U.S. Postal Service

This paper explores the relationship between the Postal Service and a related industry group called mail service providers (MSP). MSPs perform mailing-related services for companies or organizations interested in using the mail to reach their customers. Specific MSP services include designing...

Back in 2009, the U.S. Postal Service developed USPS Mobile, an app that allows consumers to find the nearest Post Office, schedule a pick-up, put their mail on hold, or track packages. USPS Mobile holds its own against similar apps created by the Postal Service’s competitors. However, working with...

In January 2014, mobile devices accounted for 55 percent of Internet use – surpassing access by personal computer for the first time. A year later, 75 percent of shoppers use a mobile device to comparison shop while in a retail store. Clearly, we have experienced a sea change in how people...

3D printing continues to disrupt global supply chains, shifting long-distance transportation to last-mile shipping. Delivery and logistics companies around the world are taking notice of these changes and beginning to offer 3D printing services.

Co-opetition (a form of collaboration among competitors) between the U.S. Postal Service and its rivals improves the efficiencies of the postal sector. If efficiencies are great enough, co-opetition can lead to lower shipping prices

Terminal dues, which posts use to pay one another for international deliveries of letters and small packages, have generally been set below domestic postage rates. As a result, the terminal dues system fails to cover many postal operators’ processing and delivery costs for international inbound mail...

To reimburse the Postal Service for unpaid amounts for revenue forgone, Congress promised to pay the Postal Service $29 million a year from 1994 through 2035 without interest. Starting in FY 2011, the $29 million payments were reduced or skipped for 4 years. They have now resumed, but there is a...

Historically the purpose of the postal monopolies has been to ensure the Postal Service has adequate revenue to cover the cost of its universal service obligation. The combination of the decline in letter mail and the price cap on monopoly products has challenged the ability of the monopolies to...