Making a haul off the U.S. Postal Service

Pat Salmon started driving a bobtail truck from Harrison to Little Rock in 1946, delivering the mail as a contractor for the U.S. Postal Service.

Millions of miles and 68 years later, 1,400 Pat Salmon & Sons trucks are delivering the mail around the country.

And it is paying off handsomely.

In the federal fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the North Little Rock-based company pulled in $217. 9 million, for fourth place in revenue among contractors for the Postal Service.

FedEx was No. 1, with $1.78 billion in revenue. United Parcel Service was 10th with $129.3 million.

Of course, FedEx and UPS carry lots more than mail, but still it’s a pretty nice bracket for the Arkansas company.

The rankings come from Missouri-based Husch-Blackwell law firm, which says in a news release that it got that information thanks to a federal Freedom of Information Act request.

Why would the lawyers share that information with us? It’s an advertisement for the law firm, which coaches companies on doing business with the Postal Service.

And we judge that it’s newsworthy, since Salmon (the L is pronounced) & Sons is an Arkansas company.

Last year, you probably recall, the Postal Service threatened to stop Saturday mail delivery, which it figured would save $2 billion. Problem is, it did not have the unilateral authority to do that, Congress served to remind.

We still get mail on Saturday. And the Postal Service keeps losing money.

Last fiscal year it was $5 billion.

For Salmon, last year was no fluke. Revenue from the postal contract in 2012 was $227.9 million; in 2011 it was $136.7 million.

The jump between 2011 and 2012 was because of the acquisition in December 2011 of Little Rock-based Mail Contractors of America, which contributed nearly $90 million, said Jeff Boone, Salmon vice president. Salmon has made several purchases over the years.

Asked if the company is concerned about having all its eggs in one basket, and one with holes in it, Boone responded:

“Well, it does cause some concern,” he said.

Asked if he sees the Postal Service going away anytime soon, he replied: “I certainly hope not.”

I recommend a long, excellent piece in the January 2013 Esquire for some perspective.

Jesse Lichtenstein takes an in-depth look at the Postal Service in an article titled “Do We Really Want to Live Without the Post Office?”

It was not an opinion piece, so Lichtenstein doesn’t reach a conclusion, but he unearths a lot of interesting information.

Ever hear that the Postal Service is quasi-governmental? Or maybe semi-?

Lichtenstein motivated me to brush up on prefixes. The word “quasi,” I learn, means “so to speak.”

The designation doesn’t go as far as “semi,” which would suggest partly. After reading Lichtenstein’s piece, I’m leaning toward quasi.

Here’s the deal. The Postal Service has been basically self-funded since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. It is not supposed make a profit, though it slipped up in 2006 and wound up $900 million in the black.

That was about the time of the Great Divide between paper and digital, mail and email. And, coincidentally, right before the Long Recession started.

So, according to Lichtenstein, the feds leaned on the Postal Service to prop up the government balance sheet.

The federal government can, and does, tell it how to run itself and how much it can charge.

Any wonder that it loses money?

Lichtenstein establishes that the mail delivery system is complex and ever-changing, far more technological than you might guess.

And really not a bad deal when you have to send something on paper, which is not as nearly often as it used to be, although 5 percent to 10 percent of Americans are still without Internet connections.

Lichtenstein offers some history of the service, reminding us that it was set up in 1775 to tie the colonies together, so that they might become a nation.

None other than Benjamin Franklin was the first postmaster general.

You might remember that history (which is still being written) the next time you see one of those jeepish little white haulers driven by a man or woman in a military-looking uniform making stops in your neighborhood.

You don’t have to salute. A friendly wave will do.

But don’t forget to raise the flag on your mailbox.

If you have a tip, call Jack Weatherly at (501) 378-3518 or email him at [email protected]