US Postal Service plan falls short, expert says
The U.S. Postal Service will fall short of meeting federal mandates to
>deliver mail six days a week and cover its costs without further cutting
>expenses and dropping money-losing services, the top congressional watchdog
>official said.
>
>The postal service “is not well-suited to operate efficiently” and must
>go beyond its own $3 billion annual cost-cutting plan to survive, General
>Accounting Office head David Walker told a presidential postal strategy
>panel.
>
>Postmaster General John Potter defended the agency at the Washington
>hearing, saying he wouldn’t allow a reduction in delivery frequency “on
>his watch.”
>
>Walker and Potter spoke at the seventh and final hearing of the commission
>created by President George W. Bush, which may recommend the most sweeping
>overhaul of the agency in three decades in a report due July 31. The
>strategy will affect mail users ranging from individuals to magazine
>publishers like AOL Time Warner Inc. and competitors like United Parcel
>Service Inc.
>
>The postal service, whose revenue of almost $70 billion would make it No. 7
>on Fortune magazine’s 500 list, is trying to reverse three years of losses
>sparked by a drop last year of 3 billion pieces of mail handled.
>
>“One question you need to ask is what does the public need?” Walker said,
>when asked about postal operations that compete with package carriers FedEx
>Corp. and UPS. “Why are you getting into businesses where competition
>already exists? The postal service hasn’t had a very good track record of
>making money on these services.”
