Is It Too Late For Hospice?

My hero, Mitch Mac Donald, recently asked "Can the USPS survive?" He cited several dismaying statistics and observations regarding the venerable service's future. My question is, "Does the USPS deserve to live?"

That the entity dates to the time and ingenuity of Benjamin Franklin doesn't mean that it has earned eternal life. For example, I haven't been able to subscribe to The Saturday Evening Post (also attributed to Franklin's fertile imagination) for many years. And, we no longer have to fly a kite to gain access to electricity.

If no bold steps are taken, the "post office" will surely die a lingering, long, and painful (not to mention expensive) death. It's strength is it's weakness - the network that reaches every home and business in the nation. As competing modes of communication continue to take away the need for letters with stamps and envelopes, the service will suffer from adverse selection, with the poorest, least sophisticated, and most inaccessible populations relying on it.

It has been reported (with uncertyain accuracy) that first class service actually makes money. If true, a reasonable step might be to charge more for services that don't. But, that might drive volumes to lower levels. Another perspective suggests that there is a value-adding role in the world of parcel shipment, in last mile delivery for the major (and profitable) carriers, and as intake in reverse logistics networks (again leaving more profitable applications to the private sector).

Seems like a lose-lose operation that is only going to get sicker, but at an accelerated pace. As a former colleague used to say, "It's too big to replace, and too broke to fix." As if the Congress would have the will to actually fix it.

So, here's my plan: let it go, and dissolve with some dignity left. Re-invent an organization to fulfill the primary mission of the service - and privatize it immediately. The successful postal operations, globally, are those that have gone that route, and have been free to make business decisions that make sense - and money.

This is a supply chain component that affects people and organizations, and needs a 21st-century version to help smooth human and business interactions.