NAPS statement opposing Issa’s proposal to end door-to-door mail delivery | PostalReporter.com
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NAPS statement opposing Issa’s proposal to end door-to-door mail delivery

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naps-logoNAPS has issued a statement in opposition to Chairman Darrell Issa’s proposal to end door delivery of mail. NAPS opposes Mr. Issa’s proposal because it fails to attack the prefunding obligation that has drained the USPS of vital operating capital. In addition, the proposal also fails fund the purchase and installation of the necessary centralized delivery infrastructure. The full text of President Atkins response….

Statement of NAPS President Louis M. Atkins On the Proposal of Rep. Darrell Issa to End Door Delivery of Mail

The managers, postmasters and supervisors who comprise the membership of the National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS) manage the vast majority of the 160 million daily deliveries to homes and businesses across the country, six days a week. They know the financial costs and physical challenges of bringing mail to the customer’s door; they also understand the benefits of door delivery and what it means to customers and their loyalty to the Postal Service.

That is why NAPS opposes the proposal of Rep. Darrell Issa to fundamentally change the way mail is delivered to many Americans. There is wide consensus that comprehensive postal reform requires, first and foremost, realigning the retiree health prefunding payments schedule, which has been a massive burden upon the finances of the Postal Service. Rep. Issa’s proposal does nothing to address that burden.

Moreover, Rep. Issa’s proposal heads in the wrong direction; it provides no funding for the Postal Service’s purchase and installation of hundreds of thousands of curbside and centralized delivery boxes, nor the funding to provide for right-of-way placement of those boxes. These up-front costs will only drag down the Postal Service’s finances further.

At the current time, all new residential development construction provides for the installation of centralized mail delivery, and there are voluntary provisions for the conversion of door and curb delivery to centralized delivery. This should remain the governing approach until Congress musters the will to undertake comprehensive postal reform.