Post Office losing 25 million dollars PER DAY

[Rarely-Wrong Liggins]

Can the Postal Service be saved? - Yahoo! News

The USPS is losing $25 million... a day

What's wrong with the post office?

It's hemorrhaging money at the rate of about $25 million a day. The U.S. Postal Service, the nation's second-biggest employer after Walmart, lost almost $16 billion in the last fiscal year. By next fall, it is projected to have less than three days' worth of operating expenses on hand. (As an independent agency operating with federal oversight, the USPS can borrow money from the government to cover its losses but doesn't get any direct funding.) To ward off reckoning day, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe last month announced that Saturday delivery of regular mail would end in August, in order to save $2 billion a year. That plan is meeting stiff resistance in Congress, which has notified Donahoe that he lacks "the constitutional and statutory authority" to eliminate Saturday delivery. Dozens of House and Senate members are vowing to go to court, if necessary, to block any change in delivery frequency. Donahoe isn't budging. "We plan to do what we said we were going to do," he said.

Why is the USPS losing so much money?

First-class mail volume has dropped by more than 25 percent since 2006, as Americans embraced email and started paying bills and communicating with each other online. But more than two thirds of last year's colossal losses were caused by pension obligations. In 2006, Congress and the Bush administration passed a law requiring the then-profitable Postal Service to prepay, over the course of just 10 years, 75 years' worth of anticipated retiree health benefits. Fearing a future financial collapse and a taxpayer bailout, Republicans insisted on the provision to guarantee that the post office would meet its future obligations. No other government agency or private company, however, is required to fund future costs in this backbreaking way. The Postal Service has since made $49 billion in such payments, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has claimed that if the Postal Service were allowed to manage its own obligations, it "would be back in the black and posting profits."

Would that solve the problem?

No. A more conventional pension-funding system might eliminate current losses, but with mail volume dropping dramatically every year in a digital world, the Postal Service would still be on the road to insolvency. That's why, Donahoe says, the post office needs to cut costs across the board and alter its business model. Besides ending Saturday delivery, he wants to set up a new health-insurance system for employees, shut down 252 of the country's 487 mail-processing centers, slow delivery times, reduce business hours at 13,000 post offices, and eliminate 220,000 of 522,000 postal jobs.

Is cost-cutting the best option?

Not according to members of Congress from rural districts, union representatives, and lobbyists for magazine publishers, bulk mailers, and greeting card companies. They contend that the Postal Service needs volume to make money, and that curtailing service will only encourage mailers to take their business elsewhere and accelerate the USPS's decline. "Eliminating Saturday mail delivery is not a solution," said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). "Smart reforms are needed to make sure the Postal Service can compete in a digital world, increase revenue, and not become a taxpayer liability." Among the steps the post office could take, he and other critics say, is capitalizing on the data and patents it holds. An internal report in 2011 found that the Postal Service was leaving $500 million a year on the table because it "does not manage its portfolio of patents to maximize commercial significance." The USPS also gets virtually no revenue for its valuable ZIP codes for the nation, which it sells to businesses for $60. Some advocate letting the nation's 32,000 post offices serve as branches of a massive postal savings bank, generating revenue and serving the needs of millions of "unbanked" Americans.

How do other countries manage?

They've diversified their postal services to engage in other, more lucrative activities, and in many cases refashioned them as private companies. Unlike the USPS, almost all foreign postal systems make most of their money from "non-mail services." State-owned Japan Post Holdings, for example, operates a bank and is the world's largest holder of personal savings. New Zealand Post, which was corporatized in 1987, turned $49 million in profit in the last half of 2012, thanks largely to its KiwiBank and a national courier service. But it barely broke even on conventional mail delivery, and last month petitioned the government to cut deliveries to three times a week.

What's likely to happen here?

It's possible that Congress may delay the end of Saturday delivery for another year or two. But the Postal Service's financial woes will grow worse, says Rick Geddes of the American Enterprise Institute, unless Congress frees it up "to become a more commercial entity." The postmaster general is virtually begging Congress for permission to create "a new business model,'' and in a new report, the Government Accountability Office said the need for action is urgent. "If Congress does not act soon,'' the GAO said, "USPS could be forced to take more drastic actions that could have disruptive, negative effects on its employees, customers, and the availability of postal services."

The modern world's cheapest mail

The USPS may be losing money, but it's still a great deal for its users. Congress mandates that the Postal Service deliver mail for the same price to any address in the country, from downtown Manhattan to remote villages in Alaska. Because Congress limits any postage increase to the inflation rate, a first-class stamp costs only 46 cents — far less than the cost of mailing a letter in any European country, including tiny Malta. And the U.S. Postal Service did better than any other in a recent international test to see how many letters sent to false addresses were correctly returned to sender. "Wonder why the lines at the post office are so long?" said Richard R. John, author of a history of the post office. "It's because it still provides a service at a cost no rival can match."

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[newarkhiphop]

They need to offer more services make a profit


Little side fact, you can fail three drug test and still work there

 

[Liquid]

What they need to do is get more aggressive when it comes to delivering packages. The USPS should be able to crush UPS and FedEx with all the govt resources they have at their disposal. Eliminating 1 day of sending out snail mail is the first step. Picking up packages for free is also a good move.

They should also let people have the option of paying $10 a month or so to get all their mail scanned so they can view it like email. Most personal stuff is emailed or access online these days anyway so I think some will be ok with having their shyt scanned. I almost never get any sensitive material through the mail anymore...it would be an option I would use as I go weeks sometimes without checking my mail box. Mailbox forwarding already offers this service.

These are all easy fixes, they are just slow as fukk to push forward. They should have been charging $1 per stamp years ago. They should also close up about half of the post office and set up more automated machines to drop your shyt off in there...even tho people Don't like using them

 

[NVME]

What they need to do is get more aggressive when it comes to delivering packages. The USPS should be able to crush UPS and FedEx with all the govt resources they have at their disposal. Eliminating 1 day of sending out snail mail is the first step. Picking up packages for free is also a good move.

They should also let people have the option of paying $10 a month or so to get all their mail scanned so they can view it like email. Most personal stuff is emailed or access online these days anyway so I think some will be ok with having their shyt scanned. I almost never get any sensitive material through the mail anymore...it would be an option I would use as I go weeks sometimes without checking my mail box. Mailbox forwarding already offers this service.

These are all easy fixes, they are just slow as fukk to push forward. They should have been charging $1 per stamp years ago. They should also close up about half of the post office and set up more automated machines to drop your shyt off in there...even tho people Don't like using them

Reliance on all of the government resources at their disposal and the politically motivated regulations surrounding the post office are the reason they are in the position they're in right now. Your creative thinking is exactly what they need in the future to be innovative and deliver products/services that are competitive. Unfortunately, none of the ideas you mentioned are "easy fixes" because there is way to much red tape to get anything done.

 

[You Win Perfect]

yeah i work as a mailman and the government is clueless. they are trying really hard to cut costs and will try to fire full time employees over anything. right now they are hiring a lot of temp relief employees that have no benefits or perks and the max period they hire for is one year (after that they have to give benefits and all that by law). I was first hired as a rural carrier sub but under extenuating circumstances I ended up getting a full time position. I'm the youngest guy there at 24. The next youngest guy is 35.

It can be a very stressful job and that "going postal" saying is very true I found out while working.

 

[Mook]

They need to offer more services make a profit


Little side fact, you can fail three drug test and still work there

nah look it up, what happened was the government actually screwed the post office themselves. They had to fund pensions for like some outrageous shyt like 75 years ahead of time.

 

[Rarely-Wrong Liggins]

Yep, as soon as that went into effect they were done. They have to pay the US Treasury $5 billion dollars per year to fund the pensions of people not even born yet.

 

[intilectual recipricol]

Is every aspect of government supposed to make money? How much money does the Navy bring in yearly?

 

[Starman]

Is every aspect of government supposed to make money? How much money does the Navy bring in yearly?

The post office and the navy are two very different things. The post office sells goods and services, the navy does not for one thing.

 

[intilectual recipricol]

The post office and the navy are two very different things. The post office sells goods and services, the navy does not for one thing.

They both provide a service... the post office offsets some of the cost by charging. The navy is a parasite.

 

[360dagod]

USPS needs to cut alot of management positions...

some nikkas get 90K bonuses for meeting the "numbers"

My fellow p.o. workers know what im talking about....

USPS only losing money because of the prefunding....

Donahoe needs to go..

The Deputy postmaster is black and I assume he will get the nod...

the crisis is manufactured..

my check still comes

 

[MikelArteta]

privatize

i seen that commercial on tv from postal workers about saving em, lets be real with email, texting, scanning, and faster options its dwindling.

cutting mail to 2-3 days a week won't kill anyone, closing some post offices won't kill anyone.

its an archaic structure

 

[MikelArteta]

What they need to do is get more aggressive when it comes to delivering packages. The USPS should be able to crush UPS and FedEx with all the govt resources they have at their disposal. Eliminating 1 day of sending out snail mail is the first step. Picking up packages for free is also a good move.

They should also let people have the option of paying $10 a month or so to get all their mail scanned so they can view it like email. Most personal stuff is emailed or access online these days anyway so I think some will be ok with having their shyt scanned. I almost never get any sensitive material through the mail anymore...it would be an option I would use as I go weeks sometimes without checking my mail box. Mailbox forwarding already offers this service.

These are all easy fixes, they are just slow as fukk to push forward. They should have been charging $1 per stamp years ago. They should also close up about half of the post office and set up more automated machines to drop your shyt off in there...even tho people Don't like using them

most mail is junk mail, hell you can pay all your bills online and view them online now, credit card statements online, minus the few parcels you may receive eh

 

[360dagod]

privatize

i seen that commercial on tv from postal workers about saving em, lets be real with email, texting, scanning, and faster options its dwindling.

cutting mail to 2-3 days a week won't kill anyone, closing some post offices won't kill anyone.

its an archaic structure

usps is still profiting though...

Privatizing isnt happening...

2006...USPS moved 282 billion pieces of mail...

The most ever...

EMAIL,Texting,and scanning were still there..

The economy tanked and everyone got effected...

the economy is moving back in the right direction....

The ot is thru the roof

 

[360dagod]

What they need to do is get more aggressive when it comes to delivering packages. The USPS should be able to crush UPS and FedEx with all the govt resources they have at their disposal. Eliminating 1 day of sending out snail mail is the first step. Picking up packages for free is also a good move.

They should also let people have the option of paying $10 a month or so to get all their mail scanned so they can view it like email. Most personal stuff is emailed or access online these days anyway so I think some will be ok with having their shyt scanned. I almost never get any sensitive material through the mail anymore...it would be an option I would use as I go weeks sometimes without checking my mail box. Mailbox forwarding already offers this service.

These are all easy fixes, they are just slow as fukk to push forward. They should have been charging $1 per stamp years ago. They should also close up about half of the post office and set up more automated machines to drop your shyt off in there...even tho people Don't like using them

we deliver fed ex and ups packages as well...

6 days is going nowhere...

I guess your going to help pay the unemployment for 120k lost workers plus the workers from all the sectors that usps supports...