The Case Against Consolidation: Rebuttal testimony challenges Network Rationalization
While the week’s postal news was dominated by the Senate vote on postal reform, something else important was going on. Opponents of the Postal Service’s plan to consolidate the processing network submitted their rebuttal testimony to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). This testimony — along with that of two independent experts brought in by the Commission — paints a vivid … Read More
The Nine Towns Study: The economic impact of post office closings on small places
How do post office closings affect the economic life of small towns? The Postal Service has not done any studies about the question, but a consulting firm has just released a report analyzing how closing the post offices in nine towns in Iowa would affect residents and small businesses. Like a similar study done about the economic impacts of closing … Read More
Why Postal Reform Will Fail
BY MARK JAMISON By any meaningful measure, whatever postal reform bill emerges from the current legislative process, it will be insufficient to staunch the flow of blood draining from the Postal Service. More likely than not, the bill will facilitate the destruction of a national treasure by strangling the principles that support its existence. Postal reform is going to fail … Read More
The GAO report on post office closings: Congress gets what it asks for—more misinformation
Last week the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its second report this month about the Postal Service. This one is about post office closings (GAO-12-433), and it’s apparently intended to give lawmakers information that will help them craft postal legislation. The cover letter for the report is addressed to Senator Tom Carper and Representative Darrell Issa, the two lawmakers … Read More
The Senate does postal reform: An overview of S.1789
If all goes according to plan, Senate bill S.1789 will come to the floor for a vote this week, perhaps as early as Tuesday. The “21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012" is sponsored by Senators Lieberman, Carper, Collins, and Brown. (A good summary of the bill is here.) Though a few shades better than what Darrell Issa and the … Read More
How Network Rationalization speeds up Standard Mail and hastens the demise of First-Class
Sometime over the next few days, the Postal Service is expected to publish the final rule implementing the service standard changes that are the foundation for the Network Rationalization plan to consolidate over 220 mail processing plants. First-Class Mail that is currently delivered overnight will be delivered in two days, and much of the mail delivered in two days will … Read More
It was sad when that great ship went down: The Postal Service heads for an iceberg
A hundred years ago this Sunday, the Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, causing the deaths of over 1500 people. Researchers have recently announced a new theory on the cause: Unusual weather conditions produced a false horizon that hid the iceberg from view. In other words, a mirage. Whatever the immediate … Read More
Gone Postal: A work in progress
Filmmakers launch documentary film trailer for Gone Postal in anticipation of Occupy the Post Office events scheduled across the nation on April 17th. With the US Postal Service caught in the national spotlight, now more than ever, Americans deserve the truth behind the headlines. The documentary Gone Postal will uncover what brought America’s most trusted institution to its knees. The film is the … Read More
Appeals in vain: The long odds on success at the PRC
Over the past fifteen months, more than two hundred communities have tried to save their post office from being closed by appealing to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). For nearly all of them, the effort was in vain. Between January 1, 2011, and April 6, 2012, the PRC issued orders on 180 appeals. Only thirteen of them were successful, … Read More
Connolly and Young Call on Congress to Develop 21st Century USPS Business Model
PRESS RELEASE More than 100 Members of Congress sign letter in support of 6 Day Mail, Rural Post Offices, Innovation Washington, D.C. –Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly was joined by more than 100 members of Congress in calling on Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to maintain robust mail service, including 6 day delivery and rural post offices, and … Read More
