June 22, 2006

U.S. Postal Service Gains Market Share
The US Postal Service gained share of the US domestic air cargo market during the first six months in 2005, a phenomenon that hasn’t occurred for many years, as revealed by the Colography Group, Inc., in releasing the mid-year 2005 edition of its Domestic Air Cargo Trends report. According to The Colography Group’s data, the Postal Service’s share of domestic air shipments rose to 37.6% in the first half of 2005 from 36.7% in the year-earlier period. The Post Office’s gains came at the expense of UPS, whose share fell to 21.1% from 21.6%, and DHL Express, whose share declined to 10.5% from 11.2%. The Post Office remains the market leader in shipment share, followed by FedEx Express with 30.1%.

—The Bulletin

Diesel Slips 0.3 Cents:
The average retail price in the U.S. for a gallon of on-highway diesel slipped 0.3 cents Monday to $2.915 per gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration's weekly fuel price report. Diesel pump prices, which hit an all-time high of $3.157 per gallon on October 24, 2005, are now 60.2 cents higher than during the same time last year. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, meanwhile, settled at $68.98 per barrel, down 90 cents from the previous trading day, but 16.2 percent higher than a year earlier.

—Truckline Express

Work Sharing
As if the Postal Service doesn't have enough problems, there's a new idea floating around Washington: William Burrus, president of the American Postal Workers Union, says now is the time to end mailer work sharing—one of the most successful business-generating programs ever undertaken by the Postal Service. Let there be no doubt about it, he's wrong. The Bottom Line: Each year more than 200 billion pieces of mail are delivered nationwide, a crucial fact of economic life. Without a safe, secure, and financially-stable universal mail delivery system, goods and services worth more than $900 billion—as well as one of every 15 American jobs—would be at risk. The Postal Service has liabilities of $115 billion, an eroding customer base, declining volume in key sectors, and a "monopoly" which holds less value each day. Does anyone really think that things will be better for the Postal Service if it charges more and offers less?

One might ask: If the Postal Service fails who will re-pay its debt? Will today's postal workers be able to find jobs in the private sector with the premium wages they now receive? Will mail deliveries be reduced to four days a week? Or three? Will local post offices close? What will happen to the businesses, charities, political parties, and associations which rely on the mail system to deliver their ads, parcels, and communications? The danger Mr. Burrus presents is not that his ideas make economic sense, but that through repetition they may gain credence—especially if we are silent.

You can find a series of carefully researched features which explain what work sharing is, how the Postal Service benefits, and why work sharing must continue on the MFSA website. These available materials will be used in every venue and forum where postal policy is discussed, debated, and decided.

—MFSA