Is the US Postal Service Becoming Obsolete?

The US Postal Service has been in the news a lot recently.  Revenues are down. The postal service blames people for using email more than written correspondence. Hardly anyone writes letters and evites have become a mainstay. Most people pay their bills electronically. This all takes away revenues from stamps bought at your local post office.

Whoever coined the phrase “snail mail” in reference to the postal service has done more PR harm than any other public relations problem. Let’s face it the USPS has had some PR hiccups. The expression “Going Postal” is not a positive thing! Still the USPS overcame that, but the nagging ‘snail mail’ tag lingers.  In reality, I can ship a package cross-country in 3-5 days using the USPS for a lot less than if I shipped via UPS or FedEx. My local post office is conveniently located and the clerks are usually friendly.

Dave Barry, the Miami Herald humor columnist, suggested a cost cutting plan for the USPS. “Start delivering first- class mail to totally random addresses.” From a customer of mine in Russia, they have taken Dave Barry’s suggestion to hart! The other problem in Russia my customers relates is that the package may be delivered to the post office but the recipient is not notified in a timely manner. I really would not like to see the USPS use Russian mail as their business model.

As a child wasn’t it great when you got a piece of mail addressed to you? Getting mail delivered to your door or mail box 6 days a week by a person is conceptually very quaint.  Now, with so few pieces of mail being delivered, is the USPS on the way to become obsolete? They are making updates to their online store for ”a better shopping experience”, but should the USPS rebrand itself as a package shipper like UPS? Do we need hand delivered mail so often?

Is the price of a stamp just another piece of nostalgic price comparison or do people really care about the cost to send a letter?

How will the postal changes affect your life or business?