USPS's financial woes

[Anonymous]

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&sid=2069354

I saw a news investigation into how badly run and mismanaged the USPS is. The reporter said that this would never happen in private industry because an organization like that would have been put out of business long ago. I guess they have some competition from FedEx and UPS but they have freakin monopoly on regular domestic mail service. Do they still sponsor expensive international bike races and racing teams?

[Anonymous]

Monopoly! Ha!

Anybody anywhere could start up a business that delivers letters at a price less than what the post office charges. Why don't they? Because as a business it frickin sucks! It would cost Fedex nearly as much to deliver your 28 cent postcard as it does to deliver your $20 Fedex overnight pack. Guess which business Fedex wants to be in. Will Fedex check every day to see if you have something that you want delivered? Nope. Take your hand scribbled envelopes? Nope. Fedex wants you to fill out a form in triplicate before they will take a package from you, and they need a billing code or credit card number.

According to the article, the problems are that we the people won't let them do the things that normal businesses would do. Close unprofitable branches? No. Stop offering service on Saturday to save money? No. Raise prices? No.

I'm sure there are inefficiencies. But Fedex cherry-picks the most profitable mail. If they had to provide universal service delivering mail as cheaply as 28 cents per piece, serve every location regardless of how difficult, have local branches practically everywhere, even in small towns, they would be bankrupt.

[Anonymous]

Raise the rate on bulk mail. Nobody wants it anyway. If it causes businesses to rely less on bulk mail then that's better for the environment and creates a lot less work. So a lot few people could be employed by the post office to misdeliver the mail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Raise the rate on bulk mail. Nobody wants it anyway. If it causes businesses to rely less on bulk mail then that's better for the environment and creates a lot less work. So a lot few people could be employed by the post office to misdeliver the mail.

I won't argue about the bulk mail, but I feel I owe it to the nice woman who delivers my mail to put in a good word for her competence and her job.

[Anonymous]

USPS employees are also VERY well paid with some cushy benefits. The cost of postage cat begin to keep up with that. I also agree that mail service Saturday should be stopped. No reason we can't wait until Monday for the mail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Raise the rate on bulk mail. Nobody wants it anyway. If it causes businesses to rely less on bulk mail then that's better for the environment and creates a lot less work. So a lot few people could be employed by the post office to misdeliver the mail.

Bulk mail is a profit center. It subsidizes the rest of us, just like ads subsidize TV shows and magazines. And they do raise the bulk rates. But if they raise them too much and cut revenues by reducing volumes, we end up having to pay more for our mail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&sid=2069354

I saw a news investigation into how badly run and mismanaged the USPS is. The reporter said that this would never happen in private industry because an organization like that would have been put out of business long ago. I guess they have some competition from FedEx and UPS but they have freakin monopoly on regular domestic mail service. Do they still sponsor expensive international bike races and racing teams?

They haven't done that in years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&sid=2069354

I saw a news investigation into how badly run and mismanaged the USPS is. The reporter said that this would never happen in private industry because an organization like that would have been put out of business long ago. I guess they have some competition from FedEx and UPS but they have freakin monopoly on regular domestic mail service. Do they still sponsor expensive international bike races and racing teams?

They haven't done that in years.

Besides that, it's exactly the thing a private company does. Fedex and UPS both do sports sponsorships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&sid=2069354

I saw a news investigation into how badly run and mismanaged the USPS is. The reporter said that this would never happen in private industry because an organization like that would have been put out of business long ago. I guess they have some competition from FedEx and UPS but they have freakin monopoly on regular domestic mail service. Do they still sponsor expensive international bike races and racing teams?

They haven't done that in years.

Besides that, it's exactly the thing a private company does. Fedex and UPS both do sports sponsorships.

But they are part of the government, paid for by our taxes. What are they out there promoting when they have a virtual monopoly on the services they provide? It is not a for profit business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&sid=2069354

I saw a news investigation into how badly run and mismanaged the USPS is. The reporter said that this would never happen in private industry because an organization like that would have been put out of business long ago. I guess they have some competition from FedEx and UPS but they have freakin monopoly on regular domestic mail service. Do they still sponsor expensive international bike races and racing teams?

They haven't done that in years.

Besides that, it's exactly the thing a private company does. Fedex and UPS both do sports sponsorships.

But they are part of the government, paid for by our taxes. What are they out there promoting when they have a virtual monopoly on the services they provide? It is not a for profit business.

NP and cycling fan here. I never understood why USPS was sponsoring a cycling team myself. Not a choice I would make. But since they are in competition with Fedex and UPS, I don't understand why they shouldn't be free to make decisions about how to promote their services just like Fedex and UPS. And you could do worse than to sponsor that team while Lance Armstrong was in the process of racking up 7 Tour de France victories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&sid=2069354

I saw a news investigation into how badly run and mismanaged the USPS is. The reporter said that this would never happen in private industry because an organization like that would have been put out of business long ago. I guess they have some competition from FedEx and UPS but they have freakin monopoly on regular domestic mail service. Do they still sponsor expensive international bike races and racing teams?

They haven't done that in years.

Besides that, it's exactly the thing a private company does. Fedex and UPS both do sports sponsorships.

But they are part of the government, paid for by our taxes. What are they out there promoting when they have a virtual monopoly on the services they provide? It is not a for profit business.

NP and cycling fan here. I never understood why USPS was sponsoring a cycling team myself. Not a choice I would make. But since they are in competition with Fedex and UPS, I don't understand why they shouldn't be free to make decisions about how to promote their services just like Fedex and UPS. And you could do worse than to sponsor that team while Lance Armstrong was in the process of racking up 7 Tour de France victories.

I thought they did the sponsorship thing mostly to boost employee morale.

[Anonymous]

What you said is not true. The USPS is self funded by mail revenues. It does not get tax money. This has been the case since 1970.

That is why it makes complete sense to advertise. More premium service revenues mean they can avoid rate increases on basic mail.

[Anonymous]

USPS is responsible for providing service to remote parts of the country that USPS and Fedex would never visit. These are unprofitable.

Yet another example of a government agency which is created to fill in a gap that the private sector has no interest in serving.

And you wonder why they have financial difficulties?