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Article: WORKING THROUGH HARD TIMES First-class predicament Technological change, economic slump squeeze Postal Service
- Article from:
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
- Article date:
- July 21, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Scott Van Derven is proud to be a letter carrier.
For 26 years, he has delivered mail in Milwaukee, walked
thousands of miles, avoided dogs, prevented little kids from
tumbling down steps, shut off garden hoses and served as a
neighborhood's extra pair of eyes and ears.
You don't have to tell him the economy is tough. He can feel it
in the weight of mail he lugs in his cloth carrier bag. These days,
he's traveling very light.
"The volumes are down," Van Derven says.
Just like other businesses, the U.S. Postal Service is facing
tough times in a tough economy.
Mail volume has sunk, off by billions of individual pieces. More
consumers are migrating from first-class mail to the Internet,
paying ...