Trump slams Amazon for using US Postal Service as cheap ‘delivery boy’—but he’s wrong
“All other lines of service are dying. What the Postal Service sees in its future is [to] really continue growing its parcel shipment,” said Kevin Kosar, a former researcher at the Congressional Research Service and now a policy lead at R Street Institute, a free market think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Over the post-2008 recession years, the Postal Service’s mail volume has dropped by 25 percent, according to R Street’s research, and shows no sign of recovering as communication increasingly moves to the digital arena.
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“It’s very difficult for the Postal Service to raise revenues,” Kosar said of the agency’s future. “Some people have suggested it should explore other services, such as banking. But it was never obvious how it could work, provided that there is so much competition in the private sector already.”
“Also, for an agency that size, whatever new business it chooses to go in, it needs to generate at least $1 billion in profit to make a real difference, which is very hard,” he added.
The only hope for the Postal Service at the moment, Kosar said, is cost reduction, especially labor cost, an area that actually could use some help from Congress.
“For example, Congress can be more flexible on their working schedules. Currently, they are delivering six days a week. It’s not really necessary in low season, like August,” Kosar said.