| Tuesday, March 2, 2010 |
08:30 - Governing best by governing least
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/01/AR2010030103452.html
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Wuh-oh. Looks like the USPS is reading the writing on the wall, and announcing some big changes in the era of FedEx and email... but it doesn't sound like much of a reason to celebrate.
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.
So in order to keep the doors open, they're going to... eliminate Saturday deliveries and rapid, cheap first-class letter service.
You know how they say that one of the few things it's worth having a pervasive federal government for, along with the military and tax collection, is mail delivery? For some reason I don't feel great about seeing the Post Office slashing its only competitive advantage against private carriers. Sure, first-class delivery operates at a loss; that's got to be obvious. But if what this means is that I'm going to have to start FedExing in my bills, that's going to suck a great deal.
Maybe the Internet age means that the great bulk of mail that people exchange nowadays—statements and bill payments included—is better done online anyway, and even personal letters are now more and more superseded by email, leaving only stacks of spam as the gross tonnage of what fills up those little white jeeps on the rounds. (If that's what pays the way for the real stuff, that's even more depressing.) Still, there will always be a demand—nay, a requirement—that there be a cheap, fast way to drop a piece of paper in the box and for a pittance be assured that it will get anywhere in this vast country. Despite all the USPS' failings, it'd be a horrible shame to see that one great benefit disappear.
Via Dean.
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Brian Tiemann
