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Can the President Cut $100 Billion in USPS Costs?

USPS
Can the President Cut $100 Billion in USPS Costs?

When President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2020 (beginning in October 2019) was released on Monday, we skimmed it to see if there was anything about rumored changes to the Postal Service that the Washington Post had reported on Sunday, but could find no specifics.

According to Monday’s New York Times article about the budget (via SFgate.com), “The administration also proposed about $100 billion in savings from unspecified reforms to the U.S. Postal Service and a similar amount from cuts to spending on federal employee pension plans.”

We’re not sure why the budget omitted details about the proposed postal savings. In last year’s budget, the President called for legislation to slash postal costs with detailed suggestions, including a reduced mail-delivery schedule, but Congress did not pass postal reform.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and reform must come from Congress. Not to mention the fact that Congress must approve the budget – there’s already talk of another possible government shutdown in October since passage seems unlikely. It’s unclear what changes the administration could make to show postal cost savings, but we’ll keep our eyes open for further details about the budget’s possible impact on USPS services.

If you liked this story, you might like “A Chance to Weigh in on Overseas Package Rates.”

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Ina Steiner
Ina Steiner
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

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Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

4 thoughts on “Can the President Cut $100 Billion in USPS Costs?”

  1. And whats the post office going to do about the lost revenue of Amazon.

    In our neighborhood Amazon is being delivered by people driving rental cars. Checked with the post master and was told its true amazon is in test mode right now to begin delivering their packages by private carriers thus eliminating costly postal charges. This is being done in bigger cities and amazon will continue with the last mile in small and rural areas.

    Doesn’t bode well for the profit line of the Post Office anymore.

  2. Sure:

    1. Make china pay what we pay.
    2. open up great discounts for small to medium businesses so they are enticed to us usps more on larger packages ( Fed ex beats usps prices quite a bit now with heavy items). Let small to medium businesses sign up for a business account.
    3. having to have pension money ON HAND for 20 years per employee is rediculous.
    4. Put economy shipping back, right now parcel select is MORE than priority, parcel select used to be a great seller and eased the costs to get a package delivered so quickly. ( I coul dhave sworn congress said Usps could not raise priority prices unless they keep parcel select cheaper)

    just a few ideas, but I am unsure if the Potus can fix things, too much money and criminality involved.

  3. USPS should convince OPM to allow the agency to rehire retired employees. It could save on training, benefits, and dependable work history of employees who left with good records.

  4. One of the biggest issues that is still being ignored is the fraudulent online sellers who do not pay the correct postage. Instead of paying for a 2 pound package they pay for 16 oz first class package saving several dollars on hundreds or even thousands of packages they send out. Hardly ever checked by USPS and they continue to get away with it. Many of my competitors do this so they can offer free shipping which is being rammed down their throats by Amazon and Ebay. SHIPPING IS NOT AND HAS NEVER BEEN FREE!!!!! My understanding is that this is mail fraud and is a felony. Crack down on this and get a few of the bigger folks in jail that are doing this and it will make headlines and set an example. Sellers with integrity struggle against these idiots.

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