USPS to go under

[dogman_1234]

The USPS has announced that is has a 9.5 Billion dollar debt it must pay, accounting it; 5.5 Billion in retiree benefits. With no tax collection, the USPS could face a default, shutting down at least 3000 centers around the US.

There are alternatives to mailing, such as online billing, and other 'small' chained postal services, yet, none of them seem to be efficient enough for the elderly, small business and rural communities; who cannot receive mail through small carriers nor the Internet,( due to speed and or price per Mbps.)

Ideas as to 'saving' the USPS:

1) Remove the retiree benefits by not accepting Union agreement
2) Raise prices to offset until the end of the year
3) Layoff or furlough workers
4) Ask Congress for money(unlikely with the Brady bunch we have now)
5) Default completely


What you can do:

1) Pay online/Cloud payment services
2) FedEx/UPS or small carriers
3) Continue USPS until default.

 

[jsc]

1) [strike]Remove[/strike] Reduce the retiree benefits by not accepting Union agreement

 

[x Heavy]

I for one care not.

We had the Pony express, railroad express mail and now the failing of the Postal service.

Let it fail I say.

With that said, it is cheaper for me to go onto newegg online, order parts and have mr brown UPS deliver it to me. Much cheaper than physically driving 50 miles to a Retail Store which may or may not have the exact part you are looking for.

With the US Post service, they are just going to have to break the unions, tear up the pensions and break the contracts all the way down. Then raise the costs to one dollar 25 for a simple letter.

I do like their registered priority system as it prevents the average dock worker from shaking the box and seeing if there is gun stuff or bullion inside the boxes. I will miss that greatly.

The mail I get really isnt that much anymore. A few remaining paper bills. Everything is automatically taken out of banking online now. I keep a PO box anyway because generally you need to have a address unless you are a Homeless Vet living near the VA.

 

[Gulli]

Ideas as to 'saving' the USPS:

1) Remove the retiree benefits by not accepting Union agreement
2) Raise prices to offset until the end of the year
3) Layoff or furlough workers
4) Ask Congress for money(unlikely with the Brady bunch we have now)
5) Default completely

How about:

1) Remove bonuses
2) Break the contracts of the executives all the way down
3) Fire expensive managers and consultants who don't do actual work

Then let's see if their is still a deficit left, if so it might be wise to close offices in sparsely populated areas.

 

[beenthere]

Letter prices are averaged to make it fair for all. Packages actually subsidize letter rates to keep them low. The economic crash worldwide is the primary cause of the USPS problems along with the internet and thus a reduction in direct mail marketing which use to add a lot of revenue.

The clowns in DC won't allow the USPS to go under so do not worry your tax dollars will bail them out...

 

[beenthere]

It's never going to be distance based so accept reality. We're all paying a little fee for first class mail compared to other countries and our service is pretty damn good.

 

[beenthere]

Not gonna happen.

 

[geekapproved]

The post office is not going under.

The locations they are closing are small town offices that have hardly any business.

 

[dogman_1234]

^ like my local PO.

Should we all go online t do stuff...or is there a risk?

 

[surelock]

The Government has its hands in way too many Businesses. USPS is a business let it function like one, no bail out, no tarp, no stimulus , no federal funding. In the real world if something doesn't work it fails, they close up shop and someone else takes over. This whole "we got your back" thing is killing our nation. *Steps down from soap box*

 

[beenthere]

So you're saying we should allow the USPS to disappear because the world is in an economic depression? Yeah, that will work well...

 

[dogman_1234]

It would be better for the union actually.

 

[mightymaxio]

Honestly USPS prices are way better than any other mailing service for letters and envelopes. Why we need them in business?????


1) Netflix does all the shipping through this, which i would be pissed off at if i had to pay 15$ a dvd to get mailed through UPS or fedex on a expedited fee.
2) All transripts from school have to get mailed, not faxed, not carried over, not any of those because they could have been tampered with. Again if this were ups or fedex, expect a huge fee.
3) I like getting letters, call me old fashion but its nice to get a letter or a package at college from friends at home instead of checking emails which isnt as formal and not as enjoyable than opening a letter.
4) What about if the internet went down from all these recent hacking problems? Dont say its not true because look what they did to Brazil, shut down the whole internet from some DDOS attacks. How would you get bills? What about summons to court or a fine from the city? Unless you want them knowing all of your email addresses mail is the only way they could send you stuff.
5) Theres way to many to list, so saying that we don't need the USPS is highly uneducated and downright stupid.

 

[Guest]

How about this brilliant idea?

Lets not charge the same $$ amount for postage to send a letter from Virginia to California as it does to send a letter to the other side of the same city I live in. How about that?

It's sort of like a painter charging the same to paint a 10,000 sq. ft. home vs. a 2,000 sq ft. home. Sure, he can do it, but he won't be in business very long...........not without public/government funding that is.

I know I know, no applause please, just throw money.

I agree, USPS needs to take weight and distance into their pricing schemes. They also need to make sure their flat rate shipping is profitable. USPS's has a obscene amount of overhead, the majority of it being labor. There's no denying that Unions benefit their members (sometimes they don't too), but there's a point when they start hurting the companies that employ them. A good parasite keeps the host alive. Unions are killing their host.

 

[Gulli]

You are already paying $15/dvd to ship over night. It's just the money is first removed from your paycheck before you even see it. Then is filtered through many layers of beuracracy before finally subsidizing the USPS.

The USPS postal rates have been a farce for a very long time. People talk about sustainability concerning the evvironment all the time. Well, here is a perfect example of something that is clearly not sustainable. No ifs, ands, or buts.

There ae subsidies for USPS but I doubt they'll amount to something like $14.56. maybe an independent organization should research this more thorougly before an service is destroyed. The reason being that we can't just assume things will become cheaper though privatization: in Europe it's often been the opposite (whatever efficiency increases there were, they were usually offset by the profit margins and soaring salaries and bonuses for the executives and CEOs). there's also the question of how much competition there would actually be: removal of the USPS could itself lead to price increases across the board because the cheapest player is removed from the market and if USPS has trouble maintaining one office in a small town then chances are either one player will be left in a mall town (meaning they have a monopoly) or none at all (meaning there is no mail at all), so the whole privatization becomes useless to the inhabitants of small towns (a sizeable part of the entire population). One could say there is a reasonable chance getting rid of the USPS will increase the total cost to the population and even if the total 9and thus average) doesn't increase, the burden will gravitate towards people in small towns.

 

[Gulli]

There's no denying that Unions benefit their members (sometimes they don't too), but there's a point when they start hurting the companies that employ them. A good parasite keeps the host alive. Unions are killing their host.

It may very well be that, all other things (including shipping rates and obscene executive pay) being equal, the salaries of USPS employees would have to be lower than minimum wage to keep USPS afloat, so don't be so quick to say the union should just give in (unless you are 146 years behind the times and believe it's no biggy to have people woking for less than minimum wage).

 

[jadedmonkey]

I look forward to the USPS crashing and burning for 2 reasons.

1) 99% of the USPS mail I receive is junkmail; There is no spam filter on my postman.

2) if the USPS is done away with, sending a physical gretting card to a loved one would have to be sent UPS or FedEx, and then I will be justified in not only refusing to spend $5.00 on a greeting card, but also justified in not spending $8.00 to ship said card through UPS/FedEx/DHL etc. Now I can send my FREE e-cards and no one can judge me.

 

[beenthere]

^^^^ You act Jaded...

 

[jsc]

Honestly USPS prices are way better than any other mailing service for letters and envelopes. Why we need them in business?????

But what happens when prices rise to a sustainable, break-even point?

 

[Gulli]

But what happens when prices rise to a sustainable, break-even point?

No one knows for certain, this should be thorougly investigated.

 

[wanamingo]

Im sure the free market will correct.

 

[Gulli]

Im sure the free market will correct.

Haha yes, by setting executive pay to "industry standards".

 

[wanamingo]

No seriously, competition with the USPS has kept prices down (relatively) with other commercial shipping companies. Whats to stop them from jacking up their prices when/if the USPS goes under?

Shipping isnt something you can kind of just jump into......

 

[Gulli]

No seriously, competition with the USPS has kept prices down (relatively) with other commercial shipping companies. Whats to stop them from jacking up their prices when/if the USPS goes under?

Shipping isnt something you can kind of just jump into......

Exactemundo!

 

[jsc]

Shipping isnt something you can kind of just jump into......

How do you think UPS and FedEx got their start.