The Courier-Journal: USPS Critical in the Supply Chain Crunch & Holiday Season

The Package Coalition in The Courier Journal:  USPS is Critical in the Supply Chain Crunch & Holiday Season   Louisville’s Courier-Journal published an op-ed from former Secretary John McHugh, Chairman of the Package Coalition, about the critical role the U.S. Postal Service plays during the holiday season and how the Post Reform Act can bolster its effectiveness going forward. Despite unprecedented demand for packages, supply shortages and rising inflationary pressures, the USPS is fully prepared to provide reliable and affordable delivery services to Americans in every zip code this Holiday season.   “The Postal Service, during this rocky time for consumers and business, will further cement its role as the only carrier with a mandate, and the ability, to deliver to homes and businesses in every US zip code. Private carriers, on the other hand, have made it a regular practice to raise rates, levy heavy surcharges for deliveries in many rural zip codes, and have even denied some retailers and manufacturers access to their delivery services altogether. The Postal Service does not engage in these practices because it is a public service and has a mandate to do so.   “The bipartisan Postal Reform Act is needed to ensure USPS can continue to follow through on its core mission to deliver mail and packages — in rain, sleet or snow — six days a week. A critical provision in this bill would allow the Postal Service to continue to provide certainty to American consumers and businesses by codifying that mail and packages will continue to be delivered together, in an integrated delivery network, six days a week to every address in America. Unsurprisingly, this provision is opposed by private carriers, as the private carriers, such as UPS and Fed-Ex, are more interested in profit and market share than reliability.   “Congress should support the Postal Service by passing the Postal Reform Act, with language to codify its six-day integrated network, so that USPS can continue to support us, as American consumers and businesses, through future crises.                Serving more than 3 million small businesses nationwide, the Package Coalition is an alliance of America’s top retail, e-commerce and logistics companies committed to preserving reliable and affordable postal package delivery services. The U.S. Postal Service delivers packages directly to the doorstep of more than 161 million delivery addresses across the country, contributing trillions of dollars to the US economy and supporting millions of jobs and small and medium sized businesses.   Keep up with the Package Coalition by following us on Twitter (@PkgCoalition) or visiting our website.