The U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) financial condition and outlook deteriorated significantly during FY 2009. USPS was not able to cut costs fast enough to offset declining mail vol. and revenues resulting from the economic downturn and changing mail use. USPS would not be able to make the $5.4 billion payment to prefund postal retiree health benefits that was due by the end of the year. This testimony: (1) updates USPS's financial condition and outlook; (2) describes changes made by the Postal Account. and Enhancement Act of 2006 that provided USPS with greater flexibility to generate revenues; (3) outlines USPS's revenue-generation actions and results using this flexibility; and (4) discusses options to generate increased revenues in the future.

U.S. Postal Service: Financial Challenges Continue, with Relatively Limited Results from Recent Revenue-Generation Efforts

The USPS's financial outlook has deteriorated as customers have shifted to electronic alternatives. Mail volumes have declined over 20% since FY 2006 and are expected to continue declining. To help its financial outlook, in March 2010, USPS presented a detailed proposal to move from a 6-day to a 5-day delivery schedule. USPS projected this would save about $3 billion annually and reduce mail volume by less than l%. This proposal factors in widespread changes to USPS's workforce and networks. This report assessed: (1) USPS's cost and volume estimates and the operational impacts associated with its 5-day delivery proposal; and (2) the trade-offs and other implications associated with this proposal. Illus. A print on demand report.

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 required an evaluation of strategies and options for reforms of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). USPS¿s business model is to fulfill its mission through self-supporting, businesslike operations; however, USPS has experienced increasing difficulties. Due to volume declines, losses, a cash shortage, and rising debt, the USPS was added to a high-risk list in July 2009. The objectives of this report were to assess: (1) the viability of USPS¿s business model; (2) strategies and options to address challenges to its business model; and (3) actions Congress and USPS need to take to facilitate progress toward financial viability. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.

This compilation of original essays by an international cast of economists, regulators and industry practitioners analyzes some of the major issues now facing postal and delivery services throughout the world as competition from information and communication technologies (ICT) has increased. Competition has become increasingly important in the postal sector for some time in the form of alternative entrants providing mail delivery. However, the competition from ICT in the form of email and instant messaging, the Internet, Facebook and other forms of social networking and portable wireless devices such as the iPad and Kindle may be even more significant. Mail volumes are falling and the economies of scale that have made possible daily deliveries to every address are being eroded. This book assesses volume these declines resulting from this so-called eSubstituion and looks at the ways the postal sector can adapt to the rapid changes resulting from ICT. The impact of electronic invoicing on transactions mail, and the impact on bulk mail of electronic forms of advertising are examined. Strategies, including pricing and access policies, are discussed in the context of the increasing impact of ICT. A rethinking of the role of mail in an electronic age is taking place and this book provides the cutting-edge of this rethinking and the attempts of POs to reinvent themselves while continuing to meet the public s expectation of continuing ubiquitous daily deliveries of traditional mail products. Undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in regulation, competition law, innovation and public sector economics along with institutional libraries and industry professionals will find this volume informative and useful.