What if the USPS was not in business?

The USPS is in the news again with a huge financial loss. http://tinyurl.com/3793mek This got me thinking.

If this were a more traditional business what would they do to become financially stable? This discussion might give us some insight into what we can expect in mail cost which heavily affects print. They are talking about going to 5 day weeks however I can’t see that accounting for the 3.5 Billion they lost. If they severely cut services and raise prices will that drive end user customers to digital (non print) marketing?

We have seen banks running dual platforms of paper check and electronic money transfer. Dual platforms cost money so the paper version is doomed to a short life span (probably shorter than most think). The USPS does not have a dual platform so we could think of them as a printer who only produces checks. What happens if their “check” market disappears?

The last I knew ½ of the USPS revenue was in statement, invoices and checks with the other ½ in direct mail and promotional marketing. If ½ of their volume leaves do to electronic billing/payment AND they had to reduce services while increasing postage could they even survive?

What would our business world look like if the USPS was non-existent in 5 years?