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Press Release Published: May 20, 2014

Oversight Committee to Mark up Postal Bill on Secure Delivery

WASHINGTON – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., announced the mark up of H.R. 4670, the Secure Delivery for America (SDA) Act, which allows the postal service to provide millions more Americans with secure clusterbox and curbside delivery.  The Committee will consider the bill, cosponsored by Subcommittee on Postal Service Chairman Blake Farenthold (R-TX), on Wednesday May 21, 2014, at 9:30 am in Rayburn 2154.

On the announcement of tomorrow’s mark up, Issa said: “While the Secure Delivery for America Act will not replace a comprehensive overhaul that the United States Postal Services requires to become financially solvent, it provides an interim opportunity to achieve some significant cost savings. Modest moves away from door delivery to secure clusterbox and curbside delivery would save the Postal Service billions while offering customers new benefits.”

“Allowing the Postal Service to shift to clusterbox or curbside delivery will reduce costs, increase efficiency and help ensure secure package delivery for customers,” said Subcommittee Chairman Farenthold. “Our measure is a cost-saving approach to modernizing mail delivery that won’t impact the elderly or those with a physical handicap who rely on door-to-door delivery of their mail. This is just one common-sense solution that will move us towards a financially sound 21st century Postal Service that meets the needs of America.”

Click here for the cluster box fact sheet.

 

FACT SHEET: Over $2 Billion in Annual Savings

The Secure Delivery for America Act

  • Over $2 billion annually – USPS estimated savings from converting 15 million current door delivery addresses to an even division of Secure Clusterbox and Curbside delivery (Last year USPS lost $5 billion, which could lead to a taxpayer bailout without necessary cost cuts).
  • Cost of walking door to door adds up – The US Postal Service estimates that serving one address with door delivery service costs $380.  Curbside delivery costs only $240 and centralized Secure Clusterbox delivery costs only $170 per address.
  • Current breakdown of mail delivery methods:  curbside (55 million addresses), centralized (40.5 million addresses), and door (37.7 million addresses).
  • H.R. 4670, the Secure Delivery for America (SDA) Act is a targeted, flexible, and data-driven proposal to enable the Postal Service to provide millions more Americans with Secure Clusterbox and Curbside delivery.
  • Less than 1 percent of all addresses nationwide would undergo a delivery mode change each year.  The SDA Act directs the Postal Service to convert 1.5 million addresses each year, for ten years, to centralized Clusterbox and Curbside delivery.
  • Secure Delivery at no cost to postal customers.  At $73 per address, the Postal Service would fully recoup the cost of clusterbox purchase and installation after just 5 months, due to the lower delivery costs.
  • Clusterboxes offer Americans access to a safe, locked location for package delivery.  As e-commerce continues to grow and Americans use the mail to purchase more items, package theft is a problem. Secure Clusterboxes offer a solution.
  • Protecting the elderly and disabled.  Importantly, the conversion program includes a hardship provision for customers to receive temporary or permanent exemptions from conversion. This ensures no American loses access to their mail as a result of this bill.
  • Not a substitute for comprehensive postal reform, but an interim opportunity to achieve some cost savings outside of embracing a 5-day delivery schedule that both President Obama and OGR Republicans have gone on record supporting, but House Democrats steadfastly oppose.