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USPS Mail May Be Cut to 5 Days - Price of stamps up 2 cents.
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i thoroughly support the idea. it's much better for the environment to get those gas guzzling mail trucks off the road another day of the week. i do think it should be saturday that gets cut however. c'mon, who wants to work on a saturday (coming from someone who does work saturdays)?
For very small items, yes, but when I ordered my MacBook the guy used USPS to ship it and it costed about $50. Last week, I had to ship my iMac (easily weighs 3x as much as a MacBook) through FedEx and it was only about $20.
I may be wrong about this, but I thought the US postal service was at an all-time high for volume of mail delivered. That's why I was always surprised when I'd hear reports of how much money they're losing.
I think it was attributed to the increase in bulk (junk) mail and a sharp increase on packages (courtesy of eBay, Amazon and other online shopping sites) over the past several years.
No, even very large items ship for next to nothing when using media and other "slow" options - options commercial carriers don't offer (for example, sending 6 or 7 hardcover books would probably cost well over $10 with UPS Ground, but only a couple of bucks with USPS Media).
Also, international shipping is usually less (even for packages) with USPS versus the others - although it can be argued that it's much safer to go with one of the competitors as they offer tracking services, and those increase the price of USPS international shipping significantly.
But you're right, the main advantage of the post office is for mailing letters and small items, and that's a hole that I doubt UPS or FedEx are eager to fill.
Still, the fact remains that for anyone looking to ship something - large or small, domestically or international - for as cheaply as possible, no one rivals the US postal service.
(Also, the figures you're quoting for the iMac and MacBook are surely for FedEx Ground (or at best 3 Day) versus USPS Priority Mail, not really the same tiers of service...)
I wouldn't want Saturday delivery cut. Cutting one of the weekdays would be better. If Saturday is cut, we would then have two consecutive days without mail delivery....which would be a major inconvenience. Not to mention, Saturday is the only day that many people can actually get into a post office, if they need to. Personally, the post office is not open yet when I leave for work in the morning and already closed by the time I get out of work. Unless I try trudging to one during lunch, I and many others would be SOL (especially people who don't have cars).
from this link one gets the impression that the USPS is just after a bail out...of one kind or another.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/28/news/economy/postal_service/index.htm
simple solution is to raise the price of a stamp
but its just so much easier to have the Feds borrow the money from China and give it to the USPS, then debase the currency, and then no one has to pay extra for a stamp...the only problem is the Feds want to borrow so much that not even China has enough to lend...which means the only solution is for the price of a stamp to go up
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/28/news/economy/postal_service/index.htm
simple solution is to raise the price of a stamp
but its just so much easier to have the Feds borrow the money from China and give it to the USPS, then debase the currency, and then no one has to pay extra for a stamp...the only problem is the Feds want to borrow so much that not even China has enough to lend...which means the only solution is for the price of a stamp to go up
simple solution is to raise the price of a stamp
Yeah, just raise first class to $1 and be done with it. If that's not enough to get them in the black, they need some massive layoffs (starting with the Postmaster General).
i don't think you guys understand first class postage.
one thing is that legally it can't be raised any higher than last year's Consumer Price Index (3.8%) which is about 2 cents.
another thing is that business that are looking to keep people employed while keeping costs low would take a huge hit if it was raised to one dollar. Just because you can afford to send a snail mail letter for a dollar every once in a hilwe doesn't mean a business can afford to do that every month. businesses would certainly look to other means (email, etc.) besides mail, which would in turn mean even less revenue for USPS, etc.
one thing is that legally it can't be raised any higher than last year's Consumer Price Index (3.8%) which is about 2 cents.
another thing is that business that are looking to keep people employed while keeping costs low would take a huge hit if it was raised to one dollar. Just because you can afford to send a snail mail letter for a dollar every once in a hilwe doesn't mean a business can afford to do that every month. businesses would certainly look to other means (email, etc.) besides mail, which would in turn mean even less revenue for USPS, etc.
I think they were proposing Tuesday as the day because it has the lowest volume. Most people pick up/send their mail on Mondays after the weekend and then Tuesdays tend to be a little slower. They'd keep Saturdays for the reasons you mentioned.
They keep trying that, but I resist.
I want paper, and that's the end of it.
Pass the extra costs on to me. That's fine. Let the user pay.
Well, who is going to pay for the shortfall then? This is why the US is going broke, people don't seem to think they should have to pay full price for anything.
Laws, by their nature, can be changed.
Raising the price by 2 cents would fix the problem...however the USPS *really* wants to cut health benefit payments, and funny enough the Democrats want to introduce a federal/state run health system. Now, I don't want to comment that such a thing would be good or bad but you can see that a bigger game is being played here.
The even bigger question is where the Fed's think the are going to get the money for all of this?
I think that this is a pretty good idea. But perhaps I am biased, because I receive little to no mail every day. Ha ha.
So what do they want, low margin and high volume or high margin and low volume?
Because it looks like they can't have it both ways.
Look, if what you say is right about postage being tied to the CPI (which I'm sure is true) then all it tells me is the USPS can't thrive even in a rigged system. By design, they have a monopoly on high volume bulk mail and small items like letters and they still can't make a profit?
Why not get rid of all these restrictions and let them see how they do in a truly free market? If $1 is too much for business to pay to send out their unwanted junk mail, then they should stop sending it. If $1 is too much for business to send out hard copies of documents, then (as another poster said) they should pass that cost onto the customers that want the service. If neither of these flies, then there's clearly something wrong with the system and maybe the USPS should not exist, or be completely overhauled into a different beast.
Even if it were to go away entirely, the existing carriers (or even a private startup) would fill in the gaps if there's truly a need or demand from the public - if there's a profit to be made. If not, then the entire concept of low cost, high volume mail must be inherently flawed.
But I truly doubt this. I'm sure the right person at the helm with the proper reorganization could have the United States Postal Service pulling in a profit in no time.
The things that Potter isn't telling.
Potter can make statements that, either aren't completely true, or completely leave out other important things. Mail Volume figures have been manipulated in the past. He says that he's put a freeze on raises. Well, the Supervisors yearly raises are geared on production on a personal, District, and National formula. What he isn't mentioning, is the Bonuses that are given out mostly yearly. And believe me, upper Management gets BIG ones. Another thing is that if they go to 5 day delivery, they have more workers available. The workers are now on staggered days off. If they all have the same days off each week, they then have more workers, so they can fire more people, lay them off, of let them go due to attrition. Email has been present for years now. It did not take a jump that big in one year. The fuel crunch hit everyone, but he's not blaming that. IMHO, I think he has another agenda. If he can get Congress to start making more different rules for the USPS than the quasi-government rules they now have to follow, it opens up the door for privatization. If that happens, we will lose the one thing that protects the privacy of our First Class Mail. The laws that prohibit people from opening it, AND making theft so much easier if it's handled by Private companies. Also, the past projections say that the price of First Class Postage will climb through the roof. Look at the postage in other countries. Also, the delivery time. Brazil privatized and none of the companies operate the same from company to company. It takes ages to move a letter, or package.
At the same time, NO other company in the U.S. is able to deliver to the Rural Addresses for the same amount of postage. No one is set up for that. Could you see FedEx or UPS delivering a letter in the country, or anywhere else for $.42? The Bulk Mail is what keeps the cost of First Class down. But they need to continue the service which they already have.
Potter can make statements that, either aren't completely true, or completely leave out other important things. Mail Volume figures have been manipulated in the past. He says that he's put a freeze on raises. Well, the Supervisors yearly raises are geared on production on a personal, District, and National formula. What he isn't mentioning, is the Bonuses that are given out mostly yearly. And believe me, upper Management gets BIG ones. Another thing is that if they go to 5 day delivery, they have more workers available. The workers are now on staggered days off. If they all have the same days off each week, they then have more workers, so they can fire more people, lay them off, of let them go due to attrition. Email has been present for years now. It did not take a jump that big in one year. The fuel crunch hit everyone, but he's not blaming that. IMHO, I think he has another agenda. If he can get Congress to start making more different rules for the USPS than the quasi-government rules they now have to follow, it opens up the door for privatization. If that happens, we will lose the one thing that protects the privacy of our First Class Mail. The laws that prohibit people from opening it, AND making theft so much easier if it's handled by Private companies. Also, the past projections say that the price of First Class Postage will climb through the roof. Look at the postage in other countries. Also, the delivery time. Brazil privatized and none of the companies operate the same from company to company. It takes ages to move a letter, or package.
At the same time, NO other company in the U.S. is able to deliver to the Rural Addresses for the same amount of postage. No one is set up for that. Could you see FedEx or UPS delivering a letter in the country, or anywhere else for $.42? The Bulk Mail is what keeps the cost of First Class down. But they need to continue the service which they already have.
Easy one: Public jobs. Every *@%# public office I call seems to NOT DO ANYTHING Friday because "it's almost the weekend", Monday because "that was a hard weekend", and Wednesday because "we have lots of meetings".
They could just cut them down to 1 day a week *shudder*
Edit: You should see what our bankrupt town did, when you dial the non-emergency number for the police department you get an answering machine. Not bad for a city with 120,000 people! I've had to leave a message on it before, and got a canned response about 2 weeks later! *UGH*
Double Edit: I think USPS should deliver all 7 days of the week, period, and not charge extra for it.
They should eliminate the USPS and our bills will be sent by email, all my bills are delivered by email.
In Canada it runs on a 5 day schedule for mail and we live fine with it. Hell won't be breaking loose if mail isn't delivered on saturdays. The idea of mail being delivered on a saturday is just weird to me. Many post offices still operate on saturdays (and even sundays), but the actual transport doesn't occur during that period.
But that's just a Canadian's perspective. Things are obviously somewhat different down in the USA
But that's just a Canadian's perspective. Things are obviously somewhat different down in the USA
In Canada it runs on a 5 day schedule for mail and we live fine with it. Hell won't be breaking loose if mail isn't delivered on saturdays. The idea of mail being delivered on a saturday is just weird to me. Many post offices still operate on saturdays (and even sundays), but the actual transport doesn't occur during that period.
But that's just a Canadian's perspective. Things are obviously somewhat different down in the USA
Same here, there are no deliveries, be they Australia Post or private courier on weekends.
Nobody gives a toss.
Agreed. I'm a current USPS employee (I noticed you said you were retired), and I agree. Potter has been pushing privatization for a while now. We've had a lot of routes going contract/private in the Phoenix area as I'm sure it's happening all over the country, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is just another excuse for him to cut postal jobs. They have also been trying to push early retirement onto a lot of folks recently. I guess it didn't work.
Oh, and to the poster that thinks we get 8 weeks of vacation a year: I wish.
Contrary to belief but some people don't have email. And how do you send a package through the internet?