People testifying before the President’s Commission on the United States Postal Service Thursday pretty much felt the service was still necessary but needed a lot of improvement.

Others said that any USPS reform must keep six-day-a week service going.

A total of 20 people from mailer organizations, postal labor unions and other concerned parties testified before the all-day meeting at the Hotel Washington Thursday.

H. Robert Wientzen, president of the Direct Marketing Association told the commission that the ills afflicting the USPS come in two categories: short-term maladies and systemic, long-term diseases.

Many of the DMA’s suggestions, dealing with labor issues, work sharing, pricing and monopoly functions of the USPS, require changes to existing law. “It is imperative, however, that we not wait for these changes before we set about repairing the seriously deteriorating postal service foundation, the cracks in which have become increasingly evident under the pressures of the past several years,” Wientzen said in a statement.

The DMA and its members, which sends between an estimated 80% to 90% of all of the USPS’s Standard Mail volume and generate $634 billion in direct mail sales, are seriously concerned. The postal service is, in short, in a death spiral in which rising USPS costs trigger postal rate increases that, in turn, threaten revenue-bearing mail volume.

Similarly, the testimony of Bob McLean, executive director of the Mailers Council generally urged the USPS to:

*Continue universal service.

*Improve productivity.

*Enhance mailer options.

*Raise postal compensation.

*Improve its financial transparency.

*Invest in technology.

“We believe these recommendations would help revitalize this institution we consider a vital business partner,” said McLean.

At the same time, William H. Young, president of the 305,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers testified that retaining mail service to all Americans six days a week must be the cornerstone of any postal reforms, and endorsed the use of new technology and work sharing discounts to enhance the economic viability of the U.S. postal service.

“The NALC believes that universal service, delivering to every household and business in America six days a week, needs to be preserved,” Young said. “It is that delivery network that gives the Postal Service its unique position and is the key to generating the revenue necessary for it to survive. In short, we have to find ways to expand services, not contract them.”

Young said for that reason the NALC endorses work sharing and work sharing discounts when appropriate. But he said work sharing must be defined in a far more expansive way than in the 1970s when such discounts began and now must include all technological innovations mailers can deploy to make the processing and delivery of mail more efficient and economical both for mailers and the American public.

Young suggested to the panel that it not get bogged down trying to determine the appropriate level for work-sharing discounts and instead leave measuring the appropriate discount for work sharing to whatever rate-making process is part of a restructured postal service.

People testifying before the President’s Commission on the United States Postal Service Thursday pretty much felt the service was still necessary but needed a lot of improvement.

Others said that any USPS reform must keep six-day-a week service going.

A total of 20 people from mailer organizations, postal labor unions and other concerned parties testified before the all-day meeting at the Hotel Washington Thursday.

H. Robert Wientzen, president of the Direct Marketing Association told the commission that the ills afflicting the USPS come in two categories: short-term maladies and systemic, long-term diseases.

Many of the DMA’s suggestions, dealing with labor issues, work sharing, pricing and monopoly functions of the USPS, require changes to existing law. “It is imperative, however, that we not wait for these changes before we set about repairing the seriously deteriorating postal service foundation, the cracks in which have become increasingly evident under the pressures of the past several years,” Wientzen said in a statement.

The DMA and its members, which sends between an estimated 80% to 90% of all of the USPS’s Standard Mail volume and generate $634 billion in direct mail sales, are seriously concerned. The postal service is, in short, in a death spiral in which rising USPS costs trigger postal rate increases that, in turn, threaten revenue-bearing mail volume.

Similarly, the testimony of Bob McLean, executive director of the Mailers Council generally urged the USPS to:

*Continue universal service.

*Improve productivity.

*Enhance mailer options.

*Raise postal compensation.

*Improve its financial transparency.

*Invest in technology.

“We believe these recommendations would help revitalize this institution we consider a vital business partner,” said McLean.

At the same time, William H. Young, president of the 305,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers testified that retaining mail service to all Americans six days a week must be the cornerstone of any postal reforms, and endorsed the use of new technology and work sharing discounts to enhance the economic viability of the U.S. postal service.

“The NALC believes that universal service, delivering to every household and business in America six days a week, needs to be preserved,” Young said. “It is that delivery network that gives the Postal Service its unique position and is the key to generating the revenue necessary for it to survive. In short, we have to find ways to expand services, not contract them.”

Young said for that reason the NALC endorses work sharing and work sharing discounts when appropriate. But he said work sharing must be defined in a far more expansive way than in the 1970s when such discounts began and now must include all technological innovations mailers can deploy to make the processing and delivery of mail more efficient and economical both for mailers and the American public.

Young suggested to the panel that it not get bogged down trying to determine the appropriate level for work-sharing discounts and instead leave measuring the appropriate discount for work sharing to whatever rate-making process is part of a restructured postal service.