Sen. Carper applauds Postal Service deal with Amazon

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, applauded the U.S. Postal Service’s agreement to deliver Amazon packages on Sundays.

In a statement on Tuesday, Carper said the partnership “offers a great deal of promise.”

{mosads}“This announcement by the U.S. Postal Service is a clear example of the innovative solutions that the agency needs to adopt in order to survive and thrive in the 21st century,” he said.

Carper has been working on legislation with Sen. Tom Coburn (Okla.), the committee’s top Republican, to overhaul the Postal Service, which is facing record losses.

The Postal Service is on pace to lose more than $20 billion over 2012 and 2013. It has sought to end Saturday mail delivery to trim its losses but has failed to win congressional approval. 

Delivering packages is much more profitable for the Postal Service than first-class mail. The service already delivers some packages on Sundays for an extra fee.

Carper said the deal “will allow both Amazon and the Postal Service to better serve their customers and has the potential to boost the ailing Postal Service’s bottom line.” 

“It might also encourage other companies to pursue similar agreements with the Postal Service, creating even more opportunities for growth,” he said.

The Democratic chairman said Congress must give the Postal Service the “tools, resources, and flexibility it needs so it can right its financial ship and continue to implement forward-thinking ideas like this one.”