The post office - a question

[HoneyNut]

People buy stamps to collect and NEVER use them. Again that eliminates a low cost source of revenue.

When I was cleaning out my house to sell, I found folders of stamps my father had bought and held onto with the thought they would grow in value. But, when I took them to a store that bought old coins etc, they told me that the younger generations don't use stamps so don't appreciate them for collecting.

Per Google unless stamps are from before 1930 they only have face value. I wound up putting them in the donation box, though if I'd realized I would move to this retirement community where people are so far behind the times that we still have to mail checks to our clubs, I would have kept some of the old stamps and used them now! ha

 

[Murrmurr]

Completely gut the business to depend on a declining source of revenue? Yeah that's a winner.


Are you crazy? Eliminating a subsidy for business......no way.


haha , post cards what a great source of revenue.


People buy stamps to collect and NEVER use them. Again that eliminates a low cost source of revenue.


Pre paid cards are a huge money maker, because many are lost or forgotten about.


Why?


That's probably a good idea.


Why eliminate something that makes money.

The idea is to diversify and make use of the huge amount of fixed assets and overhead costs not to reduce volume and increase per piece costs.

USPS delivery trucks are made by a US defense contractor called Oshkosh. As basic as their trucks are, I wonder if the postal service pays way too much for them, considering it's a defense contract. I wonder if they'd save millions or even billions if they went with an automotive or small plane manufacturer, or HVAC, or even a home appliance manufacturer...some civilian company that mainly uses sheet metal and motors.

 

[Mike]

This is a sad situation for such a modern country, I feel
for you Chic, the post is still a lifeline even if we do have
email, our service is suffering too, but I believe from greed
rather than anything else, they have paid off a lot of people,
but the deliveries still come, eventually.

Years ago, the post office got some machines and they said
that they trained the machines to read handwritten post codes
/zip codes, then they read the house number, so as each road
has its own post code, the number can be read by anybody
and delivered, I think that, that system is still used.

Mike.

 

[chic]

This is a sad situation for such a modern country, I feel
for you Chic, the post is still a lifeline even if we do have
email, our service is suffering too, but I believe from greed
rather than anything else, they have paid off a lot of people,
but the deliveries still come, eventually.

Years ago, the post office got some machines and they said
that they trained the machines to re handwritten post codes
/zip codes, then they read the house number, so as each road
has its own post code, the number can be read by anybody
and delivered, I think that, that system is still used.

Mike.

Then why is this a problem that has only cropped up severely within the past 60 days?? I don't get that [art of it. Why so bad now? What has changed since February ???

 

[Murrmurr]

Then why is this a problem that has only cropped up severely within the past 60 days?? I don't get that [art of it. Why so bad now? What has changed since February ???

It's likely there's been a gradual decline that kicked off at the height of the pandemic or even earlier, causing the PO to go deeper and deeper in debt, so they're cutting training costs and machinery and computer maintenance and upgrades, etc., and now it's biting a$$. Plus there's a lot of shipping issues now, with military conflicts around major shipping lanes. Maybe that's impacting deliveries. Or maybe the general workforce just isn't as ethical or motivated as it used to be.

Maybe a combination of all those things.

 

[againstthegrain]

One reason the PO can't break even is the myriad of small town post offices that need to be closed due to lack of activity. Chit hits the fan w local politics when that is attempted as those places are likely to blow away in the wind when the PO closes.

In the 30 years I did business by mail I can't recall any failures when I mailed something, although customers that said they mailed checks that didn't arrive in a timely fashion the USPS was always at fault. (I don't miss chasing money at all.)

Our local PO is very good, although we don't have home delivery and we have to pay for a PO box. Other local offices are fighting lack of employees and an overwhelming amount of packages. Sometimes day shifts work through the night to accomplish the job though and overall they are dedicated and cheerful. YMMV.

 

[Murrmurr]

One reason the PO can't break even is the myriad of small town post offices that need to be closed due to lack of activity. Chit hits the fan w local politics when that is attempted as those places are likely to blow away in the wind when the PO closes.

In the 30 years I did business by mail I can't recall any failures when I mailed something, although customers that said they mailed checks that didn't arrive in a timely fashion the USPS was always at fault. (I don't miss chasing money at all.)

Our local PO is very good, although we don't have home delivery and we have to pay for a PO box. Other local offices are fighting lack of employees and an overwhelming amount of packages. Sometimes day shifts work through the night to accomplish the job though and overall they are dedicated and cheerful. YMMV.

There's some little town in the midwest that, despite being practically a ghost town for over 7 decades, still had a freaking post office. With 3 full-time employees! Worth the commute, apparently. It finally closed a few years after the last resident died at the age of 89 or something.

I think there's like a rule that small US towns will only be put on a map (paper) if they have a post office. Maybe an old Rand McNally rule, idk.

 

[jimintoronto]

USPS delivery trucks are made by a US defense contractor called Oshkosh. As basic as their trucks are, I wonder if the postal service pays way too much for them, considering it's a defense contract. I wonder if they'd save millions or even billions if they went with an automotive or small plane manufacturer, or HVAC, or even a home appliance manufacturer...some civilian company that mainly uses sheet metal and motors.

Canada Post buys commercial vehicles from the 3 Canadian based automotive companies. They specify the interior racking and shelves and cargo dividers, but the vehicles are stock designs. Exterior advertising wraps are applied at the same time the interiors are installed. The Canada Post fleet of small local delivery vans is now about 75 percent electric powered. The intercity tractor trailer fleet is also being converted to electric power. JimB.

 

[911]

I also send cash to my sister using Zelle. If you have never used it and want to get cash to someone, I suggest using Zelle.

 

[Alizerine]

I just read that postmaster general Louis DeJoy will testify before congress concerning the mess with the northern Georgia postal service. I hope they ask the tough questions

 

[Murrmurr]

Canada Post buys commercial vehicles from the 3 Canadian based automotive companies. They specify the interior racking and shelves and cargo dividers, but the vehicles are stock designs. Exterior advertising wraps are applied at the same time the interiors are installed. The Canada Post fleet of small local delivery vans is now about 75 percent electric powered. The intercity tractor trailer fleet is also being converted to electric power. JimB.

That's as it should be, imo.

I have no doubt the USPS would save a bunch if their trucks were built by a private company. It's actually pretty crazy that a military corporation builds them and I'd wager the original contract was intended to be temporary, in lieu of selecting a civilian factory. (and now I wonder who manufactures all the rest of their equip & machinery)

 

[Teacher Terry]

The postal service wants to move Reno’s mail processing to Sacramento. So our mail would go over the mountains twice and in winter the roads get shutdown because of the weather. It’s totally insane.

 

[Mike]

This situation, could be caused by laziness, greed rushing to get
finished by dumping post, or theft.

Mike.