Before private courier and postal delivery services such as UPS or FedEx existed, the United States Postal Service (USPS) was the very first postal service in the United States. Back in the late seventies, everyone believed that it would be a good idea to have a postal delivery service run by the government. They believed that certain quality controls would be put in place and the service would be more reliable that way.
People believed that with a postal delivery service run by the government, they could rely on their letters getting to their final destination. This is how the United States Postal Service (USPS) was ultimately founded. It was in 1775 when the United States Postal Service (USPS) started delivering the mail, and Benjamin Franklin was named as the first Postmaster General in the United States by the Second Continental Congress ("Postal history"). The United States Postal Service was founded on the vision to enable information to flow freely between the government and the citizens. The concept behind the USPS was to bind the nation together by a system of post offices and postal roads. Another reason that the USPS was founded was to prevent colonial British postal inspectors from intercepting the latest news during the time.
Thus, it can be concluded that the regulatory justification of the USPS is social. The role, and the exact nature and scope of the USPS were further clearly described in the Postal Act of 1792. The USPS was initially operating as a federal government agency and was supported by taxes. However, after the Postal Reorganization Act, the USPS is now a partially independent federal agency that cannot make profit but simply break even ("Postal history"). The USPS continues to operate as a government agency, but the only difference is that it is not funded by the federal government anymore. This means that if for some reason the federal government might shut down for some reason or the other, the USPS will continue operating because as far as the budget of the agency is concerned, it is not connected to the federal government. The fact that the USPS charges about 44 cents to deliver mail anywhere in the United States is also proof that it is not a profit oriented agency. All of this further suggests the social nature of the regulatory justification of the agency, which is definitely not economic. Although the United States Postal Service does not cover its own costs, but the agency is necessary for the country.
As mentioned, The United States Postal Service is a branch of the federal government, even though it is not funded by it. A Postmaster General along with a Board of Governors heads the agency, while the Postal Regulatory Commission further supervises them. However, it is the Congress that has the final regulatory control over the agency. Thus, it is most certainly the Congress that chose the USPS to have a business-like structure. The regulatory option that the Congress chose for the USPS was that no federal appropriations would be provided to the agency ("Chapter 3 financial highlights"); instead the USPS would sell postal products such as postal stamps, enough to make revenues that would cover costs. Although the USPS has a business-like structure, the Congress makes sure that USPS does not operate like a private company. This means that the USPS cannot improve efficiency, reduce costs, or do anything else that might make it more innovative. The principal statutes of the USPS make it mandatory for it to offer postal delivery services to each and every citizen of the United States, regardless of where they live and how much it would cost the USPS to serve them. Moreover, it is also mandatory for the USPS to charge an even price for the delivery of first-rate mail anywhere in the United States.
Although the Post Service is bound by a variety of legal conditions set forth by the Congress, but at the same time the Congress also offers the USPS protection from competition. The truth is that the USPS is operating based upon a national monopoly so that the American postal service remains incompetent and citizens of the United States do not get a better postal system than they already are. Thus, it is not surprising that the USPS is under such a considerable financial strain today. The operating expenses of the USPS continue to soar, while mail volume continues to wane, which are among the critical regulatory issues that the USPS is currently facing and will be discussed later in this essay. Moreover, the relevancy of physical postal delivery continues to be diminished by the advancements in technology, especially electronic communication. These facts make it apparent that the Congress did not choose the most efficient regulatory option for the United States Postal Service, even if it seemed so at the time. This is why drastic changes need to be made in the postal system of the United States, especially in the regulatory option of the USPS and how the agency is currently operating.
The principal statutes of the United States Postal Service, which are a set of implementing laws, are collectively known as the Private Express Statutes (PES) ("Quick service guide" ), and the Private Express Statutes are codified in the United States Code, under Title 18 and 39. It was in 1792 that the Congress made the Private Express Statutes and put them into the practice so that letters could be prevented from being carried by private organizations. According to the Postal Clause of the United States Constitution, the Congress has the power “To establish Post Offices and post Roads” ("The constitution of"), and the principal statutes of the USPS were created based upon this clause. The Private Express Statutes were created by the Congress so that an economically efficient postal system could be established that could affordably deliver mail between locations, no matter how far they are. The primary mission of the United States Postal Service is supported by the Private Express Statutes. The Private Express Statutes gives the USPS the authority to make it easier for people to correspond to each other so that the United States is bound together. The Private Express Statutes authorizes the USPS to provide postal services in every community within the United States, to charge even postage rates for the delivery of mail, and to ensure that mails are safely delivered.
Along with authorizing the mentioned USPS conduct, the Private Express Statutes prevents other competing Postal Service providers to legally charge American citizens for delivering letters over post routes unless they pay the USPS that relevant amount that the USPS would have charged if it was delivering the letters. If the Congress had not created the Private Express Statutes, competing Postal Service providers would be able to take advantage by serving areas where they could make a huge profit and it would cost them the least to deliver mail. On the other hand, the lack of the Private Express Statutes, postage rates would be a lot higher and or the cost of delivering mail throughout the nation would have to be covered by tax subsidies. The bottom line is that the revenue base of the United States Post Service that goes into covering the costs of the agency is protected by the Private Express Statutes, and that is proof enough that these statutes give the USPS a very crucial authority.
The Private Express Statutes that grant the United States Postal Service the above authority itself is implemented by certain regulations that are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations under Title 39 ("1-4 implementing laws"). Since the Congress is in complete control of the United States Postal Service and the Congress created the Private Express Statutes, so this leads to the conclusion that the regulations of the USPS are legislative. Although the United States Postal Service certainly seems to have legislative regulations but unfortunately, the character and quality of the Congressional guidance has not had a positive impact on the condition of the United States Post Service. In fact, the Congress is actually leading the United States Postal Service to its doom. Continuous intervention from the federal government, which is allowed by misinformed Congressional leaders, is causing the United States Postal service to fail drastically, and is perhaps one of the critical regulatory issues that the USPS is currently facing. Some of the recent regulations that the Congress implemented include stern price caps that prevent the USPS from adjusting prices when necessary in case of national economic changes and inflation. As a result of Congressional guidance, the USPS is not able to control its operational costs. The USPS is not able to generate additional revenue because of Congressional guidance.
However, despite the regulations being mandated by the Congress, the regulations of the United Postal Service can also be regarded as interpretive since regulating postal rates is one of the duties that the Postmaster General is in charge of. In these days, when the government continues to overspend and corruption has spread within the government, raising postal rates has become quite necessary for the USPS, even though the Congress prevents it from doing so. For the Postmaster General, his duties as a part of the USPS are quite exasperating because even if he does regulate postal rates. Even if these rates tend to rise by a few cents, the Postmaster General has to rationalize why the rates had to be raised to an angry bunch of people. The codes held within this profession determine the job that the Postmaster General has to carry out and fulfill. When raising postal rates, the Postmaster General takes factors such as the current postal rates, the date on which the postal rates were last raised, and the cost of living, which suggests the partial interpretive nature of the regulations of the USPS. The fact that a majority of the pressure falls on the shoulders of the Postmaster General is again a sign of the lack of proper Congressional guidance.
Fundamentally, the United States Postal Service is managed by a Board of Governors; the principal executives of the agency, the Postmaster General; the head of the agency, and his Executive Leadership Team ("Leadership"). The United States Postal Service is officially managed by the Postmaster General himself. The current Postmaster General of the USPS is the Patrick R. Donahoe ("The postmaster general"). Just like the CEO of any major private company, the Postmaster General runs the USPS similarly. At one point, Postmaster Generals were selected from the presidential Cabinet, but Postmaster Generals’ are now appointed by the Postal Service Board of Governors. Although the nine governors of the Postal Service Board of Governors are appointed by the President of the United States ("About the board"), but the President himself cannot appoint or fire the Postmaster General. Only the Board of Governors has that authority. All the other employees of the USPS, including the Executive Leadership Team are appointed by the Postmaster General, and can be fired by him too, while he also evaluates the work they do. Ensuring convenient and appropriate interactions between the employees of the USPS and the general public is also the responsibility of the Postmaster General ("The postmaster general").
However, supervising the operations of the United States Postal Service is the primary duty of the Postmaster General. The Postmaster General has to supervise the mails that are being delivered and received on a daily basis. The Postmaster General has to ensure the proper checking and labeling of mail based on postage and weight. Considering the heightened home land security policies the country, the Postmaster General is under greater pressure to ensure that each and every mail received for delivery is thoroughly inspected. Another thing that suggests the slightly interpretative nature of the laws and regulations of the USPS, as mentioned earlier, is further suggested by the fact that it is Postmaster General who helps the general public understand them, as well as anything else related to the postal service provided by the USPS. Ensuring that each and every employees of the USPS are provided with their benefits is also the responsibility of the Postmaster General. Although the USPS has a business-like structure, but government wages are paid to the employees and they are provided with employee benefits. Carrying out duties that revolve around disbursing wages and benefits, and overseeing any complaints also have to be overseen by the Postmaster General ("The postmaster general").
Currently, some of the critical regulatory issues that the United States Postal Service is confronting include waning revenues, surging costs and postal unions. Since the Congress chose a self-supporting business model for the USPS, day by day it becomes harder for the agency to general enough revenues to support its operations. While the revenue of the USPS continues to wane, the costs of the USPS continue to surge. The primary reason behind the two is that the number of mailing addresses that the USPS has to serve continues to increase while there seems to be a drop in the mailing volume. Adding to this, postal unions cover a majority of the employees who work for USPS, which means that as per agreements, they have to be provided with continuous raises, further raising the costs of the USPS. Based on the factors discussed here and above, the USPS has been headed toward a financial downfall for quite some time. The Congress continues to make moves that are leading the United States Postal Service towards failure, and most of the critical regulatory issues that the USPS is currently confronting are a result of the Congressional authority over this agency.
References
1-4 implementing laws and regulations. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://about.usps.com/publications/pub542/pub542_ch1_004.htm
About the board of governors. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/leadership/board-governors.htm
Chapter 3 financial highlights. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://about.usps.com/strategic-planning/cs04/chp3-010.html
Leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/leadership/
Postal history. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/welcome.htm
Quick service guide 608 basic standards for all mailing services private express statutes. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pe.usps.com/text/qsg300/Q608.htm
The constitution of the united states: A transcription. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
The postmaster general and executive leadership team. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/leadership/pmg-exec-comm.htm
