USPS reviewing report suggesting selling access to your mailbox
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - The U.S. Postal Service is considering a change that would give more people access to your mailbox.
It would allow the USPS to sell access to companies like Amazon or Fed Ex.
It’s a way to raise money for an organization that has been losing billions for more than a decade.
But not everyone is crazy about the idea.
“Just leave my mailbox alone,” said one St. Francis resident, “they shouldn’t be in our mailbox, the only one who goes in there is the postman.”
“I don’t think that’s something they should be able to do without our permission,” said fellow St. Francis resident Angela Adamczyk.
Since 1934, the USPS is the only organization that can legally use your mailbox.
But a report commissioned by the White House says that by selling off that exclusive right, they could raise a lot of money.
“Companies do this kind of stuff all the time,” said resident Charlie Schermer.
It would mean instead of Fed Ex, UPS or Amazon leaving small packages on your front step, they could stick them in your mailbox.
“If they’re sticking them in your door you can hardly see them in there, sometimes they’re hiding but if you have something sticking in your mailbox it’s going to be like hello, here I am,” said Adamczyk.
Only the postal service would see the extra cash, not the homeowner.
And they need it, USPS lost almost four billion dollars last year, their 12th year in a row losing money.
The report didn’t say how much this could potentially raise.
It also suggested cutting costs, and increasing the cost of commercial shipping to raise money.
Megan J. Brennan, the Postmaster General and CEO released this statement:
“The United States Postal Service is currently reviewing the recommendations in the Task Force report. The recommendations contained in the report should be evaluated together with legislative and regulatory reforms to address our urgent financial challenges. Reforms are necessary to enable the Postal Service to further reduce costs, grow revenue, compete more effectively, function with greater flexibility to adapt to a dynamic marketplace, and to prudently invest in our future.
The Postal Service will remain focused on aggressively managing our business. We will take all appropriate actions within our control to ensure that we can continue to fulfill our primary mission to provide prompt, reliable and efficient service to American businesses and consumers in all communities in our country.”