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> Is it because USPS is not receiving enough funding from the government Why is this even a painpoint ? How much funding does Fedex or UPS get from government

> Is it because USPS is not receiving enough funding from the government Why is this even a painpoint ? How much funding does Fedex or UPS get from government to stay operational ? I find it surprising that USPS remains operational at such massive scale while being a cash sink for American taxpayers. Putting more money in this sinkhole is unlikely to yield better results. If US government makes it legal for other carriers to carry letters (which is illegal at this point) the need for USPS would be much lesser. USPS could then focus more on rural and underserved communities and negotiate contracts with Fedex/UPS etc.

triceratops 6y ago
> How much funding does Fedex or UPS get from government to stay operational ? The government also doesn't set Fedex or UPS's rates, or appoint their chief executives, or pass laws about their pension funding. So it's not a fair comparison.
thephyber 6y ago
This comment completely misunderstands the USPS's problems. The USPS doesn't get public funding, but its pursestrings and business model is micromanaged by Congress (which has no business placing most of the mandates on the USPS that it does). This is roughly equivalent to having an environmental conservation group being given a majority of board seats on a real estate developer. These micromanaging mandates include schedule of delivery, the breadth of service area (which frequently must include the least profitable places to deliver), micromanaging of every price increase, and restrictions that the USPS can't move into other businesses that might encroach on their lobbyist-buddies clients (eg. paycheck cashing, which USPS used to do). I can't make sense of how much the 75-years pension prepay is catching up from insufficient coffers (perhaps justifiable) and how much of it is just punitive to keep the USPS from running efficiently and being able to use more of its debt for capital improvements. According to WSJ, UPS added delivery surcharges in May due to COVID's impact. The only reason USPS can't do the same to manage the supply/demand curve changes is because Congress is somehow allowed to micromanage USPS price changes.

triceratops 6y ago

> How much funding does Fedex or UPS get from government to stay operational ? The government also doesn't set Fedex or UPS's rates, or appoint their chief executives, or pass laws about their pension funding. So it's not a fair comparison.

thephyber 6y ago

This comment completely misunderstands the USPS's problems. The USPS doesn't get public funding, but its pursestrings and business model is micromanaged by Congress (which has no business placing most of the mandates on the USPS that it does). This is roughly equivalent to having an environmental conservation group being given a majority of board seats on a real estate developer. These micromanaging mandates include schedule of delivery, the breadth of service area (which frequently must include the least profitable places to deliver), micromanaging of every price increase, and restrictions that the USPS can't move into other businesses that might encroach on their lobbyist-buddies clients (eg. paycheck cashing, which USPS used to do). I can't make sense of how much the 75-years pension prepay is catching up from insufficient coffers (perhaps justifiable) and how much of it is just punitive to keep the USPS from running efficiently and being able to use more of its debt for capital improvements. According to WSJ, UPS added delivery surcharges in May due to COVID's impact. The only reason USPS can't do the same to manage the supply/demand curve changes is because Congress is somehow allowed to micromanage USPS price changes.