The Future of the Post Office

Does the U.S. Post Office have a future?  Really? 

Years ago, we outlined a plan to make the Post Office relevant for the 21st Century:  delivering packages, like groceries or other local shopping items, two to four times a day to people who could then shop even locally online, saving tons of time and money with the same day postal deliveries. 

Only the Post Office has the infrastructure of local offices and personnel to do local package deliveries the same day.

But for now, it looks like the outdated Post Office business model will continue to decline, if not collapse.  Politicians cannot even decide to close 3,700 post offices in towns so small they just are not feasible.

Here's a photo of the Post Office in our summer home town of 200 people. This post office is TOO BIG to close, so it was not even on the list of 3,700 possible closures. 

Comments

[Furniture Delivery Service]

It is very interesting to see the private market of delivery services impact the United States Postal Service. I am shocked to read how many postal offices closed down around the US. I wonder what will happen to towns that have their post offices closed. Thanks for sharing this great information, it really got me thinking.

[Roger Man]

nice too see your post about post office.

[gclub]

Looking forward to getting back into blogging and what better way than doing this challenge to raise awareness. Thank you for hosting!

[D. P. Lubic]

Everything old is new again. . .

When I was younger, my next door neighbor and his brothers ran a grocery store up the street (I.G.A. cooperative, I.G.A. stood for Independent Grocers Alliance--that sounds socialist or "revolutionary!") that offered delivery service into the 1970s; it was the last grocery store in Wheeling, W.Va. to do so.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGA_(supermarkets)

http://iga.com/consumer/default.aspx

I have a book on house design published in the period just after WW II. One of the interesting things was a recommendation that the driveway in this now auto-influenced era should also provide space and turning area for the local grocery store's delivery truck.

That would change as the supermarkets would claim to offer lower prices through self-service (it used to be you told a clerk what you wanted, and he got it for your). Self service would also include self-delivery.

There is in my current area a food company that operates strictly with delivery service, and takes orders via the internet. Apparently they have resolved the problems of such deliveries, including the handling of refrigerated and frozen items.

http://www.schwans.com/

Your main difference for today would be that this service would be available to any grocer, via the common carrier that is the US Mail.