A Rare Opportunity for Postal Reform

Last year, for the first time in recent history, the volume of first-class mail—which constitutes more than 57 percent of the Postal Service's revenue— actually declined. Standard mail dropped even more precipitously.

If this happened to Ford, or GE or IBM or even the business I owned, what would they/I do? Let go of excess employees. You constantly read about companies doing this.

So, how many folks has the USPS laid off in the last year?

Obviously, not enough or they wouldn't be loosing money.

The best reason I can think of for a monopoly on first class mail is simplicity. Trying to setup a way for multiple organizations to put stuff in your mailbox (think of apartment mailboxes with the backend key) would be rough, how many companies get keys to your box? Who decides who gets keys to your box? What happens if somebody sends you something via a company that doesn't have a key to your box? Also how do you setup payment systems, does everybody sell their own stamps? Do most systems have to operate like FedEx?

I don't think there's anything to gain by breaking the monopoly. We can tell by how regularly USPS loses money that there isn't a high profit margin in first class mail, apparently the Founding Fathers realized that mail wouldn't work well as a private system since they put the post office in the Constitution.

So, how many folks has the USPS laid off in the last year?

None, it's part of the contract. No layoffs, and no employee strikes. Seems to have worked fairly well. USPS is however reducing it's workforce. Vacancies are not being filled when folks retire. I believe the target is 30,000 fewer employees over the next couple years.

I know this is an older thread but I found it on a search and wanted to put my two cents in.

I downloaded a full copy of the Commission Report from the US Treasury web site. It's 208 pages long, and it's a hoot. I'm reading it with great interest.

I hope that my elected representatives will do what is necessary to ensure the long-term health of the Postal Service, both for the sake of the public and the postal workers who serve the public. If major changes are necessary to the PO, and apparently that's the case, then I trust the judgment of my elected reps to make the correct and necessary decisions.

Please keep me informed of any new developments as a result of the Presidential Commission delivering its report.

I doubt anything will happen soon due to the Commission's Report.

Oh damn!

I was hoping they'd make the major changes that the Commission (and much of the business community and public) say are needed. Yes, the public in polls say that they're uniformly satisfied with their service. But the pollers are asking the wrong questions.

They should be asking: "Would you want the act of mailing a letter (buying postage and receiving weight info) to be made more convenient? No more long lines? No more rushing to get to the Post Office by 5 PM?"

"Would you like to do your mailing at your local grocery store, including weighing packages and getting the correct postage?"

"Do you want to continue free mail delivery (no cost to the receiver) to every address, PO box or cluster box in the US?"

"Do you want the people in Alaska and Hawaii to pay the same postage as those in the continental US?"

"Do you want to stop the spiraling cycle of stamp increases--which although they're keeping up with inflation (the PO's argument)--should actually be LOWER since the mail volume has dropped and the PO is delivering a smaller number of letters and parcels. After all, other businesses have lowered prices as their numbers drop.

(Yes of course to all of the above!)

Then hope that the Postal Commission can help our legislators make the correct decisions to cut costs and ensure the future viability of the Postal Service.

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