A fully privatized U.S. Postal Service would pursue more rate hikes, reduced service frequency and a network that looks more like FedEx and UPS, experts told Supply Chain Dive.
President Donald has floated the idea of taking the roughly 250-year-old institution private as the White House evaluates approaches to reduce the agency’s financial losses. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a prominent voice in the Trump administration, said the Postal Service should be privatized during a Morgan Stanley conference last week, according to reports.
The possibility has stoked pushback from Postal Service employees and members of Congress, who fear such a move would jeopardize service in rural communities, drive up prices and put agency jobs at risk. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a Feb. 25 video message to employees it’s up to the president and Congress to decide if change is required in its structure.
“To the degree possible postal leadership will be involved, so that we ensure the nation’s leaders are aware of how future proposed changes may impact our organization’s ability to serve the American people,” DeJoy said.