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The US Postal Service is like a damsel in distress. Severe distress. The rise of email and the Great Recession, coupled with bad management and its high labor (and labor's retirement) costs have caused the institution to be near collapse.
But, like the analogy goes, there's a white knight! Here's how the Post Office plans to rescue itself from bankruptcy: more junk mail for everyone!
LinkMany consumers are irked by the catalogs, credit-card pitches and other "junk mail" they receive. But the U.S. Postal Service loves it—and wants to deliver more.
The agency, beset by historic losses and a plummet in first-class mail, is running promotions, easing rules and planning television and radio ads to encourage more businesses to send pitches by standard mail, the official term for bulk mailings used by marketers to prospect for customers.
"What we want to do is to make standard mail more interesting for customers so we can grow the total volume," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in an interview. "We don't call it junk mail—it's a lucrative avenue for anyone who wants to reach customers."
I love this cute fan dress. Best of all, the fans are actually made from folded up junk mail and then sewn onto canvas. I bet you never thought all that crap you throw in the trash every day could be made so pretty.
Meet Mailman Steve. He was a letter carrier who became a local hero for failing to deliver (junk mail, that is):
"Mailman Steve" — a pudgy, kindly 58-year-old who toiled along a route in a rapidly growing neighborhood here — was given probation in federal court this week for squirreling away at least seven years’ worth of undelivered junk mail, which he had stacked in his garage and buried in his yard.
According to his attorney, Padgett felt overwhelmed by the torrents of "direct advertising mail" he was obligated to deliver as he contended with heart problems and diabetes.
It should come as no surprise that the U.S. Postal Service did not receive a single complaint from Padgett’s customers about missing mail during the years he withheld pizza circulars, oil change discount notices and Chinese menus.
But when someone noticed bins of mail stacking up, the authorities were alerted, and Mailman Steve was charged with delaying and destroying U.S. mail. The Postal Service notified hundreds of residents, but only one responded. That customer, Kenna Reinhardt, wrote not to condemn Padgett but to honor him.
(Photo: Shawn Rocco/AP)
