What will you do

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I'd post the first thing that came to mind, but it would be considered too political!:eek: I'll just say, "Ain't gonna happen".:wink:
 
I actually watched the postmaster general on c-span several months ago. He's in a rotten spot... They are unable to close post offices without congressional approval. 80% of their annual budget goes to salaries and benefits, but they have difficulty negotiating changes in the pay structure due to legal restraints and unions. Certain services offered by the post office lose money, but they are unable to change prices or eliminate services without congressional approval. Even if they eliminate Saturday delivery, they won't be close to being financially sound.

I hope they(the government) do better with healthcare, but I have my doubts.
 
I may be in the minority, but IMHO I think the post office does a pretty good job. When you consider the millions and millions of pieces of mail they handle every day, the occassional screwups are minimal.
 
I am increasingly concerned about the governments political control of more and more of what should be the "peoples" job to maintain....and I am a state worker:frown:.

David Keller said:
I actually watched the postmaster general on c-span several months ago. He's in a rotten spot... They are unable to close post offices without congressional approval. 80% of their annual budget goes to salaries and benefits, but they have difficulty negotiating changes in the pay structure due to legal restraints and unions. Certain services offered by the post office lose money, but they are unable to change prices or eliminate services without congressional approval. Even if they eliminate Saturday delivery, they won't be close to being financially sound.

I hope they(the government) do better with healthcare, but I have my doubts.
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mbroberg said:
I may be in the minority, but IMHO I think the post office does a pretty good job. When you consider the millions and millions of pieces of mail they handle every day, the occassional screwups are minimal.
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I also have to side with Mike, I think they do an amazing job,, But let's not forget FedX moves a lot of their packages but still, I would hate to see them gone,
 
I couldn't agree more... The post office does a great job delivering the mail. My concerns are not for the quality of service, but rather for their ability to survive going forward under the current legal constraints.
 
Another example of what government regulations do to a business. I have had on problem with the USPS. Our local people are great. Sure them make mistakes once in a while, but it is a very very low percentage. Just my humble opinions.
 
What will you do...

DCBluesman said:
when the U.S. Postal Service goes out of business?

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10455.pdf
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I didn't read all 80 or so pages but all you really need to know is on the first couple. Congress must approve way too much of what is needed to reduce costs and you can guess at how long it will take to get any kind of agreement out of Congress. You're up the creek if your business plan is based on projected increases in volume when volume is actually decreasing. As long as management has to wait for Congress to act we will see no improvement.

Plus, the appointed management of the Postal Service is not up to the task at hand. Seems like nobody in top management in this country knows diddly about running any kind of business from banks to hospitals to the mail. Is this a great country or what?

Best to all,

Larry
 
I like the Post Office and I don't think that it all has to do with Congress. A lot of it has to do with the internet as a means of communication, people do not write letters, cards, post cards, etc the way that they used to do before the internet and the ability of email. You can do most business without ever having to go the the Post Office-send pictures, etc. It is the same with photo processing now that digital cameras exist and we can print out own pictures.
We have the least expensive postal rates of any country that I know. I know that people here in the US think it is expensive, but ask the Canadians and the Australians and it is much more there or in Europe. I hope that they don't go out of business.
 
The post office will never go out of business. We will simply pay more taxes to subsidize them, maybe they'll have to make some wage concessions etc, but they will never go out of business unless the government themselves go out of business. We all know too, that when a government runs a business it always fails financially. This is because the government does not run itself like a proper business. A normal business does cost analysis and has a budget that can not be exceeded. The government just spends money and if they need more they fire up the presses or take the money from us. So although we may face higher rates down the road, that's is nothing new, and the post office will not go out of business..they will just sit there and act like life is dreery and they are in the pits as a political ploy to distract us from other things.

As far as service goes, I too like the postal service. I hardly ever have issues, and the current prices are generally comparable to their competition. I would not call a postal worker lazy either. There might be some bad apples, but where can you not find that?
 
David Keller said:
I actually watched the postmaster general on c-span several months ago. He's in a rotten spot... They are unable to close post offices without congressional approval. 80% of their annual budget goes to salaries and benefits, but they have difficulty negotiating changes in the pay structure due to legal restraints and unions. Certain services offered by the post office lose money, but they are unable to change prices or eliminate services without congressional approval. Even if they eliminate Saturday delivery, they won't be close to being financially sound.

I hope they(the government) do better with healthcare, but I have my doubts.
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And people what them in charge of their 'Health Care'!!! We're at the crest of a very, very slippery slope.......and from here,
it's down-hill all the way!!!! All I can say.......is "HANG ON TO YOUR SHORTS!!!!"

Barney
 
mbroberg said:
I may be in the minority, but IMHO I think the post office does a pretty good job. When you consider the millions and millions of pieces of mail they handle every day, the occassional screwups are minimal.
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Actually your quite correct... other than some of the services being loss leaders, and considering the error factor in the post office, it's much less than a 1% error factor. Even UPS and Fedex have a higher loss rate factor considering the additional expense of using them.... the sheer logistics of moving the number of pieces of mail is enormous. I have no complaints with the post office.
 
From an Ex-Postal employee

things have changed a lot since I left in 1992. I like to think it is because they no longer have the benefit of my great knowledge and wisdom of things postal. Actually, they are in a difficult position. Standard mail (most of you call it junk mail) was the bread and butter of postal operations for years. Now that advertising budget is being spent on the internet. People pay bills, and receive them, online now instead of through the mail. And few write letters. Some of the most dedicated, hard working people I have known were postal workers. I also knew many who were not worth a plug nickel. Much like every other business I have seen. As their volume continues to decline we are going to see great increases in postal rates. But don't blame it on the workers.
 
Mark said:
I'll fill mine with concrete. Let them whack at that for a while...:biggrin:
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Friend of mine lived on a back country road where the favorite sport of the teenagers was whacking mailboxes. After the third mailbox replacement, He put up a set of three mail boxes. 4" irrigation pipe on the two outside ones ran into the box, then pipe and box filled with concrete.

Seems a few weeks later, a car lost control about 50 yards from his driveway. Ran off the road and struck a tree. 2 teenagers slightly injured. Charlie cleaned off the scratches on the mailbox and burned the broken bat he found in the fireplace. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 
The post office does a great job of delivery.
To me it appears they have poor marketing and cost control.
I don't think the disappearance of saturday delivery will be a big deal to most.
But with the decline of regular mail and the small amount that they do in packages compared to ups / fedex the subsidy to keep it running will only grow.
 
I also cannot complain about USPS, having ordered many penturning items from America over the 5 or 6 years I have been making pens not one item has every been lost.............. hope I`m not tempting fate! LOL
 
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