out there?
As a final thought, I give our management alot of credit for the incredible strides that we have made in my 27 years with the postal service. The vision, foresight, fortitude and intelligence that it takes to steer such a huge organization in a positive direction is to admired.
Before we are quick to complain about upper management, one should ask himself not only how he would manage the same incredible task, but also if he really has what it takes to endure the long hours, the stress and pressure, the travel, relocations, criticism, the politics, the risk of failure - all of the things that come with being in management - things that typically go unseen by the average postal employee.
This is a great question. It appears (via google searches) that the USPS has been a leader in testing alternative fuel vehicles including ethanol E85, compressed natural gas, propane, electric, hybrid electric, hydrogen fuel cell, clean diesel, and biodiesel. Over 40,000 vehicles have been tested. Market availability has proved challenging for the E85 and CNG. Interesting USPS presentation on the govenergy.com site: http://www.govenergy.com/2007/pdfs/strategy/Rios_Strategy_track_S8.pdf
I agree, this site is a great idea. Could you define 'CBUs', 'EAS' and 'FSSP' for us less-familiar with the AMT job?
And congrats on the upcoming retirement!!
First, this is a great idea. The Postal Service isn't made up of a board of goveners and district managers. It is an organization of thousands of employees. No one person's voice is more important than another.
This is a bit bitter sweet for me, as I will be retiring after 28 years of service within the next half year. Most of my career has been in maintenance with the bulk of that being an Area Maintenance Technician. It has been a good career and I've been fortunate to be associated with some great people in the Postal Service.
As an AMT, I get to hear a lot of different view points. Not just those of the large office where I report to, but down to the small offices that consist of a single employee. It can be quite educational.
Most of what I hear, is that the organization doesn't hear. What does this mean? Most craft employees and a large majority of EAS believe that their voices are irrelevant.
Too many policies are enacted with the attitude of "It's good for the Service," while the employee has to deal with the repercussions of something that makes his or her job much more difficult in order to facilitate an operation somewhere else. It seems that within the past year, especially, that more work has been put upon Postmasters, while taking away their clerk hours.
Some talking points:
CBUs - Absolutely not cost effective.
EAS as timekeepers - Is it really necessary to have two programs for one operation (Tacs & Erms)
FSSP - Or, "let change it so it's even more user un-friendly.
Micro managing spending authority - Pay $1500 dollars for a CBU (plus installation & maintenance costs) and cripple the spending authority for building maintenance.
Again, after twenty eight years, I have a lot of input, but I would like to see the above issues talked about and maybe even addressed.
Again, I want to say this is a good idea, and a great resource for those who are willing to listen.