United States Postal Service Ends Year in Black and Debt Free; Escrow Fund Looms

United States Postal Service ^ | December 06, 2005

[Lokibob]

Service		Total (All Packages)		Days In Transit
UPS Sonic Air® Guaranteed by:  Same Day*		See Note*		Same Day*
UPS Next Day Air® Guaranteed by:  12:00 P.M. Wednesday January 18, 2006  Billable Weight: 3.0 lbs.		54.79*		1
UPS Next Day Air Saver® Guaranteed by:  By End of Day Wednesday January 18, 2006  Billable Weight: 3.0 lbs.		50.74*		1
UPS 2nd Day Air® Guaranteed by:  By End of Day Thursday January 19, 2006  Billable Weight: 3.0 lbs.		28.69*		2
UPS 3 Day Select® - ­ Same Day Pickup Guaranteed by:  By End of Day Friday January 20, 2006  Billable Weight: 3.0 lbs.		25.65*		3
UPS 3 Day Select® - ­Future Day Pickup Guaranteed by:  By End of Day Friday January 20, 2006  Billable Weight: 3.0 lbs.		23.40*		3
UPS Ground - ­ Same Day Pickup Guaranteed by:  By End of Day Tuesday January 24, 2006  Billable Weight: 2.0 lbs.		15.84*		5
UPS Ground - ­Future Day Pickup Guaranteed by:  By End of Day Tuesday January 24, 2006  Billable Weight: 2.0 lbs.		13.77*		5

 

Compare this to USPS rates, same package, same address :

 

Domestic Services

Mailing Services	Speed	Price
Express Mail®	Overnight to most areas	$18.80
Priority Mail®	3 Day(s)	$6.05
Parcel Post           Additional Postage May Apply	7 Day(s)	$4.73
Bound Printed Matter           Restrictions Apply	7 Day(s)	$2.50
Media Mail (Book Rate)           Restrictions Apply	7 Day(s)	$2.07

 

 

you don't get something for nothing (free).  DC on UPS is NOT free!!!!

 

To me, as an ebay seller, delivery confirmation prevents the buyer from saying he didn't receive their package.  Yes, it does happen.

[azhenfud]

Wow! give them a 5 1/2% raise!

Oh - they just did that themselves, never mind...

[pollyg107]

I have tried several times, at post offices in my area, and online, to purchase 2-cent stamps. They have to be backordered on the web, and the local post offices have none. I think it is a deliberate ploy to make people use 2 37-cent stamps. When I told my postmaster that, he just smiled.

[Lokibob]

Always use the zip plus 4 zip code in large cities. It tells them which driver the package goes to. Even apartment houses have different zip plus 4 numbers for each apartment.

BTW, you would be amazed at how many of my ebay customers screw up their zip code. I check each and every one of the address against the USPS data base for accuracy.

[ClaireSolt]

Are you aware of the fact that USPS negotiates contracts with express mail carriers that include the stipulation that they must charge higher prices in order to get the work? Price fixing like this would be prosecuted against any biz, but the government does it.

[Fresh Wind]

I wish they would increase their maximum size limits for international packages .

Yeah, but as long as you're under the limit, their international services are dirt cheap compared with the competition.

[Fresh Wind]

I have tried several times, at post offices in my area, and online, to purchase 2-cent stamps.

Did you ever think about using two one-cent stamps?

[carlr]

Think Social Security trust fund.

I believe that should make it clear.

[martin_fierro]

I'm having that "postal black hole" experience with Chicago these days.

[musicman]

Hillary Clinton Commemorative Stamp

The US Postal Service has issued a recall of a stamp they created with a picture of Hillary Clinton to honor her achievements while serving as the First Lady of our nation.

The problem was discovered when claims had been made that the stamp was not sticking to envelopes, and that mail which had been sent using the "Hillary" postage was not being delivered. Senator Clinton demanded a full investigation into the allegations.

A special Postal Service Investigation team was formed and after several months and many dollars spent, made the following findings:

*The stamp was manufactured properly.
*There was nothing wrong with the adhesive.
*People were just spitting on the wrong side

[Fresh Wind]

Some were spitting, others were licking...

[sushiman]

" Yeah, but as long as you're under the limit, their international services are dirt cheap compared with the competition "

You are right , or course , but their size limits are smaller than many other countries .

[raybbr]

My opinion, the 3 Billion $ is a tax raising method for congress. You watch, they will start tapping the escrow fund to "help the needy" or some other crap.

Exactly. Most people don't bother to read any further than "postal rate increase".

[Non-Sequitur]

Get rid of the friggin' junk mail, coupons and all the rest of the crap...

The Post Office doesn't generate that stuff, it just delivers it.

[armchairman]

I sell things on eBay and use USPS Media Mail which is the best deal in town. If the USPS went public and sold stock I'd buy it.
Question LokiBob- What program do you use to print your CD barcodes? Do you use any other programs to help you sell on eBay?

[VOYAGER]

"Financially, we are in the best position we've been since the 1970s," said Postmaster General John E. Potter at the December meeting of the Board of Governors>

They are much like the Hospital Districts in Texas, they complain about being in the red or even going belly-up then they hit the taxpayers who have very little to say about increasing our taxes then the next thing you hear is what a good job they are doing by getting out of debt even to the tune of a belly strutting surplus.

Then here they come again, with a plea that would make a hard nosed Chaplain blubber, about what a good job they are doing but need another influx of easy come easy go tax money.

Strange also is after they boast of their self made and to them their well earned surplus through a somewhat ethereal boast of what a good job they are doing, with no visible proof, do not offer to return their bloated and unnecessary surplus gotten through equally unecessary taxation!

I am tired of being ripped off with no effective recourse!

How about the rest of you observant taxpayers?

[snowsislander]

Congress has no doubt required the USPS to invest its budget surpluses in federal government debt obligations.

I don't know if that is a strict Congressional requirement, but that is exactly what the Post Office doing. They are putting the escrow money into short term federal government debt instruments according to their annual financial statement, mostly in overnight obligations. From page 31 of their annual report:

Interest and Investment Income

When we determine that our funds exceed our current needs, we invest those funds with the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of Public Debt. We invest primarily in overnight securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. We favor short-term investments because of the nature of our cash flow patterns, and to ensure that our investments are not unnecessarily exposed to the price risk associated with increases in interest rates.

I have to admit that the general reaction to the news has been a bit different than my own take: I would much rather the Post Office run in the black than in the red.

I remember the grim days back in the 1970s when the Post Office was always running in the red. I much prefer today to read material like this on page 30:

Debt

As an independent establishment of the executive branch of the United States government, we receive no tax dollars for our operations. We are self supporting, and have not received a public service appropriation since 1982. The last time we received any substantial contribution of capital from the U.S. government was in calendar years 1976 and 1977, when we received two $500 million payments which we were required to use to repay operating debt. We fund our operations chiefly from cash generated from operating revenue. However, unlike companies in the private sector, we are not permitted to raise capital through the equity markets. Consequently our only source of outside capital is through securing debt obligations. An additional challenge is that we, unlike the private sector, are not free to set our own prices for our products and services. The postal rate setting process has been a complex and lengthy process in the past. The uncertainty created by this process influences our cash management strategy.

The amount we borrow is largely determined by the difference between our cash flow from operations and our capital cash outlays. Our capital cash outlays are the funds invested back into the business for capital investments in new facilities, new automation equipment, and new services. At the beginning of 2003 our debt stood at $11.1 billion. During that year, we reduced our debt by $3.8 billion and, in 2004 by $5.5 billion. Cash flow from operations in 2005 enabled the repayment of the remaining debt. This is the first time since postal reorganization that we have ended the year with no debt obligations outstanding.

I like to see enterprises run in the black, whether they are private or public. Accumulating debt for any purpose other than accumulating assets to net against that debt is not something that I like to see much of in an established enterprise.

[tiger-one]

I have started what I call the Elvis program, (RTS) return to sender...I get more snail mail spam (SMS)than bills, mostly catalogs. I mark them with a black permanent marker, return to sender..

[muawiyah]

Postage rates have NOT been increased every other year, and without non-First-Class Mail, they'd be losing money hand over fist.

That's for the good news. The bad news is the USPS still nickels and dimes retirees to death. For example, those with a 401(k) account are supposed to receive matched contributions (according to an established scale) as they receive income. USPS, though, in its chiseling little flinty heart, says "no, we don't do that for terminal leave pay" because OPM says we don't have to make a matching contribution on accrued income.

Of course, when USPS pays it, it's "realized", and no longer "accrued" income, and the very same OPM standard requires them to pay the matching funds.

There are numerous other examples of how USPS management cheats its recent retirees and former employees, but we need not go into them here.

Potter has some criminals in his top level management and needs to prosecute them.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

OK, so you'd like the USPS to make a "proft." Who owns the profit? If it is the American taxpayer, we should get the surplus back. Any USPS money earned the USPS does not need is due back to the public who pays the fees.

If you or I create a "non-profit" corporation, we cannot just pocket any surpluses.

That the USPS is an entity apart from govermnent is largely a fiction because the congress protects them as a monopoly for mail delivery.

Why is a monopoly of the government's invention allowed to make a profit? Government entities are supposed to break even - ending the fiscal year WITHOUT EITHER A SUPLUS OR DEFICIT.

The USPS should not be raising postage rates if its budget is in surplus. Such increases, not necessary for USPS operations, are simply additional taxes upon the American people disguised as "postal rate increases."

This is obviously true in that you confirm "surpluses" of the USPS are helping to fund the debt of the federal government.