A National Academy of Public Administration white paper has proposed a public-private partnership as a new model for postal reform.
The paper was authored by a four-member panel of experts and while the postal service already collaborates with private companies on a number of levels the paper recommends that private sector companies perform almost all "upstream" activities – that is, mail collection, transportation and processing. USPS would then focus almost exclusively on mail delivery.
NAPA stopped short of endorsing the concept as laid out in "Restructuring the U.S. Postal Service: The Case for a Hybrid Public-Private Partnership," pointing out that such a transformation would introduce a new set of challenges. However, NAPA concluded that postal "management needs to be given the flexibility to make appropriate organizational and operational changes subject to being held accountable by its Board of Governors, while meeting an evolving and principal-based universal service obligation."
It also said that the concept of dividing key, primary functions should prompt further collaboration between USPS and private sector mailing services providers.
