Food for Thought: USPS is in Trouble...

This will come as no surprise, and many have probably already encountered an issue that spun out of this whole ordeal.  This story from Gizmodo was one of the top Digg stories yesterday.  And I felt it worth mentioning here.  And for those who would rather just see the ads, watch this:







I believe this is largely due to the already huge (and growing) adoption of digital media.  Years ago I heard a comment from someone (I don't remember who it was); insisting that in the near future the USPS would eventually hit a financial wall due to people sending what was once mail will become digital messages whether it be email or other means.

Think about it, how many birthday invitations do you get in your mailbox?  Now, think about how many invitations you get for any event via Facebook?  I usually get three or four a week.  When you add up three invites a week at the current rate of 44 cents per stamp, it adds up. Let's assume I get on average 3 invites per week for either a birthday party, holiday function, or a wedding via social networking.  That is $1.32 per week not being mailed using a stamp; and that equates to $68.64 a year, worth of stamps not being purchased from the USPS.  Not that big of a deal, right?  Now think about how many people on average do the same exact thing?  That leads to tons of money not being spent via the USPS.

Is it our fault as American people?  No, it's not.  Is it the government's fault?  Probably not; although somewhere down the line I'm sure it can be attributed back to them by someone.  It's the course of what we call progress and technological expansion.  Our technology grows which leads the people to new ways of doing things and thinking.  Did you intentionally buy a computer ten years ago for the sole purpose of bankrupting the USPS?  Nope, probably not.  If you did, you need a hobby.

The USPS is unfortunately fading in the same direction as printed newspapers.  We live in a digital world nowadays, and older concepts and ways of doing things are drastically changing.  The telephone companies are experiencing the same shift, people are graduating away from the home phone line.  Everything is mobile now.  Take everything on the go with you at anytime you want; books, music, movies, contact with loved ones are all on-demand..  Fly around the world and use the same phone you carry in your pocket to work everyday.  Need to speak to your Mom in California while on a business trip in New York, with a simple click and a few seconds to wait Skype will connect you right up.  This is the world we now live in.

It is an exciting time, but no doubt a trying time.  Even though the world is moving in a digital direction, millions of people rely on the USPS for jobs and customer's rely on the service for medicine and government checks, etc.  There is still plenty of value to the USPS, it just costs much more to run.  In our area they have already started scaling back the USPS offices and their hours of counter operation in the office.  Just think about how the Pony Express Riders felt when trains started carrying mail and gradually their routes became shorter.  The difference is then they could leave the Express jobs and work the railroad.  What railroad will our delivery men work once progress rolls through their stations?

Will the USPS fully go away?  I don't think it will.  At least not anytime soon.  However, this doesn't mean they will not have to scale back further than they ever have before.  Customer's may have to drive to the next town over to mail a letter or pick up a package.  And maybe even the process will become more of an automated process.  Who knows?

But the one's we should care about will be those who are offset during layoffs and let-go's when offices reallocate workers, scale back services, or even close offices.