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U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

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Re: U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

#41

Post by artimaeis »

m0zg wrote: post #7
learc83 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a bipartisan plan to include 30 billion in funding for the Post Office in the 2 trillion dollar stimulus bill. But the administration said they wouldn't sign anything that included emergency funding for the USPS. That doesn't prove what the administration's motives are, but they certainly seem hostile towards the USPS.

I don't get why it has to lose money at all in the first place. Sounds to me like they're offering a unique, highly in-demand service, in a market that is currently booming. Perhaps they should consider reworking their pricing structure? Just a thought.

The USPS does not have domain over the pricing structure of its most popular commodity: first class mail. That is regulated to the Postal Regulatory Commission. As for other services offered they do maintain control, which is why priority delivery starts at $7.15. They're also mandated to provide door-to-door delivery with first class mail, so effectively every piece of rural mail costs them money, but they can't do anything about it.

Re: U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

#42

Post by curiousgeorgio »

phdp wrote: post #36
curiousgeorgio wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The USPS is a crucial part of the US infrastructure. Mail delivery and shipping are crucial, not the USPS. There are plenty of other private companies that can and do show the ability to do what the USPS does - only more efficiently (and without consistently losing money). At this point in history, there's no need for us to continue supporting the tax-subsidized[1] money pit that is the USPS. Yet another piece of e…

No one else does what the USPS does. No one else does daily rural mail delivery. The USPS is also not tax subsidized.

> No one else does what the USPS does

They certainly could if it weren't for laws preventing them from delivering to people's mailboxes.

Re: U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

#43

Post by kauffj »

bytematic wrote: post #6

Wonder what happens when soldiers can't send/receive mail from their families

An uninhibited free market would absolutely produce a price for that service. If no mail is sent, it's because the market is inhibited or both of the parties (government and families) are unwilling to pay the price.

Re: U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

#45

Post by sio8ohPi »

cjsawyer wrote: post #2

Unrelated to this specific article: The USPS is a crucial part of the US infrastructure. The thought that we could loose it over mail in ballot voting is a sick joke.

It's weird to me to hear comments like this. To me the postal service just seems like a slow email service with no spam filtering. (Sure they can delivery packages, but they're not unique in that regard).

I get the utility of certified mail and associated services, but I don't really understand why we need first-class/marketing mail service in the 21st century.

I agree it was important infrastructure 250 years ago.

Re: U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

#46

Post by yellowapple »

throwaway185205 wrote: post #19
hugi wrote: post #3

[flagged]

USPS functions almost exclusively to deliver unsolicited advertisements. Its "delivery confirmation" is outright fraud.

What? USPS is the single largest parcel carrier in the US (dwarfing UPS and FedEx by package volume). That ain't even including the numerous packages that UPS and FedEx delegate to USPS for last-mile delivery (via SurePost and SmartPost, respectively). Hell, a lot of rural communities are entirely dependent on USPS for parcel delivery because they're outside of the service areas of other carriers.

I don't know where this notion of "USPS only delivers letters and magazines" comes from, but it's patently and demonstrably false.

Re: U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

#47

Post by eranima »

sio8ohPi wrote: post #45
cjsawyer wrote: post #2

Unrelated to this specific article: The USPS is a crucial part of the US infrastructure. The thought that we could loose it over mail in ballot voting is a sick joke.

It's weird to me to hear comments like this. To me the postal service just seems like a slow email service with no spam filtering. (Sure they can delivery packages, but they're not unique in that regard). I get the utility of certified mail and associated services, but I don't really understand why we need first-class/marketing mail service in the 21st century. I agree it was important infrastructure 250 years ago.

Because not everyone can afford internet access?

Re: U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

#48

Post by _curious_ »

Why does this institution still exist? Or, what is so vital to America about paper mail/communications that it cannot be delivered once each week?

Seems like the primary beneficiary in this era is the direct mail marketing & advertising industries.

Re: U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

#49

Post by SolaceQuantum »

curiousgeorgio wrote: post #42
phdp wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one else does what the USPS does. No one else does daily rural mail delivery. The USPS is also not tax subsidized.

> No one else does what the USPS does They certainly could if it weren't for laws preventing them from delivering to people's mailboxes.

What are the laws preventing UPS from delivering to extremely rural areas?

Re: U.S. Postal Workers Were on the Front Lines Before. They Were Ignored

#50

Post by lawfulcactus »

curiousgeorgio wrote: post #31
cjsawyer wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“The Postal Service receives NO tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.” https://facts.usps.com/top-facts/

> ...for operating expenses Weasel words. See https://fortune.com/2015/03/27/us-postal-service/

> Laws that bar any other shipping service from delivering mail and packages directly to residential and business mailboxes. Shapiro estimates that this gives the Post Office a $14 billion annual boost, more than three times what the Postal Regulatory Commission estimates it to be.

> Tax breaks. The Post Office is exempt from state and local property and real estate taxes, along with other burdens like tolls, vehicle registration fees, and parking tickets. These exemptions save the USPS $2.18 billion per year.

> Cheap borrowing. [...] It currently borrows the legal limit of $15.2 billion at a rate of 1.2%. Without this access, it would be paying somewhere between $415 million and $490 million per year more in interest.

> Finally, Shapiro points out that the USPS pays its workers salaries and benefits far above the rates paid to similar workers in the private sector.

From the article; it's not a /literal/ taxpayer-funded subsidy.

Also, since that link is paywalled: https://web.archive.org/web/20200411145708/https://fortune.c...

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