**GAO-12-100**                      Published: Nov 17, 2011. Publicly Released: Nov 17, 2011.                  

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## Highlights

Declines in mail volume have brought the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to the brink of financial insolvency. Action to ensure its financial viability is urgently needed. Visits to post offices have also declined, and in an effort to cut costs, USPS is considering closing nearly half of its 32,000 post offices by 2015. In their place, alternatives to post offices, such as the Internet, self-service kiosks, and partnerships with retailers, are increasingly important for providing access to postal services. Retail alternatives also hold potential to help improve financial performance by providing services at a lower cost than post offices. As requested, this report discusses how (1) USPS's efforts to expand access through retail alternatives support its service and financial performance goals, (2) USPS communicates with the public about retail alternatives, and (3) USPS oversees its retail partners. To conduct this work, GAO analyzed USPS documents and data and interviewed USPS officials and stakeholders. GAO also interviewed operators of postal retail partnerships.

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## Topics

Government Operations

Cost analysisCustomer serviceFinancial analysisInternal controlsInternetMonitoringPerformance measuresPostal facilitiesPostal servicePublic relationsRetail facilitiesStrategic planningFederal agency reorganizationBusiness operationsFinancial conditionMail processing operationsPolicies and procedures