Kudos to federal officials, including Sen. Al Franken, for his efforts to keep open rural post offices and mail-processing centers.
However, are those efforts simply delaying the inevitable? Maybe, without a long-term viable plan to keep the United States Postal Service financially solvent while at the same time providing service at a cost that people are willing to pay.
Earlier this month, the USPS announced that it could be out of cash in October without action by Congress that allows it to curtail Saturday mail delivery and to curb health care costs of future postal service retirees. The USPS said it has experienced 10 consecutive quarters of losses, including $3.2 billion in the last quarter.
Clearly, advances in technology, like email and texting, are becoming more popular and accessible and that’s playing a role in the financial challenges the USPS faces.
In effort to address the issue, the USPS proposed ways to fix this huge, increasing problem, and work toward self sufficiency.
But, because no one wants to have postal service changed in the way we have come to know it, members of Congress voiced their constituents’ concerns and have proposed plans to keep open USPS facilities. And because of that pressure, the USPS backed away from its plans to close 3,700 small, rural post offices across the nation and will instead reduce hours of operation.
Are U.S. residents willing to return to using the USPS to deliver their electricity bills and birthday cards and quit using email, Internet service and texting? It’s not likely.
The deep financial problems of the USPS remain, with the October cash shortage looming, and no clear solution coming from Congress.
In an ideal world, every small community would have its own post office that offers service at an affordable cost. But our world is not ideal, and we can’t just wish away the real financial problems of the USPS. Congress must take another look at how to balance financial stability and service at the USPS.
