Postal Service Modernization

Congress is expected to try again next year to update the nation’s postal laws, but any changes will likely be far from the privatization efforts that have taken hold in Europe.

House Postal Service Subcommittee Chairman John McHugh (R-N.Y.) said he plans to reintroduce his “Postal Modernization Act” early next year and move it quickly through his subcommittee.

Mr. McHugh believes that changes in the U.S. Postal Service — created in 1971 from the former Post Office Department — are inevitable, as the long-term decline in the carriage of letters continues. Mr. McHugh’s legislation was approved by his subcommittee in September but did not clear the Government Reform Committee before Congress adjourned.

The legislation aims to give the USPS greater flexibility to meet increasing competitive pressure from parcel delivery services while ensuring fair competition and protecting the public interest.

For the full story, see the Dec. 21 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.