The Guide To America's Mailstream
PGM : Postal News, Information & Commentary

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Would 40,000 Fewer Postal Jobs Be A Good Thing?

In Shreveport, LA, television station KSLA is reporting that as many as 40,000 postal employees could lose their jobs.
“Lavelle Pepper with the post office in Shreveport says they too are feeling the affects of the same disease hitting the country… a struggling economy. ‘We employ about 685,000 people. If we do layoffs it would include [...]

12Nov2008 | PGM | 2 comments | Continued
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The Check Is Less Often In The Mail

The check is not in the mail — at least as not as often as it used to be.
Figures from the Federal Reserve show that “the number of checks paid in the United States has fallen from 42 billion in 2001, to 37 billion in 2003, and to 30 billion in 2006.”
Whoops. That’s 12 billion [...]

10Nov2008 | PGM | 2 comments | Continued
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One Daily Newspaper Goes Electronic — What About The Rest?

If you’re a Postal Service executive, union leader or letter carrier you might want to look closely at the latest announcement from the Christian Science Monitor:
“The Christian Science Monitor,” says the paper, “plans major changes in April 2009 that are expected to make it the first newspaper with a national audience to shift from a [...]

3Nov2008 | PGM | 0 comments | Continued
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Should Mailers Expect Better News Coverage?

If The New York Times is to be believed, “MOST marketers readily concede it: getting rid of direct mail — or junk mail, as environmentalists and most recipients call it — would save a lot of trees. But they are not about to render bulk mailings obsolete.” (See: Direct Mail Tries to Go Green. No, [...]

25Jul2008 | PGM | 0 comments | Continued
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What Is The Environmental Impact of Mail?

What is the environmental impact of mail?
Given that mail is used by virtually all environmental, consumer and nonprofit groups, it should be fairly obvious that mail has a minimal environmental impact. That said, no product or service is without impact, so it makes sense to ask two questions: How does mail relate to green concerns [...]

12Jul2008 | PGM | 2 comments | Continued
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The Ad Mail Flood That Isn’t

The Winston-Salem Journal has helpfully provided “some numbers on the amount of junk mail the typical American receives each year.” (See: The Cost of Garbage Collection, June 9, 2008)
According to the paper each individual will receive 560 pieces of ad mail each year; 10.8 pieces per week; and it notes that 42 percent of all [...]

9Jun2008 | PGM | 0 comments | Continued
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Should We Close Local Post Offices On Saturdays?

According to an editorial in the Observer-Reporter (Washington, PA), it’s time to end Saturday postal deliveries.
“The recent increase in the cost of a first-class postage stamp from 41 cents to 42 cents was hardly surprising, compared to the increased in the cost of gasoline, food and just about everything else,” said the paper.
“It could have [...]

8Jun2008 | PGM | 32 comments | Continued
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Foreclosure Numbers & The Mailstream

The Mortgage Bankers Association has just issued the latest foreclosure figures for the first quarter of 2008.
To be polite, they are awful.
“The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process was 2.47 percent at the end of the first quarter, an increase of 43 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2007 and 119 basis points [...]

5Jun2008 | PGM | 0 comments | Continued
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Here’s An Envelope You Can Really Plant

I got something in the mail the other day that you don’t often see: An envelope suitable for planting.
No kidding, this was an envelope sent by PowerOfEnvelopes.org and saturated with seeds. All you do is place the envelope in the ground, add water and Nature will take care of the rest.
We sometimes forget the envelopes [...]

5Jun2008 | PGM | 1 comment | Continued
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Postal Ethanol Test Finds Poor Performance

For several years ethanol has been touted as a way to grow ourselves into energy independence. Grow corn, convert it into a fuel, and you need less oil from overseas suppliers who in too many cases are unstable and unfriendly.
The use of ethanol has grown in large part because of federal subsidies and good PR, [...]

4Jun2008 | PGM | 0 comments | Continued
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