Big changes coming to USPS....

[pennypicker]

This Saturday I was at my local post office and I was talking to my teller who I have known for 13 years. She said she didn't mind handling the two heavy flat rate boxes I mailed and that they need the business. She then went on to say that the USPS is pretty much "bankrupt" and that they just had an employee meeting days prior and their manager told them 20% more in layoffs was coming and big changes were coming to the Post Office as well. They were told that the USPS was seriously considering contracting out to private carriers. She added that the internet has seriously hurt their first class mail volume which has been their bread and butter. She said they now make most of their revenue from "junk mail" advertisers. She said she has four years left until she qualifies for "early" retirement at age 50 and that she hoped the USPS would still be operating until then.

[Number21]

Haven't they been going through this since the invention of the internet?

Yeah, I'm sure their letter carrying is down, but their package sending is way up thanks to the internet....

[AGgressive Metal]

Haven't they been going through this since the invention of the internet?

Yeah, I'm sure their letter carrying is down, but their package sending is way up thanks to the internet....

Its not that simple - they have big pension obligations. All those retired mail-carriers and their benefits cost money!

[pennypicker]

Its not that simple - they have big pension obligations. All those retired mail-carriers and their benefits cost money!

I agree. She told me her husband retired from the post office at 55 and he sits at home and collects a huge check every month. She too was planning on retiring at 55 but now she says she just hopes to make it to "early" retirement at age 50 so she can "take the money and run" as she put it.

[Number21]

All those retired mail-carriers and their benefits cost money!

Time to cut 'em off...

I haven't ever heard anyone say "leave it up to a government agency to be efficient and on budget".

[Country]

I think a solution would be to raise the government retirement age for full benefits to 67, as is done for SS. For most businesses and corporations the retirement age is 65 for full benefits. Why do state and federal government retirees expect to retire 10 years earlier than everyone else?

[PolishPunisher]

Years ago many large U.S. companies would let people retire with full benefits at any age as long as they had 30 years of service. A family member of mine took that deal from Southwestern Bell about 7 yeas ago. Now days benefits like that in the private sector are nearly impossible to come by, but the public sector has been slow to change. Further, USPS hires very few retirement eligible workers now. If you look for USPS jobs nearly all are temporary-long term.

[adagirl]

I think a solution would be to raise the government retirement age for full benefits to 67, as is done for SS. For most businesses and corporations the retirement age is 65 for full benefits. Why do state and federal government retirees expect to retire 10 years earlier than everyone else?

I have worked in both the private and public sectors. My experience has been that public sector workers are overpaid and under worked. There are some hard working folks in the public sector but they are in the minority. The USPS is an example of socialism at work (or not at work). Read up on the history of the post office. In the mid 19th century they had a competitor that provided better service at a lower cost, but socialists could not have that...the government essentially drove him out of business.

[SGT_Slaughter]

I live in a world of socialism and trust me .. it ant' fun.

Fedex and UPS make money.. why cant the post office? b/c the workers have no motivation to work hard, unions have made wages too high, any real business that loses 3 BILLION year typically goes out of business but if your just going to rob the public via taxes then who cares right?

At my job when i took over the former service member was so kind as to leave me a broke printer so i had no printer in my office and i had to go walk about 25 meters to print.
now when your printing often this can get annoying.
I fought for about a year and a 1/2 and got everything from we do not have the money to one day a printer showed up and it was the wrong one, then the higher ups could not decide if they wanted to hook it up or not, after 3 months of sitting we hooked it up only to discover its network card was fried. So we had to mail it back to America (yes, they bought it from america and not local) via Ship (pretty slow). Then another printer shows up.. again,, wrong model. sits 2 months, after a while i manage to trade it w/ a different department and after wheeling and dealing i got a printer in return. 2 weeks later the computer guys hooked it up b/c they have to 'authorize' it.

1.5 years for a printer. Welcome to Socialism.

[highroller4321]

I live in a world of socialism and trust me .. it ant' fun.

Fedex and UPS make money.. why cant the post office? b/c the workers have no motivation to work hard, unions have made wages too high, any real business that loses 3 BILLION year typically goes out of business but if your just going to rob the public via taxes then who cares right?

At my job when i took over the former service member was so kind as to leave me a broke printer so i had no printer in my office and i had to go walk about 25 meters to print.
now when your printing often this can get annoying.
I fought for about a year and a 1/2 and got everything from we do not have the money to one day a printer showed up and it was the wrong one, then the higher ups could not decide if they wanted to hook it up or not, after 3 months of sitting we hooked it up only to discover its network card was fried. So we had to mail it back to America (yes, they bought it from america and not local) via Ship (pretty slow). Then another printer shows up.. again,, wrong model. sits 2 months, after a while i manage to trade it w/ a different department and after wheeling and dealing i got a printer in return. 2 weeks later the computer guys hooked it up b/c they have to 'authorize' it.

1.5 years for a printer. Welcome to Socialism.

Exactly! Every time I am forced to go into the post office to do something its a huge ordeal. One of the local post offices has seriously the laziest and most ignorant person I have ever met. (I often wonder how he makes it to work in the morning...) Everyone at that post office, including the manger, wants to get rid of him, but because he is union they can't touch him.

Also the usps doesn't do very smart things. There were 2 processing centers here that were located like 30 miles apart. They recently closed down 1 of them but yet ZERO people were fired. They all just were moved to the other one. Now the 1 remaining processing centers "process time" has slowed down by nearly 20% because there are to many people running around!!

I spend a lot of money a month with the post office with their flat rate boxes but they have need to tweak some things to become profitable.

[NDFarmer]

The USPS is very efficient. I live near a small town and my parents live in this small town. If they want to send a card to their next door neighbor the card must first get sent 60 miles away to a larger town to get sorted then sent back again to the small town and then it gets delivered to the next door neighbor.

[gojomoso]

i love the USPS flat rate boxes, they save me and my business a lot of money, but they need to get rid of the unions and privatize. They also need to expand their trucks to handle more packages because their regular mail will dwindle to almost nothing. They could also "sell" mailboxes to UPS and Fedex for their use to make a little more money. USPS also needs to offer a over-night service for business packages and envelopes. Their tracking could be at least a little more up to date like ups too :/

[PolishPunisher]

Do we not think that flat rate boxes would be among the first things to go in a privatized USPS?

[gojomoso]

Do we not think that flat rate boxes would be among the first things to go in a privatized USPS?

i'm hoping unions, pensions, and many retirement benefits... but your probably right

[highroller4321]

Do we not think that flat rate boxes would be among the first things to go in a privatized USPS?

Than their goes like 25% of their business.....

We ship heavy stuff but there are a bunch of people who ship light stuff in them.



The post office needs to close a few locations and make the ones open more efficient. There are 2 post offices by me that are less than 10 miles apart. Each ones had 4 counters that they could have manned but they only ever use 2 at each of them. If they consolidated it would be a lot more efficent!

Could go on and on about their inefficiencies....

[cesariojpn]

I'd at least figure eBay and Amazon sales would've at least propped them up, but seriously?

[Mossy]

...
1.5 years for a printer. Welcome to Socialism.

Sounds about like a large corporation. Big biz and socialistic gov'ts have a LOT in common.

[Country]

...
1.5 years for a printer. Welcome to Socialism.

Sounds about like a large corporation. Big biz and socialistic gov'ts have a LOT in common.

Actually, it's CORPORATISM. The facist melding of government and business, with the judiciary standing by to bless whatever they wish to pursue.

Corporatism and Socialism in America

http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0411e.asp

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

This Saturday I was at my local post office and I was talking to my teller who I have known for 13 years. She said she didn't mind handling the two heavy flat rate boxes I mailed and that they need the business. She then went on to say that the USPS is pretty much "bankrupt" and that they just had an employee meeting days prior and their manager told them 20% more in layoffs was coming and big changes were coming to the Post Office as well. They were told that the USPS was seriously considering contracting out to private carriers. She added that the internet has seriously hurt their first class mail volume which has been their bread and butter. She said they now make most of their revenue from "junk mail" advertisers. She said she has four years left until she qualifies for "early" retirement at age 50 and that she hoped the USPS would still be operating until then.

As a civil servant, she is eligible to transfer to any other government agency that has a job opening she qualifies for. There she can finish out her civil servant career and retire at 55 if she wants to.

The hard part used to be finding an agency growing enough for lateral transfers. Now, with all the obscene growth in government, she should have no problem!

[adagirl]

I live in a world of socialism and trust me .. it ant' fun.

Fedex and UPS make money.. why cant the post office? b/c the workers have no motivation to work hard, unions have made wages too high, any real business that loses 3 BILLION year typically goes out of business but if your just going to rob the public via taxes then who cares right?

At my job when i took over the former service member was so kind as to leave me a broke printer so i had no printer in my office and i had to go walk about 25 meters to print.
now when your printing often this can get annoying.
I fought for about a year and a 1/2 and got everything from we do not have the money to one day a printer showed up and it was the wrong one, then the higher ups could not decide if they wanted to hook it up or not, after 3 months of sitting we hooked it up only to discover its network card was fried. So we had to mail it back to America (yes, they bought it from america and not local) via Ship (pretty slow). Then another printer shows up.. again,, wrong model. sits 2 months, after a while i manage to trade it w/ a different department and after wheeling and dealing i got a printer in return. 2 weeks later the computer guys hooked it up b/c they have to 'authorize' it.

1.5 years for a printer. Welcome to Socialism.

Thanks for sharing! We know socialism does not work, but that is where the US is headed unless enough voters are educated and vote for someone other than the current President in 2012. Read the Creature from Jekyl Island.

[Know Common Cents]

Someone paid full face value for all the postage stamps I use. Fortunately, it's not me. For several years, I've been buying them (full gum or self-adhesive) at 80 cents per dollar face.

So..........a 44 cent letter costs me $0.352 to send. If I had a business and sent a lot of packages, the reduced postage cost plus the flat-rate boxes for the heavies makes for a much better deal than FedEx or UPS. Doesn't bother me to get out my glue stick and plaster $5 or $10 in assorted stamps to a FR box or Priority Mail envelope.

Sign of the times, though. When I take these to various post office locations, I haven't encountered a postal clerk who had the interest and/or intellect to add up the value of all the stamps. Being honest, I don't stiff them, but once in awhile someone will try and then lose count about halfway into the process. Their standard line after asking me if I'm sure I have amount on there I told them is "Well, if you don't have the right amount, it's going to be sent back to you for more postage!" I keep thinking, who's even able to count them regardless of whether it's at the local post office or a distribution center?

Pretty sad that the once noble USPS is wounded and just about to be given last rites. I don't think they'll die altogether because I predict we'll be losing about one regular deliver day every 2 years now. First to go is Saturday. That's not much of a surprise to anyone. Next will be Wednesday and the USPS will be able to staff their POs with all part-time clerks. Future rate increases for most types of first class mail will be meaningless as the Forever Stamps have been out since 2007. Printing make-up stamps in amounts of 1 or 2 cents costs more than just selling a Forever at the going rate.

Likely a more appropriate meaning for the Forever Stamps is that when the USPS tanks, you'll be stuck with those forever.

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

Someone paid full face value for all the postage stamps I use. Fortunately, it's not me. For several years, I've been buying them (full gum or self-adhesive) at 80 cents per dollar face.

So..........a 44 cent letter costs me $0.352 to send. If I had a business and sent a lot of packages, the reduced postage cost plus the flat-rate boxes for the heavies makes for a much better deal than FedEx or UPS. Doesn't bother me to get out my glue stick and plaster $5 or $10 in assorted stamps to a FR box or Priority Mail envelope.

Sign of the times, though. When I take these to various post office locations, I haven't encountered a postal clerk who had the interest and/or intellect to add up the value of all the stamps. Being honest, I don't stiff them, but once in awhile someone will try and then lose count about halfway into the process. Their standard line after asking me if I'm sure I have amount on there I told them is "Well, if you don't have the right amount, it's going to be sent back to you for more postage!" I keep thinking, who's even able to count them regardless of whether it's at the local post office or a distribution center?

Pretty sad that the once noble USPS is wounded and just about to be given last rites. I don't think they'll die altogether because I predict we'll be losing about one regular deliver day every 2 years now. First to go is Saturday. That's not much of a surprise to anyone. Next will be Wednesday and the USPS will be able to staff their POs with all part-time clerks. Future rate increases for most types of first class mail will be meaningless as the Forever Stamps have been out since 2007. Printing make-up stamps in amounts of 1 or 2 cents costs more than just selling a Forever at the going rate.

Likely a more appropriate meaning for the Forever Stamps is that when the USPS tanks, you'll be stuck with those forever.

Please tell me how you buy at a discount? I could use that, myself!

Lack of math skills is pandemic. People are mentally lazy, using calculators now instead of doing the math in their heads.

[biglouddrunk]

The very first thing they will eliminate is satruday delivery.
If what people say is true they make money on first class and lose on parcels then they are really messed up. They pretty much charge atleast a 50% higher fee than UPS or fedex ground and still seem to loose money yet they can make money charging 44 cents for a letter.

[Country]

Someone paid full face value for all the postage stamps I use. Fortunately, it's not me. For several years, I've been buying them (full gum or self-adhesive) at 80 cents per dollar face.

So..........a 44 cent letter costs me $0.352 to send. If I had a business and sent a lot of packages, the reduced postage cost plus the flat-rate boxes for the heavies makes for a much better deal than FedEx or UPS. Doesn't bother me to get out my glue stick and plaster $5 or $10 in assorted stamps to a FR box or Priority Mail envelope.

Sign of the times, though. When I take these to various post office locations, I haven't encountered a postal clerk who had the interest and/or intellect to add up the value of all the stamps. Being honest, I don't stiff them, but once in awhile someone will try and then lose count about halfway into the process. Their standard line after asking me if I'm sure I have amount on there I told them is "Well, if you don't have the right amount, it's going to be sent back to you for more postage!" I keep thinking, who's even able to count them regardless of whether it's at the local post office or a distribution center?

Pretty sad that the once noble USPS is wounded and just about to be given last rites. I don't think they'll die altogether because I predict we'll be losing about one regular deliver day every 2 years now. First to go is Saturday. That's not much of a surprise to anyone. Next will be Wednesday and the USPS will be able to staff their POs with all part-time clerks. Future rate increases for most types of first class mail will be meaningless as the Forever Stamps have been out since 2007. Printing make-up stamps in amounts of 1 or 2 cents costs more than just selling a Forever at the going rate.

Likely a more appropriate meaning for the Forever Stamps is that when the USPS tanks, you'll be stuck with those forever.

Please tell me how you buy at a discount? I could use that, myself!

Lack of math skills is pandemic. People are mentally lazy, using calculators now instead of doing the math in their heads.

Discount postage is sold by stamp dealers that liquidate collection remainders. I've been using old discounted postage for many years.

Check out this bing search and see for yourself:

http://www.bing.com/search?q=discount%20postage&FORM=HPDTLB&PC=HPDTDF&QS=n

[adagirl]

Thanks for this information.