Posted on 09/19/2011 12:33:59 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
They deliver things you order from the internet. Faster cheaper and friendlier than FedEx and UPS. The USPS is still very useful, because we still actually live in meatspace not in cyperspace.
I'm in the middle of intensive carton-shipping right now. The cost to ship each carton is outrageous and unaffordable at the UPS STORE. I tried the UPS warehouse center, cheaper than the UPS STORES (which are franchises)
But neither, including FedEx, could match the lowest cost I found to ship...the U. S. Postal Service. Since I'm mailing in bulk, I'm saving all kinds of money.
Be careful what you ask for, folks.
Leni
“Deliver to rural areas that are not covered by UPS or FedEx.”
A lot of those areas don’t have internet services either.
BTW...It's the damn salaries and pensions and other benefits that are killing us.
That is not true. It may be true for other government agencies, but it is not true for the USPS. Do some comparative analysis of USPS "salaries, pensions and benefits" against other similar organizations and I think you will be quite surprised. And incidentally, the work force of the USPS has already been reduced substantially, as described in multiple articles. And it will continue to be reduced.
The root of this problem is Congress, and their unwillingness or inability to properly do their job. In spite of what many continue to believe, tax dollars have not gone into the USPS since it was reorganized in the 70's. Not for pensions, not for benefits, not for salaries. In fact, it is probably the opposite. Allow me to explain.
The USPS is required, based on Congressional order, to pay 5.5 billion per year into a retirees health care fund, and it has been doing this for quite a number of years; perhaps 10 or more(as I understand it, before then payments were made, but at a lower annual amount). The amount paid in to date is well beyond the liability for USPS retirees. But here is the catch: it is not just USPS employees that pull from this fund. Other government agencies do also. Were it not for this budget line item the USPS would be close to breaking even, as it should.
The USPS has repeatedly asked Congress for this payment to be reduced and/or suspended, and for over payments to be refunded. Most recently Congress took the "bold" step of allowing the USPS to wait 3 months to make this years' payment. This changes nothing. In truth, what Congress did was postpone having to make a decision for 3 more months. What leadership!
I have speculated that Congress may continue to refuse to reduce the 5.5 billion and any refund of overpayment because it will force them to pay for retirees health care payments for all of the other government agencies that draw from that fund with tax dollars. To put it bluntly, Congress is placing the USPS in the red in order to not have to raise taxes or cut costs.
It is also congress that must provide permission for the USPS to go to 5 day delivery, and to close offices that, from a business prospective, have been a financial drain for years.
That is the relief that the USPS is asking for from Congress, and it has been doing so for a very long time. The USPS has been asking Congress to act responsibly, and to do it's job, and to remove constraints that prevent the USPS from doing what it should; what is has been working hard at doing for decades - operating like a business. It has done an excellent job, but there is much more to do - if Congress will just stop being a leech get out of the way.
And now we have his illustrious lordship, Obama, offering up his plan. We are saved! This pathetic pretender, as some have already pointed out, is merely parroting changes that have already been quantified and offering it up as "his plan". These changes, and many other proposals, have been around since before he was ever even running for office. He is doing this only because congressional inaction has forced the USPS to the breaking point. Something must be done, so he figures he may as well get credit for it. Disgusting.
$40-50 thou is about the average. A lot of them pick up overtime.
Deliver to rural areas that are not covered by UPS or FedEx.
If that is the case, it is because they cannot make a profit by delivering to rural areas.
With that being the case, why should I as an urbanist subsidize USPS parcel delivery to folks living in the backwoods of West Virginia?
“They deliver things you order from the internet. Faster cheaper and friendlier than FedEx and UPS.”
Are you serious?
I have to pay more in taxes so that the guy who delivers a package to you is friendly?
Funny Truman...I know you are from Austin...but have you heard of the internet...it's an electronic method of delivering the equivalent of a real live letter than can be printed out when you receive it....imagine that! At no cost as well!
Deliver physical items?
Is it your opinion that business mailings are illegitimate? Like, they have no right to use the USPS? What?
Check out the US Constitution on that. A little thing about establishing a national mail service
No home delivery, but there are PO Boxes. The sheriff’s deputies would come if we had a crime that needed police.
What you have just described is not a salary, benefit, or pension. You are referring to hourly wages, and associated overtime. One can argue efficiency in any organization, and just like many industries, the USPS has improved and must continue to improve. But what you have suggested is the reduction of employees to satisfy an unreasonable economic burden imposed by Congress. Is that what you meant to advocate for?
No, you don't. Seriously. See post 64. As it says, taxes have not funded the USPS since the 70's. And, as it also points out, you may very well be paying less in taxes because of government siphoning of funds.
What you HAVE paid more taxes for is the public school system that teaches popular opinion and conjecture over fact and reason.
>> The USPS is still very useful,
It is indeed. The reasons for shutting down are asinine.
USPS’ problem is related to labor bloat and entitlements. USPS can figure this out without the aid of Obama’s so-called brilliance.
Sounds like a nice place to live.
Your post is one of the very few cogent negative arguments regarding the USPS.
The test is whether the payload is pure information or has an essential physical form.
If it's information, you don't need the Post Office. Letters, bills, checks, photographs, movies, newspapers, magazines, books are all pure information: modern technology can push all of those through the glass fiber to my house.
That leaves stuff that has a physical form. FedEX. Big Brown. Amazon Prime comes to mind. Unlimited free two-day. One day for $3.99 / item.
Right now, the Post Office subsists on revenue from junk mail (physical spam). That's not going to last. If it wants to remain relevant, it has to outdo the other carriers in the physical delivery of stuff I want.
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