Going Postal

The Washington Post wants us to think, there are three post offices.

First, there is the post office everyone loves to hate: The rate-raising-long-lined-junk-mail-delivering-bureaucratic-government-run-stale-office organization. Second, is the post office that runs one of the world’s most complex automation systems, and delivers 580 million pieces of mail a day with remarkable accuracy to every address in the nation, six days every week. Third, is the post office that delivers a hand-written letter from an old friend, a tax refund from the IRS, or an anticipated acceptance from the college admittance office. This is the office that gives the tiniest towns their own proud postmarks. It's the post office that found you even when the address under your name was so incredibly incorrect it was laughable.

Today, Louisville’s Courier Journal published that in 2006, the post office “moved more than 102 billion pieces of advertising and bulk mail, 11.6 billion pounds in all, compared with 97.6 billion pieces of first-class mail weighing 4.4 billion pounds.” And recently, I learned that more than 800,000 people are employed by the USPS, making it the 3rd largest employer in the US second only to The Department of Defense and, you got it, Wal-Mart.

If you are like me, then this means that 72% of the poundage moved by some of the more than 800,000 people was immediately thrown in the recycling. 72%!! I didn’t read it, I didn’t open it, and I probably didn’t even check to see if it was addressed to me. I simply tossed it.

Add everyone else like me up and the result is a HUGE amount of waste both in dollars and paper (also dollars.)

There is probably more than one solution to this grossness, but I strongly believe that privatizing the postal delivery is the best. It will reduce inefficiency. It will make the experience of mailing more enjoyable. With time it will entirely eliminate the entire first image painted by the Washington Post. As for the second and third images of being a successful logistics company and nostalgic service provider? Well clearly, the private entities will have to do those as well. Otherwise they will not succeed.

What do you think?