Trump expresses interest in privatizing U.S. Postal Service

By Linn’s Staff

In recent weeks, President-elect Donald Trump has voiced interest in privatizing the United States Postal Service, the Washington Post reported Dec. 14.

Reuters picked up on the Washington Post report with an online article published the same day.

“The U.S. Postal Service, which has lost more than $100 billion since 2007, reported a net loss of $9.5 billion for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, $3 billion more than last year, largely due to a year-over-year increase in non-cash workers’ compensation expense,” Reuters said.

According to Reuters, the Washington Post reported that Trump “has discussed his desire to privatize the Postal Service with Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary.”

“Trump has had a tense relationship with the Postal Service,” Reuters said. “Sources told Reuters his transition team is considering canceling the service’s contracts to electrify its delivery fleet.”

“According to sources, the team is reviewing how it can unwind the service’s multibillion-dollar contracts,” Reuters said, “including with Oshkosh and Ford, for tens of thousands of battery-driven delivery trucks and charging stations.”

In response to a query from Linn’s Stamp News, a USPS spokesperson provided the following official response:

“The United States Postal Service is already engaged in an initiative to ensure that we can provide our customers with a high level of service to every delivery address in the nation at least 6-days-a-week in an efficient and financially sustainable fashion as required by law. Over the last three years in support of this effort, we have reduced our operations by 45 million works hours and cut our transportation spending by $2 billion and cut Headquarters positions by approximately 20%. Additionally, in that same time period, our revenue has increased by $3.4 billion. We are also currently seeking an advisory opinion from our regulator concerning our plan to modernize and optimize our processing and transportation networks and to add automation equipment in a fashion that is more efficient and logical, that adopts commercial best practices, and that is mission capable for the current market conditions. These efforts will enable us to provide excellent service to American businesses and consumers while also saving between $3.6-$3.7 billion annually.”

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