Logistics
Postmaster General Reports Good News, But it’s a Trifle Thin
The crucial issue for the Postal Service, to stem the tide of further postage increases amid mail volume and revenue loss, is to maximize its productivity. That was the message Postmaster General John Potter ...
The Postal Service’s Business Strategy: Spend Savings Now, Raise Rates Later
When is a penny saved not a penny earned? When the penny isn't really saved at all, but rather "reinvested in other areas." And so it goes with the U.S. Postal Service's recently-announced reductions in ...
Increased Productivity Key to Postal Service’s Success
When your ship’s taking on water, that’s not the time to scrub the deck. But with the Postal Service facing chronic billion-dollar losses, the "solutions" being tossed about by USPS management and others ...
The U.S. Postal Service, $300 Million in Executive Bonuses, And Some Funny Accounting
President Bush has spoken banefully of CEOs who receive tens of millions of dollars in bonuses as their companies incur large-scale losses. "Corporate officers who benefit from false accounting statements ...
Postage Rates Go Up — What Comes Down?
Confronted with mounting deficits, the Postal Service has cut expenditures, reduced work hours (mainly in mail processing), and implemented a substantial postage rate increase June 30th. However, the ...
Universal Postal Service: Without Competition, the Tail Wags the Dog
Why does a credit card company or a mail-order vender receive a government guarantee that its billings or solicitations will be delivered at a uniform price, even to every mailbox in the country? Because 90 ...
Renewed Mail Volume Growth No Panacea For Postal Service’s Financial Woes
The Postal Service claims that its legislated business model is outdated and must be transformed. It blames its current financial crisis on what it sees as the decaying state of first-class letter mail. This mail, ...
To Fix the Listing Postal Service, Don’t Forget to Plug the Holes
When the ship's taking on water, that's not the time to scrub the deck. But with the Postal Service facing chronic billion-dollar losses, some prominent "solutions" would ignore its most serious problems. Postal management ...
5 Ways to Fix the U.S. Postal Service
With the release of their Transformation Plan, the Postal Service is effectively trying to distract attention away from the true nature of its problems: Namely, its management's unwillingness to accept that the ...
Postal Reform Should Reduce Cost of Postal Labor Force
Labor costs have remained near 80 percent of total costs over the history of the Postal Service. Increases in the price of labor are, consequently, a crucial determinate of the Service's financial health. The Postal ...