Now companies may delay capex to reduce expenses and conserve capital, but they do not shit-can highly automated machines presumably paid for and most likely fully depreciated (that means no depreciation charge against income Red) that perform functions at a fraction of the cost and multiples of the speed that human labor will presumably perform the same task.
Not to mention that REDSTATEWARD needs reminding again (or for the fifteenth time) that the United States Postal Service is not a Business.
Maybe we should run USPS as a business. But cutting efficient machines that do tasks at very low costs as Red suggests isn't the way to do it.
Perhaps we should rationalize services in other ways. Like how profitable are they and can they justify their existence?
Hell airlines drop unprofitable routes or fly them once a week at very high costs. Its just business.
For example, delivering mail in highly populated areas like NYC, Boston, Chicago, Philly, Detroit, LA, SF, Atlanta, is probably pretty efficient with lots of volume and can be run through machines very efficiently and carriers can deliver to lots of people living in densely populated apartment buildings in densely settled neighborhoods. But the cost and convenience of mail delivery in the hinterlands like parts of northern Maine, or Kentucky in the mountains (cue dueling Banjos) or some plains stes, or a lot of the western states like Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas, Alaska, might be cost prohibitive and produce disproportionate USPS losses. Hell if it costs you $5.00 to deliver a single piece of mail in Bum Fuck Nowhere , Idaho, not counting gas money, you might rethink the menu choices or maybe the pricing strategy.
Maybe 1st class postage for a letter in NYC and other large cites is $0,55 and is delivered all week, and is profitable. Maybe in exurban western areas (sorry Bart-nothing personal its just business) ts $5.55 and delivery is once a week. or once every two weeks, or once a month. Sure there might be a little incovenience and people might get there bills, pills and social security check in a less timely manner, and there might be some repercussions, but so what business rationalize and downsizes unprofitable products and services all the time.
Red shouldn't have an issue with that, he's all business and bottom-line oriented. NYC Boston and the large metro areas will get mail-in ballots as they can pay the freight and the USPS can make a buck or two, while rural America gets fargoed.
just a thought.