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The post office faces fiscal doom,
though it’s the most popular federal agency

Original Article

Posted By: SurferLad, 6/27/2019 2:59:02 PM

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. The unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service does not say anything about persevering through a profound agency financial crisis. But according to recent congressional testimony by Postmaster General Megan Brennan, the agency will run out of money within five years. [Snip] Nothing could replace a service that

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Reply 1 - Posted by: VinGoombatz 6/27/2019 3:06:38 PM (No. 108229)
Cut every salary by ten percent...voila! In the black. And the salaries are too high to begin with.
3 people like this.

Reply 2 - Posted by: droopydog 6/27/2019 3:46:40 PM (No. 108246)
I guess I don't get it. The federal government has has put us $20 trillion in debt. Isn't the whole thing facing "fiscal doom"?
4 people like this.

Reply 3 - Posted by: red1066 6/27/2019 3:48:31 PM (No. 108248)
When isn't the postal service in financial trouble.
4 people like this.

Reply 4 - Posted by: DVC 6/27/2019 3:57:38 PM (No. 108257)
IMO, they still give pretty darned good service. Too many low skills, lazy folks in there, though, clearly affarimative action is a primary method of getting employees and some do not seem to think that they have to serve the customers. We have two twin brothers at our PO, outstanding clerks, fast, efficient, friendly and just nice guys. Going to miss them when they retire.
7 people like this.

Reply 5 - Posted by: bamapreacher 6/27/2019 4:12:25 PM (No. 108273)
I've always thought that postal money orders should cost the buyer a percentage of what they are for instead of a fixed rate. I watch a lot of people buy money orders at a fee of $1.25 to a max $1.65 If the fee was 5% of the cost with a minimum of $1.65 I think the P.O. would be a lot closer to being in the black in a few years.
1 person likes this.

Reply 6 - Posted by: shalimar 6/27/2019 4:12:41 PM (No. 108274)
USPS isn't going anywhere. Not as long as politicians rely on it for campaigning and communicating with constituents.
6 people like this.

Reply 7 - Posted by: Lawsy0 6/27/2019 4:15:58 PM (No. 108281)
Do people still kill to get on the USPS payroll. They are overpaid in every possible area. Machines do all the sorting and bagging.
2 people like this.

Reply 8 - Posted by: WV.Hillbilly 6/27/2019 4:16:38 PM (No. 108282)
Popular with whom? USPS doesn't care because they don't have to.
2 people like this.

Reply 9 - Posted by: Catherine 6/27/2019 4:27:30 PM (No. 108288)
I remember, way back in time, when the post office used to brag about money left over after each fiscal year. Then the government took over.
3 people like this.

Reply 10 - Posted by: panther361 6/27/2019 4:42:13 PM (No. 108298)
They still haven't gotten their shinola together yet. I worked as a clerk then a letter carrier in the 70's. The problem then was a very top heavy personnel problem loaded with supervisors that had a bad napoleonic complex. Back then they did their worst to overload the carriers due to a low compliment of same. Looks as if they are still clueless somewhere up the ladder.
5 people like this.

Reply 11 - Posted by: FTCM 6/27/2019 4:58:23 PM (No. 108310)
I worked at the Post Office for a few years...If the Post Office stopped "Rural Free Delivery" and made rural people go to the closest Post Office to get their mail from a Post Office Box, the Post Office would be in the black in one year!!! People have no idea how much Rural Post Office Drivers make...
3 people like this.

Reply 12 - Posted by: Strike3 6/27/2019 5:16:15 PM (No. 108315)
Popular with whom? If not for the ability to arbitrarily raise their rates every couple of years, the USPS would have died long ago. Labor unions, inept management, inefficient operations, all contribute to the dinosaur that delivers our junk mail. Not to mention that UPS and FedEx does it better, cheaper and faster. Stamps were 4 cents when I was a kid, now they are 12 times as much, as opposed to gasoline which multiplied by 7 and bread that multiplied by 10.
3 people like this.

Reply 13 - Posted by: 49 Ford 6/27/2019 5:42:53 PM (No. 108328)
I'm open to correction about this, but I understand the real problem for USPS is huge pension and benefit liabilities. Good luck with trying to make even token cutbacks in those areas.
5 people like this.

Reply 14 - Posted by: franq 6/27/2019 5:49:38 PM (No. 108336)
Why are they delivering for Amazon at a loss?
4 people like this.

Reply 15 - Posted by: Philipsonh 6/27/2019 6:31:19 PM (No. 108353)
When an organizatiom pays for benefits upfront, covering decades of expenses, what would the result likely be . Bingo.
4 people like this.

Reply 16 - Posted by: Starboard_side 6/27/2019 7:58:10 PM (No. 108404)
Post office might be the most logical entity to utilize electric powered vehicles, and have a charging station right there at the post office where the trucks are parked. Yet, they are purchasing new vehicles which are gasoline powered, from what I have recently read. Go figure. And, #11 is probably right, the cost of service in many rural areas is likely not sufficiently covered in the price of a stamp. I doubt they'd need to go to a "pick-up" service, but I'll bet few would mind if they received 1 or 2 times per week delivery instead of every day.
1 person likes this.

Reply 17 - Posted by: cor-vet 6/27/2019 9:42:30 PM (No. 108460)
I know some retired postal workers and their retirement and health care are top dollar, a lot better than many people in the private sector receive.
3 people like this.

Reply 18 - Posted by: Strike3 6/27/2019 11:15:38 PM (No. 108522)
Correct, #13, Postal workers do not have to wait until they are in their sixties to retire, they go by number of years of service, i.e. 30, similar to what the military does. I have a no-account BIL who retired at 55 and lives it up on his pension.
3 people like this.

Reply 19 - Posted by: chefrandy 6/27/2019 11:20:36 PM (No. 108529)
Like there's much competition in the popularity contest. EPA? FDA? Dept. of Education? At least there's less cutting the red tape lengthwise by comparison.
2 people like this.

Reply 20 - Posted by: snakeoil 6/27/2019 11:46:30 PM (No. 108549)
I'd be happy if the PO would have a course on how to close the lid on mailboxes. Actually, they've improved a lot. They scan my mail and send me a daily email with images of what I am supposed to get. I feel sorrow for them at Christmas with all of those cards.
1 person likes this.

Reply 21 - Posted by: Trigger2 6/28/2019 3:57:49 AM (No. 108587)
Why so cheap for China too? The PO's sole responsibility appears to do whatever Congress critter wants for mail delivery to further feather their own nest. Why do those jerks get a big discount? Make them pay out of their office account and prohibit congress from increasing their office accounts every year.
3 people like this.

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