Going postal

Would you be upset if the mail came only five days a week?
The U.S. Postal Service said this week it lost $3.8 billion last year and had a 13 percent drop in mail volume. It predicts $238 billion in losses over the next 10 years unless something changes. (Read about it here.)
Stop! Wait a minute, Mr. Postman! Haven’t we heard all this before?

It’s not as if the digital age suddenly jumped up and bit the Post Office in the backside. Sixteen years ago I wrote an editorial for this newspaper that said, “One has to believe the U.S. Postal Service, sitting on the brink of an electronic information explosion as it is, may be reaching the point of diminishing returns.”
That explosion hit, and it seems as if the Post Office has been struggling to fight through the debris ever since. That’s a leadership problem. In the intervening years, the Postal Service did some questionable things, such as paying millions to be the lead sponsor for cyclist Lance Armstrong. It did some smarter things, too, but it couldn’t keep up with the private guys.
But, to be fair, the troubles also have to do with the nature of this semi-independent beast.
The Postal Service can’t be as nimble as private delivery companies are. For one thing, it is an agency specifically mentioned in the Constitution. Congress has the power “to establish post offices and post roads.” The Post Office has a mandate to deliver even where no one else will go.
And then there are union concerns. The Post Office has to pay a generous health benefit to its retirees.
You can’t totally eliminate the Postal Service. That would, ultimately, be a matter of national security. But it’s clear some big changes need to be made. No private company could sustain losses in the hundreds of billions.
The answers probably include five-day delivery. Last year, officials were talking about eliminating Tuesdays. Now they’re talking about Saturdays. I don’t think it matters much so long as post offices remain open six days a week.
Rates also need to rise. Who really uses the Postal Service to send letters any more? Some officials want the Post office to do commercial banking or telecommunication services. I think those things are best left to private businesses. Deliver the mail, period.
What do you think? How many of you still rely on the Postal Service for traditional mail? How many pay all your bills on-line, as my wife and I do? Would you mind five-day delivery?