On April 18, 2016 the United States Postal Service (USPS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report positing a rosy future for the USPS. The report, “Peeling the Onion,” concluded that USPS is “doing better financially than sometimes reported in the press.” Postal IG David Williams seems to view the agency’s prospects through rose-colored glasses, but the fiscal realities contained in its financial statements, congressional oversight and Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports indicate that the agency is running on empty and in need of transformative change.
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For: USPS Vehicle Procurement
In 1987, U2 released “The Joshua Tree,” which included the popular single, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” A gallon of gas cost 87 cents, Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister for the third time, and “Good Morning, Vietnam” was showing in theatres that year. It was also the last year that the United States Postal Service (USPS) purchased vehicles, which were supposed to “last a lifetime.” However, much like neon-colored suits and shoulder pads in women’s blazers, those vehicles, known as Grumman Long Life Vehicles (LLVs), have outlived their usefulness and their style.
Floundering USPS Needs Reform, Not Expansion
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is a government entity and has operated as such since 1775. It has a straightforward mandate: “To provide postal services to bind the Nation together.” And furthermore, “It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons.” In 1970, Congress directed that USPS be run like a business, with its activities funded solely through its revenues.
Fail and Expand: The USPS Way
In the world inhabited by rational people, when a business repeatedly falters and fails make a profit, it is slated for downsizing and a return to the basic services where it had previously operated effectively. But, in the world of government-sponsored entities, the opposite impulse occurs. Having lost more than $46 billion since 2007, The […]
Identity Crisis at the USPS
On Wednesday, April 7, 2015, the United States Postal Service (USPS) unveiled its newest postage stamp, a commemorative tribute to the renowned and beloved poet and writer, Maya Angelou. The celebration attracted First Lady Michelle Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Oprah Winfrey, who is an Angelou mega-fan. Unfortunately, within hours of the stamp’s launch, it was revealed that the quote printed on the stamp was not written by Maya Angelou, but by another writer, Joan Walsh Anglund.
Study: Postal Service Receives $18 Billion Per-Year in Monopoly Benefits
A report by former top Commerce Department official and Clinton economic adviser Robert Shapiro reveals the inherent subsidies and monopoly benefits provided to the United States Postal Service (USPS) result in more than $18 billion in financial competitive advantages per year.
USPS Labor Woes: A Greek Tragedy
In the myth of Sisyphus, the protagonist angers the gods so much that they condemn him to spend eternity fruitlessly rolling a weighty boulder up a steep hill. This turns out to be an apt description of the fate of labor costs at the fiscally stressed United States Postal Service (USPS).
USPS In-APPtitude on Display
Sometimes, when it comes to grAPPling with the overarching, mind-numbing problem of trillions in government waste across all federal agencies, it’s the little vignettes that really illustrate and crystallize the larger story. And so it goes with the newest mis-hAPP unveiled by the United States Postal Service and reviewed by a reporter for Popular Mechanics: […]
Postal Delivery Times for Mail Slip, But Groceries Get Delivered in San Francisco !
Even as the USPS has ramped up a demo project to delivery groceries with Amazon in a few cities and made a deal to deliver some parcels for certain retailers on Sunday, the USPS is scaling back delivery standards for core customers, the folks who pay their bills, first class mail customers. While we support […]
USPS Delivers Groceries: Jack of All Trades, Master of None
The United States Postal Service (USPS) seems to be on a frenzied crusade to delve into new areas of business, even as it is posting billions in quarterly losses and mismanaging its core line of business, delivering first-class mail. Its latest entry into a new market, grocery delivery, ignores the fact that the USPS is […]