One of the bigger news story that I paid attention to in the last few weeks was news of the US Postal Service posting a $2.4 billion loss for the last quarter.  While this doesn’t come as a total surprise given their track record, what is surprising, or maybe not so much, is their continued ignorance of the bigger issue.  The US Postal Service has become completely irrelevant and almost rendered completely obsolete.

Think about how much mail you receive in a given week.  Now how much of this is junk you never read.  Oh what you do read, how much of that could have been delivered electronically?  I like many people typically pay whatever bills I can online.   Some companies leave a lot to be desired with their electronic payment websites, put if the option is there, I usually take advantage of it.  At this point the only thing I depend on the mail on is Netflix deliveries.  Eventually I would imagine their entire collection will be available electronically which would be a godsend once internet speeds can keep up with the demand.

Over the last few years the prices of stamp have incrementally increased, but I haven’t seen many real changes in the postal system overall.  I suppose the flat rate shipping boxes were a good idea, but ultimately this does not benefit the majority of their customers.  A recent development that will come in handy is the new smart barcode system, but this system still seems light years behind what Fed Ex, UPS and others have been doing for ages.

Shutting down locations is bound to happen to help decrease the bleeding as will reducing delivery to only 5 days a week.  But ultimately neither of these measures will save the postal system.  Unfortunately I think it may be too late for this old dinosaur due to decades on indecision and non innovation.  Companies like Earth Class Mail seem to be on to something with electronic mail delivery, but I even wonder how effective that will become in the future.

Ultimately this comes down to the same rules that govern all businesses: Evolve or Die.