Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9409240037
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Facing the most serious competition in its history, the Postal Service is ``re-evaluating our existing services to determine what changes should be made,'' post office Chief Operating Officer William J. Henderson told the Postal Rate Commission Wednesday.
The 10.3 percent rate increase on all classes of mail was proposed by the service last spring and the rate commission has until the first of the year to rule on the request. The proposal would result in a 32-cent first-class stamp.
Henderson said raising rates for all classes of mail by the same percentage was proposed to help avoid a contentious rate case and foster cooperation among mailers during the review of mail classes and prices.
Nonetheless, Henderson drew criticism from commission members for changes and errors found in some of the supporting materials the agency provided.
The ``bumbling and cavalier way the Postal Service ... presented testimony is an insult to the rate-making process,'' complained Commissioner H. Edward Quick Jr.
Pressed by Commission Chairman Edward J. Gleiman, Henderson acknowledged that the post office is worried about maintaining its market share in the face of increasing competition.
``The Postal Service must be poised to offer services and products which continue to meet our customers' needs, in the face of the increased attractiveness of alternative delivery services, electronic message transmission technology and other sources of diversion,'' Henderson testified.
Businesses and households are increasingly taking advantage of alternative types of communication including electronic mail, telemarketing, automatic funds transfer and facsimile machines, he observed.
by CNB