Association for Postal Commerce
"Representing those who use or support the use of mail for Business Communication and Commerce"
"You will be able to enjoy only those postal rights you believe are worth defending."

MAIL, PUBLIC POLICY, AND THE LAW

Here are some things you should keep in mind when others go about disparaging the mail.

• When people say we need less mail, ask if we also need fewer jobs. There are 9,000,000 jobs nationwide that depend on the postal system.

When people say we need less mail, ask if they want to close their local post office.
 

When people say we need less mail, ask if they favor reducing deliveries to three days a week.
 

When people say we need less mail, ask if they want to pay access fees, service charges, subscriber charges, portability fees, hook-up charges, and other fees for the privilege of mail delivery. With mail senders pay the freight -- not recipients.
 

When people say we need less mail, ask if they want to see magazine subscription prices double or triple. Magazines, educational publications, club newsletters, and nonprofits enjoy lower postal rates based on mail volumes that support universal service and Postal Service overhead. With less mail, these preferred postage rates would skyrocket.
 

When politicians want to restrict mail deliveries, ask if they'll start by eliminating their election materials. No laws are needed, they can stop mailing today -- if they choose.
 

When people say we need less mail, ask if they've read the Constitution. As Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas wrote, the right of freedom of speech includes not only the right to speak and publish, but also the right to distribute, the right to receive and the right to read.
 

Did you know that advertising holds down the cost of newspapers and magazines? Did you also know that advertising mail holds down your cost to use the postal system?
 

Did you know that according to the Postal Service consumers read 78 percent of the advertising mail they receive, nearly 10 percent respond to offers, and 21 percent bring coupons and ad mail with them when they shop?
 

Did you know: "The Postal Service has about 738,000 employees, relies on revenue from operations rather than taxpayer funding and is one of few federal bureaucracies with which most Americans have regular contact. It is at the center of a $900 billion mailing industry, which employs 9 million people in such businesses as direct mail, paper manufacturers and printers." The Washington Post, March 23, 2004
 

Did you know: "A recent report estimates that if mail volume drops by 10%, 780,297 mailing industry jobs would be at risk nationwide." Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
 

Did you know that the U.S. Postal Service has not had a taxpayer subsidy since 1983? For more than a quarter of a century it's paid for itself.
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Did you know that the U.S. Postal Service employs more than 750,000 people? When people say we should have less mail they're also saying
we should have fewer letter carriers, fewer deliveries per week and fewer local post offices.
 

Did you know that newspapers, magazines, catalogs, mail and envelopes can all be recycled? Doesn't it make sense to pick them all up at once? 

In the U.S. the cost of mail deliveries is free. Why? Because we have a system where only senders pay.

MAIL & THE CONSTITUTION

Keep this in mind too.

Did you know that the postal system is so important it's included in the Constitution? That's right. Article 1, Section 8 plainly says that only Congress has the right "to establish post offices and post roads."
 

Why did the Founders feel so strongly about the postal system? With one postal system all states could benefit equally from uniform standards and fair costs for everyone.
 

Today the mailing system makes possible 9,000,000 jobs inside our borders. It anchors the production of goods and services worth more than $900 billion annually, production we need to keep America strong.

When people say we should have a smaller postal system or special postal rules in each state think about what they really mean: Fewer jobs. Less productivity. Higher costs.