Much emphasis has been placed on reducing the Postal Service’s costs in response to its financial crisis. Yet financial viability could come in the form of a balanced approach that both reduces costs and increases revenue. How would a smart business respond to declines in its major products? Would it raise prices where possible in stagnant areas and invest the proceeds into existing or new growth areas? Would it selectively discount products to grow volume in price sensitive segments? Disruptive innovation, such as that underway in the communications sphere, requires change to ensure the Postal Service has what it needs to move beyond the critical crossroad it faces today.
The Office of Inspector General Risk Analysis Research Center’s new paper Postal Service Revenue: Structures, Facts, and Future Possibilities (Report Number RARC-WP-12-002) addresses the major components of the Postal Service’s revenue structure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, assesses existing opportunities permissible under the current framework, and discusses future options and policy considerations in a new era.
Loading ...Click here to read the Postal Service Revenue: Structures, Facts, and Future Possibilities white paper.
How would you approach the revenue issue to make sure the Postal Service continues to provide self-funded universal service to the American people?
This blog is hosted by the OIG’s Risk Analysis Research Center.
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Aggressively go after taking back at least some of the business private sector carriers like UPS and FedEx have taken from the USPS. Only in recent years have I once again started using USPS for all my shipping needs … ever since I learned from repeated experiences that the services are ALWAYS far cheaper AND faster than the comparable services from either UPS or FedEx, especially when the Priority Mail and Flat Rate options are considered. It seems obvious that, if more citizens and businesses were aware of the drastic USPS service and price structure improvements in recent years, most would return all of their shipping business to the USPS.
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There are many fake websites to submit change of address, hold mail, basic services that charge people anywhere from 1.00 to 30.00 to “process the request” and people pay it, with out thinking twice,
And yet the post office only charges 1.00 for verification “not taking in mind that some credit cards have a 5.00 min anyway” I think personaly they should up that to a 5.00 min for change of address, But still offer the ability to go to the local post office and still be able to fill out the form for free.
Regarding hold mail, the post office only allows customer to put mail on hold for 30 days, I think you should extend that out by a month or two and offer it to customers for a small charge.
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Recently had a package sent from Santa Clarita Ca to Ontario Ca approximately 78 miles Package was sent from Santa Clarita Ca. to Raleigh NC then to Ontario Ca for a mileage of 5044 miles I think there is a opportunity here to improve at least the fuel savings
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Start charging advertising first class postage. If it’s cloggong my mailbox up 3-4 days a week, one can only imagine what it’s doing to the USPS system. from pick up to delivery.
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Hey! You’ve got an idea that MOST Americans would agree with. Bulk mail is the evil of the system. Bulk mailers probably do deserve SOME kind of discount, Maybe in the range of 5%-10% maximum,but certainly not the discount that they receive currently. I don’t know about you, but I spend more time identifying and recycling junk mail than the mail I actually want to receive.
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Today I got a letter from a political organization in the mail. It was franked at 8.9 cents, pretty good deal. If I want to write to that organization I would have to pay 44 cents. Not so good.
The USPS should raise the rates for junk mail.
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I think that it would be fair to charge a flat fee each time a customer requests that their mail be held and then redelivered for a trip. This is a service that is an”add-on” and should be paid for by the users–of which I am one. Also, I think Saturday delivery should be eliminated-we can all make that adjustment and it should be a substantial savings in costs.
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Please save the beautiful architectural and historic post offices that contain art, sculptures and special murals reflecting the local culture. Rather than move to malls and other shops, KEEP the postal beautiful buildings and lease out unused space from these structures to bring people to the post office. However, keep these post offices functioning as post offices and enhance them.
Selling off and closing post offices will harm the local economies that depend on foot traffic to their stores and businesses. I enjoy going to my local post office, especially those with beautiful murals and historic plaques about the history of the post office and its significance to the local community.
Keep 6 day delivery of mail. Americans need it and there is no reason to change it. Going to 5 days will make the post office less effective and less attractive.
Focus on increasing package delivery. I cannot find any info about the volume of parcels, packages on the USPS website. Why? My understanding is that this is an increasing business mainly because of the e-commerce of the internet. Mail is not just first class mail. People go on the internet and order all sorts of things. Expand USPS to be able to deliver more packages. Packages should not just be sent via FedEx or UPS. They could use a little competition. I like sending my packages via USPS, including using overnight first class mail!
Keep door to door delivery. This is something not even UPS or FedEx does everywhere!
Recalculate the amount of annual funding sent to Treasury towards postal worker health and pension benefits to a normal reasonable level. Whoever calculated the current +$5.5 billion per year caused massive overfunding of these plans. Meanwhile it is clear the retirement funds–all of them–have been so overfunded that USPS should not have to pay anything until this is worked out. And, USPS should be refunded its own money that it overfunded!
Where did the crazy calculations in the Postal Accountability Enhancement Act that created this overfunding scenario of retirement pensions and health plans come from? OIG please look into it. Why should USPS be forced to continue overpaying by $5.5 to $10 billion/year for its health and pensions? This is unfair and wrong and is being misused in claiming USPS is not able to stay afloat.
Let people know the history of every one of their post offices. USPS should have a list of all the post offices, the dates they were created, the type of art that is in the post office, special info about the post offices, especially those that have historic significance available on the USPS website. These buildings are part of our American heritage and I am appalled at the rush to sell off as fast as possible these treasures of the American people before the people can stop it, especially the buildings built during the WPA and New Deal.
The projections used to justify sell off of post offices & postal lands is questionable. Check these projections. Are they accurate?
Ask the postal workers on the front lines their ideas for saving the post office.
Stop outsourcing certain functions of USPS. Is this costing USPS more money than keeping these functions in house? Where are the facts and figures about this?
Thanks.
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Raising costs for advertisements is one good suggestion. Also, making stamps available for purchase through retailers like convenience stores, and without charging a fee like some banks charge for buying stamps through the ATM…that is just bad advertising for the postal service.
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- Have a Postal Money Order verification system built-in at the retail window’s terminal so when people comes cash the money order, the terminal can check to see if the money order is real or not on the spot.
- Have a system in place like UPS, when customer short paid for postage on the prepaid package, clerk can look up who’s account it’s under and charge them the difference + fees.
- Have carriers start earlier so carrier can have higher moral with the jobs they are doing. Working in dark is not fun.
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1. Whenever a new delivery point is established {new home or new business, which never had Postal Service before}, charge a $25 fee to establish delivery. This is a bargain. $25 to establish delivery forever.
2. Charge $5.00 to process a change of address. It is not our fault you moved, and your move will cost us money. A $5 fee is very reasonable.
3. Like private carriers, when we have to use personal knowledge to correct the address in order to deliver a parcel, charge $5 Postage Due to the recipient. This is reasonable. If a correct address was not supplied to sender, or the sender simply does not have the correct address, it will cost us some time and money to get the parcel where it goes. For example- sender uses wrong zip code. it is delivered to the wrong office. That offcie reroutes and it is transported to the right office. $5 charge. This was not our fault, it cost us money, charge a fee. Of course, no charge if our fault.
4. Charge $1 to have a clerk retrieve your Mail from your PO Box because you do not have your key. Customer has a key. Not our fault customer did not bring key. Fetching mail keeps the employee from completeing other productive work or helping another paying cuatomer. Charge a fee.
5. Charge a $5 fee for packing/taping parcels for cuatomers. They will never stop asking for this, so charge them. The labor and cost of tape is an expense not covered by the postage paid. If they want the service, offer it, but charge.
We have to look beyond the price of a stamp if we want to survive. We are a business, we must charge for activities which cost us money, but are not our fault, or are beyond the normal service. There are options besides dismantling.
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