Reforming the U.S. Postal Service: An Independent Review of a Thought-Leader Proposal to Reform the U.S. Postal Service

Rapidly declining mail volumes and a range of other financial and operating factors have placed the US Postal Service under significant financial pressure that threatens its continued viability. In addition to other recent studies of proposed alternatives for Congress and the Postal Service to consider, a group of Thought-Leaders outside of the Academy’s Fellowship have proposed the development and implementation of a new model: a hybrid public-private partnership.

Under this proposed model, the Postal Service would be responsible for the “last mile” of delivery and collection, and the private sector would be responsible for handling all other aspects of the mail system.

The Academy formed a five-member Panel of Fellows, chaired by David M. Walker, to conduct a three-month study of this Thought-Leader Concept. In performing this independent review, the Panel and/or study team interviewed or received written comments from over 90 postal stakeholders representing the Postal Service, Collective Bargaining Units (CBUs), the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), Congress, competitors, mailers, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and others. The Panel and/or study team also conducted a range of other research and analysis within the time frame available for the review.