Mail Service Improvement Idea

According to President Trump the USPS delivers packages for Amazon too cheaply. But the Post Office is to a large extent a fixed cost business so any additional revenue they can obtain will be beneficial. I recommended a few month ago that the Post Office be sold to Amazon. But that was a tongue in cheek to solution to a real problem. The world has changed and daily delivery of physical mail is no longer necessary. The Post Office needs to adjust or become the Amtrak of the next generation.

Here are a few ideas for them. We moved last year and a few weeks ago I got a notice in the mail that my forwarding was going to expire. If they had offered to extend it for a few dollars a month I would have happily paid. So I suspect would millions of other people who have moved. That simple change could constitute tens of millions of revenues each year.

It got me thinking about the assumption that the post office delivers to physical addresses. What if they offered a service that they would deliver to you a person and they would deliver it where you happen to be. Maybe they could track you using your smart phone or GPS or just ask Uber or Amazon to figure it out. Potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue by using better technology not more employees.

Finally the post office management could talk congress into allowing them to do a test of less delivery days in a few selected areas. If it works and is rolled out nationwide it could save billions. I favor moving toward once a week delivery to most houses. How about you.

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