The writing has been on the wall for years. The Postal Service is slowly going out of business. The fax was the first piece of technology that cut into the need to mail letters and documents. FedEx (FDX) and UPS (UPS) took a lot of the agency’s shipping business away.
The final and most lethal damage was done by the internet. Broadband connections allow people and business to send e-mail, data, and huge documents from point-to-point around the world instantaneouslyfor nearly no cost.
The Postal Regulatory Commission is considering closing or consolidating 700 post office locations. The quasi-government agency will lose about $7 billion this year, and advances in communications technology will only make that worse.
The head of the Postal Service has already suggested to Congress that letter delivery should drop to five days a week from six. That may not be enough.
Most material sent through the postal system, which includes a huge number of pieces of junk mail and catalogues which are not time-sensitive material, could be delivered on a schedule that would cut deliveries to three or four days a week. Rural areas, where the cost of getting mail to homes is particularly high, may end up getting deliveries less often than people in urban areas.
The postal system will have to go through a period of triage. Congress cannot continue to fund large losses for the physical delivery of the mail, particularly with a federal budget that is already creating record federal deficits.
Post offices are becoming anachronisms and the sooner that is taken into account in the process of restructuring the delivery system, the better.
Douglas A. McIntyre
The Average American Is Losing Their Savings Every Day (Sponsor)
If you’re like many Americans and keep your money ‘safe’ in a checking or savings account, think again. The average yield on a savings account is a paltry .4% today, and inflation is much higher. Checking accounts are even worse.
Every day you don’t move to a high-yield savings account that beats inflation, you lose more and more value.
But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying 9-10x this national average. That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe, and get paid at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other one time cash bonuses, and is FDIC insured.
Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes and your money could be working for you.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.