Junk Mail Ban Adds to Postal Woes
San Francisco threatens printing as USPS, on financial collision course, seeks Congressional relief
By Bill Esler, Editor in Chief -- Graphic Arts Online, March 27, 2009
TOP STORY 2009
Its finances deteriorating, the U.S. Postal Service faces another hurdle as a major city advances toward restricting a key revenue stream for the agency, and the printing industry—direct mail. This week a San Francisco City government committee advanced a non-binding rule calling for a statewide Do Not Mail registry in California. Unsolicited mail is "archaic, obnoxious and unnecessary," says city supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who was the force behind San Francisco's ban of plastic bags. Efforts to limit direct mail in various states are tracked by Mail Moves America, a Washington-based mailing industry advocacy group.
The ban may seem less urgent, given steep declines in mail volume—9.3% across all mail classes last quarter. USPS Regulatory Commissioner Dan Blair told a Congressional oversight committee this week that USPS lost almost $750 million in January alone. "The Postal Service projects a $12.4 billion net operating deficit for this fiscal year.”
In Washington this week, both Blair and Postmaster General John Potter begged Congress for relief—not in dollars, but reduction of rules. “We expect [USPS] to report a further deteriorating condition for February with continued dramatic volume decreases as well as a significant decrease in revenues,” Blair told a Congressional oversight committee. As a result of the economic recession, the Postal Service has predicted that mail volume will likely plunge to 180 billion pieces by the end of fiscal year 2009, from 212 billion pieces as recently as 2007. At the hearing, Potter described the budget gap as a “chasm, widening each day.” In an effort to close the gap, USPS closed six of its 80 regional offices, layed off 1,400 managers and offered early retirement to 150,000 workers
last Friday. Last week's cost cutting moves followed a USPS request to Congress to permit reducing mail delivery
to five days per week. Despite dropping demand, Governors of the U.S. Postal Service approved a rate hike set to go into effect Monday, May 11.
Attendees at this week's NPES Print Outlook 09 gathering in Washington, DC received added insight into the complex dynamics facing USPS. Linda Kingsley, Sr. VP Strategy and Transition for USPS, explained to the gathering how the Post Office's status as quasi-governmental agency forces the delivery organization to do the bidding of Congress, adding to its costs. For example, it is prohibited from shopping for health insurance on the open market, despite the fact that with 656,000 employees (it is the second largest employer after Wal-Mart), it could likely find savings. Instead, it must buy more expensive policies covering other Federal employees, and contributes a higher share—75% of worker premiums—than do its competitors at FedEx and UPS. Kingsley also cited as evidence of the conflictual character of its governance that in some Congressional sessions, fully half the legislation—700 in the last session—concerned the naming of local post offices. Kingsley also noted that USPS is rebidding its address change marketing service, currently operated by Imagitas, a unit of Pitney Bowes. She says the average person spends $7,000 in the course of leaving one home and moving to another; USPS is the first to know of address changes, and this data is invaluable to marketers.
USPS notes the mailing industry generates a total $900 billion in revenue, and employs 9 million in businesses ranging from catalog sales to paper manufacturing and printing. As a conduit for roughly $1 trillion in commerce annually, it represents nearly 7.5% of the GDP.
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All the idiots in the post office and congress should consider selling the USPS to private business who will run it profitably.As usual government is clueless on on to operate a business.Wait till they take over the health care system!
Bob Peary - 2010-11-1 12:37:30 EST -
the postal service has now come up with incredible mailing specifications, like over sized wafer seals, 3 seals required on a simple mailing piece, etc
creating additional costs in the manufacturing side
THEREFORE mailing lists are being cut down and almost
cut out in some instances -
thus the post office creates its own downfall by making it so costly to produce that it almost doesn't pay to use the US postal service
Janet Grebel - 2009-29-12 12:01:51 EST -
Spiffy Idea that SF has.... It is an interesting idea overall, but I have some questions:
Who maintains the DoNotMail list? And who pays them? And how?
What happens to vendors who 'violate' the DNM list?
What kind of loop-holes are being built into the system like Autodialers and Non-Profits for the Do Not Call lists? Is there some loophole for a 'pet company' to still be able to mail?
And, lastly, don't they have anything better to do? How many people are really calling their politicians and complaining about their mailboxed being full of stuff they didn't ask for?
Charles Kerr - 2009-28-12 11:02:49 EST -
Junk mail is an obvious target if we want to eliminate waste and reduce carbon emissions. This is a product most people throw out without even reading. It must be banned and leaders at Copenhagen should consider adding this to their international agreements.
www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2009/11/junk-mail-must-go.html
Canada Guy - 2009-5-11 11:12:59 EST -
Lets see. Every time they raise postage rates the volume drops. They are struggling with decreased volume so they are raising rates. Problem is, when they raise rates my clients cut their lists, which also cuts my profits. Too bad the PO doesn't have to run like we do.
Dennis W. Ewing Sr. - 2009-30-3 10:25:00 EDT
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