USPS to Cut Saturday Mail
news.yahoo.com
news.yahoo.com
No other organization could operate under such a burden, and no other federal agency faces such a requirement. It makes one wonder if the requirement is in place as an attempt to kill the USPS and privatize mail delivery entirely.
It has two problems that are both nearly insurmountable. 1) Congress, which likes to prevent the USPS from closing facilities, think of this as being similar to the dance that goes on when closing military bases comes up but with far more points of interest. 2) Unions. Rules prevent the arbiters from even considering the financial health of the USPS when negotiating contracts. Contracts also make it difficult to hire part time workers. On average their benefits are amongst the highest in the Federal workforce.
That said, the requirement, which seems to be that the USPS must fund healthcare benefits 75 years in advance, is still patently ridiculous. It is a manufactured crisis, in part.
Because it's the only way this all makes sense.
And contrary to popular belief that the people in charge are idiots that lack common sense, there is almost always a much deeper and well-thought-out strategy and story behind these types of situations.
On the other hand ... this could be afterall rather simple, and the media is making it out to be something it's not. That happens often too.
Congressman Issa is a Republican who has sworn jihad against unions. He hates unions with a passion usually reserved for people who run over your dog. So it's not really that he's a corrupt politician trying to get $$$ for his corporate supporters, it's rather that he's a ideologue.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/darrell-issa-labor-...
Congressman Issa, who is leading this charge, sees the USPS as a giant union that needs breaking, regardless of the damage to the United States from losing what is currently the world's fastest and cheapest postal system.
Where is this? I ship a lot of packages and have experienced this opposite, I've never seen the situation you describe.
The USPS, on the other hand, will deliver things to you for 46 cents.
People really don't understand the ideology level of the typical Republican in Congress. Ideology is first and foremost; good governance is not even a consideration.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/45049636/Fixing_the_US_Postal_Service...
Just search for 'usps pension congress' and you should see articles from Reuters, The Guardian, Forbes, and others that back up this assertion.
I'm from Sweden, which I guess falls somewhere close to the opposite end of the spectrum in many people's eyes, and we've never had that, in my lifetime at least. :)
"Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages — and it repeatedly but unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to approve the move. ... It was not immediately clear how the service could eliminate Saturday mail without congressional approval."
In fact, it's a criminal act to deliver mail without paying the USPS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Express_Statutes
And presumably the same number of companies would want to send you junk mail regardless of who owns the post office...
I disagree with letting the "market" decide when it comes to vital infrastructure (mail, internet, roads, telephone, electricity, water) because the "market" is not always a healthy place (e.g. see US internet/cable/telephone market, see UK train market, et al).
It is one of the few areas where a state run monopoly might actually help business. While it certainly hurts opportunities within that specific sector, in really helps other businesses in other sectors compete globally.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/45018432/The_Truth_About_The_Post_Off...
That bullshit requirement which no other company or institution in the world labors under is creating an artificial cashflow crisis at the USPS.
Also, I see no evidence that USPS will ever cease to exist. Perhaps shrink in size and scope, but not cease to exist. At some point people need physical things to be moved from point A to point B, and USPS is one organization that does just that. Calling it a zombie without explaining yourself is just ignorant.
When was it delivered more than once a day? Everywhere, or in limited areas?
Our of memory, the majority of the legitimate mail we get is from government agencies (bills, voting packets, etc.), a couple of catalogs and companies who haven't gone 100% online yet.
We switched to online banking and online bill payments a long, long time ago. Nearly every package delivery we receive is via FedEx or UPS.
You have to wonder, if the USPS was not allowed to deliver bulk junk mail, what would their financials look like?
According to this US census, there are over 132 million housing units (homes and apartments) in the US.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
If each of these homes is throwing out just TWO pounds of junk mail every week --just TWO POUNDS, not five like we do-- that represents TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOUR MILLION POUNDS of garbage per week and over FOURTEEN BILLION POUNDS (14,256,000,000) of garbage per year!
I am NOT a crazy environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination, but, I'm sorry, but that's just-about criminal. That is a disgusting amount of trash moved by the USPS for no reason whatsoever.
The problem doesn't end there. Besides environmental impact, think of all the fuel and waste by-products consumed by moving and having to deal with fourteen billion pounds of trash. Think of the USPS delivery pipeline, trucks, vans, airplanes and unnecessary people. Think of the additional capacity requirement in local trash pickup trucks and the fuel they burn. And think of the excess power, people, area and fuel required to process and recycle this trash.
Based just on the the above I'd say that, yes, the USPS either needs to go away or seriously shrink down and stop this nonsense.
If you do some research on the history of the US mail, specifically air mail, you might find some interesting details. Is it possible that "junk mail" was used as the justification for air mail service? What role does junk mail play in the economics of the mail system?
The CNBC interview also says the US moves "40% of the world's mail". I wonder how much of the world's junk mail the US is responsible for? Vis-a-vis other countries, does the US produce more junk in proportion to legitimate mail? Does junk mail drive the US mail system?
Nearly 600,000 employees who retire at age 50 and draw salaries and benefits for the rest of their lives. Yeah, that's a formula for success. Guess who's going to be paying that bill.
Also, 250,000 vehicles according to Wikipedia.
Who cares? Really. You are talking about keeping alive an organization that is now beyond obsolete just because people choose to live in these places? It's their choice. Their problem. Why is it my responsibility to subsidize people who choose to live in places that are challenged in more than one way?
I don't have any problem with people living in the middle of a desert if they want to. Or 3,000 feet up a mountain in a cabin that is only reachable via helicopter and has no roads in or out. That's fine. As far as I am concerned, you are free to do as you wish and live wherever you want to.
That said, it is YOUR responsibility to live with the consequences of the choices you have made in life. If this means that you have to drive twenty miles to pick-up your mail once a week, or pay for a helicopter to deliver mail and supplies, so be it. Your choice. You don't have to live there. Don't make it my responsibility. It isn't.
Why don't we take it to its logical conclusion and remove all services for anyone who doesn't live in Washington, DC?
You (presumably) chose to live somewhere other than Washington D.C.
The exact same argument applies.
Define "cost prohibitive". Costs exceed revenue for that particular piece? If so, I can guarantee you that the delivery radius is a lot smaller than you (and he) appear to think that it is.
There's a reason why essentially every country adopted a flat-rate fee for regular mail way back in the 19th century.
"Why is it my responsibility to subsidize people who choose to live in places that are challenged in more than one way?"
What can be more selfish - the fact that you only care about the situation you're in, or the fact that you'd leave others out to dry because you feel like you're paying for something you wouldn't do. Those who live in po-dunk-town, Montana are part of the US just as you are, and frankly deserve to have their mail delivered as well.
When I go out of town and put hold on my mail, they never work. The postal worker just delivers until the box is full and then returns the letters. Of course, the box is full because of junk mail (which you can't opt out of). I'd consider a post office box, but it is inconvenient, plus I'd have to change my address with everyone who sends me legitimate mail - you know, the things that you still can't handle electronically like W2s, etc.
I've heard that there are services which can have your mail forwarded to, who scan it and send it to you electronically, but I'd be concerned about identity theft.
It's just a broken system and there's no way to opt out.
They also have pretty good internal procedures to keep your mail safe. Top Secret paper shredders, employee background investigations, video monitoring, etc. I'm fairly paranoid, and I consider them safe enough for all of my personal mail. I wouldn't send root passwords for them to scan, but really, there's nothing in the banking system which lacks an audit trail and is irreversible, and they're a US company which could be sued if they did anything improper, so it seems like a safe risk to take.
The only complaints I have are that their costs have steadily creeped up over the years, and I've had to change one of my addresses twice in 5 years (first time, they had a horrible local UPS driver who kept misdelivering packages; the second time, Nike bought their building when their lease was up for renewal. They have a 7y lease on the new place, though.)
But I have no idea why the USPS doesn't offer a "we'll scan your mail before we deliver it, and you can select what you want" service, like the idea laid out here: https://tonywebster.com/2012/07/reinventing-the-united-state...