Gyroscopic Investing

Through a new program called Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), the USPS plans to increase mail sent to “Current Resident”? by five times, generating billions more pieces of unwanted mail annually.

The USPS has an ineffective process for companies to omit your address from their EDDM mailing and most companies are unaware of their responsibility. Further, USPS staff have been unable to provide clear instructions to companies or citizens.

It is clear that the USPS will not consider doing anything about this problem unless they hear from thousands of people.

So sign the letter to USPS at Citizens For Mail Choice asking for an effective and accountable opt-out process as part of the Every Door Direct Mail program.

Looks to me like the EDDM program is just a new part of the USPS's larger fight to survive in the electronic age. They're doing anything and everything to cut costs and increase volume in the face of declining paper mail demand for personal communications and official business.

The USPS should do away with the formalities and just rebrand itself as Junk Mail, Inc.

Junk Mail, Inc.'s motto: "We kill trees to keep municipal waste disposal services busy so you don't have to."

Tortoise wrote: Looks to me like the EDDM program is just a new part of the USPS's larger fight to survive in the electronic age. They're doing anything and everything to cut costs and increase volume in the face of declining paper mail demand for personal communications and official business.

The USPS should do away with the formalities and just rebrand itself as Junk Mail, Inc.

Junk Mail, Inc.'s motto: "We kill trees to keep municipal waste disposal services busy so you don't have to."

I don't think the USPS should go away.  Mail delivery is a social service that has real value.  What if you live in a rural city and it is not "profitable" for mail delivery to your house?  Should you just be cut off from the rest of the world?  Also, millions of small business owners depend on and use the USPS for package delivery.  Should they just pay 3x the cost to UPS or FedEx?  If you want to see millions of barely profitable small businesses go under, kill the USPS.

Storm,

How is the USPS able to be so much cheaper than the private sector?  Is it subsidies or some broader efficiency? 

Storm wrote: I don't think the USPS should go away.  Mail delivery is a social service that has real value.  What if you live in a rural city and it is not "profitable" for mail delivery to your house?  Should you just be cut off from the rest of the world?  Also, millions of small business owners depend on and use the USPS for package delivery.  Should they just pay 3x the cost to UPS or FedEx?  If you want to see millions of barely profitable small businesses go under, kill the USPS.

Where did I say the USPS should go away? I'm just poking fun at the fact that such a large fraction of their mail volume comes from junk mail and that it appears to be moving even further in that direction.