Postal Rates Rising

[jjm]

First class mail will go up to 34 cents. Priority mail will rise to $3.50. January 7th is the target date.

 

[DaBoneHead]

Doh!

I better hurry and send all of next years mail this year!

 

[Namuna]

Only the US Government could think that raising the cost of postage is the best way to be competitive with the Internet.

 

[IamDavid]

Its kinda strange since the USPS has posted record profits the last 3 years. Maybe the mail carriers want a raise.

 

[Viper GTS]

I don't know why you think it's so terrible. We have the best postal system in the world, & it's dirt cheap.

We have it good here.

Viper GTS

 

[Balt]

Maybe the USPS should stop advertising on TV :| :| :|

It's not like we don't know they are there :|

 

[jjm]

The postal service is a corporation. It has not been a direct government department for at least 25 years. The numbers are not out yet, but it is expected to show a loss in the fiscal year ended 9/30/2000. It also has an accumulated deficit of $3.5 billion. It will never be competitive because Congress mandated that it must serve every community, even when it is grossly unprofitable to do so.

 

[bigbootydaddy]

yeah, and no one complain that a penny will do you huge damage to your profit!!

a tiny sacrifice for the better of the whole

 

[Regine]

You guys really shouldn't be complaining. The postal system here in the US is really dirt cheap.
I remember it being kind of expensive in Germany, and sending packages was horribly expensive.
Air mail is very cheap too - I can send letters to my friends for under a dollar. My friend has to pay several dollars to reply to me via air mail.
34 cents on a letter isn't going to kill anyone...

 

[Quickfingerz]

I used to work for the USPS. All I have to say is whenever you mail anything other than first class or priority, PRAY!!!

 

[Croton]

quickfingerz

for some reason your post made me laugh like crazy! ahahhaahaha

what goes on behind those closed doors to non-first class & non-priority mail anyways?

 

[BoberFett]

Does anybody know if rising postal rates have historically caused the volume of bulk mail to go down? If so, I say slap another dime on that stamp price.

 

[palad]

Speaking of postal service commercials, what's the point? Aren't they still pretty much a monopoly? There is no other option for sending standard mail, so why are they bothering to advertise on the consumer level? Are they afraid we'll take our business somewhere else? Let's see... I could drive my letter across the country... hmmm....

 

[fdiskboy]

Didn't someone in New Hampshire (?) deliver some mail recently (last 10 years) between towns with a horse-drawn wagon?

Only reason I remember is that the wagon delivered mail posted the same day before the Post Office did.

 

[konichiwa]

palad

Because they're afraid (probably rightly so) that companies like UPS and FedEx are going to get into the standard mail business.

 

[Quickfingerz]

I worked for FedEx too. FedEx workers work much harder and get paid less. FedEx ground sucks!

All I know is that I won't EVER mail USPS standard mail or FedEx ground.

 

[IBhacknU]

<< FedEx ground sucks! >>

Isn't the ground division what used to be RPS?

 

[perry]

I think any of the big three package carriers are amazing. Think of all the mail you get in a day, multiply by 260 million. That's a TON of letters and packages to deliver every day. The logistics behing the entire system is amazing. My letters get delivered in three to four days across the country, and for only 33 cents. Seems like a good deal to me.

The commercials I see on TV are for priority mail, and I'm guessing that's aimed at internet shipping. There's a big fight going on there between the USPS, UPS, and FedEx for that business. Very lucrative stuff. And it's just getting bigger. All three want to dominate.

Yea, the USPS is like a corporation in that it does not recieve any government funding. They're self sufficient.