Guest Blog: A Last Mile Strategy

on Feb 16, 2010 in Delivery & Collection | 11 comments

By Robert Cohen

Should the Postal Service pursue a last mile strategy? A strategy that emphasizes delivery and deemphasizes the retail, processing, and transportation functions which are outsourced explicitly or through pricing incentives.

In some ways, the Postal Service is already pursuing a last mile strategy. Historically, the Postal Service has generally set worksharing discounts based on cost avoided. In other words, the discount is set at the amount of money the Postal Service saves if it doesn’t do the activity itself. If a presorter can sort the mail more efficiently than the Postal Service, it will choose to do so. This is good for society as a whole because it provides the lowest overall cost for end-to-end mail service. It also means that the Postal Service receives the same profit per piece whether it is workshared or not. The profit from the 80 percent of the mail that is workshared comes from delivery.

What Does Apple’s New iPad Mean for the Postal Service?

on Feb 8, 2010 in Strategy & Public Policy | 23 comments

Courtesy of Apple

Last August, Pushing the Envelope ran a topic on e-readers — devices designed for portable book reading. Two weeks ago, Apple unveiled the iPad. The iPad offers multiple functionality including the ability to read books, surf the Internet, and use computer applications. Unlike most e-readers, the iPad does not have virtual ink technology, which is intended to mimic paper and make reading more pleasant, but it has one key difference from other widely-used e readers — a color display.

Postal Service Network Streamlining

on Feb 1, 2010 in Mail Processing & Transportation | 21 comments

To remain financially viable, the Postal Service must effectively streamline its mail processing and transportation networks and optimize its workforce. Between fiscal years (FYs) 2005 and 2009, the Postal Service made progress in these efforts; however, management was unable to adjust resources quickly enough to fully offset declines in mail volume, resulting in a deteriorating financial condition. In FY 2009, the Postal Service experienced the largest 1-year decline in total mail volume since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 — a drop of more than 25 billion pieces.