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.
