Five-Day Delivery and Reduced USPS Service Standards Could Face Legal Barrier Mailing Systems Technology

Dead Tree Edition--The U.S. Postal Service's plans to eliminate Saturday delivery and to lower its delivery standards could face a significant legal obstacle, according to the Postal Regulatory Commission. In its advisory opinion last week on USPS's plan to close nearly half of its mail-processing centers, the commission seemed to side with witnesses who said reducing service standards could run afoul of the Congressionally-imposed price cap on postal rates. "Two expert witnesses . . . presented persuasive testimony that a relationship exists between price and quality, and that lowering quality is equivalent to raising the price," wrote Chairman Ruth Goldway in an addendum to the PRC's document. Service standards and the price cap are two sides of the same coin. In the words of the PRC, "the price cap sets the ceiling on prices, whereas service standards set a floor on quality of service." Read more!