In a bow to the efficiency of privately owned express couriers like Federal Express and UPS and admitting that email is partially replacing mail, the United States Postal Service has filed a proposal that seeks to eliminate overnight delivery of first class mail.
By no longer offering the overnight services the the postal service can close an additional 250 offices, eliminate 35,000 jobs and would expect to save up to $3 billion.
Retired postmaster Larry Hanson spoke up at a recent facility closure meeting saying that the closures beg the question that ” if we throw that away, why don’t we just turn it all over to ups and let them carry all the mail?”
The impact to mail customers will add a day to all first class mail delivery – envelopes that typically arrive 1-3 days after being sent. The specific impact is to mail in “overnight delivery areas” where the mail is expected to be delivered within one day.
The postal service has been examining this option since the summer and has now formally submitted the proposal to the Postal Regulatory Commission for approval.
I wonder what’s next for USPS. Replacing the vehicle fleet with horses?
It is sad that USPS management lacks vision to speed up delivery with innovative processes. Even worse, though, is the decision to abandon next day delivery, while keeping junk-mail deliveries intact.