Flutterby™! : status update

Next unread comment / Catchup all unread comments User Account Info | Logout | XML/Pilot/etc versions | Long version (with comments) | Weblog archives | Site Map | | Browse Topics

status update

2010-11-17 19:46:13.821265+00 by Dan Lyke 4 comments

I don't have a problem with a federally run Post Office, I see a need for reliable messaging, but why are we subsidizing junk mail?

comments in descending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2010-11-18 23:09:19.165464+00 by: papa0so

Yeah seriously... i get so many worthless ads in my mailbox almost everyday. It needs to stop. However, I do not mind getting some junk mail so long as there are some worthwhile coupons inside.

#Comment Re: made: 2010-11-18 22:56:36.984462+00 by: spc476

Here's the new spec (old one is being phased out) and don't forget to read the Post Office's guidelines for barcodes.

#Comment Re: made: 2010-11-18 21:53:43.887154+00 by: Dan Lyke

So then I'd like to see two things:

  1. Publish a barcode format I can put on me letters for automatic sorting.
  2. Raise the rates on those other letters anyway, just so it isn't so damned cheap to keep dumping all this crap on my porch.

#Comment Re: made: 2010-11-18 15:33:56.164233+00 by: petronius

From the commercial side, we aren't subsidizing junk mail. Junk Mail subsidizes Firts Class mail. Non-Profit junk mail is subsidized. The issue you see, is that the biggest expense in mail is not lugging the stuff around the country; it's actually the sorting and directing the mail. Since commercial mailers pre-sort the stuff, its much cheaper to deal with. The sorting protocols are very complex, and are based not so much on zip coides but on delivery routes. Some big mailers even pay to have their bundles shipped privately to regional sorting centers and then be turned over to the Postal Seervice.