Foo - Is The US Postal Delivery Slow Down Good For Bike Couriers?...

...Or is delivered mail (by post or courier) a thing of the past due to electronic communications? Your thoughts?

I don't know of too many bike couriers that will carry a letter across 5 states for less than a buck.

Couriers are for legal documents that have to be signed and witnessed, across town.
The USPS is a dinosaur that is slowly dying....electronic communications will be the norm soon.

Since they're saying this will kill the overnight service on first class, I'm thinking that a lot of crosstown letter and small parcel traffic could pick up if a courier service was willing to take up the slack.

Since they're saying this will kill the overnight service on first class, I'm thinking that a lot of crosstown letter and small parcel traffic could pick up if a courier service was willing to take up the slack.

Same here. Therte will always be a need for tactile, dead tree documents and this will require some mode of hand delivery.

Same here. Therte will always be a need for tactile, dead tree documents and this will require some mode of hand delivery.

The tree biz can keep increasing even as USPS dies; I can print something here, sign it, scan that, email it off to someone else, who will print it, sign it, then fax it back to me (but our faxes are received as emails), then I can print again. Seems like it's raised seals that are the main thing difficult to transmit electronically. But w/ advances in 3D printing...

...Or is delivered mail (by post or courier) a thing of the past due to electronic communications? Your thoughts?

the USPS needs to re-invent itself. It can compete if it wants to do all the drastic measures. Get rid of those things that don't make money and do those things that the FedEx company gets rich on.

Imagine, sending your bike across at a competitive price.

The tree biz can keep increasing even as USPS dies; I can print something here, sign it, scan that, email it off to someone else, who will print it, sign it, then fax it back to me (but our faxes are received as emails), then I can print again. Seems like it's raised seals that are the main thing difficult to transmit electronically. But w/ advances in 3D printing...

Ah, but here's the rub; what if the signature situation necessitates a "wet signature" document. IOW, no "sign-scan-print-sign-fax" allowed? Live documentation is still required for a lot of legal signatures. That's where this could be a big pick up for couriers. Offices may be using 1st class mail for 3 day turnaround of live documents across town right now. Make those stamps into 2-day delivery, and you'll span a weekend if you miss a Monday sendoff for the first shipment. If it's time sensitive, that could be an issue where the extra few bucks to have a courier bring it door to door same day or overnight may make sense.

If I didn't have a Plan A already in effect I would print up a bunch of flyers and drop them off in legal offices all over town. Definitely a niche market waiting to be filled here.

Around here, Brown has been rolling bikes during Christmas season for 4 years now:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3RzshYYefc

"Don't it always seem to go, you don't what you've got till it's gone!"

All I know is we have bicycle couriers that move in and out of our law firm all day.

"Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got till it's gone!"
I'm a retired letter carrier for USPS. Seems to me that they're always shooting themselves in the foot. By closing dist. centers 1st class mail will take longer making it a less attractive option. USPS is a huge company that's been mismanaged for years. USPS is also hampered by antiquated laws; not allowed to make a profit, not allowed to own their own planes (mail flies commercial and FedEx planes), not allowed to raise rates without going through very strict oversight and approval. Without turning this into a political debate; Republicans have introduced privatization legislation for 20 years or more. All this from a "company" that doesn't use any tax money at all (totally funded by postage). Ben Franklin must be rolling over in his grave.