The Postman Might Not Ring on Saturdays

Faced with growing deficits and a business model which has been slow to adapt to the services offered by third-party freight companies and e-commerce delivery systems, the United States Postal Service is going through a major crossroad in terms of its future. The latest proposal to get the agency back on track includes some drastic measures including the elimination of Saturday mail delivery.

There are a couple of things I found interesting. The first is that direct mail advertising (more commonly known as "junk-mail" make up 33% of mail. Wow. I'm conflicted, realizing that the the revenue provided by junk mailers to the USPS is largely keeping it afloat, but at the same time considering my disdain for unsolicited promotional materials for both the irritation of the thinly-veiled attempt to get my family to buy things we don't need as well as the environmental waste. Is it possible that me being a willing party to be "junk-mailed" is, in essence, subsidizing or at least making possible a business model where I can sent a letter anywhere in the United States for a darn good price?

Another point made by a number of people is the need for the Postal Service to be given the freedom (which is currently doesn't under the guidelines for an independent Federal Agency) to branch out into different businesses such as banking, insurance, or even the selling of telephone cards or cell phones. One of the "constraints" of USPS cost-cutting is the inability (by law) to eliminate service to any given location in the US, and I understand that it's almost as difficult to close down an existing post office.

This is a huge opportunity, of course. The Post Office sits, in some cases, on some prime real estate, and there are few businesses in the United States that can boast of a comparable network of franchises with the breath of reach as the postal service (McDonald's and Starbuck's come to mind). I'd think that the licensing or sub-lease revenue opportunities would be significant.

As for the mail service itself, that's another nut to crack. Sadly, all of this might simply delay the inevitable, where flat mail (but not parcels or goods) may slowly go the way of the dodo. With electronic delivery of mail and cards becoming sleeker and more socially acceptable, and with technology enabling digital signatures of forms, and with less and less people being adverse to or ignorant in using this technology, perhaps we'll start seeing a Postal Service that looks awfully similar to FedEx sooner than later.