I'm sure many of you have heard about the financial problems the U.S. Postal Service has been having the last few years, but how many of you have even pondered over why and just what the future may hold for them?
Yeah, I know, many of you could care less, but this could definitely have a negative impact on the economy, right?
My question is: Will the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) exist in the future?
If I worked for them, I'd be very concerned, to say the least...
I recently ran across an article that reminded me of this subject. It had the headline "The U.S. Postal Service must make massive changes if it is going to survive," and it went on to say:
"It is hard to think of a better deal than mailing a letter. In exchange for nothing more than a first-class stamp, the U.S. Postal Service will come to your house, pick up your envelope, and deliver it anywhere in the country. It will bring it from Hawaii to Miami. It will carry it from Bangor, Maine, to Dededo, Guam, a distance of 8,000 miles. If you got the address wrong, it will bring the letter back. These services are completed with extraordinary accuracy and speed. The cost? A mere 44 cents, less if you bought your forever stamps years ago." To continue reading this 2-page article on whether or not the USPS is doomed, go here: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/08/deliverance.html?GT1=38001
To me, the future for this service looks very grim. With all of the "pay your bills online" and electronic mail options, why would anybody want to pay 44 cents to mail a bill or letter? In fact, I heard that they may raise it to 46 cents at the first of next year, but we'll just have to wait and see. I still occasionally use the U.S. Postal Service, but I was mad at myself for buying a book of stamps the other day. I don't know why I did it. I ran out of stamps and, instead of buying one or two extra like I should have, I bought an entire book of stamps (20 Forever stamps) like I always did in the past. ...I used to go through them a lot quicker, and now I find myself rarely using 'em.
Speaking of rising rates, check out this chart below, that I found online:
Wow! If you look at the stamp chart above, you can see how the rates have inclined drastically over the last several years.
One thing is for sure, using electronic mail and online billing options cuts down on paper usage and removes the delay of delivery. For example, if my credit card bill is due on the 6th of this month, and it is the 3rd, I would be late if I used the "snail mail" service, but by using my online billing option, I can pay them via electronic transaction on the 5th or 6th and still won't receive a late charge. Plus, I didn't have to buy a stamp... Sounds like a good deal to me!
Surely they can work out something, but if the U.S. Postal service can't exist in the distant future, then so be it. That's just the way things are and the world is always changing. When it is time for a business to go out, it should - without any governmental bailouts, delays, and whatnot. Personally, I'd like to see the USPS stay in business, even though I rarely use them anymore, but whatever happens, I don't think they can save their selves by simply raising the rates on stamps; more would have to be done than that. One last thing about that: Every time they raise the price on stamps, it just encourages people more and more to switch over to the electronic mail options.
---Side Note: It was funny earlier, when I was doing 'image searches' online for postage stamps; I kept finding seductive images of hot babes sporting "tramp stamps," instead. Ha-ha! If you don't know, a "tramp stamp" is basically a lower-back tattoo on women, as shown below...
Cheers!
---End of Post "Will the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) exist in the future?"
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