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Good News on Mail Volume
Burrus Update #14-05, Dec. 8, 2005
Despite predictions of gloom and doom, the Postal Service has announced that total mail volume and total revenue reached all-time highs in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. First-class volume grew in 2005 as well, after three years of decline.
Only a short time ago, the avid supporters of postal “reform” predicted that mail volume, especially first-class volume, was threatened by advances in technology. Without legislative intervention, we were told, the Postal Service was destined to begin a deadly cycle of declining volume and increasing postage rates.
The American Postal Workers repeatedly cautioned that the downturn in mail volume in 2002 and 2003 was caused by a combination of an economic slump, the terrorist attack of 9-11, and the anthrax attacks.
The financial results, released Dec. 6, 2005, demonstrate that improvements in technology will not have as severe an impact as was anticipated on the use of mail.
Despite the warnings of those who began every conversation about mail volume with dire predictions, the 2005 audited financial statement looks pretty good.
William Burrus
President
