“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” That Yogi Berra-ism holds true for industry trends as well. Yet predictions are important because businesses, and the infrastructures that support them, need to be prepared to change as the market and technology dictate. They especially need to be prepared for that potential future blockbuster change.
Same-day delivery. On-demand delivery. Customer control. Dynamic routing. These are just a few features that have made package delivery a booming and competitive industry. Some might even argue it’s a downright sexy one.
To get to the bells and whistles, however, you need a solid foundation. All of those innovations depend on accurate tracking. And tracking starts with scanning. Customers expect to be able to track their orders as soon as they have checked out online. So complete tracking and tracing is essential.
No pain no gain. The U.S. Postal Service has reduced spending over the past decade but it has come with a downside, notably a reduction in service. Over the past decade the Postal Service has reduced labor costs by $10 billion, improved productivity, and generally reined in spending.
Get ready for a political advertising avalanche. Politicians and the groups that support them are expected to spend a whopping $12.3 billion this year on campaign advertising in an array of media –television, radio, digital, print, and direct mail.
It’s a great time to be offering passport services. In the next couple of years, the U.S. Department of State anticipates a rise in new and renewal applications because of expiring passports, heightened security rules, and an improving economy.
The world may be getting smaller, but cities are getting bigger. More than 80 percent of the country’s population lives in urban areas, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Fortunately, cities are getting smarter too. Using technology, data, and analytics, cities can implement “smart”...
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Mail collection boxes are practically as American as apple pie. They also seem to be disappearing as quickly as mom’s homemade apple pie.
Nationally, the number of collection boxes declined by more than 12,000 in the past 5 years. Some customers have complained the U.S. Postal Service...
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Neither the Internet nor smartphones can hold advertising mail down. Even with digital advertising growing at a rapid pace over the past 20 years, advertising mail has kept its same share of the market — around 10 to 12 percent.
What’s advertising mail’s secret?
Well, besides the...
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The Postal Service in the process of implementing a strategic risk management program. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is responsible for developing information security standards and guidelines including minimum requirements for federal information systems. The...
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We are conducting an audit to verify the accuracy of clerk and mail handler costs attributed to products and services. The Postal Service categorizes all costs as either attributable costs, which are directly or indirectly related to products, or institutional costs, which are not related to...
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The U.S. Postal Service uses highway contracts routes (HCRs) to transport mail between plants, post offices, or other designated points where mail is received or dispatched. HCRs are contracts with independent drivers to travel specified routes. Postal Service policy states HCRs must be surveyed...
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