Yesterday the Postmaster General offered a pretty bleak view of the future:
The Postal Service experienced a 13 percent drop in mail volume last fiscal year, more than double any previous decline, and lost $3.8 billion. The projections anticipate steeper drops in mail volume and revenue over the next 10 years, and mounting labor costs only complicate the agency's path to firm fiscal footing.
In an effort to offset some of the losses, Potter seeks more flexibility in the coming year to set delivery schedules, prices and labor costs. The changes could mean an end to Saturday deliveries, longer delivery times for letters and packages, higher postage-stamp prices that exceed the rate of inflation, and the potential for future layoffs.
Does anyone actually send letters anymore? Not if both parties have email. Why go through the process of writing something out, paying to mail it, and then waiting 2-5 days for it to arrive when you can quickly type out your message, hit the send button and deliver it at the speed of light.
For many years I did a monthly (the later quarterly) newsletter for the quartet. I sent it bulk mail to reduce costs, but still had to pay for printing, postage and handling by a bulk mail company. As email became more common I finally decided to stop the snail mail version and haven't used it since. Now my quartet info goes out to people instantly, electronically, and free.
Perhaps if there was one fewer day of delivery they could eliminate those junk-mail only days.
And if the Post Office needs more revenue, why not go after the junk and bulk mail rates first? Why should we give a discount to advertisers who want to clutter up our mailbox with stuff we just throw away?
Some have suggested privatizing the Post Office, but as Charles Krauthammer pointed out on Special Report yesterday the Post Office business model is so bad and the bureaucratic mess so complete that no business in their right minds would buy it. The government will be stuck with it forever, so let's figure out how to make it work.
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2 comments:
We wouldn't mind if they stopped mail on Saturday's either. In fact, if they wanted to drop delivery to 3 days a week, we wouldn't care, but there are people who would.
I still use 'snail'mail for the grandkids b'dy cards, Christmas cards, if I get them done, and sympathy cards. There is still a need for the post office, but I agree with the bulk mail. I hate getting it.
For my part, I would be sorry to see Saturday mail delivery go. For starters, that's one less day for Netflix deliveries (grin).
My friends and I really enjoy snail mail. We email plenty, but we also like to send "real mail," because it's fun to pick up the mail and find a pretty card and a real handwritten letter inside. I have at least four friends who regularly send me handwritten mail, and vice versa. And my dad and I regularly ship boxes of movies and other "fun stuff" back and forth cross-country. I also subscribe to a number of magazines. Then there's the paychecks I receive from multiple clients...no Saturday means I will often have to wait longer for money to arrive.
In short, our family receives non-junk mail six days a week, and it would be inconvenient to see that end.
I completely agree they should go after the bulk mailers. I can't believe that the volume the P.O. gets from bulk mailers is really worth the highly discounted price they get, considering all the labor involved.
The craziest thing I read in a Washington Post story is that the Postmaster General would like permission to slow down some delivery times for letters and packages. That makes total sense when you're competing with email...not!
I also think they need to work on consolidating post offices to save labor (and retirement benefit) costs. My dad mentioned there are three post offices within a ten-minute drive in his small community in North Carolina. It may not be as convenient to drive a little further to the P.O. but that makes more sense to me than reducing services.
Just my two (rather wordy!) cents,
Best wishes,
Laura
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