Henderson Stresses Keeping Costs Down, Keeping USPS Relevant
The United States Postal Service will strive this year to keep U.S. mail affordable, grow the industry, and reform the regulatory environment, Postmaster General William J. Henderson told members of the National Postal Forum yesterday in Nashville, TN.To help accomplish this the USPS intends to reduce its expenses by at least $4 billion by 2004, Henderson said.
"The lion's share of these reductions -- some $700 million a year -- will come from dramatic, breakthrough productivity in our processing system," the Postmaster said. The reductions include machine utilization, standardized processes, staffing, scheduling, and resource management.
In an effort to maintain its relevance in the age of e-commerce, the USPS will also introduce new web-based services such as electronic postmarks, bill presentment and payment and electronic mailboxes in order to generate revenue for the postal service and enhance the mail industry.
Regulatory reform is also critical to enable the postal service to compete fairly with private postal providers of products and services and meet customers needs, Henderson said.
