BUSTED!
Posted on 03/18/2013 2:55:15 AM PDT by Libloather
Four hundred U.S. Postal Service executives are heading to San Francisco next month for workshops, meetings — and a dance party.
And a golf tournament. And a dinner event.
That’s according to a report by KTVU, which found 400 USPS staffers, including the postmaster general, are set to attend the four-day National Postal Forum in March at the Moscone Center in California.
The trip is expected to cost the flailing agency — which is pushing to stop Saturday letter delivery due to revenue issues — more than $2 million, KTVU reports. An estimated $220,000 is going to spent on exhibit space, according to the news agency.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Still, more money is spent at White House hamburger fries.
Currently the US government owes USPS several tens of billions of dollars. It's a huge amount really. Quit pleading poverty.
That S... HAS GOTTA' STOP!
It is a Constitutional issue, as the Fed has the control over the mail system. We are screwed.
BTTT
“So why are we criticizing the USPS???”
Maybe because they just reported a record loss of $15.9 billion for fiscal year 2012 and should be cutting costs.
At the same it cannot raise postage rates to cover costs.
That's a recipe for disaster.
At the same time Obama has borrowed the postal worker's retirement funds to finance his golf outings.
The Postal Forum is a private organization which is not part of USPS.
This is a good site. Solving the problems of the USPS will take a genius.
http://www.allgov.com/departments/independent-agencies/united-states-postal-service?agencyid=7284
Why not privatize?
Amend the constitution.
That is already in the works. USPS is going to have a new tracking sticker on every parcel soon. In addition, there are bluetooth phone/scanner systems being tested right now. What I've read lately is the package deliveries are up 12-15 some-odd percent over last year.
Please see my previous post.
“Why not privatize?”
“ Amend the constitution.”
Ok. :)
Well, they’d better get their backsides in gear.
What I have seen recently that the information in the tracking window changes over time. So, it looks like someone is going into the system and editing the information. That doesn’t give me a lot of confidence.
I’ve never seen that happen with UPS or FedEx. And their status is updated almost instantly, not 6 or 8 hours later.
And several time recently, I have had packages delivered, and the tracking never, ever reflected that status.
With one recent shipment, the tracking is telling me that the package has been sitting in a post office facility in Burbank, CA for almost a week. The recipient isn’t screaming, so I assume it was already delivered days ago.
Our system right now is outdated. We do not have instant upload of delivery confirmation. It must wait until the carrier returns to the post office and plugs in the scanner tray. The bluetooth phones are supposed to fix this, allowing instant upload or within just a few minutes.
Often, the scan labels get bashed enroute. If it won’t scan, we punch in the numbers manually. sometimes they’re illegible as well, and there’s not a thing we can do about it. Sometimes they arrive looking like that. You’ll NEVER get a ship confirmation if the label is trashed. shippers often wrap them around corners, around round things, cover them with tape, or they use cheap printer ink for the labels that run off if they get a drop of rain on it. These are things the USPS has no control over.
FedEx uploads very fast. I was checking a delivery status with them once, when they pulled up. Great! I received the package, and went back to my computer. By the time I sat down, it already confirmed delivery. Maybe two minutes max. That’s what I want the post office to be able to do. Can’t wait.
Sure, shippers have to use a little common sense.
But the USPS specifically tells you not to tape over the bar codes on printed labels.
The USPS is pushing "click it and ship it" (with a discount) either directly or through eBay. Millions of people are using ink jet printed shipping labels. Obviously, opaque tape is a bad idea. What about clear tape to protect the label? Why won't they say that's OK to use? Or isn't it? WTF?
Some tape will work fine. Like clear packing tape seems to not be a problem. But if you make 27 lines of scotch tape it seems to not work so well. No duct tape either!
If you have a good quality print, you can put tape over it and it seems to work ok, but if you’re almost out of ink, it may never scan with or without tape.
I get annoyed with parcels that have the bar code crossing the crease line where the box flaps close together. The bar code will flex, obliterating one of the bars, or more, and often the number right below it along the crease line. This seems to happen most often to packages going to houses along the busiest sections of the highest speed part of the highway. I get to sit dangerously along side the highway, punching in number after number to see what got obliterated, taking a two second operation into a two minute death defying ordeal. Or more.
Smaller print is better than bigger print for fitting the bar code on a flat part of the cardboard. The new labels for parcels that will be printed by the USPS are all small, like two inches long by one inch tall, something like that. This will help immensely. Every parcel will soon have these, regardless the method of shipping, parcel post, priority, etc.
Thanks for the information!
As I said, common sense is a necessary ingredient.
Anything I can do to make your job easier makes me look better too. That’s a win-win for everybody.
Please don’t take my comments the wrong way. Over the years, the service I have gotten from the USPS has been nothing short of outstanding.
That includes the letter carrier who knocked on my door one day to tell me that UPS had deposited a package at a side door that I rarely used, and the package was sitting out there in the pouring rain.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.