The U.S. Postal Service is best known for delivering the mail. But did you know it’s also the number one seller of the most widely used type of alternative financial service in the United States? We’re talking about money orders, which function like prepaid checks. The Postal Service sold a whopping 97 million of them with a face value of $21 billion in fiscal year 2014.
The story goes that Alibaba founder Jack Ma chose his company’s name for two reasons: He wanted to be ahead of Amazon alphabetically and he wanted a global-sounding name. It didn’t hurt that some people also associated the word Alibaba with “hidden treasure” – recalling the most famous story from The Arabian Nights.
Alibaba is China’s giant ecommerce platform that is now taking on the globe. Its September 2014 initial public offering in the United States was the largest ever, and Ma has signaled his interest in expanding here.
You can’t cut your way to prosperity. It’s a common saying in business circles, particularly in the mailing industry. The U.S. Postal Service has done a good job cutting costs, yet still needs to grow revenue with new products and services.
Indeed, recent reports suggest a sure way for a post to boost revenue is by offering customers a range of innovative products, such as parcels, logistics, banking, insurance, and digital services. Many of our papers have encouraged the Postal Service to explore these kinds of revenue-generating products and services.
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"
Many Americans consider that phrase to be the motto of the U.S. Postal Service, showing the dedication of not only carriers, but the entire postal network to...
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Often when you make a charitable donation in response to a direct mail campaign, you’re asked to put a stamp on the prepaid envelope. It’s another way to help the organization save on costs. And for a nonprofit, those savings can add up.
The prepaid envelope is known as business reply...
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This fiscal year (FY) appears to be unlike any other. In December, just two months into FY 2016, the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors lost its last remaining presidentially appointed governor when his holdover term expired. The Board, which operates much like a corporate board of directors...
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The U.S. Postal Service has a fleet of over 7,600 Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) mail transport vehicles. As a result, USPS is one of the largest consumers of fuel in the nation.
Fuel can be one of the most unstable costs businesses manage because of price instability. Events domestically...
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The U.S. Postal Service enters into Terminal Handling Service (THS) contracts for the handling and transportation of mail between the Postal Service and FedEx. The Postal Service currently has contracts with nine suppliers at 67 locations nationwide.
THS contractors primarily support...
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The rapid growth in ecommerce and expansion of the package delivery market has created opportunities for the Postal Service, helping drive double-digit growth in package volume since 2015. To expand package processing capacity, the Postal Service plans to purchase and install an additional seven...
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