Use of Industry Best Practices in Processing Parcels
While the Postal Service leads the world in processing letter mail, private sector competitors have a higher market share for parcels. And while letter volumes are decreasing, parcel volumes are projected to increase. Although parcels represent less than 2 percent of mail volumes, the Postal Service parcel business makes up 13 percent of the market share in the U.S. The chart on the left depicts the market share for parcels. Just how do parcel industry giants keep their costs down and productivity up, even in today’s economic environment? And, is there anything that the Postal Service can learn from them?
Read MoreFuel Economy and the Postal Service: A Quiz
Two families trade in their vehicles for more fuel-efficient ones. If both travel the same amount each year, which will save more fuel by making the change?
- Family 1 decides to trade in their 4-wheel drive Jeep Patriot (25.5 avg. MPG) for a Civic Hybrid (42.5 avg. MPG).
- Family 2 decides to trade in their 4-wheel drive Chevy Trailblazer (14 avg. MPG) for a 4-wheel drive Jeep Patriot (25.5 avg. MPG).
Mail Volume: What Goes Up…?
In 1970, the Postal Service delivered fewer than 85 billion pieces of mail. Thirty years later, mail volume had more than doubled to nearly 208 billion pieces of mail — average growth of about 3 percent per year. The Postal Service relied upon this dependable growth in mail volume to finance the expansion of its network. The traditional business model worked.
Moving Less Mail
The Postal Service moves mail using planes, trains, trucks, cars, boats, ferries, helicopters, bicycles, hovercrafts, subways and even mules. It operates the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world with more than 219,000 vehicles. Its fleet of trucks drives nearly 4.1 million miles and uses more than 400,000 gallons of fuel daily. To put this in perspective, when fuel costs increase by one penny, the cost to the Postal Service increases by more than $8 million annually.
Mail Transport Equipment—Inventory Management and Loss Prevention
USPS Mail Transport Equipment (MTE) consists of specialized containers such as sacks, pouches, trays, hampers, over-the-road containers and pallets. The Postal Service has more than 1.1 billion pieces of MTE, which is used at close to 400 processing facilities, over 33,000 post offices and hundreds of major mailers nationwide to help achieve the safe, secure and timely movement of mail between Postal Service facilities and its customers or contractors.
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