Downfall of the USPS

PagesHouse

PagesHouse

Active member
Having mail delivered right to our homes is something we take for granted. There is no single reason why the USPS is on the verge of collapse, but most attribute it to either the internet/e-mail, failure of higher-ups to adapt to changing times, and the junk mail boom. Regardless, USPS employees across the country are suffering from major hour cuts and branch closures. The USPS is the 2nd largest employer of American civilians behind Wal-Mart, so this has major impacts on everyday people. Hour cuts also means much slower mail for everyone.
Yes, there are problems and disconnects with the way the USPS has been run and is currently run, but this is an American institution that should not go down. I'm creating this thread is because I had a very upsetting conversation this morning with some local USPS workers regarding their hour cuts. I've also always been a firm believer that snail mail is much more meaningful and personal than an e-mail.
I'd encourage everyone to go out and mail a card or send a letter via USPS this week (Mother's Day is coming up)... and again next week... and again and again. Make a habit out of it, because I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely love getting mail that isn't a bill.... and I absolutely love my postman.
 
Getting mail is so exciting. It means alot more when someone takes the time to put it in an envelop, stamp it, and send it off. Takes alot more effort than just typing and hitting send. Send cards, letters, whatever you want. The receiver will be much happier than an e-mail.
 
Yeahhh as soon as I posted and re-read what I wrote.... I thought about P.O. boxes and what not.... everything else still applies. Snail mail is still awesome.
 
This is Pretty sad, I love that feeling of sending a letter it's much more exciting then an email or text message. Its funny how the government calls out big companies for failing when the can't even keep their own house in order, but on the other hand I hate how so many people get screwed because of a few dipshit leaders.
 
Here's yet another problem:

The U.S. Mail is more than 50% junk mail. In 2011,

Americans received 85 billion pieces of junk mail weighing 4 million

tons. Does anybody read junk mail? Does any one want it? Yet taxpayers

subsidize and encourage it with a postal rate far lower than a first-class stamp. And less than half of junk mail gets recycled.

 
Wow... your attack is slightly nauseating. Your opinion is valid. I agree with the notion that monopolies do not foster a healthy economy. However, I do not feel it necessary to call your thoughts and views "indecent" just because I disagree with some of them.

I clearly need to research into this further, but this thread is in direct response to speaking with local workers who are directly suffering pay cuts and not pay raises.
 
This is yet another example of how unions are the root of the problem. One of the guys I worked with at the fire department, worked full time for the USPS as a letter carrier. He was making over $40/hour.

$40 fucking dollars an hour. To deliver mail. Plus full benefits, which he paid exactly nothing for.

There is absolutely no reason why anyone should get paid that much money for that job.
 
i fucking hate getting mail. i actually never even really check my mail. i do everything important online, so there's no real need to check it.
 
I wrote a book about this very issue so my 2 cents come with a lot of research and thought about the topic:

The USPS is a hybrid of government and business functions, which essentially has it in a chokehold. It is the only 'business' written into our Constitution, and Congress has been given the responsibility, (for hundreds of years) to make and establish postal routes/roads/offices.

Many Americans complain about the USPS, but you have to remember that it is a SERVICE, by which I mean that it is a guaranteed right for all Americans to have access to mail; deliveries to their area as well as goods and services priced at a rate that is affordable.

One of the major issues right now, is that the USPS has been forced to pre-fund its pensions, which is a MANDATED payment of $5.5 BILLION ....ANNUALLY.

Most people do not know that the USPS receives NO tax dollars to run itself. It has to sell things like stamps to make money. Stamps, if you actually think about it, are extremely cheap. 45 cents to send a letter to ANYWHERE in the country is amazing.

There is so much more I could say, but there's always the next post..
 
This kind of stuff doesn't help either...

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/01/15/post-office-paid-almost-32-million-for-lance-armstrong-sponsorship/

My uncle worked for the post office for a long time as a mailman. He just retired. He made a lot of money for a job that he milked the shit out of & now he collects a great pension. His route probably could have been done in 6 hours and it would take him 9 because of socializing, playing keno, extended lunch breaks, watching my cousin's sporting events, etc.. There were many like him and probably still are. By far one of the worst managed businesses ever.

The junk mail is ridiculous. The USPS wants more because they do make money off of it, yet most American's throw that shit in the trash and some finally recycle it. So much money being wasted all over the place.

And their reliability sucks...and their employees steal shit. Although UPS or FedEx would prefer that you don't send cash through their services, it will actually get there. With USPS you don't stand a chance. *Not that I'm saying you should mail cash, just an example.
 
The USPS just highlights how beneficial unions and large pension funds are to government and businesses. Paying someone their wage, after they stop working for you and creating value for your firm is a sound business decision with few, if any drawbacks.

I mean, look at Detroit, or Greece - both of these have small union presences and are in incredible financial shape. Unions create value to firms and customers, as well as taxpayers by being flexible, encouraging efficiency, and not carrying enormous pension burdens.
 
Just wanted to add that he saved me from paying $200 for new car keys after I thought I lost them post-alcohol rage!! Still stoked on this.

Also, arguing and debate aside (I didn't intend to start a shit storm).... man, do I love sending and receiving mail! I'd offer to send everyone mail, but.... apparently I'd be supporting injustice of sorts.
 
Who needs NS Karma when you have real friends? =)

I like getting mail. I don't get much honestly. My car payment and car insurance are still paper bills mailed, my mom still sends me cards at the holidays, 401K/stock stuff and Verizon, Subaru & credit card companies still spam with me junk.
 
Keep in mind you are paying taxes to keep this failure operational...let them fail and let the free market decide! You're feelings of nostalgia will still remain intact when sending/receiving mail, because snail-mail isn't going anywhere.
 
Plus the fact that congress passed a bill in 2006 that requires the postal service to fund 75 years worth of it's pension fun in only 10 years, a requirement no other government agency has.
 


If a company isn’t economically or socially viable it has to

fail. That’s basically what capitalism

is right? I’ve been thinking about this a

lot lately. You have to attribute a

majority of this to poor management. If

your company is losing market share you just sit back and raise your

prices like they continue to do to stamps to maintain revenue-youre doing someting wrong. Its common sense you adapt to changing times. They should have gotten involved with secure

online bill paying 10 years ago. They

should of somehow cornered that market before it exploded. Not sure exactly how by that’s why I’m not a

ceo yet.

Huge manufactures of extinct technologies go under if they don’t

adapt to current markets. It’s just the

cyclicality of business. Dell is down

around 150 percent from its highs in the late 1990’s. The let apple walk in and did nothing about

it. Sprint is down 1000’s of % since its

high in the early 2000’s then throughout the mid 2000’s, and will not likely recover. It happens

constantly.

You have to feel for people that lose their jobs but

companies can’t be stagnant, if so you die.

Business 101. The USPS could go

down in history IMO as one of the worst run ‘corporations’ of all time. Then again it ran by the govt so what would

you expect.

 
The post office isn't just any other company. It's written directly into the constitution, kind of like the army.
 
I agree with you on this. I don't think that the already existing and once thriving system should have any reasons of being shut down. I will personally send some letters on behalf of this.
 
I would be happy if mail was privatized and companies competed on rates like ups, FedEx etc. I'm so sick of junk mail and slow service. I also want weekend delivery. Hope it crashes and burns
 
OP sucks sooo fucking bad... makes this cry baby thread about the USPS, when ppl like woozy come in with real facts and arguments he doesn't have shit to say, just ass kisses some other equally misinformed re-re's Fuck you OP, fuck you in your pee hole with a priority package.
 
...or I just have a hard time being an asshole like most ns'ers and will accept when I'm wrong about something. I welcome learning from other people.... if that makes me suck soooo fucking bad then so be it!
 
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