It is really depressing to watch a long-standing business be unable to change their ways, like when the penny candy store which has been in business for 60 years goes out of business and that location becomes a revolving door of failed business. This also bums me out because like most of you I still like getting non-bill mail. I know you are thinking that this is a bit of an overreaction because they are only stopping one day of service (and in the best line I read in the last couple of days "The Northeast got a preview of no Saturday delivery this weekend"), but if you look at the numbers the future of the USPS is not promising. The postal service said it lost $16 billion last year and that by stopping Saturday delivery they will save $2 billion. I guess it is a start, but that still means they are losing $14 billion. I admit that business was never my are of expertise, but even I can see that formula doesn't really work. Unless they do something drastic this is just the first step in what will inevitably be a long march towards being put out of business. I thought between zip codes and street addresses to keep straight the people in charge of the postal service would have been better at numbers, but I guess I was wrong. The postal service's motto has always been that they would never be stopped by rain, sleet or snow, but even they can't outrun simple economics.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Stand And Deliver
I don't think anyone was particularly shocked when late this week the United States Postal Service said it would halt Saturday delivery of all regular mail starting August 1st (packages will still be delivered and the post office will be open should you need stamps). People are blaming this on private companies like FedEx and UPS, but what's really killing the postal service is the internet. As soon as people could start paying their bills on like without having to leave their homes for free, the post master general should have been working on a plan to keep up with the times or begun updating his resume. There is a feeling of inevitability about this news. Honestly, the business model the post office has been using has always been pretty flawed. I mean, being able to send a letter anywhere in the United States for 50 cents? I don't care how many people were sending letters at the height of its popularity there was no way they could have been making much money, especially when you remember that as gas prices kept on rising the post office responded by raising the price of a stamp 1 cent. There is something admirable in trying to keep costs down to help your consumers, but the unfortunately the business which put consumers first never seem to last very long.
It is really depressing to watch a long-standing business be unable to change their ways, like when the penny candy store which has been in business for 60 years goes out of business and that location becomes a revolving door of failed business. This also bums me out because like most of you I still like getting non-bill mail. I know you are thinking that this is a bit of an overreaction because they are only stopping one day of service (and in the best line I read in the last couple of days "The Northeast got a preview of no Saturday delivery this weekend"), but if you look at the numbers the future of the USPS is not promising. The postal service said it lost $16 billion last year and that by stopping Saturday delivery they will save $2 billion. I guess it is a start, but that still means they are losing $14 billion. I admit that business was never my are of expertise, but even I can see that formula doesn't really work. Unless they do something drastic this is just the first step in what will inevitably be a long march towards being put out of business. I thought between zip codes and street addresses to keep straight the people in charge of the postal service would have been better at numbers, but I guess I was wrong. The postal service's motto has always been that they would never be stopped by rain, sleet or snow, but even they can't outrun simple economics.
It is really depressing to watch a long-standing business be unable to change their ways, like when the penny candy store which has been in business for 60 years goes out of business and that location becomes a revolving door of failed business. This also bums me out because like most of you I still like getting non-bill mail. I know you are thinking that this is a bit of an overreaction because they are only stopping one day of service (and in the best line I read in the last couple of days "The Northeast got a preview of no Saturday delivery this weekend"), but if you look at the numbers the future of the USPS is not promising. The postal service said it lost $16 billion last year and that by stopping Saturday delivery they will save $2 billion. I guess it is a start, but that still means they are losing $14 billion. I admit that business was never my are of expertise, but even I can see that formula doesn't really work. Unless they do something drastic this is just the first step in what will inevitably be a long march towards being put out of business. I thought between zip codes and street addresses to keep straight the people in charge of the postal service would have been better at numbers, but I guess I was wrong. The postal service's motto has always been that they would never be stopped by rain, sleet or snow, but even they can't outrun simple economics.
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