Postal Service Board of Governors Need to Embrace Innovative Reforms

The Epoch Times ^ | October 8, 2019 | Edward Hudgins

[re_tail20]

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors has reached a quorum for the first time since 2014. Finally, USPS can take much-needed action to stem multi-billion-dollar annual losses, which threatens the very future of USPS mail delivery.

However, the board shouldn’t seek more revenue by forcing USPS to raise rates on its package delivery customers. If done, this could cripple the growing e-commerce sector and probably wouldn’t actually bring in more revenue. In other words, USPS should consider more innovative methods so it can meet the many challenges that lie ahead.

In thinking and writing about postal issues for more than 20 years, I’ve come to conclude that right now the key to postal reform is getting the postal service to focus time, attention, and resources on using its ubiquitous national network for final mile delivery of mail and packages.

In case you aren’t aware, the financial state of USPS is dire. For fiscal year (FY) 2018, USPS operating revenues of $70.8 billion couldn’t cover its $74.7 billion in expenses, so it ran a $3.9 billion deficit. The USPS FY 2019 deficit is on track to reach $8 billion. Since the board’s last quorum, USPS has bled $30 billion. USPS hasn’t broken even since 2006.

Revenues and volume for first-class mail continue to fall because most Americans pay bills electronically rather than putting checks in the mail. Ditto for marketing mail and periodicals; we read more and see ads more online. The only USPS bright spot is its package delivery service, which raked in $21.5 billion in 2018, up from $19.5 billion in 2017 and $17.4 billion in 2016. Package delivery revenues will soon surpass USPS revenues from first-class mail, its now-anemic, former cash cow.

This good news is the result of booming e-commerce. Amazon leads the way in...

[MplsSteve]

Agreed.

Almost every one I’ve been too seemed understaffed.