With the rising popularity of the Internet, many people have shifted from traditional mail to electronic communications such as email and instant messaging. The United States Postal Service has experienced a drop in mail volume over the past 5 years and as a result, lost billions of dollars in revenue. Due to its deficit, USPS has been borrowing money from the U.S. Treasury. Some speculate that USPS's current situation is dire, and that the company should cut more jobs and services, such as Saturday deliveries, to save money. Others, however, see USPS as an opportunity for other businesses. Michael Ravnitzky, a chief counsel of the Postal Regulatory Commission, suggests that the hundreds of thousands of delivery vehicles that USPS deploys daily could be used for more than just delivering mail. He believes USPS can use its vehicle network to provide telematic services. Because USPS delivery trucks go through millions of delivery points almost daily, sensors can be added to the vehicles to detect a variety of things throughout the United States, monitoring things like air quality, road conditions, and traffic. Businesses could then pay USPS to use their sensors. For example, a wireless phone company can use the USPS sensors to detect any dead zones in the country and improve their wireless service without having to spend more money using their own vehicles and methods. Government agencies can also use USPS sensors and network to improve security, having the sensors detect any chemical or biological agents in the air.
The cost of adding sensors to the vehicles is relatively low and revenues from it can help sustain the postal service. Creativity has to be used with technology. Some people would blame technology, saying that it hurts the USPS business without finding any solution to the problem. However, people like Ravnitzky can see the benefits of technology and creatively use it to save USPS. With snail mail becoming obsolete, this might become a new business model for USPS.
I heard about this a while back while I was in a postal office. I didn’t think USPS is actually in dire need to boost its revenue to stay afloat to survive against its competitions like the electronic billing services. I think it is a good idea to put sensors on the cars because the situation is not going to get better for them in just mailing mail because technology is taking over and people like to do everything fast and easy. Technology is USPS enemy and its way to make a difference in saving their business. I don’t think USPS will bounce back to its normal revenue figures that it made 5 years ago but they still have a chance to adapt and do alternative services for the city.
ReplyDelete@AndreyV
ReplyDeleteYeah, as technology is evolving and changing our way of life, companies must also adapt to that change in order to survive. Even if it is supported by the government through loans, USPS should find ways to change its business model in order to stay afloat. Without any change, USPS would just dissolve and postal services would be completely privatized by UPS and FedEx.