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United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

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Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#61

Post by timjahn »

Anechoic wrote: post #23
timjahn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm aware of the government requirements on USPS but I believe that's irrelevant. The USPS would still be in the decline it is today regardless of whether or not they had to stash away all that money today, 5 years from now, or never. It's simple: people don't use the mail as much as they used to. And that trend is only going to continue. People will never increase their use of the USPS. "UPS and FedEx are great and…

I'm aware of the government requirements on USPS but I believe that's irrelevant. The USPS would still be in the decline it is today regardless of whether or not they had to stash away all that money today, 5 years from now, or never. They would still be in decline, but they actually run an operating profit right now. If/as mail volume further declines they can cut & consolidate facilities to a point where they can s…

I agree about the anecdotes. I'm sure the experiences are varied.

I'm thinking more big picture. How much mail will my 17 month old send or receive via the postal service when he's in junior high? High school? College?

I see the USPS becoming less and less relevant during his lifetime.

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#62

Post by pavelkaroukin »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #27

The USPS ad isn't completely baseless. We just recently did a virus cleanup for someone who opened up what they thought was a ticket confirmation for their boss in their email. Oops. (Their mail service provider apparently doesn't block zip files containing executables.) There is a lot of confusion out there from people who aren't sure what is and isn't safe to open. The knowledge that we take for granted -- .jpg is…

I receive bunch of scam letters in to my mailbox. One looked like official gov printed notification and started with words "You might be subject for 5 years in prison" and then smaller letters "if you prevent delivering this mail". And then actual ads - extend warranty of your car..

Same goes about "won tickets to cruise" with phone number where they offer you to buy something...

So in this regard USPS is not better then email. It is just happened that sending bio hazardous stuff is expensive through snail mail..

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#63

Post by xinsight »

mseebach wrote: post #30
GoldenMonkey wrote: post #5

It's not good for the environment. Why kill more trees with junk mail?

Sustainably farmed paper (which is practically all of it) is a net gain over not using paper at all. The energy wasted hauling this paper around is a bigger concern environmentally.

No matter how environmental the paper is, sending paper to people who don't want it is a huge waste of resources.

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#64

Post by roc »

patio11 wrote: post #18
roc wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair: the USPS is being rushed out the door via a legislative hit job. They've been required to accumulate a reserve of 75 years-worth of worker benefits (retirement and healthcare) -- something I don't believe any other company or government service has to do -- and build up that reserve in 10 years, on their existing budget. So the speed of their decline is greatly exaggerated by this and not entirely reflect…

Defenders of the Post Office like to say this, but it is at odds with reality. The prefunding requirement only requires them to have the NPV value of future payments for everyone who currently or formerly works for them. This is how everyone should accumulate pensions: the alternative is an accounting gimmick in which you promise unsustainable future payments today and then make yourself scarce (or ask for the taxpay…

> "This is how everyone should accumulate pensions"

Probably. Yet this is the only group that is required to. And they've been required to make up the difference under a very short timeframe. Should every pension fund be given only 10 years to correct the situation?

> "Congress anticipates that the Post Office will, if allowed to do that, report "The Post Office is profitable on its own revenues and receives no support from the federal government" reliably every year until their pension fund implodes with a 13 figure uncovered liability."

And why is the Post Office singled out for this concern? Are other government profit centers treated the same way? Perhaps the Patent Office?

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#65

Post by lnguyen »

patio11 wrote: post #18
roc wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair: the USPS is being rushed out the door via a legislative hit job. They've been required to accumulate a reserve of 75 years-worth of worker benefits (retirement and healthcare) -- something I don't believe any other company or government service has to do -- and build up that reserve in 10 years, on their existing budget. So the speed of their decline is greatly exaggerated by this and not entirely reflect…

Defenders of the Post Office like to say this, but it is at odds with reality. The prefunding requirement only requires them to have the NPV value of future payments for everyone who currently or formerly works for them. This is how everyone should accumulate pensions: the alternative is an accounting gimmick in which you promise unsustainable future payments today and then make yourself scarce (or ask for the taxpay…

And on the flip side:

How Employers Raid Pension Plans http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020413820457660...

Treasury dips into pension funds to avoid debt http://news.yahoo.com/treasury-dips-pension-funds-avoid-debt...

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#66

Post by xinsight »

hammerdr wrote: post #16

This is something that is very close to my family so I have a bit of experience with how the Postal Service is going. The big sell of the postal service is that it costs the same amount to send a letter from San Francisco to Los Angeles as it does to send a letter from the bayou in Louisiana to Honolulu, Hawaii. In this, physical mail is the big equalizer. The USPS is also required to deliver mail to even the most re…

I think you're missing the OP's point. He isn't suggesting ending postal service, but coming up with new and better services instead of trying to scare people away from email.

For many people, the post office is just an incredibly slow, junk mail delivery system. If you care about the USPS, I'm surprised you don't agree with the OP that new ideas are needed.

(One idea i'd like to see is a registered email service, so you know an email was received. The post office has the public's trust to pull this off.)

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#67

Post by jdthomas »

If the USPS wants more usage, rather than marketing, they need to "innovate" just a tad. There is a value-add service that I really wish the USPS would provide. It is very simple too...

I would like an abstraction layer for my address. I am still fairly young and move semi-frequently -- every few years. I want a static address that I can give to my bank, DMV, anything that needs to mail me things. This address will auto-forward to my current living address. Thus I will not have to update all my services when I move. It might also be nice to have multiple addresses forwarded to the same location as well; my address and my current roommates.

The format of this address could follow PO box style, or they could even invent something new (blah@physical.usps.com).

This is something that I think would be easy for the USPS to provide (mail is routed electronically, and I am basically just asking for a lookup table). This would be more difficult for "competitors" UPS/FedEx/DHL to provide, and just might bring more use to the USPS. So why hasn't the USPS done it?

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#68

Post by felipemnoa »

extension wrote: post #46
hammerdr wrote: post #16

This is something that is very close to my family so I have a bit of experience with how the Postal Service is going. The big sell of the postal service is that it costs the same amount to send a letter from San Francisco to Los Angeles as it does to send a letter from the bayou in Louisiana to Honolulu, Hawaii. In this, physical mail is the big equalizer. The USPS is also required to deliver mail to even the most re…

Nearly all my mail ends up at addresses from my past. If it wasn't for e-bills, I would never receive (my own) bills. And I have received mountains of mail from countless former tenants at every place I've lived, mail they will never see. The post doesn't seem very reliable to me.

They only forward mail for a year. That should be plenty of time to change your addresses. It seems that you don't though.

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#69

Post by felipemnoa »

pavelkaroukin wrote: post #58
DanBC wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...but that's less about the postal systems than it is about people updating addresses or forwarding mail on. I have some rubber stamps made with ADDRESSEE GONE AWAY RETURN TO SENDER and that seems to cut down the amount of repeated post. You can dump all the post for one person in a big envelope and dump that in a post box once a month.

And how it works after that? USPS just return mail to sender with no questions asked? I recently bought a house and also receiving bunch of mails. Once - check for few hundreds of some refund from some utility company. Thanks I had contact info of previous tenant, so I could mail it to him (never got a thanks letter :))

>>And how it works after that? USPS just return mail to sender with no questions asked?

Yes, of course.

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#70

Post by Goronmon »

roc wrote: post #64
patio11 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Defenders of the Post Office like to say this, but it is at odds with reality. The prefunding requirement only requires them to have the NPV value of future payments for everyone who currently or formerly works for them. This is how everyone should accumulate pensions: the alternative is an accounting gimmick in which you promise unsustainable future payments today and then make yourself scarce (or ask for the taxpay…

> "This is how everyone should accumulate pensions" Probably. Yet this is the only group that is required to. And they've been required to make up the difference under a very short timeframe. Should every pension fund be given only 10 years to correct the situation? > "Congress anticipates that the Post Office will, if allowed to do that, report "The Post Office is profitable on its own revenues and receives no suppo…

>And why is the Post Office singled out for this concern? Are other government profit centers treated the same way? Perhaps the Patent Office?

It probably has to do with the number of employees. IIRC, the Post Office is one of the largest employers in the country.

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