Wednesday Update:
Wow. Thanks for the fabulous response to the brainstorm. We’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer number of thoughtful responses. To give everyone enough time to comment and us a little time to read through everything, we’ve decided to extend the period for taking comments and post a blog about the brainstorm with the poll on Monday. Until then, please keep sharing your ideas. All suggestions received by Friday morning will be candidates for the poll.
Oh, a word about moderation, we moderate every comment, and our policy is not to include comments that include vulgar words (even if the words are partially obscured with other characters) or involve name calling. We have not been able to approve a few comments that were otherwise very interesting because they violated our comment policy, so please double check your comment before you submit it.
Thanks again!
Original Post:
The Postal Service is facing a financial crisis and needs to pursue every option it can to improve its net income. Pushing the Envelope thought it might be a good idea to ask for your thoughts. How do you think the Postal Service can save money or raise additional revenue?
To make this a bit more interesting, the blog team will review your ideas and pick the most popular or most interesting for a poll. We’ll post the poll on Wednesday. So brainstorm now, and be sure to come back on Wednesday to view the shortlist and to vote for your favorites.
Share your ideas in the comments below. Describe the idea, whether it involves cutting costs or generating revenue, and how much you think it could add to the Postal Service’s bottom line. Happy brainstorming!
This topic is hosted by the OIG’s Risk Analysis Research Center (RARC).
527 Comments
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I am an RCA (just over a year now) and I came into the Post Office at a difficult time. No complaints there–I knew what I was getting into. I can only speak about rural routes, as I know so little about the city routes in our office.
The rural routes in our office are inefficient and don’t make any sense. They criss-cross each other in their line of delivery and many times split subdivisions unnecessarily. It would save money and time if more thought were given to the layout of these routes and “route clustering” were implemented for each route. Some routes have potential for growth, while others clearly do not. This is obvious from even a cursory glance. I think that a bunch of third-graders with a box of crayons could do a better job than what has been established at our branch office. With the recent shake-ups and threats of eliminating one of our rural routes, I thought these issues would be dealt with by now. However, in spite of threats to that effect, nothing has happened.
I hesitate to suggest this, as it would mean eliminating jobs (mine included) and make me very unpopular, but I wonder why this is never addressed? I am not leaving my real name, as I cannot risk repercussions.
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Be advised, I’m speculating here.. But, I don’t think I’m far off track…?
That wouldn’t work Cathy. Every job you eliminate results in 5 (est.) votes that the Congressmen/woman in a particular subject district won’t get. However, the very-very-very intresting thing about this analogy is…. I have personally found that most of the postal folks I interact with every day, don’t know who their congressional member is. Additionally, they don’t vote, (just what I’ve determined from chit-chat with them) or know who presides on the congressional Subcommittee, Federal Workforce U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy.
Oh yeah, that box of crayons you’re talking about, is one heck of alot more useful and cheaper than studies conducted by Rand Corporation, the NALC, or the GAO. I understand there have to be standards, but universal service does not mean vanilla or chocolate are the only flavors either….
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Many neighborhoods could have mailboxes on the street here in Columbus. There is no reason for mailmen to have to go to each house to put mail in the mailbox attached to the house.
There are so many good suggestions in these posts…. maybe it’s time to impliment some of them?
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I agree that the times of having mail dropped in a door slot should be eliminated. Columbus is only one of many markets where this old-fashioned method exists. Columbus has a huge carrier count as each carrier is on foot simply because of the door slot delivery method. I know it’s not popular but those foot carriers can be consolidated 10 foot carriers to 1 with a motor carrier droping off curb side instead. Multiply that by the 1000s of communities still using door slot and there’s a billion+$$$ savings alone.
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with the new rules coming on stamps, living people, etc, lets us put advertising on the stamps, charge a little more for the service.
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I have an idea that should get attention and hope it does for the sake of the USPS and me of course.
I can save the USPS well over $100 million a year without making an investment that does not exceed what they already do every month as well as not change any procedure they already follow. It would not require any downsizing of any nor would it require any additional training. The program will work I have done it with other company as well. I don’t have actual numbers but do know my numbers are low!! The savings could be alot higher with the actual numbers.
Also this would be a “GREEN” initiative.
Perhaps this will be read to speed the process of getting in front of the right person.
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It’s really very simple. There is no federal requirement about the funding of postal operations or content of the stamps. If the USPS were to allow sponsorship of stamps, it would find a new revenue source, possibly even allowing stamps to be obtained for free. Individual contributors could have their pictures on the stamps and businesses could have their logos or other messages put on the stamps. Auctions could be held, and other ingenious ways of finding sponsors could be offered.
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Arbitration Awards (September YTD) for FY2011 total over $500 million (yes, 1/2 BILLION dollars). If there was not such blatant disregard of the contracts agreed to by management, arbitration expenses could be greatly reduced.
As of July 31, 2011:
$115 million to craft/eas and $387 million to HQ. Seriously???
History of HQ Arb Awards:
2007 $7,487,397
2008 $80,527
2009 $116,582
2010 $67,877
2011 $387,162,225
What’s wrong with this picture?
Perhaps the OIG could investigate this drastic increase in monies expensed to HQ for Arbitration Awards.
Also, understaffing is costing the USPS ridiculous amounts of overtime and penalty time, especially in the city carrier craft. As of July 31, 2011:
OVERTIME PAY (PM) $19,679,775.64
OVERTIME PAY (SUPVR) $46,088,580.04
OVERTIME PAY (CLK) $558,561,236.50
OVERTIME PAY (CAG K CLK) $50,244.50
OVERTIME PAY (MAILHANDLERS) $261,745,208.54
OVERTIME PAY (RURAL CARRS.) $77,509,711.41
OVERTIME PAY (CITY CARRS.) $1,295,284,295.64
OVERTIME PAY (VEH. DRIVERS) $41,007,569.63
OVERTIME PAY (BLDG SER) $19,199,638.49
OVERTIME PAY (PO.OPER.EQUIP.) $53,501,059.24
OVERTIME PAY (BLDG.&PLANT.) $9,513,743.74
OVERTIME PAY (ADM. SUPPORT) $3,593,747.54
OVERTIME PAY (PROF ADM TECH) $4,597,450.52
OVERTIME PAY (VEH. MAINT.) $14,284,074.28
OVERTIME PAY (MES) $18,670.04
OVERTIME PAY (ASC) $171,968.74
OVERTIME PAY (FAC SERV CTR&OF $687.82
OVERTIME PAY PRO.FLD.(PURCH FLD PERSONNEL) $870,157.83
OVERTIME PAY STAMP ENV. UNIT & STAMP DIST. NW $65,090.99
OVERTIME PAY (AREA COUNSEL) $10,215.21
OVERTIME PAY (FD COMM OFF) $172.10
OVERTIME PAY (HRSC – EMP. REL ($10,953.51)
OVERTIME PAY (IS/IG) $0.00
OVERTIME PAY (ADMINISTRATION) $203,250.22
OVERTIME PAY (PROT. FORCE) $2,146,328.20
OVERTIME PAY (AREA) $839,763.32
OVERTIME PAY (IBSSC/COSC) $446,254.93
OVERTIME PAY (HQ) $1,055,929.35
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (SUPVR) ($100.44)
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (CLK) $29,362,103.90
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (CAG K CLK) $591.65
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (MAILHANDLERS) $715.86
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (CITY CARRS.) $80,807,496.72
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (VEH. DRIVERS) $3,505,105.43
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (BLDG SER) $745,674.61
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (PO.OPER.EQUIP.) $4,202,347.15
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (BLDG.& PLANT.) $628,085.85
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (ADM. SUPPORT) $146,112.88
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (PROF ADM TECH) $18.81
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (VEH. MAINT.) $421,227.68
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (MES) $37.17
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (ASC) $14,579.48
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (PURCH FLD PERS) $23,354.84
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY STAMP ENV. UNIT & S.D. N $1,632.74
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (IBSSC/COSC) $200,427.40
PENALTY OVERTIME PAY (HQ) $58,282.63
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Mr Novak,
You are providing data without insight. The account that you are tracking is not just for expenses paid out but for potential liabilities that must be booked under GAAP. There was a potential large case that was accrued this year and since it involves employees nationwide it goes to HQ. It will be years before we know what the true payout may or may not be and I am sure the OIG is well aware of the case. Thanks.
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USPS needs to consider the following proposals in order to compete and stay profitable in the delivery industry;
-Offer better hours in busy or high traffic locations
-Offer value added services modeled after UPS and FedEx
-Offer parcel support to customers at value pricing
-Treat customers as any business would, as customers – the only source of revenue for any business!
Contact me for full details and we can do this!
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Many of the Post offices in larger cities are enormous buildings.
Is all the space needed? Subdivide the spaces, and become landlords to a host of new businesses.
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The USPS has so many branches and limbs of business, services, and customer needs to be met that I wonder how it has functioned as many years as it has without total collapse of chaos! I believe we are almost there now. The employees are not properly trained for the retail services provided in all post offices-that’s one problem! The carriers are not properly trained in USPS products and services-that’s another problem! The final problem is that the USPS is so diverse in services to sell, services provided and diversity of customers that without public education of USPS services-USPS is taken for granted for the potential of growth it could have. If the USPS has owned property that it is not using, sell it! If the USPS is so broke, quit issuing employee awards, bonuses, incentives and inside USPS travel trips and ridiculous studies that are not profiting the company, only leading it to further demise. If delivery of mail operations is to ever be streamlined, stop delivering mail door to door to city customers. Unions or no unions, contracts or no contracts, all USPS customers are guaranteed mail delivery not guaranteed door to door. That’s USPS delivery discrimination! Finally for retail services, face it USPS—some retail units will not profit but do provide valuable services directly to customers in helping assist their every day life. Not all American citizens can write, read, fill out a USPS money order or even read their bills and mail. These are the reasons why America still needs its USPS. I do believe that the USPS needs to let their employees who handle the mail, deliver the mail, and knows what happens to the mail and quit micro-managaging the employees. Let the employees do their jobs and managers learn what the mail is about! The USPS still has potential for growth but without seeing the good and bad of all of their operations within and quit expecting Americans to bail you out by allowing you to close facilities and do massive lay-offs; you will go down with the ship and Wal-Mart will be the new USPS of America. Think about it. How much money gets wasted on USPS OIG and PRC meetings too? If USPS goes down, then so will the OIG and PRC when your services are no longer needed by the new contract employees and contract stations of USPS! Think about it, no career USPS employees anymore then there will be no need for federal and government accountability of mail service theft anymore either!
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I have nothing against Unions; they hold a purpose within an organization that isn’t compliant with Federal/State Labor Laws. Therefore, it is my opinion the USPS should really evaluate if petitioning congress to no longer be required to hire Union positions in regrds to postmasters and hiring direct management, as many successful/profitable law abiding corporations have, should seriously be considered.
The USPS Mail Carriers Union has allowed the company to use what they call Transitional Employees. I would like to see the statistics of how many TE’s actually become permanent. Having a class/caste system such as this speaks negatively of your organization and I am sure you experience a corporate culture that reflects that as such. And I seriously don’t understand as to why the Union would agree to that concession. I do have my opinion.
Secondly I find it in bad taste for Union to solicit funds (dues) from TE’s as they don’t benefit as the “regulars” do in negotiations.
Your “Postmaster’s” from what I see have little to no training or experience in human resource management and seriously lack knowledge of internal work policies and procedures to effectively run a business or have chosen to “handle things as they see fit”. If they do, isn’t evident in your bottom line.
Example 1: On several occasions transitional employees receive 1 route, of which takes your “regular employee” 8 hours to complete, the transitional employee completes the route in 5 hours and then is given the auxiliary route which has the potential to send the TE into overtime. When brought to the attention of the Postmaster, the direct comment was, “He’s a regular and he is guaranteed 8 hours”. If I have to explain the absurdity of a remark like this from a “manager”, then your management system is in a worse state than even I can imagine.
Example 2: On several occasions transitional employee are sent to other locations for support. Which on the surface has value; this is how the assignment went. TE is permanent in one city, which really needs another FTE as both TE’s assigned to this location puts in 40 plus hours per week (that’s another finding as a talented manager would recognize and requisition a FTE and promote one of the TE’s that work the area). The TE is sent to help another location, although much needed in the TE’s assigned/hired area, 70 miles round trip. Of which you pay mileage. Then the postmaster calls to have 2 TE’s from another city 50 miles round trip each to help with mail delivery in their area. One TE from the other city would have had a 30 mile round trip to the first assigned TE’s location. In essence the USPS paid a total of 170 miles as opposed to 30 miles, plus wages for riding as opposed to delivering mail, plus the wage/fringe for 3 managers to make that decision. In addition, all the 3rd class mail wasn’t delivered that day in at least one of the locations and had to be delivered the next, which ended accruing overtime for some. When the Postmaster was questioned as to the logic, the answer was the “I have to make sure my employees don’t go into overtime”. Perhaps this is true, but a bad decision so “the books” look good one area isn’t helping your bottom line. Which brings me to this point, if your line management team can’t think past their respective areas, anticipate a shortfall, or utilize critical thinking skills, then don’t expect any change for your organization.
Your line management team is your key to change, they control what we the customer see and pay for and more importantly base our decision on how we spend our hard earned dollars. And what we, the customer, see is as incompetement line management.
Put anything in writing you like, but if they don’t have the skills to understand it and implement it, you’re wasting time.
I believe this type of line management is more prevalent in your business than those who do possess the skills to effectively run their respective areas. Petitioning Congress to allow you to hire a management team that isn’t in a collective bargaining unit may be a way to allow your organization to grow. Then perhaps the “mail carrier union” and the “clerk union” will have skilled, trained and experienced management as oversight as opposed to what I perceive a severe conflict of “Union” interest. And perhaps your corporate culture of having a perceived class/caste system of employees will also become a thing of the past, as most unfair labor practices tend to do with time.
Respectfully,
All of Us
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The United States Postal Service has been blessed with the best law enforcement agency in the world, the postal inspection service. Because of their diligence over the decades, not only have mail frauds, laundered monies, and international scams been uncovered, but the service has also kept a keen eye on our financial health. The USPS has actually managed quite well as a quasi-not profit agency, gettin $0.00 from tax payer subsidies. That is in part to the stringent oversight by the inspection service. Whatever new strategies we come up with, with OIG to audit our transactions we will represent America well as a sound organization, into the rest of the 21st century and beyond.
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Currently the postal service delivers mail to every mailbox in the country 6 days a week. This is a tremendous number of miles driven, walked, and hours worked each week. I suggest delivering mail 3 days a week. Some routes would be run Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The others would be Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The same amount of mail would be delivered with only half the delivery/pick-up cost each day. Waiting one more day for mail to be picked up or delivered will not hurt anything but the postal service can be seriously streamlined and the costs will drop greatly.
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Often wondered why the USPO didn’t sell advertising space on stamps.
Look how much money you could make from corporate sponsors! Even
local companies could buy space. Shouldn’t that give you enough income
to stay afloat?
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The United States Postal Service should raise prices on stamps significantly while at the same time, offer discount stamps that are subsidized by commercial advertising. Target, for example, can pay 50% of the postal rate on a block of stamps in exchange for putting their logo on the stamp. Every company could do the same. For those who hate advertising, they could still buy the U.S. Government stamps but they would cost significantly more.
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Great idea…now thats easy enough to do
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In an effort to assist the United States Postal Service in coming up with ideas outside the box here are possible solutions to increase reveue. Since USPS has one of the largest ground fleets a suggestion that I have come up with is perhaps making a deal with the electric and water departments to take over the meter reading via wireless data communications since we visit every location regularly. USPS could provide this service and reduce costs for the Electric and Water companies.
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I do not believe that closing Saturday delivery really helps anything. Based upon my experience as an RCA, if you stop Saturday delivery then Mondays become a real bear. Mondays are heavy enough. I suggest if you must close anything that Wednesdays are good, and I would start delivery on Sundays…especially during the holidays in addition to creating 24hr self serve locations and keeping current office open an additional 2 hours to benefit customers.
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Another idea…which may sound weird…but does offer a service..is to take care of animals while people are away from their homes. (i.e. water and feed the dogs, cats or what ever. LOL it’s called brain storming.
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I have 2 idea’s of saving the Postal Service LOTS of money just by changing a currant policy. I went to eIDEAS and they want you to go through your supervisor with your idea. Then the very last thing is they want you to Test idea for 6 months and document feasibility. I just want someone with some clout to view my idea and let me know. It doesn’t have to be tested and it wouldn’t cost one cent to put it into effect. They make you jump through all these hoops and your just trying to save THEM money. Very disscouraging.
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I will like to let you know of an excellent way of generating more revenues and direct marketing. For those who have P.O.Box’s:
Direct marketing:
collect users personal email address to send them email notification that they have a package in their P.O. Box or mail.
Also you can send them mail of special that are going on. You can also send them email reminders when the P.O. Box Bill is due, so you can also allow for express electronic bill pay.
A small investment with millions in return. This will build customer retention and good well.
You can email me if you like further assistance.
Sincerely,
Darryl
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Since this is the digital age and we communicate primarily digitally, I’ve been wondering for years why the postal service does not create a method for people to email and communicate electronically. There has to be a way for the postal system to create revenue by keeping up with the times…offer an email site, create a search engine such as yahoo or google, be the next “facebook”, invent a social media site. Thank you!
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