This week Postmaster General Jack Potter testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security (what a mouthful). Senator Tom Carper chairs the subcommittee and hails from Delaware.

General Potter had two agenda items of serious import:

1. He requested the ability to begin 5-day delivery
2. He requested a restructuring of the USPS requirement to prefund future retiree benefits

These agenda items received a bulk of the allotted time (transcripts) although one quote from Potter struck me as notable. He predicted that "Revenue growth that is based on business growth...is also a key element that is necessary for our long term viability."

Apparently Mr. Carper heard the same quote because near the end of the hearing he asked a series of probing questions about potential business growth opportunities including a very intriguing question about the EPM. Listen to this short segment from the hearing:

You see, Delaware has done some trailblazing when it comes to the EPM. As Senator Carper eluded, earlier this year the Delaware legislature unanimously passed an amendment to their UETA statute giving electronic messages protected by an EPM the legal equivalence to physical mail (stay tuned for a post explaining this in more detail).

The folks from Delaware have identified that this program provides an amazing opportunity to leverage the trust of the USPS outside of the traditional logistics business. I believe that the USPS entered the market incorrectly--twice, but that three is a charm--when they chose single vendors to provision the service. They have finally come up with an industry supported model that promises to overcome the earlier challenges.

I'm happy to hear the General Potter intends to continue pursuing growth of the EPM program. I believe that it represents an ideal way for the USPS to remain relevant in a world where the communications mix skews heavily electronic. What other opportunities are available to grow revenues with such a low cost basis?

I think we'll hear more about this. Senator Carper's closing comments indicated that "mostly I want to focus on opportunities that are out there for growth and growing revenues and some that are going well and maybe a couple that we have touched on here today as possibilities."

The next hearing should take place before March so stay tuned. 

Postmaster General Potter Senate Testimony