Postal Service Denied Rate Increase

Someone may have already mentioned this and I missed it but the USPS has lost a lot of revenue due to the increase in paperless billing. I have chosen this option for most of regular bills, utilities, credit cards, etc. and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So, it's not just letters...it's bills and invoices that are no longer going through the regular mail. One of the reasons the Postal Service is getting a bad rap for customer service and long wait times is because they have already had to cut staff due to budget cuts.

The USPS would of been bankrupted years ago you can't ship something for cents. Well look at what UPS (Giant Delivery Company) with FedEx close behind and these two companies ship a massive amount of goods though their prices $$ being as low as they can while still making a profit. USPS is shipping things like letters which UPS and FedEx can't ship. They both offer document shipping but can't put it in the mailbox. USPS also has the flat rate box which is like $7.00 something last I remembered if it fits it ships? Well that isn't how things work because $7.00 to ship a 40lbs package or 70lbs if it fits it ships is just the only way they can try and make some form of money but they aren't profitable which they could be if they where allowed to compete and set prices that where below us but still where they where making a profit from every transaction. USPS doesn't have contracts with companies like FedEx and UPS do. I work for UPS so I do move peoples packages around you can't be making a profit by having as many people as we do moving packages while only charging the costumer $0.34 it just isn't possible. I mean the price of gas to move a package from point A to B is more than $0.34 cents.

As someone who worked for the postal service as a letter carrier for 18 years, you sure don't need to tell me it's run stupidly. There was a time, not all THAT long ago, when that wasn't so but a little over a decade ago, at least in my office, "service" was replaced as the number one concern by "cost". In other words, in some ways it was BECAUSE they decided to treat it "more like a business" that it went to he11 in a hand-basket. One thing they've done wrong forever is charge the most, ounce for ounce, for first class letter size mail. Sorting and delivering letters and bills isn't really all that difficult or time-consuming for clerks and carriers relatively speaking as compared to "bulk business" or what they call "marriage mail" which costs almost nothing to send. I heard somewhere they are going to increase the postage for "floppy bulk mail" but since I'm no longer in the loop I'm not sure if that true. I hope it is because that's finally something that makes sense! For those that have no idea what a carrier does, bulk mail is often delivered to each and every house, sometimes with each piece addressed and sometimes not, and has to be carried in a third or even fourth bundle. Carpel tunnel syndrome is now right up there with back and joint problems among carriers. Delivering packages also usually costs more for the postal service to deliver than letters because they need to be delivered via vehicle and one person isn't just covering a specific area. I won't bore you with a bunch of technical details about working at the post office or delivering mail but let's just say they made their own bed. Much like Wall Street, the USPS rewards its management with huge bonuses. They're not in the millions like AIG but what they do in a nutshell is give the local postmasters and supervisors bonuses for keeping their budgets down, which means pushing the carriers to finish their routes as quickly as possible even if it means risking an accident (be careful, wink, wink) or maybe mis-delivering some mail (wink, wink, wink). Of course, if you do get hurt or make a mistake don't expect him or her to have your back; you'll get the "I trained you better than that" speech in front of the boss's boss! To make it even harder on the carriers they periodically "inspect the routes", which is done by people who have never done the job, and add to some and eliminate others based on the lightest mail day in history. Then they're supposed to get done in the allotted time on the heaviest day of the year! Another thing they've been doing is hiring more temporary employees instead of permanent ones, giving them less than half the pay, no benefits, horrible, irregular hours and no realistic chance of getting a career position. They're given no respect - not from management because they're "just temps" and or from their co-workers because they're preventing some of them from maybe getting a regular or a better route. For some people it's human nature that if one is treated like sh1t that's what their work ethic is going to be like. Annie

Just part of the problem with large organizations that don't utilize progressive management. If FedEx ran the Postal Service, it would be stellar! So it would make sense to follow a management plan like FedEx's. But for whatever reason, learning, adapting and making changes - BAD! Doing the same old sheit over and over again til it works - GOOD! And you wonder why so many long time businesses aren't with us any more.

I agree that the Postal Service is not ran efficiently. The government should take the time to study its competition. Is it too many employees or poor management. Furthermore, I wonder if more of those postage paid envelopes were to used, would it help to improve the operation. As for me, I rarely send letters anymore and I haven't used an envelope to pay a bill in years.

Oh gosh yes, we have a post-office just a couple of blocks form here and man oh man, does not matter what time of day or evening it is they have like two employees at the desk, and rude I might add. Never fails, there is no just running in and out. I have never been able to just run in, minimum wait time has always been at least 30 minutes. I have a PO box and tell me why they can't figure out that my mail is mine and others is not mine. Ugh.. Then you approach a postal worker and they give two licks about their job, it is as if they are obligated to work there. I have literally told an employee, you know sweetie, I know quite of few people that would kill for your job, so if you do not like your job you can always just quit. I mean I am sorry that I am burdening you by purchasing stamps but I do not see why this should be an absolute chore for you. Ugh.. so why do I have to go into the post-office when all I have to do is go online and complete my transaction. Well it is to keep their employment thriving, but see they do not get this.

The post office has long been inefficient. The only reason they've never folded is 1. they're a government agency so they don't need to make a profit or even cover their own expenses and 2. they have a monopoly on mail delivery. People love to compare them to FedEx and UPS, both of which are excellent companies. The difference is, those companies are banned from ever delivering mail. If they could, the post office would have either had to take an even bigger loss and cost taxpayers more money, or faded away entirely. Now let me state that I do believe the post office has been losing revenue due to the internet. As they are the ONLY ones who can deliver mail, less mail being delivered means less money for them. I've bought and sold a lot online and I have used the post office now and then. Here's the kicker, I use Media Mail which is extremely cheap and certainly can't result in any significant profit. In fact they probably ship at a loss when doing media mail. Their trucks travel the same roads delivering mail every day whether they have 50 letters or 1000 letters so a decrease in business doesn't really equal a decrease in their expenditures. Their piss poor service has made them struggle to compete with private companies like UPS and FedEx when it comes to packages so that hasn't been enough to replace the revenue lost due to the internet. Also there is a FedEx box in front of every post office literally stealing business off their doorstep as a result of the deal they struck after 9-11.

They are making a mess promoting there services in the internet. They are gonna increase the rates in January and that's for sure. Here in Puerto Rico are closing postal offices and giving pensions early to employees. Old People have to walk more than 3 miles or take the bus to the near postal office plus the mail boxes are nowhere to find in the streets. They have taken all that metal to the recycling facility. The only thing they have made right are the flat rate boxes.