The Aug. 6 opinion by John McHugh, chairman of the Package Coalition, incorrectly concludes that UPS opposes postal reform. He also expresses his support for Section 202 of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021, a problematic provision to many within the industry, including UPS.
UPS believes an efficient, reliable and affordable U.S. Postal Service is vital. UPS has advocated for the Postal Service’s continued ability to choose how to deliver its products in the most efficient way possible. UPS has never advocated for two separate postal delivery networks, nor for the USPS to stop delivering packages, as several organizations have inaccurately stated. In fact, the Postal Service is a trusted partner to UPS, as the company is one of the Postal Service’s largest customers.
UPS has publicly called for the modernization of postal costing to ensure accurate and transparent attribution of costs to both its monopoly and competitive products, similar to other regulated monopolies. This is not the current practice, and Section 202, as currently written, would only add complexity to an already complicated cost accounting structure.
Section 202 needs to be amended so mailers, postal customers and the taxpayer gain more transparency, not additional confusion about how the USPS is meeting its obligations to deliver the mail.
— Mike Kiely, President, U.S. Government Affairs, UPS