Clearly we aren’t the only ones who think the pending postal rate hikes are a bad idea.
While we are against it for many reasons, including the fact that it is likely to hurt businesses that rely on bulk mail and catalogs for their revenue, it’s also going to be bad news for the agency itself, according to Rafe Morrissey of the Greeting Card Association, as reported in The Hill last week.
Morrissey reiterates what we all know, that the USPS has a big financial problem, and insists the rate hike could do more harm than good.
As he says, “the exigency rate increase on the price of postage, recently approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, amounts to little more than a short-term stopgap measure. Even worse, it will ultimately cause further damage to the long-term viability of the Postal Service.”
Morrissey concedes that the USPS may see some temporary relief in the form of higher revenue. But he warns, “in an industry already fraught with competitive pressures, it makes no sense to add another negative feature that will lead to lower mail volume levels, while failing to bring about comprehensive postal reform.”
We couldn’t agree more. You can’t make it harder and more expensive for your customers to do business with you and expect to thrive.
The USPS must figure out a way to do better business in this competitive marketplace. We’d like to see it unshackled from the political pressures that govern much of their policies and operations, and instead insist on it being run as a legitimate business.
There are many changes being suggested that might help, but any of these by themselves will not be enough.
In the final analysis, we agree with Morrissey on this point. “Instead of relying on ineffective and shortsighted solutions like exigency increases, we support common-sense reforms that will allow the Postal Service to provide vital services depended on by millions of Americans.”
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