Decisions based on data
Jessica Lowrance, the President-Elect of the Association for Postal Commerce, has argued that the US Postal Service (USPS) must use the tools at its disposal to give the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) the data it needs make informed decisions about the current system of rate regulation and how to move forward in its review. Speaking at yesterday’s (11 May) US House of Representatives Oversight & Government Reform Committee hearing on postal reform, Lowrance give a wide ranging review of the current state of the postal service from a mailer’s perspective before focusing on the need for data.
“With the pendency of the legislatively-mandated 10-year review of the current rate regulation system, mailers need an accurate accounting and understanding of the costs of the products and services they receive from the Postal Service,” said Lowrance.
“The Postal Regulatory Commission should not be required to judge the performance of the existing system on the basis of data that are inadequate for sound decision-making. It is imperative that the Postal Service be directed to use the many data-driven tools it has been able to create, such as the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb) and Informed Visibility, to supply the data the Postal Regulatory Commission so sorely needs to make informed decisions about the current system of rate regulation and how to move forward in its review.
“The Postal Service itself needs these very same data to understand underlying cost drivers and to make more informed decisions on rules, prices, operational changes, and service performance improvements. If America’s postal system is to survive, let alone thrive, mailers need to have the confidence that the Postal Regulatory Commission has the ability to oversee and report accurately information and recommendations in a way that will be informative and transparent to all stakeholders.
“At the end of the day, mailers need reliable, consistent mail service, and affordable, predictable prices in order to continue to investment in mail for business communication and commerce.”
Click here to see a PDF of Lowrance’s full testimony.
