Maintaining Rural Retail Networks: Best Practices Abroad and Implications for the U.S. Postal Service

Many global postal operators, including the Postal Service, face difficulty covering the costs of their rural post offices. At the same time, rural post offices serve a special role for many small communities. The OIG studied how postal providers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are promoting profitability within their rural retail networks while continuing to offer adequate access to rural customers.