Why don't we adjust postal rates upwards so that Fed Ex and UPS can compete?

[Faryn Balyncd]

(maybe make all federal employees independent contractors without benefits, like Fed Ex, in the process.)


If government were run like a business, after all, maybe it wouldn't be so inefficient!!!!


:sarcasm:

[LuvNewcastle]

1. That made me smile.

Anyone who is for private enterprise should be all for that.:)

[Old and In the Way]

2. We know the answer, but great analogy!

[RB TexLa]

3. .

[msongs]

4. USPS is a huge scam and as of today we are not shipping with them any more

went in to send a proof of delivery (not certified/signed receipt from addresee). should be our envelope and stamp plus $1 fee for total of $1.48. Well now it HAS to be sent priority in a special envelope (cost 15 cents) with some fancy tape (cost maybe.0001 cent) so new total = $5.95

we send small items proof of delivery...well we used to. gonna start telling customers it's coming UPS from now on.

Major Scam by the USPS.

Msongs

[ContinentalOp]

7. Sounds like the person you were dealing with didn't know what they were doing.

Delivery confirmation is still only 70-80 cents according to their site.

http://www.usps.com/prices/extra-services-prices.htm

[earth mom]

9. Sounds like UPS and FEDEX got YOU right where they want you to be don't they?

USPS prices have gone up to the point that they are now just so UPS and FEDEX will stop bitching and lobbying that the USPS is unfair and that THEY can't compete. Whiners.

Do you really think that UPS or FEDEX will send your mail any cheaper?! :wtf:

I think your complaining is ridiculous because the USPS is the most efficient mail service in the world which is why UPS and FEDEX want it privatized so they can crush their competition.

How about being patriotic and SUPPORTING the USPS?

Happy 4th by the way. :eyes:

[Enthusiast]

16. Well said, earth mom. nt

[nini]

11. I'm confused - how does it jump from 1.48 to 5.95 if the added cost was 15 cents

and a penny or so? :shrug:


If you want to use UPS you better not send to a post office box (at least it used to be that way)

[michreject]

19. I think that you're in for a big shock

I've been shipping stuff as part of my job for over 20 years and UPS is a lot higher than USPS.

[LiberalFighter]

5. Better yet... forbid the post office from delivering packages.

How long before the cost of package delivery increases?

[spag68]

6. Post Office

And yet I hear that the post office is not efficient and how about them benefits the employees get? Things like health care and pensions, and vacations, they have the gall to want a living wage. It has to stop somewhere, stop criticizing workers and work to get a living wage for all. Now that they have successfully destroyed the auto workers union, will they continue on to get everyone down to minimum wage? Stay tuned.

[earth mom]

10. Yep, next up on the menu: crush and destroy the USPS.

Fuck all those union workers who want a living wage and a decent job for their hard work! :sarcasm:


:grr:

[nini]

12. I used to work for the USPS

I worked my butt off there - lots of mandatory OT including days off. I had a decent wage but it was hard earned.

The post office is a well run machine when you're on the inside to see it all. It is amazing how well it is really run.

[Connonym]

14. I worked there 10 years as well

I know the USPS has millions of faults and in some ways isn't very efficient but I dare anyone to go into a major processing facility and take a tour. Find out what happens after you put your letter in the mailbox. I hate rising stamp prices as much as the next guy (yay for online bill paying!) but in reality it's worth every penny when you think about the manpower and transportation that goes in to every single delivery, 6 days a week to even the smallest hick town in BFE.


Nobody should begrudge postal workers the wages they earn because A) it's still barely enough to support a family B) they own your ass and C) they treat workers like shit. I couldn't handle it after 10 years, it bothered my asthma so much that after the last hospitalization I was afraid I was going to die if I kept working there. I sometimes regret that decision on a financial level but my health has improved dramatically since I left -- my asthma and allergies (which I never had prior to working there) are virtually gone.

[lordsummerisle]

8. Interesting post

it has the 'sarcasm' graphic but some have responed to it as if it were serious. Either way the race to the bottom for workers continues...

[Selatius]

13. I know it's a sarcastic comment, but that might be what health insurance companies want seriously.

If the health insurance companies can neuter a public option in any health care reform that is essentially the same price as any of the plans offered by private companies, fewer people would leave the private sector and go into the public sector. They would win by essentially handicapping the public option.

[Enthusiast]

17. Exactly, Selatius.

And this is their goal. This is why they are spending so much money to denigrate the public option.

[Greyhound]

15. Don't laugh, it's happening already. Potter has spent his entire tenure

trying to fuck it up to pave the way for "privatization".

Rural routes and stations are already being shut down and postal employees replaced with under qualified contractors. It is only a matter of time before this spreads to the cities, though perhaps their union will do a better job of fighting it.

[Enthusiast]

18. Why does the GOP hate America? nt

[Greyhound]

24. I don't think it's the GOP per se, rather it is the corporatocracy that has taken the GOP

over completely and controls a large part of the Democratic Party as well.

Gore Vidal said it, "there is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit stupider, more rigid, more doctrinaire in their laissez-faire capitalism than the Democrats, who are cuter, prettier, a bit more corrupt—until recently... and more willing than the Republicans to make small adjustments when the poor, the black, the anti-imperialists get out of hand. But, essentially, there is no difference between the two parties."

If you haven't already, read John Perkin's two books, titled, "Confessions of an
Economic Hitman", and "The Secret History of the American Empire".

It's all an illusion to placate us while the people that matter form the world for their own goals.

[Enthusiast]

25. Oh yeah. We are seeing an example

of this play out for us with the healthcare debate. Same with the war issue.

[Freddie Stubbs]

20. There is no need to, as US tax dollars do not subsidize the Post Office

It is financially self-sufficient.

[Statistical]

22. No it isn't.

FY 2006 = -$4.0 Billion loss
FY 2007 = -$5.1 Billion loss
FY 2008 = -$2.9 Billion loss

However you are right there is no need for taxpayers to subsidize it. USPS should be required to charge equal to or more than their cost to provide the service.

Raising rates a modest 5% would allow the USPS to be profit neutral.

[Greyhound]

23. Those "losses" are entirely due to the fact they they are required to subsidize "the competition".

Were those rules removed, and if we could stop Congress from treating the USPS like it's personal piggy bank, it would actually return a significant profit.

[Statistical]

21. USPS rates should rise slightly.

USPS lost $4.0 billion in 2006, $5.1 billion in 2007, & $2.8 billion in 2008.

The USPS charter requires them to be profit neutral. They are required to provide service with no additional funding from taxpayers.
However in last 3 years they lost nearly $11 billion.
USPS should be required to raise their rates to ensure they are profit neutral (operating income $0.00 within +-5% each year).

Revenue was $17B in 2008 so $2.8/$75 = 3.5%. So raising rate approximately 5% would be sufficient to provide quality service and meet the requirements of their charter.