This! I am a letter carrier and I would like to respond to some of the misconceptions out there reply to a few of your posts. This would never work. What people don't understand is UPS, FedEx, etc have NO INTEREST in providing daily dielivery to every home in Amercia (Atleast not at .44 per letter). Sure Los Angles, New York, Houston, Chicago, etc would be fine - they generate enough mail volume to make a nice profit. However, do you think its profitable to provide daily delivery to Backwoods North Dakota? I will give you the answer...NO! This is why the post office is losing money (that and the ever rising cost of gas). Big cities like Houston are doing fine but they are no longer making the enough money to cover the loses of small cities like Backwoods North Dakota. Do you know what it costs to mail in other countries? Or do you have any idea what a private company such as UPS or FEDEx would charge? Let me tell you it would be ALOT higher and I can almost assure you that you will no longer be getting your mail daily! I am not sure if that is exactly true, but I will tell you the post office has been a MAJOR money maker for the federal government for decades. With the declining mail volume and our inability to operate like most other businesses (we must get everything approved by Congess) and make changes we as a company have diffently taken a hit. For instance the cost of stamps have never kept up with inflation. From what I understand getting rid of Saturday delivery is still a very real option - but I don't think it will happen anytime soon. Too many other options to try first before such a drastic measure is taken.
Didnt even read the post but I love the title and I agree. im sharpening my pitchforks just in case this story really ticks me off
Like I said above...the post office "loses" are not always as they seem. The governemnt has taken money from us for decades. http://www.postalnewsblog.com/2010/...n-dollar-profit-until-congress-takes-its-cut/ USPS makes a half billion dollar profit- until Congress takes its cut Through the first two months of its fiscal year, the US Postal Service, despite a weak economy and a sharp drop in first class mail, has made an operating profit of over a half billion dollars. At least that’s what the USPS would be reporting if it were allowed to operate as it was designed to forty years ago. Thanks to the “reform” law Congress enacted in 2006 after it was discovered that the USPS was overpaying its retirement obligations by billions of dollars every year, however, the service will once again have to turn its profits over to the Treasury, and borrow more money to keep operating. For the month of November the USPS reported an unaudited net profit of $109 million on sales of $5.7 billion. Added to the operating profit reported in October, that brought year to date net profit to $549 million. Because of the 2006 law however, the USPS already owes the Treasury $917 million in so-called “trust fund” payments. Those charges are partially offset by another Congressional brainstorm, the monthly revaluation of the USPS’s workers comp liability. The bottom line however, is a net loss for November of almost a half billion dollars. As bizarre as the whole shell game is, it’s probably the best current example of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill: Democrats get to shave a few billion off the national debt, and Republicans are spared the inconvenient example of a government run enterprise that makes a profit- instead warning of “taxpayer bailouts” when no “taxpayer” money is involved! It’s a win-win- at least for the politicians. Political considerations aside, though, the USPS financial results are still worrying. Although total mail volume was up 3.4% for the month, and 4.2% for the year to date, all of the growth is in standard mail, which has risen 12.6% so far this year, while First Class has dropped by 5.1%. Because of the price difference between the two products, that means total volume is up, but revenue is practically flat. Standard mail now accounts for 55% of mail volume compared with 40% for first class. As that trend continues, the lower priced service will be required to take on more of the institutional costs of the agency, driving the price up, and making the product less competitive. One bright spot for the USPS was the 4.5% increase in shipping volume- here again, though, the good news comes from a product with a small share of total revenue. On the expense side, the USPS saw an increase in salaries and benefits of 3.6% for the month. (There was one more delivery day in November 2010, which would roughly equate to a 3.6% increase). The only functional area showing savings over the prior year was mail processing, with a decline of 1.4%. City carrier expense was up by 4.7%, while rural delivery was up 6.5%, and administrative, maintenance and other “overhead” salary expenses increased 6.9%. Non-personnel expenses for the month were up by 2.9% for the month, but are up 5.9% for the year to date. Bottom line total expenses for the USPS were up 4.1% for the month (largely owing to the additional delivery day), but are down year to date by 2.4%.
Just read the post. This makes me happy. Ill put my pitch fork away. it looks like they are already shooting themselves in the foot. Love when government takes charge of a service and then it becomes unprofitable. Cant wait for govt healthcare. There will be a huge shortage of doctors.
Read above article!!!!! As bizarre as the whole shell game is, it’s probably the best current example of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill: Democrats get to shave a few billion off the national debt, and Republicans are spared the inconvenient example of a government run enterprise that makes a profit- instead warning of “taxpayer bailouts” when no “taxpayer” money is involved! It’s a win-win- at least for the politicians.
There already is a huge shortfall in physicians. We're going to be a 150k+ short by 2025. Keep your RNC talking points to yourself.
I don't think daily mail is necessary myself although I do see a problem for those who still pay and receive bills via mail.
Just spent 20 minutes at the front of a steadily lengthening line at the Post Office while a clueless lady tried to figure out how to mail a package to Canada. She even went to her car for her phone at one point (who doesn't carry their phone?). At the end of it all, she had to leave without mailing the package. There should be some kind of device that eliminates this kind of crap. Like charging by the minute to help someone prepare a package, or sending them straight to the back of the line if they're not ready. Think of how much much more efficient this would be and how much money this would save by eliminating superfluous jobs. I mean, these guys are getting paid a great wage to watch someone write their name and addy on a package. Don't get me wrong, I think that the postal system (in some form) is vital. There are just so many obvious things to improve/eliminate.
Fortunately these type of things NEVER happen at the Alternative places. [/sarcasm] People beat up the post office. . . but until Fedex/UPS/etc can deliver ANYTHING for under a dollar .. . . I will stick with the USPS. Rocket River
Convenient? Are you freaking serious? Long lines, terrible employees with bad attitudes means convenient to you? I pay the extra 3 bucks and go FedEx unless I am shipping international. The only exception is if I can ship using the automatic kiosk.
ditto.... They have the worst attitude ever, they just don't give a ****... They probably stole my packages on purpose those bastards!!!!
As do I - it is a vital service. But it doesn't mean that I can't brainstorm ways to make it more efficient/cost effective when I have to wait in line because of the opposite. And it does seem that it almost always happens. Not occasionally, but almost always. And they close at bloody 4:30 PM! What's up with that?
This. I tend to think USPS gets too much flak. People don't stop to consider how easy UPS/FedEx have it... they cherry-pick the profitable part of the delivery business, but they wouldn't touch everyday mail delivery with a 100-foot pole... because it's friggin' hard to make that profitable at under 50 cents. Heck, maybe even impossible without lots of package business to subsidize it...
There is no cherry picking about it. Again, there are laws that prohibit companies from delivering first class mail/standard mail. Its hard to say if they would want if they were allowed, but the point is moot since the USPS has a monopoly on it. I personally never had a problem with the USPS, but I have heard of tons of complaints. I think the USPS would do itself a favor if it rid itself of all its terrible employees.
Pretty much impossible. I knew a guy who traveled around the country doing customer service reviews of post offices. He told me he had terrible reports on specific places and every year that he went back the same people worked there getting the same terrible scores. Getting rid of them never happens if the only problem is customer service.
