Post Master General Proposes Dramatic Service Cuts
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
~ Maura Betler
Despite record service levels and customer satisfaction scores, the Post Master General John Potter today announced severe losses. Mr. Potter says that without making cutbacks and taking necessary restructuring measures, the USPS could face a collective shortfall of $238 billion by 2020.
In a statement earlier this year, the USPS® points to the “…2010 first-quarter financial results” and the “recent recession, as well as continued migration of mail to electronic alternatives” as ongoing contributors to the agency’s financial woes.
In his March 2, 2010 statement, Mr. Potter proposed several cost-cutting measures:
• Restructure retiree benefits.
• Adjust or eliminate Saturday deliveries.
• Modernize customer access at retail stores and from the Internet.
• Restructure and revise pricing of services to reflect market demand.
• Introduce more products and services consistent customer needs and requests.
Finally, and not unexpectedly, Mr. Potter proposed a “modest exigent price increase,” effective in 2011.
If the USPS were a company that ran like a company, then they’d do everything they do differently. I applaud the PMG for trying to change things. Let’s see how Congress and the unions respond. It’ll be interesting.