U.S. Postal Service Has Not Earned a Profit in Almost a Decade

I like how everyone is also ignoring the issue that has been brought up time and time again about the USPS having to fund pensions for the next 75 years.

If FedEx or UPS had to do this, they'd be in the same boat as the USPS.

The USPS is not funded by taxpayer dollars. The USPS doesn't cost the people of America money from their paycheck, they rely on their own revenue to operate.

Keep my mail private, and don't mess with the constitution.

originally posted by: intrepid
a reply to: Aazadan

I'm assuming that USPS is pretty much like Canada Post, which I worked for as a letter carrier 30 years ago. Good times for them. Little competition. They had the mail delivery, that included a lot of parcels(not anymore) and they had the advertising. That's mostly gone now with the Net and independent delivery services that do the ad flyers. You can't maintain a service with seriously diminished revenue.

ETA: Hell, even newspapers are getting in on the advertising delivery.

when the business community can apply pressure to congress, and the board of governors for the post office....a lot of REALLY, REALLY, cheap advert mailings happen....now consider, no matter what the size, type of paper, if a business wants an advert to go to each address, it has to be sorted individually and delivered by an actual person......and believe me you're talking about a few cents per piece, all the while your first class letter to grandma gets jacked up every few years.....the phrase "it's all about the money", never came in different shades of grey that screwing the post office out of money

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Quite frankly Bro that service is amassed with pork. Not just the retirement funds. They give you 4 hours to do 1.5 hours work. Finish it early and you're still paid for the 4. Then if someone is off you can cover their route and make about 1.5 of a lucrative wage THEN overtime. And I was making over $17/hr 30 years ago. What are they making now?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I get a lot of packages from Amazon...with a few exceptions, all of them have been delivered via USPS...

a reply to: intrepid

They (UPS & FedEx) took the profitable part of the market package & express delivery, and left USPS to deliver letters knowing it was not profitable expecting to put USPS out of business. When that did not work they (UPS & FedEx) lobbied congress to institute a 75 year prepaid retirement to make it look like USPS is losing money.

Honestly USPS is still profiting from services and is building a guaranteed retirement for their employees, can the same be said of UPS & FedEX? Of course not they could go bankrupt or taken over by hedge fund raiders, leaving their retired employees with nothing.

originally posted by: jimmyx
when the business community can apply pressure to congress...

It does. They are called "lobbies". You haven't heard of them?

a reply to: intrepid

I guess it depends on where you work and what you do. We have one of the largest cargo hubs in the country here, as well as some of the most remote delivery locations and challenging weather. In fact, I think Anchorage ranks as #2 or #3 as far as volume of cargo in/out. I know those guys at the sort facility aren't standing around, as I've seen them scurrying around the last time I had to go get some mail buckets.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Not only does the bulk of my amazon packages come USPS, but they arrive days ahead of the few that come by UPS. Part of the reason UPS takes longer is they allow packages to be inspected by a government agency, so much for privacy with UPS!

I wonder how things would change if USPS was buying lobbyists and FedEx & UPS were forced into prepaying 75 yrs of retirement for their employees?

originally posted by: AlaskanDad
a reply to: MystikMushroom

Not only does the bulk of my packages come USPS, but they arrive days ahead of the few that come by UPS. Part of the reason UPS takes longer is they allow packages to be inspected by a government agency, so much for privacy with UPS!

Not buying that. Prove it then. Send packages with both. Keep the receipts and show us the results. Until then this is unconfirmed opinion. Sorry for not buying it but I've worked in that industry.

a reply to: intrepid

Even if I was to show you my tracking history from amazon you would simply state it was edited, and I am certainly not giving you my prime account password. Do you have two package of equal size and weight and weight you are willing to ship to SE Alaska say to our city library to prove your point?

Also lets use priority mail flat rate packages for USPS and compare the cost of shipping while we are at it.

The results may surprise you!

a reply to: AlaskanDad

In other words you are just sticking with your opinion and won't put it to the test. Got it.

Disregard.

That's because the republicans forced them to fund pensions 70 years into the future. With that they can't possibly make any money for a long long time while they try to reach that mandate. Why would the republicans do that? So they can turn over to their corporate buddies in the private sector. What stops them? The union, that's why republicans hate unions too because they are largely democratic.

a reply to: intrepid

I put a challenge to you,, put up or shut up!

I do not need proof as I see it every week when I order from the internet.

Put 3 paperback novels in a small USPS flat rate box, and take the package to your local USPS and see how much it cost to ship to Ketchikan Alaska, then we'll talk!

Then send equal two packages to the Craig AK library and show us the tracking data!

If you refuse I will see you are merely interested attacking me and my character and not at all interested in finding the answer to your question.

a reply to: intrepid


Now what about the 75 year prepaid retirement and how it is causing the perception of loss by USPS, can you address this issue?

originally posted by: AlaskanDad
a reply to: intrepid

I put a challenge to you,, put up or shut up!

Sorry Dad. I put it to you first.

I do not need proof as I see it every week when I order from the internet.

No you don't but WE do. You made a claim. Prove it.

Put 3 paperback novels in a small USPS flat rate box, and take the package to your local USPS and see how much it cost to ship to Ketchikan Alaska, then we'll talk!

Then send equal two packages to the Craig AK library and show us the tracking data!

If you refuse I will see you are merely interested attacking me and my character and not at all interested in finding the answer to your question.

Wouldn't work. It would have to pass through customs and we know how unreliable they are. Stats would be slewed. It's on you Bro.

a reply to: intrepid

My bad I had not noticed you're Canadian aye.

But you can access both UPS and USPS priority mail flat rate and compare prices, can't you?

That is a good start on fact finding, much better that your attack on my character was!


Now what about the 75 year prepaid retirement and how it is causing the perception of loss by USPS, can you address this issue?

originally posted by: intrepid
Nope but when will it eventually get there? It's call "snail mail" for a reason.

It takes about 3-4 days to go coast to coast from small town to small town. Typically it takes 1 day to go from the local center to the regional distribution center, 1 day to go from a regional center to another regional center, 1 day to go from the regional center to the local center, and then depending on the time of day it gets processed it will either go out for delivery that day or the next day.

Well I found this real interesting article from Consumer Reports that rates FedEx vs UPS, vs USPS.
FedEx vs. UPS vs. U.S. Postal Service, your best bet for sending packages

For all those that say companies do better then government are in for a real shock.

Overall score
FedEx = 3.1
UPS = 2.6
USPS = 3.8

In the 1947 movie “Miracle on 34th Street,” the postal service came to Kris Kringle’s rescue by delivering proof that he really was Santa. When it comes to picking the best way to send your holiday gifts, we find that the USPS should be your choice. (Kudos to the USPS for disclosing its on-time performance statistics.) Otherwise, compare FedEx and USPS prices.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
I get a lot of packages from Amazon...with a few exceptions, all of them have been delivered via USPS...

I am not disputing that. What I am saying is that both UPS and FedEx are getting out of that business do to its low profit margins. It is high volume, low money shipping.