Pad 530 Assignment 1: Rationale and Analysis for Agency Selected, Part 1

Especially in urban cities buzzing with the latest technology, many would agree that, “you don’t need a full-service post office every few blocks in New York, for example” (Source A). In addition, I spend every summer with my dad in Chicago, and because there is a USPS post office right around the corner of our apartment building, I have noticed from passing it every day that it is the one store on State Street that is empty 90 percent of the time. In my experience, Postmaster General John Potter is correct in wanting to “close and consolidate 154 post offices”, significantly reducing operating costs and employment. Strategy is key; by shutting down the offices with the lowest production and necessity, USPS will no longer be uselessly spending money.

In fact the United States Postal Service (USPS) is a form of legalized monopoly, or natural monopoly (Ayers & Collinge, 1995). In order to make this point it is important to identify the definition of a natural monopoly, and that is when economies of scale are so large that one firm can supply the entire market at a lower average total cost (Hubbard & Obrien, 2017). While the surface of this definition may imply that the USPS is so big because they are exceptional at performing the task of delivering mail, the reality of the situation is derived from law, and 19th century law at that (Ayers & Collinge, 1995). The United States Government has made it illegal for any entity other than the USPS to be tasked with delivering the mail (Ayers & Collinge, 1995). Additionally, the USPS is becoming more and more outdated every passing minute with the advancements of technology (Gómez, 2018). This leads to a failing business model that is continually funded, all be it minimally, by the federal government (Gómez, 2018).

According to a Case Study-United States Postal Service (Jan 06, 2010), retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/bakeursilly/usps; since 1175 when Benjamin Franklin was appointed as the first postmaster general of the United States, the agency known as the United States Postal Service (USPS) has grown to become an institution that delivers about half of the world’s mail in snow, rain, and the dark of the night. Employing about 656,000 workers and 218,684 vehicles, 36,496 total retail and delivery facilities nationwide, 599 processing facilities, 584 million pieces is the average volume per day, and a total work hour of 1,258,025 per year delivering over 200 billion items per year via air and highway.

In July 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) listed the budget of the United States Postal Service as “high risk” and recommended oversight from Congress and the Executive Branch. Specifically, the GAO stated that “Amid challenging economic conditions and a changing business environment, USPS is facing a deteriorating financial situation in which it does not expect to cover its expenses and financial obligations in fiscal years 2009 and 2010” (“Restructuring”, 2009, pg. 1). The GAO claimed that the mail volume in 2009 would likely decrease by about 28 billion as compared to 2008 and that the USPS would likely see declining volumes for the next five years (“Restructuring”, 2009, pg. 1). Clearly, the USPS is currently facing a

In Daniel Stone’s editorial article, “Flying Like an Eagle”, he advises the USPS some guidance to boost up their profit and their usage to the community. One of his inputs on the

The Post Office Department known as the United States Postal Services (USPS) (Annual Report, 2009) today, is a dominate player in the mail delivery arena and has been existence since 1776. The Post Office was originally a governmental agency, but due to mismanagement by Congress, was reorganized in 1971 and no longer a part of the presidential cabinet; but became an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government. To date, the USPS maintains a monopoly on the day-to-day delivery of mail but competitors do share the market on some of the other types of deliveries; shares the market on some of the other types of deliveries (i.e. express

If you ask people his/her opinion on the USPS system, many would agree that they could improve their ways, I agree with those people. The USPS was once this propitious system, but it is now very flawed. The USPS is allowing junk mail to enter our mailboxes without our permission and then leaves us no options to get out of it. Overall, the USPS system has no idea what they are doing because they are losing revenue over simple problems, with simple solutions.

To many individuals, this is traditionally seen as a bureaucratic problem; however, personally I do not believe that the problem is purely the result of public sector negligence. Like many government services, it is more likely that the answer lies in serious reform rather than complete suspension. Interestingly, I located an article about the nonprofit - National Academy of Public Administration – that suggested a kind of public/private hybrid approach to fix the USPS’s difficulties. The concept entails “farming out” much of the behind the scenes process while a federal letter carrier would still handle front-line delivery services.

The United States Postal Service has existed for more than two centuries. As the people have grown into the new world of digital technology and electronic communication, the USPS continues to become more of a disservice to the American people. The USPS has still used the same rules and principles for more than two centuries, which does not intrigue any more customers. The USPS needs to be reconstructed in order to fit the needs of a changing world. As the world grows and develops into higher levels of thinking and technological advances, the USPS should grow with them, changing to become more useful to American people.

6) February 20, 1792- Establishment of the US Postal Service. This was signed into action by George Washington via the Postal Service Act, establishing a federal nationwide service for sending and receiving mail. It was established due to the frustration of many citizens in not being able to reliably send and receive news.

Another growing idea is the privatization of USPS and the removal of its monopoly on mail delivery. It seems the ultimate goal of this would be alleviating the government’s hold on the Post Office altogether, therefore reduce any burden that it has. Perhaps it would also allow the Post Office to expand its services in order to meet the growing needs of consumers and adapt to the

The post office in the 1840s was a big way of spreading information. Local postmasters (which is a person in control of the post office) were great rewards for local politicians. Three quarters of all federal employees worked at the Post Office. In 1816 the post office employed 3341, but in 1841, there were 14,290 employed workers. The amount of mail expanded way faster than the population grew. There were 2900 letters and 2700 newspapers per thousand people in

The USPS has not implemented many aspects of change and they have not dealt with the technological change well. Ever since Email and text messages became the man way to communicate and send information, the USPS took a major hit with profits. Instead of having this work against them the government needed to makes changes within their own systems. Certain companies have contacts with UPS and FedEx when it comes to shipping. The USPS is not allowed to enter into any type of contract which is why, when the internet and online shopping became big these companies jumped on it. The USPS just stayed back and didn’t try to implement any changes. They need to research how they could incorporate technology into their business structure and make needed

The USPS is at a point where it does not have the financing available to maintain its operations. One reason for the annual net losses is due to the declining rate of first-class mail. The second reason has to do with the required prepayment of $5.5 billion per year toward retirees’ healthcare costs. In order for the USPS to overcome this deficit, they will need to consider their short time frame, government restrictions and labor union backfire in considering the best alternative. One alternative would be to privatize postal services operations which would allow the USPS to change its pricing structure, yet it would potentially significantly reduce market share. A second alternative would be to undergo a system-wide

Nowadays we take technology like internet and cell phones for granted. They allow us to operate more efficiently and provide us with solutions to various issues. There was a time however when cell phones and the internet did not exist and technology was not as evolved. A time when fax machines were new and few in numbers due to its value and only the telephone was the central means of communication. During the 1970’s, many or close to all businesses relied on postal service for financial papers such as stocks, checks, and bonds. Back then most department stores received 85% of their accounts receivable through the mail (Chesterton, 1970). At that time, Richard Nixon was President and the congress had passed motions that would give members of congress a 41% pay raise (3). Meanwhile they only gave postal employees a mere 4% raise. This would be the ultimate reason and trigger of the largest walkout ever on the federal government in U.S history.