Postal Center Closes

[TheArtist]

   I guess this will make me all the more inclined to use one of the private mail carriers, which will perhaps help them increase jobs here.  Frankly I think at this point the USPS should be privatized. 

[DTowner]

The infuriating thing is that the USPS leadership is playing directly into the hands of those who most want to see them disappear for good. Congress listened to the detractors when they were writing the bill that is forcing the USPS to prefund all retirement benefits over only 10 years or so, and it is having the intended effect of forcing them to make service cuts that will drive their customers elsewhere.

Tulsa is just one casualty in the quietly ongoing war on the USPS.

I think your premise that many in Congress want to see the USPS disappear is shakey.  Rather, the battle is between thowe who want to see the USPS stand on its own and those who want it back under the government's ambit.  Currently, it is a distorted quasi-government entity combining the inefficiencies of government (led by a "General", no less), with strong employees unions, high pay/benefits, defined pension plans, etc., trying to operate in a highly competive environment.  The monopolistic world of mail and package delivery that existed when the USPS was spun off has not existed for a long time and the USPS has failed to adjust.  Given its directive to take on unprofitable services in unprofitable locations, it may not be possible for it to meet its mission and survive under its current formulation.  It's problems go much deeper than how to account for its pension liabilities.

[Conan71]

I think your premise that many in Congress want to see the USPS disappear is shakey.  Rather, the battle is between thowe who want to see the USPS stand on its own and those who want it back under the government's ambit.  Currently, it is a distorted quasi-government entity combining the inefficiencies of government (led by a "General", no less), with strong employees unions, high pay/benefits, defined pension plans, etc., trying to operate in a highly competive environment.  The monopolistic world of mail and package delivery that existed when the USPS was spun off has not existed for a long time and the USPS has failed to adjust.  Given its directive to take on unprofitable services in unprofitable locations, it may not be possible for it to meet its mission and survive under its current formulation.  It's problems go much deeper than how to account for its pension liabilities.

It's interesting though, UPS pays very well, has Teamster's drivers who make $80K+ and good pensions, I believe, and has no trouble remaining solvent.  Not sure about whether or not Fedex is unionized or not.  I'm pretty sure the pilots for both companies are union as well.

[Townsend]

I'm still the old guy that writes check's. It gives me a few extra day's to play with the money in my account if I need to before the check's hit.
I wouldn't mind paying my bills online, but I am not going to pay the extra two to four dollars for a transaction fee when they are literally doing nothing to get my money. And if you pay by phone Fuh-get-about it ! That is ten to twelve dollars.
No thanks. My pay delay is good enough for em. Some paid slob has to go down to their ol P.O. Box and get my check. Even if it has went from a full duffle bag to a few envelopes.
That's my way of sticking it to the corporate man. Well at least it makes me happy.
Stamps please. Hey and they even have these new fangled one's you don't lick. Golly gee wiz what a Country.

No fees here.  No stamps to buy.  No envelopes.  No concern someone will steal my mail.

[DolfanBob]

No fees here.  No stamps to buy.  No envelopes.  No concern someone will steal my mail.

Oh nooooo. I drop my mail in the box in front of my post office. I never use my red thief flag anymore.

[Townsend]

Oh nooooo. I drop my mail in the box in front of my post office. I never use my red thief flag anymore.

Ever see the postal worker hoarder stories?

[Conan71]

Or that one postal worker who is 1/4 of a counter-clockwise screw turn from going postal?

[DolfanBob]

Ever see the postal worker hoarder stories?

You mean like Newman when it rained or snowed ?

[Townsend]

You mean like Newman when it rained or snowed ?

Fox news.  Must be true.


Mailman on the Lam After Hoarding 20,000 Pieces of Mail


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/14/mailman-lam-hoarding-pieces-mail/

[TheArtist]

I'm still the old guy that writes check's. It gives me a few extra day's to play with the money in my account if I need to before the check's hit.
I wouldn't mind paying my bills online, but I am not going to pay the extra two to four dollars for a transaction fee when they are literally doing nothing to get my money. And if you pay by phone Fuh-get-about it ! That is ten to twelve dollars.
No thanks. My pay delay is good enough for em. Some paid slob has to go down to their ol P.O. Box and get my check. Even if it has went from a full duffle bag to a few envelopes.
That's my way of sticking it to the corporate man. Well at least it makes me happy.
Stamps please. Hey and they even have these new fangled one's you don't lick. Golly gee wiz what a Country.

We pay our bills online and don't pay any transtaction fees.  We bank at Arvest and Teachers Credit Union.

[Red Arrow]

It's interesting though, UPS pays very well, has Teamster's drivers who make $80K+ and good pensions, I believe, and has no trouble remaining solvent.  Not sure about whether or not Fedex is unionized or not.  I'm pretty sure the pilots for both companies are union as well.

Have you shipped anything lately?   I had a few airplane gaskets shipped from Newton, KS in what amounted to a CD mailer.  It was about $12 by UPS.  I've asked them to use Priority Mail since then for about 1/2 the shipping cost.

[Red Arrow]

No fees here.  No stamps to buy.  No envelopes.  No concern someone will steal my mail.

How about hacking your computer?   Seeing what my employer does to keep our computers secure is mind boggling.  Makes them slower than gear oil in the winter.

[dbacks fan]

We pay our bills online and don't pay any transtaction fees.  We bank at Arvest and Teachers Credit Union.

I've been taking care of my dads bills through his banks online bill pay. No fees, no muss, and those that don't take EFT are fine with the bank generated check. Plus you can pick the day you want the payments to be made so he can plan accordingly. He prefers to get the bill in the mail, and then when I make the payments I print out the confirmation and attach it to the bills for record keeping.

[Townsend]

How about hacking your computer?   Seeing what my employer does to keep our computers secure is mind boggling.  Makes them slower than gear oil in the winter.

No.  I have no worries about hacking.  I understand risks and what to do about them.

[nathanm]

I think your premise that many in Congress want to see the USPS disappear is shakey.  Rather, the battle is between thowe who want to see the USPS stand on its own and those who want it back under the government's ambit.  Currently, it is a distorted quasi-government entity combining the inefficiencies of government (led by a "General", no less), with strong employees unions, high pay/benefits, defined pension plans, etc., trying to operate in a highly competive environment.  The monopolistic world of mail and package delivery that existed when the USPS was spun off has not existed for a long time and the USPS has failed to adjust.  Given its directive to take on unprofitable services in unprofitable locations, it may not be possible for it to meet its mission and survive under its current formulation.  It's problems go much deeper than how to account for its pension liabilities.

You say that the USPS has failed to adjust, yet their operations are profitable even at presently reduced mail volumes and with the continual cash drain that is Rural Free Delivery. There are a lot of places where UPS and FedEx refuse to deliver. USPS' financial woes are almost entirely of Congress' making. If UPS had to prefund all retirement benefits in a decade they would also be deeply in the red, as would almost any company short of Apple. The double standard makes it pretty clear what's going on here.

I guess they do have one thing to be thankful about, though. They're not Amtrak, which was created out of an almost dead commercial passenger rail system, given the worst equipment, a tiny budget relative to the expected size of operations, and forced to wait behind slow cargo trains. Hobbled at every turn, essentially. And people wonder why they lose money so much. Give 'em some freakin' capex dollars and lean on the freight roads to give Amtrak priority and you might actually see people more willing to take the train outside of the NEC.

Government fails when it is set up to fail and run by people who (quite realistically, many times) expect it to fail. Why on Earth would anyone think it's a good idea to put people who hate the idea of government in charge of government? That seems to me to make as much sense as putting an anti-capitalist hippie in charge of GE.