Finally, the Postal Service is not seeking – and S. 1789 makes clear that the switch to five-day delivery to street addresses does not authorize – changes in schedules for post offices, for delivery to post office boxes, or for competitive mail products such as Express Mail, or to reduce the delivery schedule for any route for which mail delivery is currently provided less frequently than six days per week. The bill also provides that there may not be more than two consecutive days without mail delivery service, even in the case of federal holidays and three-day weekends.
Nonpostal Products and Services
As mail volumes and revenues continue to decline, the Postal Service might consider new ways to increase its revenues through nonpostal products and services. Current law limits the Postal Service to postal products and services and to certain nonpostal services approved under criteria set out in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA).55 Specifically, PAEA authorized the Postal Service to continue providing nonpostal services that were offered as of January 1, 2006, and that the PRC determined should continue. PAEA required the PRC, when making its determination, to take into account ―the public need for the service‖ and ―the ability of the private sector to meet the public need for the service.‖56 These grandfathered nonpostal services include officially licensed retail products such as USPS apparel and china. In addition to the grandfathered nonpostal services, current law authorizes the Postal Service to provide services to federal government agencies.57 Under this authority, the Postal Service provides services for such as passport applications and the sale of migratory bird hunting and conservation stamps for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.58
In 2009, the Postal Service asked Congress to pass legislation allowing it to expand into new nonpostal areas.59 The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has indicated that the Postal Service could increase revenue by offering more nonpostal products and services.60 However, there are differing views about the wisdom of such a move. GAO reviewed the nonpostal products and services that the Postal Service offered prior to the enactment of PAEA in 2006 and found that 19 products marketed or under development during fiscal years 1995, 1996, and 1997 resulted in a net loss of nearly $85 million through fiscal year 1997 and a net loss of $3.7 million during the first three quarters of fiscal year 1998.61 GAO stated that ―whether USPS should be allowed to engage in nonpostal activities should be carefully considered, including its poor past performance in this area, as should the risks and fair competition issues.‖