The U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday it wants to keep providing universal postal service and to hold onto its monopoly on mail delivery.
In a report to the Postal Regulatory Commission, the USPS said it remains committed to providing “trusted, affordable universal service to the American public” even though “additional flexibilities will be required to ensure affordable, universal service into the future.”
The Postal Act of 2006 requires the PRC to submit a report to the President and Congress on universal postal service and the postal monopoly in December.
“This is huge because this report essentially will define what the postal service is supposed to be doing and what it’s not supposed to be doing,” said Bob McLean, executive director of the Mailers Council. “Universal service can be interpreted in a number of ways. Does it mean that every American gets mail? Probably everybody would agree on that. Does it mean we get mail six days a week? Or is it five? Or is it fewer than five?”
“If you’re Fedex, if you’re United Parcel Service you’ll have a great deal of interest,” he noted (Direct, Oct., 2008).
Universal service obligations include uniform prices, quality of service, access to services, and six-day delivery to every part of the country To pay for this, the postal monopoly provides the USPS the exclusive right to deliver letters and restricts mailbox access solely for mail, said the agency.
The report argued that eliminating or reducing either aspect of the monopoly “would have a devastating impact on the ability … to provide the affordable universal service that the country values so highly.”
Also, relaxing access to the mailbox would also pose security concerns, increase delivery costs, and hurt customer service, said the USPS.
At hearings earlier this year, the PRC also heard from mailers, trade groups unions and management associations. Comments generally indicated that changes are not currently needed, according to the USPS.
