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U.S. Postal Service’s Monopolies (video podcast)

Posted on July 25, 2017
No matter where you live in America, the U.S. Postal Service will deliver your first-class mail for the price of a stamp. To help ensure it can fulfill its mission of providing universal service, Congress granted USPS two monopolies that help protect USPS revenues. These monopolies allow only your mailman—not other companies like UPS or FedEx—to deliver certain types of mail, and put items in your mailbox. However,  given the rise of social and digital communication, USPS is losing money due to a substantial decline in mail and related funding streams. The agency has experienced  net losses of more than $60 billion over the past decade, and expects mail volume to continue declining for the foreseeable future, potentially jeopardizing its mission.

The Watchdog Report Podcast Goes on Location to Discuss the U.S. Postal Service's Monopolies

The Watchdog Report Podcast Goes on Location to Discuss the U.S. Postal Service's Monopolies
The U.S. Postal Service has monopolies on delivering letters and accessing mailboxes, which were designed to protect its revenues and help it provide universal service. However, its

net losses reached $5.6 billion in fiscal year 2016--and have topped $62 billion over the past decade. The Watchdog Report podcast goes on location to talk about potential changes that could help

the Postal Service fulfill its mission.
In today’s video podcast, we’re on location outside of a Washington, D.C. post office with Lori Rectanus, a director in our Physical Infrastructure team. Watch our discussion about the state of USPS’s monopolies, and what might happen if Congress were to eliminate them.
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