USPS Board Backs House's Reform Proposal
The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service announced its support yesterday for a bipartisan proposal for postal reform legislation being worked on by the House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform.A mark-up for the bill was supposed to occur last month, but has been tentatively postponed until June 13.
"The legislative proposal put together by the leaders of our House oversight committee gives this organization pricing flexibility it desperately needs," the board said in a statement. "Although the bill as proposed does not address all of the legislative needs ... this board supports the bill and looks forward to working with all interested parties through the course of the legislative process."
Also at the meeting, postmaster general John E. Potter said that the agency bought 40 Segway Human Transporter devices to begin the second phase of testing next week. The HT is a two-wheeled, battery-powered device invented by Dean Kamen of DEKA Research and Development in Manchester, NH. While the consumer model costs about $3,000, the model the USPS is using is larger and has been modified with satchels on both sides and in front, and each model costs $9,000.
The new phase of Segway HT testing begins June 10 in Norman, OK, and will expand to five other areas in August.
