Posted on 09/30/2010 8:32:56 PM PDT by MamaDearest
The U.S. Postal Service is losing billions of dollars a year, but its regulator has denied a requested postal rate increase, saying the Postal Service failed to justify it.
The Postal Service had sought a rate increase on mailings averaging 5.6 percent, well above its statutory price cap, which is tied to the consumer price index.
“The commission finds that the Postal Service has shown the recent recession to be an exigent circumstance, but it failed both to quantify the impact of the recession on its finances and to show how its rate request relates to the resulting loss of mail volume,” said Postal Regulatory Commission Chair Ruth Goldway.
The commission did not buy the Postal Service’s claim that the recession is partly to blame for its current financial woes, saying the Postal Service’s cash flow problems would have occurred whether or not the recession happened. It also said a postal rate hike would not solve the Postal Service’s problems.
The Postal Service’s fiscal third quarter net loss swelled to $3.5 billion, and has warned its liquidity problems will reach critical levels by next year.
The Postal Service wants to end Saturday mail delivery and restructure payments to its retiree benefits funds to reduce expenses – both of which will require Congressional approval. It has already cut the equivalent of 36,000 jobs and plans to close hundreds of post office locations across the country, including eight targeted for closing in the District.
A couple of months ago I had a package to send across the country. I asked the clerk at the postal store (not the post office) to let me know the least expensive way to send the package between UPS, Fedex and the USPS. The winner was Fedex (by a large amount and included insurance) and the service was superb. Before this I would have taken it for granted that the post office was the least expensive.
We can count on that. I plan to buy some Mother Teresa stamps for inclusion on Christmas cards this year.
There is a reason that this was denied, trust me on this. I work for the USPS, and it didn't surprise me one bit. The Board of Governors rejecting Post Master General Potter's request for a rate increase may have been a first, but it was well-deserved...
the infowarrior
But I actually never lived at my parents’ current address and never submitted an order to forward my mail (or someone else’s mail) from there to anywhere else.
Well, fill us in.
Historically when the Post Office asks for an increase, it happens pretty quickly. Given that we have marxists running the show, this makes no sense.
The current automated system "catches up".
Years ago you'd see situations where someone moved more than once in a short period, or had moved with an individual order from a house where other people moved from later ~ you could end up with all sorts of yellow tags pasted all over a piece of mail reflecting all of that.
Today the computer system takes care of all that, then prints the information in invisible ink on the face (or back) of a letter.
Neat stuff eh?!
You were no doubt thinking there were human beings handling your mail.
Giving Potter his requested rate increase under those conditions was basically out of the question...
the infowarrior
Makes sense.
Thanks mucho.
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