Postal Service Follies: It’s No Laughing Matter –Michelson

But, even that is likely not enough, in light of permanently shrinking First Class mail volumes due to a shift to electronic banking and e-mail communications, as well as reductions in other classes of mail, including direct marketing pieces, printed magazines and catalogs. The volume of First Class mail fell from 108.7 billion pieces to 87.2 billion pieces from 2007-2010. And Standard mail reportedly nose dived from 103.5 billion pieces to 78.9 billion pieces during that same time frame. Couple those shrinking mail volumes and subsequent revenue stream losses with the fact that, according to the Government Accounting Office, 30 percent of all postal revenues get eaten up by pension, health care and workers’ compensation payments alone. Like our country’s massive federal budget deficit, costly entitlement programs and future retiree social security obligations, the USPS’ business model, as currently structured, is an unsustainable one.