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The package delivery business side of the USPS is a profitable venture. The USPS is in the state it is in not because of Amazon or last mile delivery that is do

The package delivery business side of the USPS is a profitable venture. The USPS is in the state it is in not because of Amazon or last mile delivery that is doing for other businesses. The core problem is Congress and the requirement they put is the USPS that they prefund 75 years of pensions. A requirement placed on no other institutions in the US.

mieseratte 8y ago
> The core problem is Congress and the requirement they put is the USPS that they prefund 75 years of pensions. A requirement placed on no other institutions in the US. Why is this? Did the USPS have some kind of retirement funding scandal, or was someone trying to smother it?
- Spooky23 8y ago
  Two reasons... it’s tranfers postal revenues to federal cash flow via bonds, and key GOP lawmakers want to make the service unsustainable to enable privatization.
  - coldcode 8y ago
    Privatization is a key goal here. By making USPS appear to struggle to make money it improves the argument that UPS, Fedex and anyone else who could make more money would be "better" at delivery. But the requirement that all Americans have access to daily (6) deliveries which is a core requirement for the Post Office is in the way of privatization as no one can honor this requirement for so little money as a stamp and make public company profits. So this can be buried in this "review" by proposing doing away with daily or even direct to home deliveries of mail. Interestingly enough by eliminating the daily delivery of mail also kills the DMA business, which while everyone hates spam mail, is still a vital business tool for small and local businesses. Fedex will not deliver mail to your house that costs a nickel.
    - Spooky23 8y ago
      Remember that saving money isn’t usually a privatization factor. FedEx will deliver mail for a nickel when they get a dollar from the government to do so.
- mcbits 8y ago
  Probably because it forces them to buy and hold long-term US debt.
ForRealsies 8y ago
There's no debate that the delivery business is profitable for USPS. The issue is that there is money being left on the table. So yes. The Post Office is "losing money" in the economic sense.
anilshanbhag 8y ago
After reading multiple reports, I am confused if anyone really knows if it is profitable or not. Do you have a source for your claim ? UPS and Fedex have operating margin of ~6%. They have spent 10's of billions of dollars into optimized sorting facilities and logistics. Yet, Amazon uses USPS for last mile delivery. USPS also has to deliver to non-profitable remote locations and has public unions which demand above-market salary/pensions. A less-optimized player with higher cost base offers service at lower cost than a business with 6% operating margin - simple math makes me believe they are losing money on those orders.
- rabboRubble 8y ago
  https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2016/pr16_092.htm https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2016/pr16_092....

mieseratte 8y ago

> The core problem is Congress and the requirement they put is the USPS that they prefund 75 years of pensions. A requirement placed on no other institutions in the US. Why is this? Did the USPS have some kind of retirement funding scandal, or was someone trying to smother it?

Spooky23 8y ago
Two reasons... it’s tranfers postal revenues to federal cash flow via bonds, and key GOP lawmakers want to make the service unsustainable to enable privatization.
- coldcode 8y ago
  Privatization is a key goal here. By making USPS appear to struggle to make money it improves the argument that UPS, Fedex and anyone else who could make more money would be "better" at delivery. But the requirement that all Americans have access to daily (6) deliveries which is a core requirement for the Post Office is in the way of privatization as no one can honor this requirement for so little money as a stamp and make public company profits. So this can be buried in this "review" by proposing doing away with daily or even direct to home deliveries of mail. Interestingly enough by eliminating the daily delivery of mail also kills the DMA business, which while everyone hates spam mail, is still a vital business tool for small and local businesses. Fedex will not deliver mail to your house that costs a nickel.
  - Spooky23 8y ago
    Remember that saving money isn’t usually a privatization factor. FedEx will deliver mail for a nickel when they get a dollar from the government to do so.
mcbits 8y ago
Probably because it forces them to buy and hold long-term US debt.

ForRealsies 8y ago

There's no debate that the delivery business is profitable for USPS. The issue is that there is money being left on the table. So yes. The Post Office is "losing money" in the economic sense.

anilshanbhag 8y ago

After reading multiple reports, I am confused if anyone really knows if it is profitable or not. Do you have a source for your claim ? UPS and Fedex have operating margin of ~6%. They have spent 10's of billions of dollars into optimized sorting facilities and logistics. Yet, Amazon uses USPS for last mile delivery. USPS also has to deliver to non-profitable remote locations and has public unions which demand above-market salary/pensions. A less-optimized player with higher cost base offers service at lower cost than a business with 6% operating margin - simple math makes me believe they are losing money on those orders.

rabboRubble 8y ago
https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2016/pr16_092.htm https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2016/pr16_092....