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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

#81

Post by dantheman »

nerevarthelame wrote: post #30
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…

What private companies are delivering mail to rural areas in the middle of Montana? And how much do you think they charge to deliver a single letter to someone an hour away? (Answers: No one - they contract the work to the USPS, and at least $10 per letter)

Perhaps $10 dollars a letter is what it should cost in rural Montana; why is subsidizing a lifestyle choice the post offices business?

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

#82

Post by icedchai »

throwaway185205 wrote: post #52
gruez wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Its "delivery confirmation" is outright fraud. elaborate?

"Hello, merchant? I haven't received my package, but the tracking info says it was delivered at 9:00." Do you know what the merchant says, because they deal with this _all the time_?

I had a USPS package delivered signature required. They just left it in the mailbox. Unfortunately, it wasn't my mailbox, but one of my neighbors. It took me another 3 days to track it down...

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

#83

Post by burkaman »

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.

Imagine a world where state or federal government wants to do mail-in voting, or conduct a census, or mail emergency checks to all Americans, or send out tax refunds, or passports, or birth certificates, and private companies refuse to do it, or charge exorbitant rates. Would you prefer:

a) The government can compel private companies to do any of these things at any time whether they want to or not.

b) The government can do these things by itself.

c) None of these things are possible.

Or, imagine a state election that includes a ballot question about raising taxes on large corporations, and the only company that can deliver and collect ballots is Amazon. Can you think of any problems this could cause?

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

#84

Post by Etheryte »

qppo wrote: post #71
Reedx wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the same token, we probably should rethink the USPS from first principles. We want delivery to every address, but certainly there is a problem when ~50% of what's being delivered is junk mail[1] 1. https://facts.usps.com/table-facts/

Why first principles? Create a do-not-mail list. Make up the funding gap with taxes.

It always puzzles me why this is the oft suggested answer. Surely the sane default should be to already not receive unnecessary spam? In the digital world, the general consensus seems to agree with this sentiment, I wonder why the same doesn't apply for the real world. If anyone wants your ads, they can sign up for it, delivering it to anyone else should be punishable by law.

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

#85

Post by dantheman »

Loughla wrote: post #77
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…

I live in rural America. If we relied on for-profit, I imagine I would have to drive to the closest pick-up location (40 minutes), as I have to do right now for my UPS/FedEx packages.

That seems fair, unless you want to pay more. Why should someone be subsidizing your housing choice?

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

#86

Post by icedchai »

yellowapple wrote: post #46
throwaway185205 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

He's talking about junk mail. This is mostly what they deliver.

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

#87

Post by lotsofpulp »

FireBeyond wrote: post #34
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…

1. The USPS receives no tax subsidization. 2. The USPS is the only organization in US History that was mandated by Congress to fully fund its pension for 75 years into the future (i.e. potentially for employees that are _yet to be BORN_). Details like that are what make the USPS a ripe target.

#2 is not true about funding for employees not yet born. The law unfairly requires the USPS to save money for its accrued future promised benefits, especially healthcare benefits.

However, the problem isn’t that the USPS is required to recognize the cost of these benefits, the problem is no other governments are required to. There’s a reason only taxpayer funded entities offer retiree healthcare benefits, and that’s because it’s a ludicrously costly benefit to give if you don’t have the power to tax.

The same applies to defined benefit pensions. If anything, all other entities promising defined benefit and retiree healthcare benefits should be subject to the same laws. Maybe then, politicians and current taxpayers wouldn’t be able to steal from future taxpayers for today’s labor costs.

https://www.truthorfiction.com/is-usps-losing-money-because-...

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

#89

Post by throwaway185205 »

voz_ wrote: post #74
throwaway185205 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Throw-away accounts with no identifying information, purposely flaming comments that add nothing to the discussion (nevermind with no citation, sources, or data) are a very non-hn thing. Is there a rule against this kind of low quality participation?

I'm directly refuting a substance-free political assertion ("flame"). You're sea-lioning.
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