PostalVision 2020 “Delivery by Design” White Paper on USPS Mailbox Monopoly

Recap of Event on USPS Mailbox Monopoly

7/24/17 – PostalVision 2020 earlier this year held a special one-day “excursion” event at the Schar School of Public Policy & Government, George Mason University, focused on issues relative to the USPS’ mailbox monopoly. The “Delivery by Design” event explored the current and future role of the monopoly in light of the tsunami of changes occurring in the delivery postal ecosystem, and discussed issues that would need to be addressed if changes to the current monopoly are to be considered in the future.

Event participants included over 70 representatives from the federal government, labor unions, academia, and key postal–related businesses and competitors, who engaged in open, independent conversation around issues related to the mailbox monopoly. The event was organized around presentations by key postal stakeholders followed by interactive discussions among the participants, and culminated in a survey to gauge, among other things, participant views on the best approach for postal stakeholders and the postal ecosystem of the future.

This event was held parallel to a review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) looking at issues related to the USPS monopolies. GAO support and participation was an integral part of the event, and the GAO report, “U.S. Postal Service: Key Considerations for Potential Changes to USPS’s Monopolies (GAO-17-543)” was published on July 21, 2017 and can be found on the GAO web site at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-543.

PostalVision 2020 and the GAO have prepared a White Paper on the event, which is being shared with event participants. PostalVision 2020 has posted the Executive Summary of the report on its web site.

In addition, PostalVision at its annual event held in March 2017 included a prestigious panel that provided not only a re-cap of the Delivery by Design event, but also engaged in discussion around postal policy issues. The panel was facilitated by Lori Rectanus, Director of Physical Infrastructure, GAO; and included the Hon. Robert Taub, Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC); the Hon. David Williams, distinguished professor at the Schar School of Public Policy and Government (and former USPS Inspector General); and Dr. Ramesh Ratan, CEO of Bell and Howell. Videos of the re-cap and panel discussion are available on the PostalVision YouTube channel (see our web site for the links).

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