Report blasts (US) Postal Service

A coalition of mass mailers on Monday issued a blistering report on U.S. Postal Service productivity, criticizing the agency for driving up stamp prices with shoddy management practices.

The Mailers Council, a group of businesses and organizations that accounts for 70% of the nation’s mail volume, based the report on data collected from the first quarter of 2001.

The group concluded that the country’s post offices are overstaffed and that the Postal Service is not doing enough to integrate technology into the mail sorting process.

“The Postal Service employs too many people for the price that it is charging,” said Robert McLean, executive director of the Mailers Council. “And as technology goes, the (Postal Service) has used automated sorters for letter mail, but has yet to implement automated processes for larger pieces of mail. That process is still being done by hand.”

The report was developed in connection with the Washington Economics Consulting Group using economic indicators and accounting data, McLean said.

Greg Frey, a Postal Service spokesman, said the agency appreciates helpful criticism, but noted that the agency’s mission sometimes runs counter to productivity considerations.

“We have to provide daily mail service to every address in the nation, whether they have mail they want delivered or not,” Frey said. “Simple productivity may not be the best way to judge whether the Postal Service is effective. We would suggest that the Mailers Council continue to look at the question and make suggestions to Congress.”

The Postal Service has raised rates twice in the last seven months. In November, the agency raised the price of stamps for one ounce of mail from 33 cents to 34 cents. In May, the Postal Service raised the cost for each additional ounce from 21 cents to 23 cents.

The agency has reported that it will face losses of between $1.6 billion and $2.4 billion this year.

McLean said the Postal Service should downsize as its workers retire.

“It wouldn’t be painful. It would take time to integrate the technology needed to automate much of the sorting and the Post Office could downsize by attrition over several years,” McLean said.