Postal Service...shutting down???

[iamwhatiseem]

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

Now there you have a point...dropping Saturday makes perfect sense to me.
I see no reason why this could not be done.

 

[Harry Dresden]

the system is obsolete?

Just see what happens to this country without a postal service.

Says the dipshit who runs down to DMV the day before an election to get an ID card

lol....anyhoooo

USPS should be privatized, in order to keep it functioning

not to many private companies want Postal Inspectors looking over their Shoulders...and the cost said Company will endure to turn their building into a place the Inspectors will approve of wont go over to well.....one of the reasons UPS and FedX want no part of 1st Class Mail delivery.....the expence and scrutiny....

 

[Harry Dresden]

the system is obsolete?

Just see what happens to this country without a postal service.

not a damned thing......paperless billing will continue....most of my mail is incoming and i have tried to cut down on that....nc allows you to be on a 'no junk mail list' that cuts down on probably 90% of more of the mail....

The one thing that people look past is "junk mail"...to this day direct mail advertising carries the highest "hit rate" than any other means of advertising.
Guess what that means? "junk" mail - WORKS.
Getting rid of direct mail removes the most successful form of advertising businesses have - especially in this economy - that would be incredibly stupid.

you are 100% right on this.....i see stuff saying this all the time in papers i deliver to a guy on my route who is into Direct Mail Marketing big time....

 

[Harry Dresden]

I know many home-bound, on a strict budget that only can afford to mail their bills via their mailman and will even buy stamps off of her/him to do so. (Yes, some mail carriers are that consumer aware and considerate.) They have home healthcare providers that come and take care of their concerns between doctor appointments. Most of those individuals could not possibly afford a computer much less learn the basics to use one well enough to pay their bills. It may happen... it just won't be in the near future.

it is also against Postal Regulations to do so......

 

[Harry Dresden]

The one thing that people look past is "junk mail"...to this day direct mail advertising carries the highest "hit rate" than any other means of advertising.
Guess what that means? "junk" mail - WORKS.
Getting rid of direct mail removes the most successful form of advertising businesses have - especially in this economy - that would be incredibly stupid.

And "junk mail" has increased substantially since the "do not call" laws were passed.

There are no "do not mail" laws...

proof it works? Please note that the stuff you get on a weekly & mothly basis is coming from the SAME people over & over again.

it's a safe bet that these companies aren't continuing their direct mail campaigns because they enjoy supporting the USPS...

And "junk mail" has increased substantially since the "do not call" laws were passed.

yes it has....

There are no "do not mail" laws...
correct.....many States have these introduced but just cant seem to get them passed.... but there are things prohibited from going through the mail....

proof it works?
look it up.....Direct Mail Advertising is more effective than TV,Radio and Newspapers.....

Please note that the stuff you get on a weekly & mothly basis is coming from the SAME people over & over again.

maybe to you.....i deliver catalogs and ads from places i have never seen before.....as well as the known stuff.....

it's a safe bet that these companies aren't continuing their direct mail campaigns because they enjoy supporting the USPS...

no they just enjoy the sales they get out of it.......

 

[Harry Dresden]

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.

funny.... lots of Companies will only use the PO because they can send it Registered....which means the value of what you are sending is Insured and EVERYONE who touches it has to sign for it....

 

[Sunshine]

I know many home-bound, on a strict budget that only can afford to mail their bills via their mailman and will even buy stamps off of her/him to do so. (Yes, some mail carriers are that consumer aware and considerate.) They have home healthcare providers that come and take care of their concerns between doctor appointments. Most of those individuals could not possibly afford a computer much less learn the basics to use one well enough to pay their bills. It may happen... it just won't be in the near future.

it is also against Postal Regulations to do so......

Stamps are available through my rural carrier. They leave the flyers in my mailbox routinely. I have never known a time when you could not buy stamps from your rural carrier.

 

[Harry Dresden]

if its doesnt have a first class stamp its junk mail simple as that

no its not.....Magazines are 2nd Class.....and many Parcels come 4th Class.....they are not considered Junk.....

 

[Sunshine]

if its doesnt have a first class stamp its junk mail simple as that

no its not.....Magazines are 2nd Class.....and many Parcels come 4th Class.....they are not considered Junk.....

LOL. Once my credit union decided to save some postage. That year, they changed everyone's credit card to something new and sent them all out second class. Seeing that it was not first class mail, I chucked it thinking it was one of their ads for insurance or some such. Then when the card I had didn't work I called them. Apparently I was not the ONLY one who did that. Not only did they have to replace all the cards, they had to pay more postage and saved NO money in the fray!

 

[Harry Dresden]

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.

Several laws will need changing as many depend on official notifications thru the US mail.

like Certified Mail.....

 

[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.

Several laws will need changing as many depend on official notifications thru the US mail.

like Certified Mail.....

They should call it 'certified nothing.' The last certified thing I sent was lost. They don't track that from point to point. If you want it tracked from point to point you have to overnight it or go UPS.

 

[percysunshine]

The Postal Service is shutting down.

All those who care raise their hands.

 

[Sunshine]

The Postal Service is shutting down.

All those who care raise their hands.

"Stand on your head and shit in your watchpocket" is likely to get more the reaction you are looking for.

Even with the complaints I have, I would still miss the postal service. I would especially miss them being open on Saturday because it is the only time they are open that I am not at work myself.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Says the dipshit who runs down to DMV the day before an election to get an ID card

lol....anyhoooo

USPS should be privatized, in order to keep it functioning

Ohh someone would love that so they could raid the USPS pension fund, which is the highest funded pension fund in all of the government agencies and higher than virtually all private pension funds.

then fold and make the taxpayers pay the retired postal workers pensions thru the PGBS? Forget the exact acronym.
It is called externalizing costs.

do you mean the ...PBGC?...Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.....

 

[FuelRod]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hox-ni8geIw]I'd like to cancel my mail - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Harry Dresden]

Just think of the mail box industry folding and how many jobs would be lost.
A mail box can only be used for USPS mail, it is the law.

well.....how many different people do you want with access to your box?......

 

[Harry Dresden]

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

i dont think so.....they feed from that money trough too.....

 

[dcbl]

Please note that the stuff you get on a weekly & mothly basis is coming from the SAME people over & over again.

maybe to you.....i deliver catalogs and ads from places i have never seen before.....as well as the known stuff.....

The same companies send direct mail with great consistency. I'm confident you've noticed that.

Nice points BTW

 

[Harry Dresden]

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.

find someone who will deliver your letter across town for 44 cents....

 

[Harry Dresden]

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.

you defiantly have worked there....this is the inside in a nutshell....its even worse today....