Cory Doctorow has an interesting item at BoingBoing. (h/t Zach Wendling).
Apparently the Indiana Election Division “sends its notices out with a small styrofoam cube in the envelope; the cube increases the envelope’s thickness to 3/4″, so it qualifies for discounted parcel-rate shipping.”
One can certainly argue that the regulations of the USPS are nonsense if they require this additional step to receive reduced pricing; but I think some kudos are in order to the Indiana Election Division for recognizing and taking advantage of an angle for saving money.
Almost stunning that someone would catch this! I’d like to take this frugal civil servant to lunch!
Actually, Tippecanoe County has been using this approach for at least six (maybe eight) years for all of the mail sent by the courts.
I recall receiving a styrofoam cube a few years ago — either from DMV or from a county govt office. I was mystified. Thanks for clearing this up.
I have been getting court filings from the Attorney General’s Office, filed by certified mail, when there was no time crunch to do so. They could have just filed by regular mail. The postage cost for certified is probably 5 times what regular mail costs.
Don’t go too fast in giving kudos. I received a single page document contained in an 8-1/2″ x 11″ plastic envelope with a styrofoam cube. When you factor in the additional cost for the envelope and cube versus a business envelope and no cube, you would be better off paying the 44 cents and being done with it.