USPS,FedEx and UPS Scheme to Survive Shipping Slump - B...

USPS,FedEx and UPS Scheme to Survive Shipping Slump

USPS,FedEx and UPS Scheme to Survive Shipping Slump
November 2008
Marketing Shift

With more business closing, mail and package delivery services are taking different routes to cut costs.

The U.S. Postal Service may make history for the wrong reason, as it contemplates cutting as many as 40,000 workers (out of 685,000). According to the Washington Post, USPS mail volume dropped 11% t in fiscal 2008, which resulted in the service spending $2.3 billion more than it took in. USPS may also offer early retirement packages to workers over the age of 50 with 20 years or more of experience.

The discouraging stats were followed with gloomy predictions from William Burrus, the union president for American Postal Workers, who said the losses cannot be recovered by postage rate increases. One quote that grabbed my attention was when Burrus admitted another rate hike would encourage mailers to consider alternatives including that groundbreaking invention known as "e-mail".
Burrus actually said.

Industry observers suggest that if postage rates rise too sharply, major mailers would abandon hard-copy communication in favor of e-mail and other technologies.