Postal Service Asks PRC to Accelerate Review of Network, Service Changes
WASHINGTON, DC—Jan. 18, 2012—The U.S. Postal Service has asked the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to expedite consideration of the Postal Service’s plan to make its operations more efficient, reduce costs and ensure the long-term affordability of mail.
The request calls on the PRC to issue its non-binding advisory opinion on planned Postal Service network and service standard changes by mid-April 2012. The current moratorium on the closing of any Post Office or mail processing facility expires on May 15, 2012. The Postal Service voluntarily agreed to the moratorium in response to congressional requests in the hope it would help facilitate the enactment of comprehensive postal legislation.
The Postal Service had laid out a carefully designed plan to return to profitability while meeting the changing needs of its customers. The plan includes reducing the number of mail processing facilities from 460 today to fewer than 200 by 2013 and revising mail delivery service standards. The network changes will provide more predictable and reliable service and is part of a broader effort to stabilize the Postal Service finances and continue to provide affordable, universal service for generations to come.
The PRC issued a schedule last week that guarantees it will not issue its non-binding advisory opinion until July 10, 2012, at the earliest. The Postal Service would like to move forward with its planned network and service standard changes with the benefit of the PRC’s advisory opinion, which it would need to have well before May 15.
The Postal Service believes that more than four months, from Dec. 5, 2011, to mid-April 2012, is adequate time for the PRC to evaluate and comment on these proposed operational changes.
The request filed with the PRC is available at www.prc.gov.
About the USPS
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail.
Source: USPS.