It isn’t just the price of an envelope, it is also the price of packages, etc.
I’ve seen 4th class media mail go up by 25% during one of these “little” hikes.
There - fixed.
And I remember in the 1990s when they claimed this but the amount of their shortfall in budget matched the amount in bonuses they paid out that year. It isn't just "corporate America" that pulls this stunt.
Every time they do this, more people pay their bills electronically. Very little of value comes through the mail.
It’s time to shutter the USPS and lift the prohibition on private mail delivery.
So I will use auto bill pay from my bank, and mail less. Everyone else will too, and PO will lose more money, and whine some more, and raise rates again, and whine to the federal gov which is already bailing out other failing businesses.
If they would cut back on the “affirmative action” they might even make a profit.
Frankly it wouldn’t shock me about rising costs (especially as inefficient as they CAN be).
However, I still can’t help thinking they made the “Forever” stamp to accomodate easily any ol’ increase they want any ol’ time!
I’m a clerk w/ USPS. Big deficit due to costs ranging from
retirement/pensions to gas prices. USPS can only borrow so much money from the government, and prices can only go up so much (tied to rate of inflation). Some feel it would be wiser to up the price to something like 50 cents and pay off the debt. USPS can’t.
Yes, even I pay some bills online these days. But I do send
packages, letters, and some bills through the mail. They say
we have a decline in volume. Maybe so, but we’re seeing a lot
of Valentines, tax forms, bills, and such going through the mail at my office.
Newspapers are thinner these days and cost you 75 cents in many places. But you can send a letter 3,000 miles for
42, soon to be 44, cents. Maybe if we were privatized things might run smoother, etc.
But you might have to pay a lot more for that stamp. Or you might find smaller offices closed because they’re not cost efficient (actually might be a good idea, but people would be sure to grumble when they have to drive miles out of their way to go to the P.O. if a closer one shut down).
In countries like Canada, some postal service can be gotten at drugstores and such. Also, their postal employees have
gone on strike. Many times. (We’re considered essential
employees and can’t.)
Those who think 45¢ is too much should take it there themselves.
Ten years ago I took out a large post office box when I moved my office. I no longer get mail. No broker statement, few checks, almost no letters, no magazines or trade pubs.
Checks are electronically deposited and not mailed. Statements are e mailed or on line. Letters come from politicians, but all work correspondence is via e mail.
Although my business is smaller, the mail is disproportionately less. When scaled up to a really large company, emailing of checks could be saving as much as it costs me to run my business.
Like newspapers, the USPO is in a heap of trouble