Trib editorial is wrong about Postal Service By John Mellon, Evanston Cicago Tribune
Contrary to the recent Tribune editorial, the U.S. Postal Service did not incur a "loss" attributable to declining mail volume last year, only a rectifiable revenue shortfall due to its undercharging for mail actually delivered, about four cents per item according to the Trib's figures.
Nor is the USPS "plodding and unimaginative." Its distribution centers employ high tech sorting machines and air ship mail to other major centers for delivery the second day after posting. There's no featherbedding either. Carriers' routes are regularly evaluated and their hours and compensation adjusted accordingly. Computerized window service has made retail lines move faster. "Forever" stamps cut printing costs and free flat-rate boxes simplify Parcel Post. The Long Life Vehicles (LLVs) increasingly seen around town improve the old storage box system of getting mail from the local office to carriers' routes.
Eliminating Saturday delivery would bulk up the Monday mail and consume much of the Saturday savings paying Monday's extra costs. For-profit regional services competing with the USPS in the delivery of flat mail would experience horrendous costs equipping themselves to make a showing, plus a sorting nightmare at interchange points. And who in their right mind would try to make a profit competing with an enterprise which only has to break even to succeed?
The good old Postal Service ain't done for yet, and my daughter still has a chance of finishing her career as an employee.
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