Postal service posts $3.8 billion loss

[Athena]

Also open the post offices 7 days a week and staff them so you dont have to wait a 1/2 hour to send a package.

Well I never wait any time to mail packages -- I print postage paid labels then arrange for next day pickup via the web. Since package delivery people are out every day, it's much cheaper for the post office to do that than keeping post offices open 7 days.

 

[Schadenfroh]

There are plenty of companies who have lost that much in a year and have survived.

Indeed, Time-Warner posted a $99 billion loss in 2002, no government bailout needed!

AOL Time Warner to report a loss of $99 billion in 2002

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner#2000

They need to streamline costs, raise rates, both of which have been hindered by Congress.

Indeed, cutting a day or two a week from delivery would be a good start. Maybe delivering every other day? Or can they handle the mail that would build up?

 

[charrison]

Not really, there are many good reasons for them.

The biggest problem they have is the 6 day delivery of junk mail. It is terribly inefficient to deliver mail to every house every day that everyone throws away. As you stand congress stands in the way of this, but it is a self imposed logistics problem.

 

[Patranus]

Indeed, Time-Warner posted a $99 billion loss in 2002, no government bailout needed!

Yes. AOL Time-Warner had assets to post such loss without much (if any) repercussions. On the other hand the USPS posts a loss and the government just prints money.

 

[shadow9d9]

More money down the drain.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fe...ervice_posts_38_billio.html?wprss=federal-eye



Notice the $4 billion in relief from congress, so it is more like $7.8 billion lost.

We just paid $680 billion for our empire building ...without counting our 2 endless occupations' costs.... and you are worried about a few building for an incredible service that actually benefits us!?

You people are such a joke.

 

[GroundedSailor]

It's $20 to get it to someone's doorstep at 8:30 AM in the morning. Letter delivery is pretty much reserved for USPS. UPS is when you deliver a fucking contract or something with many pages, not a 1 page letter to your grandma. Also, look at company shipping. Who the hell uses USPS? I'm not talking Newegg or whatever. When companies ship crap between each other. I asked for parts shipped by noon the next day. What came? UPS. Another vendor? FedEx. I have yet to get a USPS shipment.

That's because FedEx/UPS are legally prohibited from handling regular mail. $20 means it's there tomorrow morning. $0.43 means it's there several days later.

You might want to read up on what types of services UPS/FexEx can provide and where they can and cannot provide those services before you post next time

In reality, the only areas of business UPS/FedEx competes with the USPS is packages and even then the USPS has the upper hand.

Try getting anything mailed through UPS/FedEx delivered to your mail box/mail slot....oh thats right....they can't because it is illegal.

(Then again, I guess stating this makes me a troll)

Most of our mailing is done to neighboring states and, yes, we have accounts with UPS & Fedex and i'm well versed with what they offer as I'm the one who set up the accounts.

Ever since DHL pulled out of the domestic market UPS, and Fedex raised their rates. So here's our typical options:

UPS next day 0830 delivery: $51
UPS next day air mid day delivery: $19
UPS next day saver by end of day: $16
UPS Ground: $5 - not guaranteed
USPS regular mail: 0.43 or more depending on weight - next day but not guaranteed
USPS priority mail: $4.95 - next day but not guaranteed
USPS express mail: 0830 delivery: $17.50 flat rate - could be less depending upon weight.

The decision to use USPS more frequently was a common consensus within the office not mine but we save on mailing costs, specially overnight express ($51 vs $17.50). We still use UPS/Fedex but on a case by case basis.

 

[wwswimming]

i don't understand. who is getting less mail ? mail = money for the post office.

it seems like residential addresses get just as much, if not more, mail than ever.

the drop in mail volume must be in the business sector. all that e-commerce stuff.

 

[Modelworks]

i don't understand. who is getting less mail ? mail = money for the post office.

it seems like residential addresses get just as much, if not more, mail than ever.

the drop in mail volume must be in the business sector. all that e-commerce stuff.

I think it is the drop in residential users mailing letters that is hurting them. Business mail things using metered services and bulk discounts which doesn't have much of a profit margin. Residential mailers send letters at a preset rate regardless of what it actually cost to mail an item. So I pay 40 cents to mail a letter that only cost the usps 5 cents to handle but the next person pays 40 cents and it cost the usps 50 cents to handle . As long as you have sufficient volume it works out.

A business will always pay whatever it actually cost + tiny profit for usps.

 

[jonks]

Those who don't have an Internet service still have the rights to send and receive mail you know.

The problem with USPS is that it is a public service and it needs to service remote towns and villages where they are losing money just to provide that service. And keep in mind USPS don't just mail letters, they mail items and goods as well. The day your technology can email my cpus I just bought is the day I'd say let technology take over.

Once again, when it comes to the point where shipping goods is the only use for USPS, it would be prohibitively expensive for them to exist at all. We have other carriers. Technology will shortly obviate the need for almost all paper and that's exactly the situation we'll have.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

so ppl are sending less mail due to internet, but they're also purchasing a lot more from the internet.
personally I have used USPS a lot more to mail out packages.
unless they're losing money on each package i send...