News & Columns > Dave Henderson > Bring Back the Pony Express

Bring Back the Pony Express

By Dave Henderson
Friday, June 13, 2008

On July 26, 1775, members of the Second Continental Congress agreed that a postmaster general be appointed for the United Colonies. They named Benjamin Franklin our first Postmaster. Not long after that, the Pony Express began delivery across the west through rain, snow, heat, and Indian attacks.

Today, some two hundred and thirty three years later - in the 21st century - I find it simply amazing that the basic delivery of mail is still a challenge. After all, we have walked on the moon and can deliver spare parts to repair the toilet on the International Space Station. UPS has no trouble delivering a package on the other side of the world the next morning, reliably.

Yet for some reason the greatest industrial power in the world cannot fix the basic mail system.

Today, I took some time to try to order a part from Verizon Wireless. It turns out according to the customer service representative that although they ship via Fed-Ex, they check the delivery address via the USPS. They refused to accept the order because the "street delivery address" is not in the USPS database.

I cannot count how many times a package has been sent back, because it was delivered to the post office with our street address. As consumers, we are left to try to find creative ways to insure our packages are delivered.

Personally, I do not have a problem with going to the post office to receive our mail. I do question why most of the civilized world can have home delivery of the mail and we cannot. Yes, it snows here granted, but what happened to that "neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed" slogan. After all, we are paying the same prices as those who have home delivery.

The problem goes far beyond convenience. Some companies will not issue credit to a person who has a post office box because it does not have a physical address attached to it. If a letter or package is not delivered because the parcel has a street address instead of the PO Box, it can have other consequences as well.

The bottom line is that there is a problem. The system is broken and no one seems ready to try to fix it. The answer is very simple. It does not require a large investment or even the change of a dinosaur system. All we need is a simple address system that is universal. One that both the USPS and private carriers like UPS and Fed-Ex can understand and use.

The plus four on the zip code is our PO Box and that according to the Post Office will keep mail from being returned. However, that is not been my experience.

Change will not happen until we demand it from the people who we put in office.

If you have had similar problems, reply to this blog at the link below and I will package them and send them to our elected officials.

This article was first published on Friday, June 13, 2008 at 12:00 am. This article has been viewed 663 times.

Dave Henderson is the Vice-President of Operations for RIMOFTHEWORLD.net and it's parent company Vicinitas, LLC. Dave is the commercial and operational manager for the site.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. This column is copyrighted by Dave Henderson.