Byron Martin Professor Christina Gaines

Eng. Sect 125 19 April 2011

Post-Postal:
A way we could revolutionize delivery

All throughout the ages, humans have longed to communicate and trade with those far beyond their proximity. Long before the days of planes, trains, and automobiles, this task could only be achieved by way of foot and horse. A rugged journey of vastly unpredictable situations faced those who chose such a life. Despite the requirements of food, water, shelter, and the dangers of illness, weather, wild beasts, and highwaymen, the letters or cargo they carried with them had to reach their destination. Such was the way of life, a way such a far cry from our our modern day postal systems. But, taking a good look inward, are our postal systems really all that modern?

Compared to the days of olde, our method of delivery has vastly improved. Gone are the days of frequent danger, incredible waits, and nearly no guarantee or insurance of and on the delivery. Our postmen ride in their trucks, delivering the mail that was delivered to them by a myriad of other vehicles, all after having passed through many hands and sort facilities beforehand. This has been the only major advancement in the postal system since the stagecoaches retired into novelty. Sure we have automated sort facilities, utilizing the latest tech to scan parcel's labels for their destination, but you can only tune up the same engine for so long before it stops gaining horsepower.

The United States Postal Service has been suffering financial burdens for many years on. The US has endured a vast population bloom since the initial development of our current postal model, and for the most part, the model kept up. Said model had it's place, but as time lazed by, what services it provided lagged behind growing demand. In these digital days, the internet pushed a significant amount of revenue sources near obsolescence.

Adding to postal service deficit woes is the fact that the agency must solely bear the burden of high-cost personnel, with the addition of a 2006 law requiring them to save money on the sidelines to pay for the cost of future retiree's health benefits and annuities (O'Keefe, Ed). It is estimated they have over-payed the federal retirement fund $6,900,000,000 since 2006 (O'Keefe, Ed). President Obama had laid out a plan to give the service $11,000,000,000 dollars in aid, along with a few other tweaks, to allow the postal service breathing room while it plans to restructure (O'Keefe, Ed). Without enough revenue, they often raise prices. As the prices rise, they get less business, thus less revenue. It's a cycle of negative feedback.

From this barren desert of enormous magnitudes of personnel and the system of vehicles, post offices, and sort facilities personnel occupy, grows a forest dense with cost and inefficiency. Symptoms of cost and inefficiency can be seen in the decline in the use of mail over digital services. There are many factors for this, most commonly: financing lots of stamps or express shipping cost more than a pretty penny, whilst many e-mail services are free; time you just never truly know when your letter leaves the post office and finally rests in the recipients hands, in addition to the minimum one-day delivery time for physical mail versus the (often) less than one-minute delivery for digital mail; hassle some days, even now (excluding future closures), my local post office can have a line out the door, not to mention all you have to deal with once you finally reach the counter; lost mail enough said.

Take a look at your bank. If the fates play in your favor, you just might see what I had seen one fine day. How is it, in the drive-through, does the teller get your deposit? Or give you a withdrawal? A series of tubes, vacuum tubes to be specific. Vacuum power is one of the most energy conserving phenomena in science. Little energy is lost to the environment because pressure change by mechanical means is practically adiabatic, otherwise known as an exchange of energy with zero net thermal transfer. (e.g. siphoning). Energy is only lost from the system from friction or ineffective sealing and design. If we could continue to harness and apply vacuums, they may have a profound effect in boosting the economy, especially delivery services. Its applications are potentially limitless.

The concept of a vacuum has been around since the golden days of the cradle of modern civilization. In Ancient Greece, many philosophers had bone to pick on the subject who thought, How could it be that 'nothing' is 'something?' (Grant, Edward) Archeologists digging in the old Roman city of Pompeii had put the vacuum concept to work, proving at least somebody of these ages had access to this technology (IMSS). The application was simple; a type of dual-action suction pump designed to raise water from a well (IMSS). Sadly, during medieval times, the Catholic world considered a vacuum practically heresy, citing Aristotle's horror vacui that insisted nature abhors a vacuum (Grant, Edward).

It was not until 1654 that the true power and force of a vacuum became evident, utilizing inventions designed by Otto von Guericke (Encyclopaedia Britannica 670). These included the air pump and Magdeburg hemispheres (Encyclopaedia). Named for the town of which he was mayor, the hemispheres were created by von Guericke to showcase applications of his new air pump (Encyclopaedia). A valve was mounted on one hemisphere, while the other just had a place to tether. Under the witness of his emperor he tethered fifteen horses to each hemisphere, attached the ends together, pumped out some air, and ordered the horses in opposing directions (Encyclopaedia). The

hemispheres never separated (Encyclopaedia).

Using vacuum pumps and tubing would revolutionize our concept of mailing. My first introduction to this concept was as a child watching the cartoon series The Angry Beavers. Every parcel of every size could be sent to them with no complications. When applying the restrictions of the real world, vacuum delivery is still the way to go for small and medium sized parcels. This could potentially lead to delivery times within the day and even hour. Larger parcels could use manual delivery utilizing trains for most of the route, or possibly even a significantly wide mainline vacuum tube system between very distant cities.

The system would use an analog of the postal service, without all the middle men, gasoline, excessive wait times, etc. Instead, vacuum tubing will connect each sort facility in a considerate fashion, with similar, subsequent connections to minor post offices. The mail will be impervious to loss by any means, will always be in transit, and never stops for anyone (unless lawfully permitted and necessary). Jobs will be lost in great number, but with minor investment such as providing free training for current employees in fields of the new system (e.g. maintenance, construction, operation, monitoring) and a guaranteed job upon completion, it is possible to alleviate the pain.

During initial investment, Phase 1, no change in the current postal system is necessary, and spare funds from investment into infrastructure modernization would likely be required. An engineering team will design the nitty-gritty of the all the works by tweaking current vacuum tube technology for sorting facilities and long distance usage, as well as managing security. Sorting will be computerized and automatic, via tube switching or typical open-air method. A programming team will write the music to keep the orchestra in line. At this point, mailmen are still required for final delivery, and local sorting is still manual. Upon completion of the initial development, many of us

might not even notice the change unless we visit the post office directly. Money will be saved regardless if further development continues at that time.

Later development, Phase 2, involves removing some or all of the mailmen themselves. From the post office spreads a few tubes. Those tubes carry all the traffic. Switches will be located optimally to divert traffic to specific tubes, then switched again as needed. Finally, at the last local switch, your mail hits its last tube and arrives right inside your home or institution. To send or order mail, it would be as simple as entering information on a touch-pad. Costs and estimated delivery times would be shown on this pad before payment and certification of delivery. Total costs of the deployment of Phase 2 will, in my estimates, equal the setup and deployment costs of Phase 1. It could be possible to start slow or finish limited, initiating Phase 2 for institutions alone and saving many mailmen their jobs. This would seem like a logical middle-ground, as well as a minimum end-point in my opinion.

I'm thinking maybe it's about time to pull out that old pocket-picking gas-guzzler from this cool classic car. Imagine if, practically on the fly, universities and scientists could exchange research, doctors could get health records, surgeons could get that life saving tool, police could exchange physical evidence about fugitives, the incredible amount of time involved with bureaucracy could be shortened dramatically, costs of retail products could decline as well from savings in transportation, etc. When completely deployed, the benefits extend even further. Think of a day where, in your own home, you can send your family or friends letters, gifts, and anything of interest you wish to show. Shortly thereafter, they reply to your letter/gift or give you back your item of interest, all in the same waking day.

Need tools to finish your home improvement, but don't have time to make it to the store? No worries, a short order later and its yours. Maybe you forget something really important, something you

need this very evening? Again, no worries. Your aging grandmother call for a ride to the pharmacy? She could refill her prescriptions without hassle. You could even send off perishable goods, such as the heavenly-sweet baklava you couldn't resist devouring or those french fries whomever eats cries, out to anyone you think will enjoy them. There would be little to no risk of spoilage or illness. That right there opens an enormous business opportunity. Snacks 24/7 anyone?

We must enlighten our friends, our families, and our congressmen to this concept. The cost to benefit ratio is too sky-high to pass by. I foresee a day where we can send the physical nearly as fast as we send the digital. A day, rivaled by few, where you can truly feel as close to others as you are far away. Before this days dawn the clouds may appear deceivingly dreary, but the skies of night were red. It's time to set your sails as the kind winds of your actions blow in to carry you home over the rocking seas of your future.

Works Cited:

Encyclopaedia Britannica 1910. p. 670.. 11th. 9. The Encyclopaedia Britannica Co, 1910. 670. eBook.

Genz, Henning (1994). Nothingness, the Science of Empty Space (translated from German by Karin Heusch ed.). New York: Perseus Book Publishing (published 1999). ISBN 978-0-7382-0610-3. OCLC 48836264

Grant, Edward (1981). Much ado about nothing: theories of space and vacuum from the Middle Ages to the scientific revolution. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521229838.

O'Keefe, Ed. "Obama's 2012 budget offers Postal Service $11 billion in relief." Washington Post (2011) Web. 5 May 2011. <http://www.washingtonpost.com>.

IMSS "Pompeii: Nature, Science, and Technology in a Roman Town." Institute and Museum of the History of Science Web. 5 May 2011. <http://www.imss.fi.it/pompei>.