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A few weeks ago, I went out and opened my garage door and a package was sitting in front of where the garage door was. I looked around and saw the rest of my mail sitting in the yard instead of in my mailbox. Generally, the post office is pretty good and they make few mistakes considering the mail volume they handle. Periodically, I may have a substitute mail person which may be where problems occur.

Financially, USPS had a GAAP net loss of $9.52 billion in 2024. Of that loss, $1.825 billion was controllable. Times have changed over the years and it’s been tough for USPS. There’s always talk of changing things to make it profitable. There’s even talks of privatizing USPS.

When I was a little kid, I lived in a small town. The postman would walk to each house and deliver the mail. On occasion, he would stop and talk to my mother. Most communication back in the early 1950’s was by mail. Phones were just starting to show up.

We received a lot of mail and looked forward to the Sears and JC Penny catalogs each year. The price of stamps in 1951 was 3 cents and Harry Truman was president.

When I was about 10, my parents bought me a book to collect stamps in. I still have the book and the stamps in it.

As I got a little older, I would explore the treasures in the attic and found several letters written by my great grandmother. I read the letters but what amazed me is how perfect her handwriting was. Also, the stamps on the letters were 2-cent stamps.

The price of mailing a one ounce or less letter finally reached 4 cents in 1958. A letter was still an economical and preferred way to communicate but people had phones and loved to talk. That included my mother. When I was in the Air Force, my mother would look forward to getting my letters and I would normally send her one back when I got one.

As a candidate for county commissioner in 2006, I would use large mailings of campaign letters to attempt to convince people to vote for me. At the time, stamps were 39 cents and the cost to me would mount up quickly.

I used to send many Christmas cards but send few now. The cost of a stamp has actually started to bother me.

Over the years, postal rates have increased and actually accelerated in recent years. On July 14, 2024, the price of a first-class stamp increased to 73 cents.

I believe talking on the phone, email and texting have become the preferred methods of communication. I don’t think people send as many cards as they used to. I take packages to the post office to ship but a lot my packages come from UPS or Federal Express.

With all the competitors, it’s hard for USPS to compete and make money or break even. According to USPS, they had 525,469 career and 115,000 non-career employees in 2023. They are still a large part of our economy and I hope they keep delivering my mail.

Al Klemm is a Washington resident and a former Beaufort County Commissioner.