Federal Daily - January 14, 2010
Can Parcels Save the Postal Service?
While it may be tempting to think that a ramped-up parcel delivery service could save the U.S. Postal Service from financial ruin, the parcel business will never generate sufficient volume to make up for lost mail volume, said American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus.
In an open letter to APWU members posted on the union Web site Jan. 13, Burrus discussed the suggestion of expanding USPS parcel delivery, sent to him from a union member letter carrier. The letter carrier recommended that the USPS could make up declines in letter volume by generating new package-delivery business, Burrus said.
But parcel delivery is just a fraction of USPS current volume and increasing it will never replace lost mail delivery, Burrus said. USPS would need a 40 percent increase in parcels just to replace the decline of 17 billion letters in 2009, and taking into account the ongoing effect of electronic messaging, it is unreasonable to expect increases in parcels year after year, Burrus said.
Furthermore, USPS is not structured for the “on-call” basis that parcel deliveries require. It is staffed, with 37,000 facilities, to deliver to every home six days per week. Sufficient revenue simply cannot be generated from the delivery of parcels, which are intermittent, Burrus said. There must be a reason to deliver to every home every day, or there is no justification to staff for universal home delivery, Burrus said.
|
United Parcel Service |
Postal Service |
FACILITIES |
877 |
37,000 |
EMPLOYEES |
340,000 |
600,000 |
DELIVERIES PER DAY |
12,000,000 |
565,000,000 |
Source: USPS
For comparison, Burrus points out that the United Parcel Service, which has a fraction of the faculties that USPS operates, has a smaller operational “footprint”—and is staffed to accommodate sporadic delivery. Furthermore, UPS doesn’t have to worry about home mail delivery and it does not have a universal delivery mandate, as does the Postal Service.
Bottom line: the future of USPS is tied intrinsically to the delivery of letters, Burrus said.
“Letter mail is the foundation of the Postal Service,” Burrus said. “While other services — including parcel delivery—are necessary to generate sufficient revenue, the foundation of the USPS is built on letters.”
To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/burrus/2010/update01-2010-100113.htm.
:: Back to Top ::
New Organizational Structure for USCIS
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Jan. 11 announced changes to its organizational structure, including the creation of two new directorates that will report directly to USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas.
USCIS will create a Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, which reflects the agency’s new focus on anti-fraud operations and national security, and a Customer Service Directorate to improve outreach.
The agency also will split the existing Domestic Operations Directorate into two separate directorates, Service Center Operations and Field Operations, to promote innovation and bolster efficiency in its immigration services, Mayorkas said
“We have realigned our organizational structure to achieve greater efficiency and to more ably accomplish our mission,” Mayorkas said. “The realignment reflects the prioritization of certain critical agency responsibilities.”
To see more, to go: http://tinyurl.com/fend2/
:: Back to Top ::
|
