Postal Service...shutting down???

[Sunshine]

The history of the Post Office is a fairly interesting one:

History of the United States Postal Service

Benjamin Franklin knew how important the mail was to businesses and he was instrumental in setting up a service that would be good for commerce.

Junk mail is what has kept OUR rates low all these years. Without it we would have paid much more to mail a letter. In some countries just mailing a letter can cost $1.50. And it costs far more to mail a letter through private services than through the post offices. I have paid up to $10.00 just to send a letter through a private carrier.

The post office has become archaic, IMO, but I think we need to keep it alive. We never know when technology will fail, and I believe many will regret the loss if they have only private delivery services to depend on. Who's to say private services would be any better if they carried the entire load.

Yep private industry would have to hire more workers, buy more trucks and still would not deliver a letter for the current USPS price. I figure at least 2.50 for a letter.

The death knell for Hallmark and the greeting card industry. Might as well just end Valentines day.

Much of American commerce would suffer, even with technology. Most folks just don't look beyond their own use of a thing and do not realize the impact losing the post offce would have on this country. What about international deliveries? I have sent mail to China, and that was before UPS could boast they delivered there. I thought the cost was fairly nominal.

 

[uscitizen]

Postal service is not obsolete or going broke. It's being made to over pay into it's retirement accounts.

OIG says USPS is overfunding FERS retirements, too - postalnews blog

Consistent with other retiree benefit obligations, the Postal Service is being unfairly burdened for its share of the FERS pension obligation. The OPM projected a $6.8 billion surplus in the Postal Service’s FERS obligation at the end of FY 2009. The OPM acknowledged that the federal government’s FERS obligation, excluding the Postal Service, was unfunded by $7.4 billion at the end of FY 2008.8 The funding status for the Postal Service, as well as the federal government, is calculated by subtracting the pension assets from the actuarial accrued liability. A higher liability results in an unfunded status, while a lower liability results in a surplus. According to the OPM, the liability is a projection for current and future benefit obligations and considers contributions paid into and disbursements from FERS. Overall, the liability is based on estimated demographics for the entire federal government, including the Postal Service.

However, the Postal Service’s benefits paid represent actual demographic behavior, such as early career turnover, and not the aggregate, resulting in a surplus status for the Postal Service and an unfunded status for the federal government.

Based on this data, the Postal Service’s overfunding issue is even larger than we previously reported. Similar to what we have noted in other OIG retiree benefit reports, Postal Service ratepayers continue to pay more than their fair share of retiree benefits. It is important that the trend of overpayments does not continue. The Postal Service faces a challenging future and its responsibilities and the true cost of funding postal operations needs to be absolutely clear. To address that challenge, the Postal Service is making operational changes to bring costs in line with revenue projections. Additionally, it is pursuing legislative changes to address concerns raised about pension and retiree health benefit payments. We believe management should also consider the FERS overfunding issue as the Postal Service pursues legislative changes.

Conservatives would just love to privatize this...so they are forcing a bankruptcy.

Yep privatize it and they could raid billions out of the retirement fund.

 

[dcbl]

Postal service is not obsolete or going broke. It's being made to over pay into it's retirement accounts.

OIG says USPS is overfunding FERS retirements, too - postalnews blog

Consistent with other retiree benefit obligations, the Postal Service is being unfairly burdened for its share of the FERS pension obligation. The OPM projected a $6.8 billion surplus in the Postal Service’s FERS obligation at the end of FY 2009. The OPM acknowledged that the federal government’s FERS obligation, excluding the Postal Service, was unfunded by $7.4 billion at the end of FY 2008.8 The funding status for the Postal Service, as well as the federal government, is calculated by subtracting the pension assets from the actuarial accrued liability. A higher liability results in an unfunded status, while a lower liability results in a surplus. According to the OPM, the liability is a projection for current and future benefit obligations and considers contributions paid into and disbursements from FERS. Overall, the liability is based on estimated demographics for the entire federal government, including the Postal Service.

However, the Postal Service’s benefits paid represent actual demographic behavior, such as early career turnover, and not the aggregate, resulting in a surplus status for the Postal Service and an unfunded status for the federal government.

Based on this data, the Postal Service’s overfunding issue is even larger than we previously reported. Similar to what we have noted in other OIG retiree benefit reports, Postal Service ratepayers continue to pay more than their fair share of retiree benefits. It is important that the trend of overpayments does not continue. The Postal Service faces a challenging future and its responsibilities and the true cost of funding postal operations needs to be absolutely clear. To address that challenge, the Postal Service is making operational changes to bring costs in line with revenue projections. Additionally, it is pursuing legislative changes to address concerns raised about pension and retiree health benefit payments. We believe management should also consider the FERS overfunding issue as the Postal Service pursues legislative changes.

Conservatives would just love to privatize this...so they are forcing a bankruptcy.

I'm not looking for privatization, but I DO want to see reasonable charges & fees.

Like I said earlier, mailing a letter across town should cost less than mailing across the country.

 

[bobcollum]

I was a letter carrier for several years and I'm not surprised by any of this. It's just another example of something that was enlarged during the prosperous times to that point of being unsustainable once it died down, which it certainly has. They've tried and seemingly failed to get a portion of the parcel delivery market from UPS and FedEx over the past 5 to 10 years once they realized how stupid it was to basically allow them to take it because mail volume(and junk mail revenue) was more than adequate.

It's a tough one to work out for sure...it's not like cutting jobs is going to make it easier because despite the large number of employees they're all worked...hard. There is always something that needs to be done and the mail doesn't stop. One thing they've done at least locally is the practice of hiring expendable temporary employees along with a hiring freeze on permanents. They get paid less, and basically work at full-throttle because they don't have the backing of the Union, which frankly is a big source of tension within that place. It's a constant bicker-fest inside those offices, all the staff knows what they can and can't get away with, and all of the management is salivating to catch someone breaking the rules. It's why most of the men and women I worked with are on anti-depressants/anti-anxiety meds. It's a fucking zoo, and not what many probably assume is a cushy Gov't job.

In the end, regardless of how certain people feel they have no use for the USPS, there are still loads of people that rely on them, although that number will probably dwindle with time since the majority of them are computer-illiterate seniors...my 85 year-old grandmother is without a doubt not going to learn how to use a computer any time soon, and I don't expect her to(she still has trouble with her dvd-player). They're going to have to figure something out, and it's going to hurt no matter what the solution is.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

gees i said you were right......what more do you want?

but it is an obsolete service....plus face it...do you mail important stuff with the usps or do you use another carrier....i know i dont mail anything of importance with the usps.

Obsolete......not in the least.
As I posted earlier - direct mail has the most successful response rate than any other media...and not by a little. Absolutely nothing compares to the response rate of direct mail.
Again - if the USPS was to "shut down"...businesses of all kinds would be dramatically affected...the ability of a business to reach potential consumers is not an option, and direct mail offers the most effective advertising to date.

Kill the USPS....

 

[dcbl]

gees i said you were right......what more do you want?

but it is an obsolete service....plus face it...do you mail important stuff with the usps or do you use another carrier....i know i dont mail anything of importance with the usps.

Obsolete......not in the least.
As I posted earlier - direct mail has the most successful response rate than any other media...and not by a little. Absolutely nothing compares to the response rate of direct mail.
Again - if the USPS was to "shut down"...businesses of all kinds would be dramatically affected...the ability of a business to reach potential consumers is not an option, and direct mail offers the most effective advertising to date.

Kill the USPS....

the groupon concept is getting better response, BUT it is also losing advertisers money (80% say never again)

 

[flacaltenn]

Postal Service on verge of going broke, shutting down

“Our situation is extremely serious,” the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, said in an interview. “If Congress doesn’t act, we will default.”

In recent weeks, Mr. Donahoe has been pushing a series of painful cost-cutting measures to erase the agency’s deficit, which will reach $9.2 billion this fiscal year. They include eliminating Saturday mail delivery, closing up to 3,700 postal locations and laying off 120,000 workers — nearly one-fifth of the agency’s work force — despite a no-layoffs clause in the unions’ contracts.

Well that explains the stupid commercial from the PO workers union contending that the USPO has "never taken a penny of taxpayer money"..

I was pretty sure -- the bad news was coming soon after that lying POS ad...

 

[Big Fitz]

Postal Service on verge of going broke, shutting down

“Our situation is extremely serious,” the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, said in an interview. “If Congress doesn’t act, we will default.”

In recent weeks, Mr. Donahoe has been pushing a series of painful cost-cutting measures to erase the agency’s deficit, which will reach $9.2 billion this fiscal year. They include eliminating Saturday mail delivery, closing up to 3,700 postal locations and laying off 120,000 workers — nearly one-fifth of the agency’s work force — despite a no-layoffs clause in the unions’ contracts.

Yaaayyy! The flood of bills and junk mail finally stops!

 

[flacaltenn]

Sallow:

However, the Postal Service’s benefits paid represent actual demographic behavior, such as early career turnover, and not the aggregate, resulting in a surplus status for the Postal Service and an unfunded status for the federal government.

This is just a flying leap at getting a waiver to the Fed rules. Who's "benefits paid" DON'T "represent actual demographics behaviour"?? ALL Fed agencies will see an increase in retirees at about the same time with the exception MAYBE of the military.

I think NOW is the time to REQUIRE the USPS to adopt a huge Electric vehicle fleet and infrastructure. That would be the progressive "help" that they need right now wouldn't it? ?

Oh -- their gasoline is completely UNTAXED?? Nevermind....

 

[Sunshine]

Postal Service on verge of going broke, shutting down

“Our situation is extremely serious,” the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, said in an interview. “If Congress doesn’t act, we will default.”

In recent weeks, Mr. Donahoe has been pushing a series of painful cost-cutting measures to erase the agency’s deficit, which will reach $9.2 billion this fiscal year. They include eliminating Saturday mail delivery, closing up to 3,700 postal locations and laying off 120,000 workers — nearly one-fifth of the agency’s work force — despite a no-layoffs clause in the unions’ contracts.

Yaaayyy! The flood of bills and junk mail finally stops!

That didn't say anything about junk mail. Junk mail is what funds the post office. I'm not sure how eliminating Saturday delivery will change their cost. The person who works Saturday but is off another day will just be working on the day he would have been off.

 

[Sunshine]

gees i said you were right......what more do you want?

but it is an obsolete service....plus face it...do you mail important stuff with the usps or do you use another carrier....i know i dont mail anything of importance with the usps.

Obsolete......not in the least.
As I posted earlier - direct mail has the most successful response rate than any other media...and not by a little. Absolutely nothing compares to the response rate of direct mail.
Again - if the USPS was to "shut down"...businesses of all kinds would be dramatically affected...the ability of a business to reach potential consumers is not an option, and direct mail offers the most effective advertising to date.

Kill the USPS....

I believe you are right. I get email from many companies that I also get direct mail from. Most times I don't even open the emails. But I do open the direct mail.

 

[percysunshine]

The Postal Service is not going anywhere.

Who do you think is going to run Obamacare?

 

[strollingbones]

it will start slowly.....drop saturday deliveries etc...do we really need daily mail?

 

[uscitizen]

Postal service is not obsolete or going broke. It's being made to over pay into it's retirement accounts.

OIG says USPS is overfunding FERS retirements, too - postalnews blog

Consistent with other retiree benefit obligations, the Postal Service is being unfairly burdened for its share of the FERS pension obligation. The OPM projected a $6.8 billion surplus in the Postal Service’s FERS obligation at the end of FY 2009. The OPM acknowledged that the federal government’s FERS obligation, excluding the Postal Service, was unfunded by $7.4 billion at the end of FY 2008.8 The funding status for the Postal Service, as well as the federal government, is calculated by subtracting the pension assets from the actuarial accrued liability. A higher liability results in an unfunded status, while a lower liability results in a surplus. According to the OPM, the liability is a projection for current and future benefit obligations and considers contributions paid into and disbursements from FERS. Overall, the liability is based on estimated demographics for the entire federal government, including the Postal Service.

However, the Postal Service’s benefits paid represent actual demographic behavior, such as early career turnover, and not the aggregate, resulting in a surplus status for the Postal Service and an unfunded status for the federal government.

Based on this data, the Postal Service’s overfunding issue is even larger than we previously reported. Similar to what we have noted in other OIG retiree benefit reports, Postal Service ratepayers continue to pay more than their fair share of retiree benefits. It is important that the trend of overpayments does not continue. The Postal Service faces a challenging future and its responsibilities and the true cost of funding postal operations needs to be absolutely clear. To address that challenge, the Postal Service is making operational changes to bring costs in line with revenue projections. Additionally, it is pursuing legislative changes to address concerns raised about pension and retiree health benefit payments. We believe management should also consider the FERS overfunding issue as the Postal Service pursues legislative changes.

Conservatives would just love to privatize this...so they are forcing a bankruptcy.

I'm not looking for privatization, but I DO want to see reasonable charges & fees.

Like I said earlier, mailing a letter across town should cost less than mailing across the country.

And gasoline should cost less the closer you are to a refinery too.

 

[uscitizen]

it will start slowly.....drop saturday deliveries etc...do we really need daily mail?

If we do not have daily mail laws will need to be changed to protect consumers.

they need to be updated anyway to reflect online activities such as bill paying and banking.
And debit cards need the same protections as credit cards.

 

[percysunshine]

it will start slowly.....drop saturday deliveries etc...do we really need daily mail?

I am going to start a new business. It will be called FED tEXt. The idea is to charge impatient people money to...well...be impatient.

Do you want to be a partner? Ground floor opportunity here...

 

[Big Fitz]

it will start slowly.....drop saturday deliveries etc...do we really need daily mail?

Only businesses do. It seems that for me, I can check my mail on a bi weekly status and not have problems.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Their prices ARE reasonable.

They raise business rates every 18 - 24 months.

They need 6to QUIT raising the business rates (as those customers provide the lion's share of their revenues & they risk losing some)

Problem? It costs the same to send a parcel from Atlanta to San Francisco (44 cents) as it does to send a letter across town.

They need to create zones & charge based on distance. it's really not rocket science...

they cant do that without a dozen committees in Congress giving them the ok....and that takes years.....they have been trying to charge what they want since the nineties....not working out to well is it.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

Scare tactics and media sensationalism.
This will be probably at least the 100th time the Fed Gvt. has had to give the Postal Service money.
It all comes down to glorious pension plans and waaaaaaaaaaay too many employees.
Union contracts actually stipulate no one can get laid off.

How many here have actually done business with the P.O? I mean numerous times?
I have literally 1,000's and 1'000's of times - I have said for 20 years there is at least twice as many people as there should be.

it could be scare tactics to get that 70 billion.....it may not.....
and you will have to show a link proving that the Govt has given the PO money hundreds of times.....
and yea there are way to many Employees.....called Managers.....most carriers in my office are working 10 hours a day because there is not enough Carriers to carry the mail.....but they got all kinds of Managers walking around.....
and yea people can get laid off......until you put 7 years in you can get laid off.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

I won't miss it.


The junk mail business will, though.

and the roughly i million people who work in that industry....