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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 n

by timjahn 15y ago

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 all, but they've nowhere near the customer focus that the USPS has." I must have a very different experience with the USPS then you. Any time I go to the post office (which now is maybe once every year or two), the employees are extremely disgruntled, not happy that you're there, and not very interested in helping you get what you need done. More importantly, though, in my experience, the USPS is horrible at its core job: transporting and delivering mail. They have "tracking" that doesn't actually track - it simply tells you the package has left the origin and arrived at the destination - nothing in between. Mail is consistently lost, delivered to the wrong address, or opened before delivery (by who knows). Again, this is my experience. I suspect it's not unique, but your mile probably varies.

Anechoic 15y ago
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 still be reasonably profitable. Any time I go to the post office (which now is maybe once every year or two), the employees are extremely disgruntled, not happy that you're there, and not very interested in helping you get what you need done We all have anecdotes. My business uses USPS for shipping packages worldwide and I am a very happy customer of their services. I go to various Post Offices (01139, 06096, 01095, and 01803 among others, depending on my schedule and travel) 6 days a week to collect mail and ship packages. At this point the workers all know me very well, so it may be that my experiences are atypical, but I find them all to be extremely hardworking, friendly and willing to go the extra mile for me - for example, I mailed a letter once and didn't put enough postage on it. One of the postal workers put on the extra postage and left a note in my PO box asking me to reimburse her when I got a chance. But again, these are just anecdotes. However, even when I visit Post Offices I don't normally go to, I'm still largely happy with the services. The only complaint is that sometimes when a Post Office is very busy, I've had employees be curt with me, but in those circumstances I can understand why. They have "tracking" that doesn't actually track - it simply tells you the package has left the origin and arrived at the destination - nothing in between. Wholeheartedly agreed. They need to do better here. Mail is consistently lost, delivered to the wrong address, or opened before delivery (by who knows) I've shipped something like 2000 packages in the last 3 years to all 50 states and over 40 countries. I've had a grand total of two packages lost (and I'm pretty sure that only one of those two packages was actually lost and the other one was just a customer who wanted a free second item).
- steauengeglase 15y ago
  I'll be happy to put on my tinfoil hat and tell you what I think is really going on. The USPS does a lot more than ship packages and letters. They are also the government's mass printer. That VA letter and social security check probably wasn't printed in a Virginia suburb, but at one of the regional USPS printing offices. They also handle very high security items, not just to you, but between government agencies under conditions that would make the warden of a maximum security prison blush. The term "going postal" isn't about some guy at your local post office flipping out over the number of people waiting to get their packages weighed, but about some guy who has spent decades wondering if the guy standing next to him is a postal inspector just itching to see him screw up. To put it another way, they offset a lot of other agencies costs (at least in overhead). I'm certainly not saying it would be better or worse if all of this were handled by the private sector, but I will say it would require a lot of restructuring and make someone a huge pile of cash. Still, it is going to happen sooner or later. Politically it is just too sweet.
- timjahn 15y ago
  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.

by timjahn 15y ago

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 all, but they've nowhere near the customer focus that the USPS has." I must have a very different experience with the USPS then you. Any time I go to the post office (which now is maybe once every year or two), the employees are extremely disgruntled, not happy that you're there, and not very interested in helping you get what you need done. More importantly, though, in my experience, the USPS is horrible at its core job: transporting and delivering mail. They have "tracking" that doesn't actually track - it simply tells you the package has left the origin and arrived at the destination - nothing in between. Mail is consistently lost, delivered to the wrong address, or opened before delivery (by who knows). Again, this is my experience. I suspect it's not unique, but your mile probably varies.

Anechoic 15y ago

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 still be reasonably profitable. Any time I go to the post office (which now is maybe once every year or two), the employees are extremely disgruntled, not happy that you're there, and not very interested in helping you get what you need done We all have anecdotes. My business uses USPS for shipping packages worldwide and I am a very happy customer of their services. I go to various Post Offices (01139, 06096, 01095, and 01803 among others, depending on my schedule and travel) 6 days a week to collect mail and ship packages. At this point the workers all know me very well, so it may be that my experiences are atypical, but I find them all to be extremely hardworking, friendly and willing to go the extra mile for me - for example, I mailed a letter once and didn't put enough postage on it. One of the postal workers put on the extra postage and left a note in my PO box asking me to reimburse her when I got a chance. But again, these are just anecdotes. However, even when I visit Post Offices I don't normally go to, I'm still largely happy with the services. The only complaint is that sometimes when a Post Office is very busy, I've had employees be curt with me, but in those circumstances I can understand why. They have "tracking" that doesn't actually track - it simply tells you the package has left the origin and arrived at the destination - nothing in between. Wholeheartedly agreed. They need to do better here. Mail is consistently lost, delivered to the wrong address, or opened before delivery (by who knows) I've shipped something like 2000 packages in the last 3 years to all 50 states and over 40 countries. I've had a grand total of two packages lost (and I'm pretty sure that only one of those two packages was actually lost and the other one was just a customer who wanted a free second item).

steauengeglase 15y ago
I'll be happy to put on my tinfoil hat and tell you what I think is really going on. The USPS does a lot more than ship packages and letters. They are also the government's mass printer. That VA letter and social security check probably wasn't printed in a Virginia suburb, but at one of the regional USPS printing offices. They also handle very high security items, not just to you, but between government agencies under conditions that would make the warden of a maximum security prison blush. The term "going postal" isn't about some guy at your local post office flipping out over the number of people waiting to get their packages weighed, but about some guy who has spent decades wondering if the guy standing next to him is a postal inspector just itching to see him screw up. To put it another way, they offset a lot of other agencies costs (at least in overhead). I'm certainly not saying it would be better or worse if all of this were handled by the private sector, but I will say it would require a lot of restructuring and make someone a huge pile of cash. Still, it is going to happen sooner or later. Politically it is just too sweet.
timjahn 15y ago
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.