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

News & Commentary

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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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Does The Postal Service Need A Survival Vice President?

Commentary by D.E. Hanbery
For the past few years the mail, and by implication the Postal Service, has been under attack. Although strategic and targeted responses have kept state do-not-mail laws from being passed or moving forward, the Postal Service and the people who depend upon the Postal Service, are losing the battle to win [...]

18Jun2008 | D. E. Hanbery | 0 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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Mail, AARP & 53 Million Trees

According to the AARP Bulletin, “the 19 billion catalogs mailed to Americans every year consume 3.6 million tons of paper and 53 million trees.” (See May 2008, Page 25)
Such a short sentence. Can it be true?
Let’s see, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, advertising mail (also known as “Standard A” mail) totals 5.89 million tons [...]

3Jun2008 | PGM | 1 comment | Continued
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Will Gas Prices Cause Stamp Hike?

The Postal Service reports that it operates “the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world with more than 219,000 vehicles driving more than 1.2 billion miles each year and using nearly 121 million gallons of fuel.”
Seen another way, when the cost of gas goes up 15 cents per gallon then USPS expenses increase by $18,150,000.
In [...]

28May2008 | PGM | 0 comments | Continued