There is some reason to believe that the USPS recognizes that its inability to make profit–or at least break even–is an issue that needs to be addressed. In 2021, the USPS released Delivering for America, a 10-year plan aimed at transforming the Post Office into a self-sufficient, high-performing delivery service. The recent price increases are meant to “help with the implementation of the Delivering for America plan,” according to the USPS. While increasing prices can certainly aid in the Post Office efforts to achieve self-sustainability and high-quality services, they must be aware of potential setbacks and other remedies.
The USPS must recognize that more government money may be counterproductive to their goals. Often, government funds are attached to required reforms. For example, the Postal Service Reform Act carried many new reforms to the Post Office’s operations and services. While the required actions stemming from the Postal Service Reform Act had some positive changes, other initiatives to give the Postal Service money for the sake of reform do not. Recently, Democrats have been hoping to give the USPS $6 billion to replace at least 75 percent of their delivery fleet with electric vehicles. Beyond being costly to taxpayers who shoulder the burden of such an initiative, transforming the delivery fleet could cause service and operations issues. Furthermore, this initiative could take the USPS’ attention away from improving their core services.