Who Didn't See This One Coming? ( grr )

[Immanuel]

Yep Immie , just raise the rates to cover the expenses.

Well, it is not that easy!

But, still, the problem lies with our belief that the government should provide this service at such ridiculously low rates.

I'd be bitching if they raised the cost of stamps too, but the fact is, as LWC pointed out, there is no way in hell you would get FedEx to deliver a letter for 42 cents.

Immie

 

[uscitizen]

Only get rid of it if the laws on US mail protecting citizens are transferered to the alternate means of message delivery. ie federal law against messing with anyone elses email, etc.
Also make you email id transferrable to another service provider.
Email Portability act?
You know one problem with that, not everyone has an email account and many pay for them.

 

[boedicca]

Your email is portable at anytime. Just change your email address with whomever sends you stuff (i.e. your online bank, brokerage accounts etc.).

 

[L.K.Eder]

Postmaster General John Potter said Tuesday that he intends to seek congressional approval to cut Saturday delivery as part of a wide-ranging plan to close a multi-billion dollar budget gap.

Though the idea of cutting service from six to five days has gotten a cool reception on Capitol Hill, Potter said that the plan would include enough flexibility so that customers who need Saturday service can get it and that this and other changes need to be implemented for the Postal Service to survive.

"We built a plan that we think is very reasonable. ... We intend to pursue that," he said. "It's a move that we simply have to make."

Much more : FOXNews.com - Postal Service Seeks Permission to End Saturday Delivery

when i grow up, i want to be postmaster.

 

[Mr Natural]

An Army of men and women in woolen pants delivering catalogs door-to-door.

Guess our founding fathers didn't see that one coming.

Wonder what else they missed?

 

[boedicca]

Waiting in line at the DMV to see a doctor?

 

[uscitizen]

Your email is portable at anytime. Just change your email address with whomever sends you stuff (i.e. your online bank, brokerage accounts etc.).

But my physical address is more permanent.
And with the USPS if my physical addy changes I have one card to submit to get all my mail forwarded.
While I get all the other businesses notified.

 

[boedicca]

Your email is portable at anytime. Just change your email address with whomever sends you stuff (i.e. your online bank, brokerage accounts etc.).

But my physical address is more permanent.
And with the USPS if my physical addy changes I have one card to submit to get all my mail forwarded.
While I get all the other businesses notified.

Choice - it's a beautiful thing. If you wish to rely on the USPS, that's your perogative. AS of now, nobody else does regular home delivery on a daily basis. In my case, 95%+ of my physical mail is garbage that I toss in the bin. The majority of my important things are accessed online.

 

[saveliberty]

Saturday delivery being lost is not a big deal, unless the credit card companies and others who like late fees benefit. Sounds like an opportunity for private firms to fill the gap, if they see a profit. All in all, a good experiment into what place the postal service can serve.

 

[Mr Natural]

If they want to save some money, just cut delivery to once a week just before the garbage goes out.

 

[xotoxi]

BOO FUCKIN' HOO!

No more mail on Saturdays.

BOO MUTHAFUCKIN' HOOSIER-MAMA!!!

 

[uscitizen]

there goes the economy down another notch.

 

[Harry Dresden]

I think the postal service peaked with the pony express.

thanx for your support Cali.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

What the Post Office should really do is raise the cost of a stamp to competitive rates, especially the cost of all the damn Junk mail. If they raised the cost of all that bulk junk mail, they'd save on labor costs from the companies that can't afford it anymore, and it would stop filling up my garbage pail.

if the PO raised the rate of a stamp to "competitive rates" whatever that may be.......the stamps would cost 1.50-2.50 depending on where it is going...........and the thing that keeps the rate of a stamp down is that "damn junk mail".......so called junk mail is still considered to be the most effective form of advertising.....

 

[uscitizen]

So the postal service has become a govt subsidized advertising medium for corporations?

 

[Harry Dresden]

Lets just give the responsibility of daily letter delivery to UPS and see where their rates go?

UPS years ago said if they delivered 1st class mail they would charge well over a dollar for a letter.....and they said the post office should charge to forward a letter....

 

[Mr Natural]

So the postal service has become a govt subsidized advertising medium for corporations?

It would appear that way, yes.

 

[Harry Dresden]

There is an act of congress mandating minimum fees for to door deliver of postal matter.

The thing is, all I get these days is legal notices from Washington County and advertising circulars. All my other stuff goes email. The bank has permission to send all my banking business by email, and that is where I get all my business correspondence.

You get rid of the minimum price law, I think we would see lots lower prices for express mail, but that is all there would ever be.

From what I understand, the US post office is the world's most efficient and cheapest. The German post office (known locally as the Bundespest) seems to be one of the most expensive.

The US mail moves an incredible amount of drek for really cheap cost over a huge area. Very little gets lost too. So it is the best and cheapest buggy whip dealer. I don't see much of a point for it any more.

you would be surprised at the amount of industries and people who depend on the post office....and this is on top of every other thing that is out there.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

The Postal Service has been one of the most efficient and large-scale efforts ever instituted in this country.

It's one of the most efficient government efforts...and it's bankrupt.

'nuff said.

its not bankrupt yet....but if you see how management manages its finances its not hard to see why they lose so much money.....see post no. 4.....Meister knows this place as well as me....

 

[boedicca]

its not bankrupt yet....but if you see how management manages its finances its not hard to see why they lose so much money.....see post no. 4.....Meister knows this place as well as me....

The USPS doesn't have the sharpest management - but they are also plagued by a suffocating employee union which resists any changes to make the operations more efficient.