posted by John

According to the Deputy Postmaster General, the USPS spent $1.7 billion on gasoline and diesel last year, and predicts that number to increase by $600 million this year. As a result, the USPS, which uses 200,000 trucks has been forced to look for alternative means of reducing fuel consumption–some of which have been successful, some of which, not so much. They’ve tried alternative fuel vehicles (but saw a decrease in fuel efficiency resulting in using 1.5 million more gallons of gasoline than before), realigning routes to reduce left turns (which require more idling), adding GPS systems to plot more efficient delivery routes and, the most effective solution (and one providing some health benefits): having employees deliver more of their route by foot.

See:

http://forcechange.com/2008/06/30/post-office-seeks-ways-to-save-on-fuel-costs/

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aj.h0coJSkpw

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/05/21/going-postal-with-flex-fuel-trucks-postal-service-burns-more-gas/

How about also reducing the frequency of mail deliveries?

I believe most homes receive mail daily. Do we really need our mail delivered every day? Most of us could survive with every other day mail. If there’s something urgent, you can swing by your Post Office to pick up. In a perfect world, the Post Office would create electronic records to allow people to determine online if they have any mail to pick up. Otherwise, they can wait for the delivery the next day. Perhaps treat residences and business differently. Eventually, we might find that one a week delivery is sufficient for most residences. In the end, this could save fuel and the Post Office could reallocate employees to the service desk (and reduce the lines I typically see) or to help enhance their online records. Just a thought and I’d welcome any comments.

Regards,

John

Founder, MeetingWave.com

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