US Post Office Issues

i’m of the opinion the USPS turned to a sh!tshow the minute the federal government stick there bloody nose and fingers into it.

leave them run it like a business and stay out of it!!!!!!

glenn57 wrote:

i’m of the opinion the USPS turned to a sh!tshow the minute the federal government stick there bloody nose and fingers into it.
leave them run it like a business and stay out of it!!!!!!

The post office is part the federal government. They are an independent agency of the executive branch.

They would be completely toast 15 years ago and cease to exist if Congress had not allocated more money for them. They are supposed to be a self-sustaining agency funded on their own without taxpayer funds. They’ve been operating in the red for many years now. Their “business” model you speak of is exactly what has led to their downfall, not intervention by Congress. Congress has literally kept them afloat.

Their problems are well documented. It starts at the top with the postmaster general and goes from there. Employees are viewed negatively if they aren’t working 12 hours/day and they are often called in on their one day off. I used to think that working for the post office was a cushy, steady paying government job with good benefits. No chance I’d consider working there now in that kind of environment. Its clearly toxic.

Many of their budget issues originally stem from the older retirement contracts they dolled out years ago that they’re still paying. Good for the retirees, bad for the agency.

and i wouldnt of expected nothing less of a response from you defending the feds since your on there payroll!!!!!!

Yes, that’s correct.

glenn57 wrote:

i’m of the opinion the USPS turned to a sh!tshow the minute the federal government stick there bloody nose and fingers into it.

leave them run it like a business and stay out of it!!!!!!

You do realize that the United States Postal Service was created by our founding fathers as a part of our first ever attempt at a Federal Government, right? The national government has been “sticking their bloody nose and fingers into it” since it created the USPS and the United States as an independent nation.

I too think the USPS has some issues that have went unresolved for far too long. It either needs to be run like a self-functioning business as Glen alluded to, with the ability to adjust prices, services, and contracts as needed without excessive government oversight…or they need to fully fund it as a service and pony up the cash. With the current funding rates compared to price increases and labor economics, it’s destined to fail.

It all started tumbling when the internet and email became a thing.. the bread and butter “letters” and mail in payments ended and the USPS didn’t react. I remember them floating around a rumor of a “charge” for emails, a couple cents each, to try to keep the USPS afloat… that didn’t happen. They needed to switch their focus from letters to packages, but their little trucks are not designed for package delivery. Ran like a business, it would be bankrupt years ago, Gim is correct, the government and taxpayers have been floating it for decades… its too big to fail quickly… slow death is more like it.

Oh absolutely, the advancement of email that replaced standard mail was a big problem. They are in the process of replacing those old school delivery vehicles though. They’re going to hybrid vans. I’m sure its a slow and arduous process though.

I agree big_g, but the folks that did the bids to get amazon in the PO sure messed up!! they also do fed X and UPS deliveries too… too many bad political decisions..

big_g wrote:

It all started tumbling when the internet and email became a thing.. the bread and butter “letters” and mail in payments ended and the USPS didn’t react. I remember them floating around a rumor of a “charge” for emails, a couple cents each, to try to keep the USPS afloat… that didn’t happen. They needed to switch their focus from letters to packages, but their little trucks are not designed for package delivery. Ran like a business, it would be bankrupt years ago, Gim is correct, the government and taxpayers have been floating it for decades… its too big to fail quickly… slow death is more like it.

They should have gotten on the band wagon and provided free email addresses to everyone that were secure and accessible that they could route junk mail and other mail through charging the senders a small fee. All government emails could have been sent through them, easing the burden for junk mail for carriers and providing revenue through the mass email advertising.

buckybadger wrote:

You do realize that the United States Postal Service was created by our founding fathers as a part of our first ever attempt at a Federal Government, right? The national government has been “sticking their bloody nose and fingers into it” since it created the USPS and the United States as an independent nation.

This the problem in a nutshell. Everybody in congress demands the USPS be run like a business and make a profit. Until…

Until the post office tries to cut costs by limiting services or closing the post office branches that lose the most money. They the members of Congress swoop in and prevent any changes from being made that would impact their district. So the post office goes on losing more money.

It isn’t Amazon packages that lose money for the post office. It’s being mandated to do 6-day-a-week mail delivery and have post offices open all over the USA. You think the post office makes a profit delivering junk mail in North Dakota on a Saturday? But Congress makes them do it and complains when they lose money at it.

I would be happy with 5 or 4 day home delivery service. Only makes sense given the decrease in mail volume and high cost of infrastructure. USPS will never be a “break even” or “profitable” agency, just common sense.

Troubled as the US postal service is, beats the hell out of Canada’s service. We were always given a bundle of mail to drop off at International Falls post office by the resort owner when we left Sioux Narrows – saved a good week.

The USPS is one giant unfunded/underfunded mandate. Add it to the list of federally passed down mandates in education, healthcare, transportation, environmental regulations, and so on. Congress won’t let it die nor will anyone campaign on “increased spending on the USPS so that it can function and keep up with wage and infrastructure costs.” We will throw some taxpayer “change” at it to keep it running. It’s similar to that old beater car that you don’t let die, but also won’t make major repairs so that it runs decent.

The government and its lawmakers are quick to set things up or pass policies, but are even quicker to pass blame when they don’t have the money/resources to correctly run what they put in place.

buckybadger wrote:

The government and its lawmakers are quick to set things up or pass policies, but are even quicker to pass blame when they don’t have the money/resources to correctly run what they put in place.

That pretty much sums up the entire government.