"Expect US postage service to get even slower" Topic

As if we need it to get even slower.

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Well, AND of course, another obligatory rate increase IS right around the corner.

Hold onto you wallet and bank account, tightly.

How does the USPS lose money? FEDEX, UPS and DHL stay in business and make money.

Similar to what happened at GM, pension and retiree health benefit costs are large contributors to the current USPS financial state.

The USPS isn't run like a regular business. Some of the money that could be used for investment or improvements is siphoned off to other parts of the government. FEDEX, UPS and DHL don't go to every house every day.

USPS revenue has at times been allocated to other areas similar to the Social Security lockbox. The overall government record is not a great one though. AMTRAK is a glaring example. I feel badly for those doing the day to day block and tackle work to keep things going. For a rural area our service is actually quite good. Unfortunately it's difficult to overcome decades of poor leadership and a lack of financial accountability not always residing within the USPS.

If a defined contribution plan is good enough for the military, it should be good enough for the USPS. That might help them get that part of their budget problem under control.

From a Canadian perspective, I have found that the USPS service for small packages is very good.

The USPS only goes to houses when they have deliveries/pickups for them as well.

Yea, high pensions for the older workers. Newer ones get screwed, like the newer guys at a certain parcel service too.

Enemies of the USPS that would like to privatize it have forced it to hugely OVER fund pensions, keeping it cash strapped.

FedEx, UPS and DHL do not deliver everywhere, like to my sister in Anchorage, for example. They can serve only profitable areas. And they don't go to every stop every day.

Also, their prices are MUCH higher than USPS. As a small business I have to *pay* UPS to come pick up my packages!

From a private, non-commercial perspective, $0.55 USD to send a letter anywhere in the continental US is a pretty good deal.

I don't recall the AP ever making note of someone they villify being a "major donor" to Obama, but its the AP, I digress.

The quality of carriers in my area has dropped off sharply. I used to stick up for "snail mail", but not anymore. Clearly, the decline in pay and benefits leads to a decline quality of applicants.

As an aside, tracking lately has allowed me to see my packages being routed to some pretty bizarre layovers on their journey to my doorstep. Including Miami, multiple times just recently. Because SO much of the United States is "on the way" from Miami.

EC +1.

As is almost always the case on shipping discussions, some posters complain about USPS without knowing even the most basic facts.

Apparently the new USPS head has decreed "no more overtime", which has slowed processing/delivery. That at least explains why my Netflix movie delays now vary between 2-6 days going each way… :-(

My local post office does a good job but we're in a very small town. Our problems stem from the incompetents peopling the distribution centers. Recently I was awaiting a shipment from Missouri. I live in Texas. The package made great time and arrived at the distribution center located in Coppell, TX. For ten days the package sat in Coppell. When I called them they promptly shipped it off to a small town in Wisconsin. Whenever I see a tracked item go through Coppell I know to add at least two to three days to the delivery time. Sometimes a month. In my job I have to perform at a certain level or be fired. I guess the USPS doesn't operate under performance guidelines.

For what it's worth, yesterday a British customer told me it took 17 days for his order to arrive from the day I sent it. That's pretty typical for orders sent in the last three months from here in Virginia.

Cheers, Tumbleweed – The Viking Forge