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

Both FedEx & UPS have filed complaints USPS to raise it's rates!

Both FedEx and UPS in the past to the postal regulator, arguing that the Postal Service doesn’t charge enough for some of its parcels. “UPS supports a healthy and viable Postal Service, but we believe that the USPS, like any other business, needs to understand the true costs for offering and expanding competitive services,” a UPS spokeswoman said. FedEx said it can’t speculate on specific pricing decisions of other carriers.

By law, the Postal Service is mandated to charge the cost of delivering a package, plus at least 5.5%. Ms. Brennan says that Postal Service packages are priced properly, but she’s considering raising rates—simply because the demand is there. She said that it’s important to ensure the Postal Service is generating more robust profit on top of revenue.

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a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I can not see how USPS doing a public service of delivering less profitable type of packages is cause to shutdown (edit or privatized) the USPS.

The Postal Service cut certain Priority Mail package prices last year by as much as 58% for its largest customers to attract more business. In addition, for an average of about $1.70, according to its financial filings, it will take a parcel from post office to residence for big shippers like United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx Corp. and Amazon, who are willing to sort the packages themselves.

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FedEx and UPS even ship through USPS! as I have shown in bold.

originally posted by: AlaskanDad
I can not see how USPS doing a public service of delivering less profitable type of packages is cause to shutdown the USPS.

Go back through this entire thread and show me where I said the USPS should be shut down. Do not put words in my mouth.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus


Edited per your comment...


...now can you answer my question?

Why should we privatize something that is working, giving both economical and good services to US consumers?

originally posted by: AlaskanDad

Why should we privatize something that is working, giving both economical and good services to US consumers?

Maybe to get rid of the unfunded liabilities that will eventually put the country deeper in debt.

The "employees" can work for the contractors who won't go into deep government debt and failure.

a reply to: neo96

If I remember correctly the USPS has somewhere around 29 billion in reserves. I work there, and it was something I picked up from a union representative. That number could be wrong. It's been awhile since I've heard it. I've heard pitney bowes is buying some old sorting equipment if the time would come that they are given the opportunity to purchase the USPS.

You saying get rid of the USPS. It will never happen. To large, and if you haven't noticed we are a huge part of the parcel world as well. If you look close at a lot of your packages, we also deliver a large majority of UPS parcels as well. When you go to every house every day it makes it a lot more effective, and logical.

originally posted by: xuenchen

originally posted by: AlaskanDad

Why should we privatize something that is working, giving both economical and good services to US consumers?

Maybe to get rid of the unfunded liabilities that will eventually put the country deeper in debt.

The "employees" can work for the contractors who won't go into deep government debt and failure.

That doesn't work in this case because the Post Office is funding the retirements of all of their workers 75 years into the future and they've almost finished doing so. The only unfunded liabilities are on the private sector side of things where UPS and FedEx have a pay as you go policy and will pay nothing to a persons pension if they don't have the money or otherwise aren't in business 75 years from now.

a reply to: AlaskanDad

Why would they file complaints when we deliver a lot of their packages. We can charge those rates because we are going to every house regardless to deliver their mail.

originally posted by: AlaskanDad
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 think you have it backwards. UPS is a private carrier. They can open/inspect any package they want, whenever they want. If you ship USPS, there are very, very strict guidelines about what can and can't be inspected. Obviously a suspicious package that's leaking blood or something can be opened, or a box that's ticking like a bomb...but by and large a warrant has to be issued for USPS first class mail and above items.

UPS may have to go through additional inspection though after they sort it, but it would be a visual inspection, the same that USPS stuff goes through.

Speaking of the USPS, I was actually at the post office today picking up a package. It made it from overseas to Alaska in 8 days. It would have made it sooner but customs must have been busy or something. My last package got here in four days from the same online seller. We're talking from Europe to the East Coast (JFK in NYC) to Alaska in four days. That's pretty damn fast, and the seller doesn't charge extra for shipping.