KingNothing said:
I would be completely unopposed to a more central mail system whereby they just deliver it to the post office location. Then people can go and pick up their mail.
What's the carbon footprint of 1,000 people going to the post office to pick up their mail vs 1 delivery driver driving his daily route of 1,000 residents?
OmCheeto said:
About the only thing the USPS delivers to my house anymore is paper to be recycled. Which for me is ok, since I have a wood-stove, and I think I heat my home for about a month in the winter from what I collect in the big box in the corner during the summer.
Isn't that nice of all those companies who advertise to spend that money supplying you with fuel? You'll have to send them a nice thank-you note. Er, e-mail.
Considering how little most of us pay to mail spam, it'd make more sense if they just sent us a log or two every month.
Vanadium 50 said:
That's what I keep trying to tell you. The USPS is not allowed to reduce staffing, except by attrition. They have to pay their staff whether they have work for them or not. So all these great ideas on how to improve efficiency won't do beans.
Expenditures are (approximately) fixed, and revenue is falling. That's why the USPS is in trouble.
Time for executive intervention, specifically, for someone (the executive branch of the U.S. Government comes to mind) to call a foul on the play, overrule the recent boondoggled union contract, and say, "Tough! We're not raising your rates, and if your position is no longer needed, you're no longer working."
Our government has downsized the military several times over the last 20 years. Why not downsize the postal service workers?
If they're a private company, they've done a very bad job of managing themselves, so let 'em fold.
This raises the question as to why they've done such a bad job of managing themselves. Could it be they've come to expect a bailout, thereby operating with an entitlement mentality instead of a competitive mentality like Fed-Ex and UPS?
Speaking of which, I read the following about http://www.upsmi.com/services/domestic_mail.html" :
"UPS Mail Innovations domestic services rely on our extensive network and unique work share program with the U.S. Postal Service. Because we perform functions such as labeling and sorting of qualified mail that would normally be handled by USPS, we are able to pass along reduced rates to our clients.
"Along with our ability to provide cost savings, our UPS technology enables us to reduce handling, speed processing and improve accuracy when completing typical USPS functions. Through our methods we are able to process and transport domestic mail to its point of induction, on average, within 24-48 hours of pickup. This enhanced process is detailed below (see linked article for details)"
So, if the U.S. Postal Service is allowed to fail, will our mail system fail? Of course not. In all liklihood, both UPS and Fed-Ex would step into fill the void.
So I say, "Let it fail." Some of those workers will be needed by UPS and Fed-Ex, but they'll be hired on a cost-effective competitive basis rather than on a cost-waste union basis.
jtbell said:
I suspect the solution will probably have the USPS declaring bankruptcy so it can tear up its contracts and reorganize as a new, reduced-size entity. I don't know how its legal status (neither a government agency, nor completely private) would influence this.
Provided the U.S. Government can control themselves enough to resist bailing out the USPS, it should fail just fine. :)
russ_watters said:
So...across political and international lines, it kinda sounds like everyone agrees with the idea that the USPS should function basically like a business. Ie, it should be fully self-funded, including actually funding its pension program. Am I seeing that right?
I don't think any entity can afford to "fund" a pension program by means of ongoing income, yet that's exactly what the USPS recently managed to negotiate. Where was the oversight on that decision? That only works in strong growth environments. Steady-state environments would have to match the full amount of an individual's salary throughout the individual's employ in something like a 401k in order for the individual to have even a small pension at retirement.
Ivan Seeking said:
I didn't suggest post-office only mail boxes. I was talking about the community boxes already used in newer neighborhoods where they may have one for each block.
Door-to-door delivery isn't a contract. It's merely expected. If the USPS installed community boxes at their own cost, there may be a bit of an uproar, but that's just too bad. Times are tough all over.
mheslep said:
Good comparison! Do you have any data with respect to their pension programs, as in how much of their current operations revenue is used to pay for pensions? Or were their pensions funded as 401ks or similar instruments?
