Obscure language in postal reform bills causes stir
One group says it puts package delivery ahead of mail on priority list; another says removing the provision could trigger dual delivery networks for mail and parcels
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Should Postal Service integrate parcel, mail networks? (Photo: Jim Allen/Freightwaves)
At first blush, Section 202 of postal reform legislation currently moving through the U.S. House and Senate is innocuous to the point of irrelevance. The language requires the U.S. Postal Service to maintain an “integrated delivery network of mail and parcels” and to deliver them in tandem six days a week except for weeks with federal holidays or in emergency situations. The provision codifies what the Postal Service has done for generations and what no one has any intention of forcing it to stop.