We’ve all heard the stories; USPS losing money hand over fist; largely as a result of a relatively new (and very unique) retiree pension funding requirement. In reality the news is both as bad and not as bad as it sounds. A little accounting adjustment and the problem goes away yet it doesn’t address the long-term issues faced by the Postmaster General (PG). On the upside the current PG has a great National Postal Museum to wander through when he wants to recall the good-old-days!
On this 224th anniversary of the USPG role I though it appropriate to take a tour through the Museum to see what I could learn.
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| ISU Alum |
Surprising to me the good days of the USPS seem to be few and rather inconsistently staggered through the nearly 250 year history of the USPS. As early as the 1890’s some members of Congress balked at free expansion of the daily delivery services, projecting losses nearly from the very beginning. Unfortunately they were in the minority and with the country expanding at a rapid rate into the (then and still!) wild west they made the decision to expand what was labeled ‘Free Delivery’ to any location, rural or urban. Big mistake. Money loser from the start, rural folks quickly became addicted to -Free Rural Delivery–(quickly relabeled as –rural delivery– and now it’s impossible to impose fees anywhere near what the costs of delivery actually are.
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| Empty Great Room of USPS Museum |
Most interesting in the museum is the rapid expansion of technology—we on the receiving end don’t see it; we only see the friendly guy (or gal) walking up to our mailbox. Of particular note is the technology room. In it we get whisked through a couple hundred years of sorting, stamping and routing technology. My frame of reference was the several months rotation I spent in and around a couple different (non-UPS) mailroom operations. I actually became quiet proficient at the stamping and sorting! Oddly enough an Iowa State alum (engineering) now working for Lockheed Martin has a bit in the modern technology display section. Lockheed Martin has contributed technology to USPS and Mike, the ISU guy, has a statement somewhat related.
Even more odd was the dark room that recreated part of the horseback-riding mail carrier’s route. It was built to show knife marks in trees and rocks left by riders to help mark the route. Seemed like a lot of space to set up a few fake trees and rocks but I suppose the kids enjoy it. That is, what few kids visit. During my time in the building I believe I ran into about a dozen other folks; among them zero under the age of 18. How often in DC can you go inside room after room of a museum and hear only the echo of your own feet?
A new display opened a few days ago; billed (as I recall) as one of the largest stamp collections ever and completely underwritten by private donors. I missed it by a couple days; I’ll be back to take a peek as well as finish a couple rooms I scurried through the first time. Great spend of time; well maintained, stunning architecture in some of the rooms and with a
canine mascot as part of its history I may even switch some of my deliveries back over from Fed Ex.
