Via NiemanLab, small newspapers are struggling with the Post Office’s recent service cutbacks. Some papers are still operating the old-fashioned way, running their own real press and sending out real papers to their real subscribers. Before last year the PO service was tolerable, but now ‘media mail’ is down to a low priority and sometimes waits for weeks. I’ve noticed a similar delay in monthly magazines.
The Daily Oklahoman solved this problem 80 years ago by running its own trucking service covering the whole state. Mistletoe Express, named after the state flower, quickly expanded into a full-scale carrier serving small towns and farm communities. Mistletoe closed in 1988 after UPS and FedEx dominated the market, but the big national firms didn’t give the same attention to small towns.
Single-purpose trucking networks are still possible. Full Circle, distributing food from organic farms, has a network spanning most of the West Coast. It works reliably and delivers door-to-door.
Polistra's Mill 