From Six to Five to Three

The U.S. Postal Service could cut mail delivery in half in the future, according to the agency's top executive. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe told USA Today that he believes USPS will end Saturday delivery soon and within 15 years could consider delivering mail just three days a week (not under consideration right now). Postal officials expect the agency to be $8 billion in the red by the end of the fiscal year and have been requesting legislative changes to ease the agency's financial burden, including the flexibility to drop a delivery day. Few lawmakers have actively supported USPS' request to drop to five-day delivery, however. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., have introduced legislation granting this flexibility, but other bills floating in Congress fail to address the issue.

Source: Government Executive

USPS Launches Website Redesign

The U.S. Postal Service is redesigning its website to make it easier to ship and manage mail digitally. The redesign includes a simplified navigation system and makes it easier to do things like schedule a free package pickup. A new Quick Tools navigation box on the home page lets visitors quickly access commonly used features. In addition, a new corporate site has information about the United States Postal Service, including "who we are" and "what we're doing," as well as news, job announcements, and information on doing business with the USPS. More information about the new design along with an informational video is available on the USPS website.

Thousands of Post Offices to Close

The U.S. Postal Service is launching a major review of up to 3,600 post offices across the country for possible closure as it shrinks its network in light of declining mail volume. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe will release a list of post offices to be studied for closing, as well as announce “a new concept” for possibly replacing them very soon. The Postal Service is expected to file a request with regulators for a formal opinion on the review. In an interview with The Washington Post’s editorial board earlier this week, Postal Regulatory Commission chairman Ruth Goldway said the number of post offices under scrutiny would be close to 3,600. Goldway said she expects some areas of the country to have more closures than others. The review comes weeks after the Postal Service published the final version of regulations aimed at making it easier to shutter some of its 32,000 post offices. Despite some changes to the draft released in March, the final version preserved a key element allowing the Postal Service to target facilities that suffer from “insufficient customer demand” or where customers have other options for buying stamps and postal services.

Source: Washington Post

The Cost Structure of the Postal Service

The Cost Structure of the Postal Service: Facts, Trends, and Policy Implications, a recently released white paper by the OIG’s Risk Analysis Research Center, examines significant trends and cost drivers for the major cost categories of the U.S. Postal Service, which include labor, non-labor and capital. The paper also presents insights with implications for the ongoing policy debate about the future of the Postal Service in the wake of new legislative requirements and record losses in volume and revenue. To view the report in its entirety, click here.

Source: Office of the Inspector General

Let’s Get Serious

Gene Del Polito, Postal Commentator for PostCom, provides an excellent perspective about preserving the nation’s postal system. Gene states, “The time for playing political games should be at an end. There really is too much at stake for the nation and its economy.” Click here to read the complete article.