The current trends in the economy have been hard on everyone, but particularly hardest hit has been the Postal Service. In the last year alone, the Postal Service lost what amounts to billions of dollars. Of course, this has required the powers that be in the government and within the service to consider new ways to cut costs and to increase revenues.

The first and most commonly discussed method for decreasing the costs of maintaining the Postal Service has been that the service should potentially reduce mail delivery to only five days per week. Postmaster General John E. Potter feels that this reduction is going to be one of the best ways to help curb the spending that has put the service billions of dollars in debt.

Despite this being one of the principal strategies being considered for helping to right the financial ship of the Service, the voice of the American people suggests that people are more concerned about the potential of their local post office’s closing than they are about this potential reduction in service. While the Postal Service has acknowledged that concern, they have stated that these closures represent only a very small piece of the overall puzzle, and that no sites will likely close before January.

Other steps which are being discussed, and some of which will certainly be implemented, include restructuring of the Postal Service network. This will likely bring about a reduction of employees that are working for the Service, but will also include refitting the delivery fleet with newer, greener, vehicles that will be more fuel efficient and therefore cost much less to run. Hiring a courier service to deliver your time critical packages is not a bad idea given these circumstances.

 A large piece of the overall strategic picture has been the potential for Post Offices to sell and bring in revenue from things other than just stamps. Courier Services are begining to compliment and replace postal services.  In an interview, Potter did not disclose exactly what he thought the Postal Service should be selling, but it is clear from the numbers alone that extra revenue of some kind is going to need to be found in order to help balance the books.  Perhaps it’s same day courier services?

The changing face of how we communicate has also changed the postal service. Potter has made it clear that moving forward into the twentieth century, the public, lawmakers, and the workers within the Postal Service all have to accept that the service is going to change. The important thing is to discover what it must transform into in order to continue providing an important service to the entire country.