Vent Here About The Postal Service!!!

Due to a drop in mail volume and budget problems, the post office has closed processing facilities or merged them with other plants. It has created longer distances for the mail to go to be sorted. I don't agree with this decision at all. Cost cutting could be accomplished without delaying mail.

The thing is though, they shouldn't have to cost cut. They are being made to pay forward into their pension system in a devastingly unfair way.
 
The thing is though, they shouldn't have to cost cut. They are being made to pay forward into their pension system in a devastingly unfair way.

They cited that as part of the reason they lost so much money, but one has to wonder in these days of unfunded and underfunded public pensions just how "unfair" it is,,,

"Despite the Postal Service's debt, its retiree benefit coffers are beyond full. Its pension funds are more than 100% funded, compared with 42% for all federal pension funds and 80% for the average Fortune 1000 pension plan."
 
It is amazing that USPS can do what it does daily and consistently well.

Fact: The USPS is funded solely through the revenue it generates.

Not a single taxpayer dollar goes into them. They deliver more parcels, more often then UPS and FedEx. Or as another poster mentioned 40% of the worlds mail. All the while maintaining consistently good service and the lowest rates.

USPS is essentially a modern day miracle.


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They cited that as part of the reason they lost so much money, but one has to wonder in these days of unfunded and underfunded public pensions just how "unfair" it is,,,

"Despite the Postal Service's debt, its retiree benefit coffers are beyond full. Its pension funds are more than 100% funded, compared with 42% for all federal pension funds and 80% for the average Fortune 1000 pension plan."

Well, I don't want to turn this into any kind of a political discussion, but the post office is a federal agency, and there are alot of people being layed off. The government needs to summon the will IMO, to help keep it solvent to continue to serve the country. I'll leave it at that.
 
Nothing political about it. I'm just questioning the validity of funding a pension less.

Then again, perhaps I'm a bit more sensitive to underfunded and insolvent pensions since I live in metro Detroit which just went through bankruptcy and the city employee pensions were an issue, as they were at Chrysler, KMart, DPS and other local municipalities.
 
"Despite the Postal Service's debt, its retiree benefit coffers are beyond full. Its pension funds are more than 100% funded, compared with 42% for all federal pension funds and 80% for the average Fortune 1000 pension plan."

What's not in that quote is WHY their retiree benefits are at that level ... it's what's called a "congressional mandate". Can't blame that on USPS.

Someone else mentioned Sunday delivery. That's just for major metro areas where staff is available at a hub office. I know in the case of Amazon, that's a sweetheart deal that should make them money, as it diverts parcels away from the competition. Up front costs for delivery isn't that much either, as it mostly just adds a couple hours to a temp employee's schedule.

Oh. A letter that travels 100 miles to go 10 actually makes sense in this day and age. Hand sorting is expensive - Even an hour a day per office adds up when multiplied by 30,000+ offices. Better to just let the big machines do the work at a central processing facility, and the result is everything already sorted in delivery sequence. All the carrier has to do is load the tray into the vehicle and hit the road.
 
I actually had a horrible experience with the postal service back when I was on a slot car forum. I was selling some of my slot cars and at the time I didn't have paypal. So it was money order only. I had 6 successful transactions but also had two major issues. My address was Country View Dr. at the time and some how BOTH money orders were miss-delivered to Country King Ln. in a completely different zip-code and city.

Because I didn't get the money orders I refused to send the cars It would have been easy for the buyers to get a money order take a picture of the receipt and then return the money order.

For nearly three weeks I went back and forth with these two guys (from different places btw) and eventually they called the cops. They could prove they bought the money orders and I could prove I never cashed them. So basically all the cops said was work it out. Neither of us budged till I got the hammer of god from a forum mod saying send the cars or get banned. The forum rule (created just for this issue was that money trumped items).

I relented and sent the cars. I still got banned and I never got the money orders till 3 months later from a bank representative that was looking at the house, the money orders were miss-delivered to, before auctioning it (was actually nice of him to do granted to late). I tried to cash the money orders but both had been refunded. So I lost money, my two slot cars (worth nearly 300 bucks btw) and got banned from a forum I was on for over 7 years.

Outside of the whole USPS sucks. I was annoyed the sellers refunded their money orders AFTER they got their cars. If you try to cash a USPS money order that has been refunded the counter worker will tell you when the money order was refunded. Since I was banned on the forum I could never get back on to tell them what happened and get the buyers to resend money orders or send my stuff back. To this day my slot car stuff still sits in the closet at my parents house because every time I try to set it back up I get such a sour taste I can't enjoy it anymore.

Seriously how the **** does someone (machine or not) screw up Country View Dr. 62221 Belleville and Country King Ln. 62254 Lebanon. not once but TWICE.

If any of you are on the slot car illustrated forums you might remember this happening a couple years back.
 
Nothing political about it. I'm just questioning the validity of funding a pension less.

What's not in that quote is WHY their retiree benefits are at that level ... it's what's called a "congressional mandate". Can't blame that on USPS.


The latter quote here is why I was saying it was political. I'm all for a well-funded pension pool, but if in order to pay the rent you have to starve to death, something's wrong!
 
Well they could save some money on receipt paper. The Fedex dropoff is the shorty, USPS the long one. Both for a single package.

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The latter quote here is why I was saying it was political. I'm all for a well-funded pension pool, but if in order to pay the rent you have to starve to death, something's wrong!

Actually, the prefunding has nothing to do with pensions. It's for retiree health benefits. Kind of a strange deal, mandated in 2006 by congressional legislation (USPS had no say in the matter) that requires funding in advance for 75 years of retiree health benefits. That's right -- they're funding for future employees who haven't even been born yet.

There's no similar requirement for any other private or government agency. Costs USPS over $5 billion annually. If not for that one burden USPS would show a profit today.
 
Actually, the prefunding has nothing to do with pensions. It's for retiree health benefits. Kind of a strange deal, mandated in 2006 by congressional legislation (USPS had no say in the matter) that requires funding in advance for 75 years of retiree health benefits. That's right -- they're funding for future employees who haven't even been born yet.

There's no similar requirement for any other private or government agency. Costs USPS over $5 billion annually. If not for that one burden USPS would show a profit today.


Excellent post. :thmbsp: Here is a rather lengthy article that explains the circumstances behind the prefunding mess.

http://www.savethepostoffice.com/ho...unding-retiree-health-care-and-fell-deep-hole
 
Tell me your story of how you have lost all respect for the people who are in control of what is in fact our .

I have shipped hundreds of packages over the past several years using the USPS. Most of what I have shipped arrived on time and undamaged. The 4 claims I had to make on lost or damaged items were approved and paid as expected because they were insured. Now that most everything can be done on line it has made my shipping much easier. I rarely have to wait in line at the post office and deal directly with a postal worker and that is a good thing.:yes:
 
The only time I ever had a problem with the post office was when my family was sent a time-sensitive wedding invite from relatives. Instead of being sent from one house to another in the same city (a two mile, one day trip), it somehow got postmarked Kansas City, MO (1335 miles, 8 days round trip). I didn't dare mail the RSVP.
 
vent on... Well with delivering about 20% of the mail they handled and still have the same number of employees its a wonder anything gets delivered , i can mail something halfway across the country in 4 to 5 days but when i mail 100 miles away it takes it a week if it makes it at all...vent off

If you look here at the USPS's own employee count data since 1926:

https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/employees-since-1926.pdf

you can see that the # of employees reached a peak of 787,000 in 1999 and was down to 491,000 by 2013. That's a 38% decrease in 14 years. USPS does NOT have the same number of employees it used to.

This one:

https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/pieces-of-mail-since-1789.pdf

shows the # of pieces of mail in 1999 was 202 million, and in 2013 was 158 million. This is a 22% decrease. USPS is NOT handling 20% of the mail it used to. Over this period, it's handling more like 78% as much, with 62% of the staff.

I'm not defending USPS necessarily, but I do insist that facts be factual. :D
 
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Drop off a Thorens 124 Plinth to the PO on 12/12/14 that I sold. With tracking #. Tracking # hasn't moved. So I go to the PO today 6 days later to see what happened to the plinth. Post Master tells me he has no idea where it is that it might be lost. I said how can you lose a package that's 16x22x6 that weights 14lbs. No response. :thumbsdn:
 
Yeah,that damn usps....

....they've only managed to damage 1 out of over 1000 items I've shipped.
And the gall of them to deliver packages in two days during the holiday rush.
The nerve.......:smoke:
 
Fed Ex has teamed up with USPS....beware! Al

A relative of mine flies a Fedex cargo plane from one city to another, every day. He told me the other day that USPS is shipping express mail (similar to Fedex Overnight I guess) on Fedex planes. Only USPS charges less to send it. I haven't shipped any express mail by either one and don't know the prices, but if it gets there at the same time for less money, USPS sounds like a deal in that category. I thought it was an interesting bit of info. :scratch2:
 
A relative of mine flies a Fedex cargo plane from one city to another, every day. He told me the other day that USPS is shipping express mail (similar to Fedex Overnight I guess) on Fedex planes. Only USPS charges less to send it. I haven't shipped any express mail by either one and don't know the prices, but if it gets there at the same time for less money, USPS sounds like a deal in that category. I thought it was an interesting bit of info. :scratch2:

Part of an arrangement worked out between FedEx and U.S.P.S. FedEx drops off packages at post offices every day for the final mile, delivered by the letter carriers. It's a win-win situation and it saves on gas, labor and other expenses.


http://www.minyanville.com/business...rvice-usps-post-office-post/8/3/2012/id/42951
 
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