Post Office to stop Saturday Delivery

[Harry Dresden]

The Post Office Is Not Broke | The Nation


At the behest of the Republican-controlled Congress of the Bush-Cheney era, the USPS has been forced since 2006 to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. As the American Postal Workers Union notes, “This mandate is the primary cause of the agency’s financial crisis. No other government agency or private company bears this burden, which costs the USPS approximately $5.5 billion annually.”

Now, however, we learn that the pre-funding requirements have taken so much money from the USPS that—according to the postal service’s own inspector general—it has “significantly exceeded” the level of reserved money that the federal government or private corporations divert to meet future pension and retiree healthcare demands. “Using ratepayer funds, it has built a war chest of over $326 billion to address its future liabilities,” acknowledges Postal Service Inspector General David C. Williams

Yes, cons want the USPS out of business ... they're unionized. The GOP wants privatized everything.

hey Junky?.....where are your Democrats protecting the place?......eliminating Sat delivery is something that the Unions were steadfastly against......where were your Democrats on this?......answer......they are no different than the Republicans concerning the PO......if you and Truth were not such fucking hacks you might be able to see that....

 

[chikenwing]

Another Gov.run entity that is struggling financially,WOW who could have thought.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Good. One less day I fill the trash can with the garbage delivered to me home.
If the USPS would stop permitting junk mail it would probably reduce it's mail volume by 50% and thus run somewhat efficiently.

why would it do that?.....that is a multi billion dollar a year business....this kind of mail is not the reason the PO is losing money....

No.... the fact that you have temporary seasonal employees enjoying the same benefits as full time postal workers IS. With the advancements of the Internet, paying bills online, etc .... the United States Post Office is left to only provide those services that directly compete with UPS and Federal Express. This is the result of holding onto heavy burdening "cushion" entitlement benefits that comes into contact with, and meets head on to more higher efficiency cost effective services. If the United States Post Office doesn't cut away its fat of al their entitlement comforts, they will find themselves a thing of the past..... like the pony express.

they do not.....were the hell do you people get this shit?....this is an example of someone on the outside looking in....

 

[thereisnospoon]

The legislation was poorly designed, has been poorly implemented, and has hurt the USPS.

The USPS hurts itself because the system is inefficient and the pricing schedule is stupid.
Why ship a letter across the country for the same price as shipping a letter across town?
Postal rates should be set by the distance the package travels.
UPS has zone rates. Why not the USPS?

Because it's 46 cents. Who gives a shit. You're welcome to spend the $25 dollars Fedex charges to send a letter from coast to coast if you feel that strongly about it.

...Illogical.
You want the USPS and it's union employees protected. I suggest a way to do that and your talons come out.
You cannot have it both ways.
Who said anything about $25?
Who gives a shit? Apparently the USPS does. The management of same has made a decision to cut one day from their residential delivery schedule.
Look ,it's done.
Now the USPS must find ways to at least break even.
The rates will have to be adjusted. Period.

 

[freedombecki]

Makes sense

Frankly, I could probably get by with two day a week mail delivery

That wouldn't work for businesses that employ people nor businesses that deliver the US Mail. Part of the Mail service is investigative when people do fraud. They work around the clock delivering safe mail and packages. How could you get people to work 2 days a week rather than have full-time jobs? People can't pay for insurance, housing, utilities, food, and clothing on 2 days a week pay.

We don't need another Edmond, Oklahoma, postal incident.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Who cares? The Post Office is so 20th Century.

If that.

 

[Truthmatters]

Another Gov.run entity that is struggling financially,WOW who could have thought.

Do you even know why they aree struggling?

 

[Truthmatters]

The Post Office Is Not Broke | The Nation


At the behest of the Republican-controlled Congress of the Bush-Cheney era, the USPS has been forced since 2006 to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. As the American Postal Workers Union notes, “This mandate is the primary cause of the agency’s financial crisis. No other government agency or private company bears this burden, which costs the USPS approximately $5.5 billion annually.”

Now, however, we learn that the pre-funding requirements have taken so much money from the USPS that—according to the postal service’s own inspector general—it has “significantly exceeded” the level of reserved money that the federal government or private corporations divert to meet future pension and retiree healthcare demands. “Using ratepayer funds, it has built a war chest of over $326 billion to address its future liabilities,” acknowledges Postal Service Inspector General David C. Williams

Yes, cons want the USPS out of business ... they're unionized. The GOP wants privatized everything.

hey Junky?.....where are your Democrats protecting the place?......eliminating Sat delivery is something that the Unions were steadfastly against......where were your Democrats on this?......answer......they are no different than the Republicans concerning the PO......if you and Truth were not such fucking hacks you might be able to see that....

So you claim the post office is not under this retirement burden?

 

[thereisnospoon]

I agree we should limit the days a week the post office delivers, no one needs mail every day, 4 or 5 days a week is plenty. Repealing or revising the outragous retirement requirment that has seriously overburdened the USPS is a great idea too, i can only imagine the idiots we elected didnt read or understand what they were passing. However, I don't support any attempt to privatize or phase out the postal service. It's still a vital component in our everyday lives.

"4 or 5 days a week is plenty."
" It's still a vital component in our everyday lives."
This is what we call a "contradiction"..
SO which is it? 4 or 5 days per week? Or every day?
And don't come back with some bullshit about context.
You wrote what you wrote.
The USPS is NOT overburdened. In fact first class mail volume is down 25% since 2008.
The pension system is fully funded.
The pension obligation is not the cause of these issues. The lack of inbound revenue combined with an inefficient system.

 

[thereisnospoon]

I agree we should limit the days a week the post office delivers, no one needs mail every day, 4 or 5 days a week is plenty. Repealing or revising the outragous retirement requirment that has seriously overburdened the USPS is a great idea too, i can only imagine the idiots we elected didnt read or understand what they were passing. However, I don't support any attempt to privatize or phase out the postal service. It's still a vital component in our everyday lives.

It's already well on the way to privatization. UPS. Fed Ex, electronic bill pay, etc.
We don;t use the mail nearly as much as we used to. We don't require as much of the services from the USPS anymore.
Quite frankly, most of what I see in my mail box is junk, advertisements and other nonsense.
Most of my bills are paperless. Even the tax bills are electronic. I no longer require mail service to renew the vehicle registrations nor our driver's license renewal.
The USPS could be retooled to function in a more specialized role.

 

[thereisnospoon]

I for one is Happy about this .. I hope they cut back junk mail next .. I do 99 percent of my bills online now anyway

I'm totally paperless and all my bills are on auto-pay.

you would be surprised Nola how many people are not.....and talking to them.....they may never do it on line...

The rest of us should not be held back nor should we be forced to pay for those who refuse technology.
Those who make the conscious choice to keep it old school should pay for that choice.
In any event, the inevitable is the USPS will have to downsize to accommodate the lower volume of mail.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Yes, cons want the USPS out of business ... they're unionized. The GOP wants privatized everything.

hey Junky?.....where are your Democrats protecting the place?......eliminating Sat delivery is something that the Unions were steadfastly against......where were your Democrats on this?......answer......they are no different than the Republicans concerning the PO......if you and Truth were not such fucking hacks you might be able to see that....

So you claim the post office is not under this retirement burden?

Forget the pension issue. That's an excuse.
The two most glaring facts that brig down the pension argument are these....The system as it functions is inefficient in that it requires too many human beings to operate the system plus the USPS does not charge appropriate rates for the type of service it provides.
Most importantly, First Class mail volume is down 25% since 2008.
The USPS has to be downsized. The elimination of Saturday residential delivery is just step one.
Look, it's over. Accept it.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Makes sense

Frankly, I could probably get by with two day a week mail delivery

That wouldn't work for businesses that employ people nor businesses that deliver the US Mail. Part of the Mail service is investigative when people do fraud. They work around the clock delivering safe mail and packages. How could you get people to work 2 days a week rather than have full-time jobs? People can't pay for insurance, housing, utilities, food, and clothing on 2 days a week pay.

We don't need another Edmond, Oklahoma, postal incident.

Ok. First off, the issue of whether or not people can work two days per week and make a living is in a word, immaterial. If we held that view as pertinent we'd be driving horse drawn buggies. As technology advances, some jobs are eliminated because they are simply no longer necessary.
Now, delivery of pieces of mail is only part of the USPS function. Just because there will be one less day of residential delivery means nothing regarding the general USPS operations.

 

[thereisnospoon]

I'm totally paperless and all my bills are on auto-pay.

you would be surprised Nola how many people are not.....and talking to them.....they may never do it on line...

I travel a lot, so, it ensures that I always get my bills, and they always get paid on the due date, automatically.

I know, I have clients who are actually forcing employees to do Direct Deposit! Who the hell wants to have to cash a check?

I have not received a paycheck from an employer in over 20 years. It's all direct deposit.
In fact, few payroll companies even distribute pay statements. The employee simply goes on line to look at their statements

 

[thereisnospoon]

Good. One less day I fill the trash can with the garbage delivered to me home.
If the USPS would stop permitting junk mail it would probably reduce it's mail volume by 50% and thus run somewhat efficiently.

why would it do that?.....that is a multi billion dollar a year business....this kind of mail is not the reason the PO is losing money....

Ok....Let's do a simple exercise.
I am a delivery company. Just like the PO...
By law I have to accept and deliver at a set price 100 pieces of mail 6 days per week.
That costs me $1,000 per day....
If I eliminate one delivery day, I now only spend $5000 per week.
So if 50% of my volume is pieces that people really do not want and therefore the law allows me relief from delivering it, guess what, I can slash my costs by reducing my mandate volume which can allow me to spend less on labor, fuel, wear and tear on my vehicles, wages and equipment. I can in effect become more profitable by reducing my costs.
Pretty simple stuff.
Handle less, Costs less.
The USPS is too large. It has too many employees to justify the reduced volume of mail.
There comes a time when those who have an interest in seeing something prevail must surrender that idea.

 

[sfcalifornia]

The USPS hurts itself because the system is inefficient and the pricing schedule is stupid.
Why ship a letter across the country for the same price as shipping a letter across town?
Postal rates should be set by the distance the package travels.
UPS has zone rates. Why not the USPS?

Because it's 46 cents. Who gives a shit. You're welcome to spend the $25 dollars Fedex charges to send a letter from coast to coast if you feel that strongly about it.

...Illogical.
You want the USPS and it's union employees protected. I suggest a way to do that and your talons come out.
You cannot have it both ways.
Who said anything about $25?
Who gives a shit? Apparently the USPS does. The management of same has made a decision to cut one day from their residential delivery schedule.
Look ,it's done.
Now the USPS must find ways to at least break even.
The rates will have to be adjusted. Period.

Wrong, as usual.

First of all, if the USPS has to downsize because of waning volumes of mail being sent, then so be it. It's a sign of the times. It's not right or wrong, it just is. If it turns out the USPS goes out of the letter/bill/paycheck/junk mail delivery business in a few decades, so be it.

Secondly, I despise unions of all shapes and sizes.

So much for your claim that I want to "protect" the USPS.

To handle the volume of mail the USPS handles each year, a zone system to mail a letter is inefficient. We'd have to stand in line to mail each letter, just to make sure we got the right zone and the right postage. The lines at the USPS are long enough as it is.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Yes, cons want the USPS out of business ... they're unionized. The GOP wants privatized everything.

hey Junky?.....where are your Democrats protecting the place?......eliminating Sat delivery is something that the Unions were steadfastly against......where were your Democrats on this?......answer......they are no different than the Republicans concerning the PO......if you and Truth were not such fucking hacks you might be able to see that....

So you claim the post office is not under this retirement burden?

is that what i said here?......Dam i thought that statement said the Democrats are no different when it comes to the PO then the Republicans are....you had better learn how to read Truth.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

I'm totally paperless and all my bills are on auto-pay.

you would be surprised Nola how many people are not.....and talking to them.....they may never do it on line...

The rest of us should not be held back nor should we be forced to pay for those who refuse technology.
Those who make the conscious choice to keep it old school should pay for that choice.
In any event, the inevitable is the USPS will have to downsize to accommodate the lower volume of mail.

no argument there Spoon.....like i said, i used to tell these people .....get direct deposit and you wont have to wait for me.....they wanted that Check in their hand.....and as far as downsizing.....they have been.....as of when i left last month they hadn't hired anyone since 07.....and they were closing lots of facilities....but they will fuck it up....they always do....

 

[Harry Dresden]

you would be surprised Nola how many people are not.....and talking to them.....they may never do it on line...

I travel a lot, so, it ensures that I always get my bills, and they always get paid on the due date, automatically.

I know, I have clients who are actually forcing employees to do Direct Deposit! Who the hell wants to have to cash a check?

I have not received a paycheck from an employer in over 20 years. It's all direct deposit.
In fact, few payroll companies even distribute pay statements. The employee simply goes on line to look at their statements

and the PO itself suggest direct deposit for its employees....

 

[tjvh]

Makes sense

Frankly, I could probably get by with two day a week mail delivery

Why do you hate Unions? It's clear this move is going to hurt Postal Union employees and basically eliminate any possibility of them soaking up weekend overtime. I thought you Liberals were for Union workers? Apparently not.