USPS could shut down

Don M.

SF VIP
Location
central Missouri
This Corona Virus seems to be affecting virtually everything. Now, even the Post Office is warning about facing problems that could cause it to run out of funding within the next few months, and face shutdown. I notice a substantial drop in the amount of Junk Mail we have been receiving, and while that quickly winds up in the trash, it does help pay to keep the USPS solvent, and keep the cost of postage down. I suspect that the cost of a postage stamp will be going up very soon.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-postal-could-shut-down-082346158.html
 

That would be terrible if they had to shut down, I hope everything possible can be done to help them during this pandemic. I get very little mail now also, like you Don, even the junk is much less, some days no mail and we always have different mail people these days.
 
I'll add my experience to day at my post office. I arrived to see no employees were wearing masks or gloves. There were no sprays or wipes or any disinfectants anywhere. There were six foot barrier strips on the floor and that is it. Maybe the reason they may shut down is they will all be dead!!
 
The government isn't doing anything to provide them any protection at all dog.
They are having to bring their own supplies. Gloves, sanitizer and so forth.
So, I'm sure it's not their choice to handle all that mail knowing it could harm them.
 
Oh no! I use all that junk mail to line my bird cage! (Healthy parakeets do 40 little poos a day and I have 4 birds in a large flight cage!) I count on all that junk mail!
 
Hopefully it won't happen here, ... The Post office is the nationwide network of shops and branches who deal with the sending of mail, and government and financial services. who and the Royal Mail ( who deliver our mail) and is the provider of the postal service country wide ...two separate companies. The postal service is still very busy and there's barely a day goes by when we don't get mail (excluding junk mail) in fact I've just got 2 pieces of mail 10 minutes ago, from overseas, and also one of my subscription magazines . Our postie comes around the same time every morning and we know him by name and exchange Christmas cards

Royal Mail and the PO did used to be one large company, but they separated years ago..

Lately our Post offices have become very much smaller.. and most have been incorporated & franchised into pre- existing small stores (stationers, independent grocers etc).. rather than being in their own buildings as they always were .. which is a big loss to us because most PO's were in historic buildings , but at least we still have the service and long may it continue.

The price of a first class stamp here is.. 76p second class is 65p
 
In my rural area, mail is most commonly picked up at the Post Office. The barrier strips are on the floor, the two postal employees wear gloves, and to pick up packages you interact with them through a flexible slit hanging plastic barrier. You stand three feet away from it, they put your package on the counter, then they back off, and you grab your package...very surreal! The mail is definitely running slower as well...

BTW, there was a 1997 movie starring Kevin Costner called The Postman in which he brings civilization back from an apocalypse by restoring postal service, and subsequently societal order. The movie was a commercial flop but I liked it, and it may be fit viewing for our troubled times...
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In my rural area, mail is most commonly picked up at the Post Office. The barrier strips are on the floor, the two postal employees wear gloves, and to pick up packages you interact with them through a flexible slit hanging plastic barrier. You stand three feet away from it, they put your package on the counter, then they back off, and you grab your package...very surreal! The mail is definitely running slower as well...

BTW, there was a 1997 movie starring Kevin Costner called The Postman in which he brings civilization back from an apocalypse by restoring postal service, and subsequently societal order. The movie was a commercial flop but I liked it, and it may be fit viewing for our troubled times...
View attachment 97946
I like the measures your post office is using. I worry about postal workers and sanitation workers - and Amazon workers and everyone else that handles things handled by so many. I am spraying my mail with disinfectant and then letting it sit for 3 days.... bit paranoid, perhaps.
 
Oh no! I use all that junk mail to line my bird cage! (Healthy parakeets do 40 little poos a day and I have 4 birds in a large flight cage!) I count on all that junk mail!
Wow, the term "under the parrot's cage" is really literal for you...yes, 3rd class mail is what supports the Post Office...its the bread & butter of their business along with the Amazon connection of course. Since people are buying so much more online, I'd have thought it might be enough to keep the catalog makers going, but maybe not. I do get subscription magazines by mail, too. No birds though...lol.
 
Here in our little town, the mail carriers (2 or 3?) are all middle age or older women who work their butts off. Most days, all we get is junk mail, but if that is what it takes to keep them going, bring it on. Or raise the price of a stamp. $1 seems about right to me.
 
I saw this coming but hope it doesn't come to pass! Many folks have direct deposit and bank online, like me, so receiving income sources won't be a problem. But many don't bank online or have online access. I have my medications delivered to my P.O. box from a mail order pharmacy contracted by the state of N.J. If I have to start having prescriptions filled at the local pharmacy, some of them will cost substantially more. I order a lot from Amazon too. Some of those orders may be affected (Amazon does their own deliveries sometimes).
 
The Postal Service is protected in the Constitution. How many protections are you willing to give up and still maintain a real Democratic Republic?

Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
 
I'm curious about how the USPS is protected by the constitution?

It's my understanding that all it does is give Congress the authority to establish post offices and postal routes/roads.
 
They should have privatized years ago. The USPS is run like any other government agency... badly.

No thanks. Given the way corporations are run and their amoral, heartless agendas, one can only imagine how much of our info would feed back to Google, Amazon, China, Russia, and other entities unknown.

In the name of efficiency, wages would decrease, prices go up, and shareholders would benefit.
 
Most days, all we get is junk mail, but if that is what it takes to keep them going, bring it on. Or raise the price of a stamp. $1 seems about right to me.
Sounds right to me.
(especially since I've got a buttload of forever stamps)

Trying to think of the last important mail I've recvd
Guess it was the Census form, of which gave directions to complete on line.....
 
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In my rural area, mail is most commonly picked up at the Post Office. The barrier strips are on the floor, the two postal employees wear gloves, and to pick up packages you interact with them through a flexible slit hanging plastic barrier. You stand three feet away from it, they put your package on the counter, then they back off, and you grab your package...very surreal! The mail is definitely running slower as well...

BTW, there was a 1997 movie starring Kevin Costner called The Postman in which he brings civilization back from an apocalypse by restoring postal service, and subsequently societal order. The movie was a commercial flop but I liked it, and it may be fit viewing for our troubled times...
View attachment 97946
One of my favorite movies
 
Blah. Tried signing into my bank account on line and couldn't get through. Something wrong with their server. I pay my bills by mail. Now the threat of collapse there. It just gets better.

Just sayin'. No chiding or suggestions please. There's a reason why I do things this way. Thank you.
 
Blah. Tried signing into my bank account on line and couldn't get through. Something wrong with their server. I pay my bills by mail. Now the threat of collapse there. It's just gets better.

Just sayin'. No chiding or suggestions please. There's a reason why I do things this way. Thank you.
Not chiding, not making a suggestion. Just saying what we now do.

We paid by mail until a couple of months ago. My husband started making serious makes in our checkbooks (1000 errors) and forgetting to pay bills. Still he won’t let me take care of things.

We have trouble with doing things on line-just can’t figure it out. The solution for us was to have everything billed to our credit card (thus earning cash back bonus as well) and then setting up the credit card for auto pay out of our checking account.

All our checks are deposited into our checking account. The auto pays are house payments, car payment, and one bill that can’t be paid by credit card. He still messes the checkbook up, but mush easier to catch and correct now.
 
I hope not even if a reduced schedule. Our post office is being used more than usual and they've put plexiglass in front of the counter clerk.

The problem with online anything one is at the mercy of their local internet service, the quality of their computer and skill level which is unequal for many. Some school districts have had to distribute 10s of thousands of computers so many could learn online. Yes online maybe convenient but it is also a cost shift for many instead of stamps and envelopes paying for computers, printers and internet service.
Also some areas the internet has slowed down to crawl(it happened here several times, it was liking using an old dial-up modem)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/business/coronavirus-internet-traffic-speed.html
 
Blah. Tried signing into my bank account on line and couldn't get through. Something wrong with their server. I pay my bills by mail. Now the threat of collapse there. It just gets better.

Just sayin'. No chiding or suggestions please. There's a reason why I do things this way. Thank you.

This is why I never do my banking online. I pay for some services online but mostly, I prefer writing checks too. At least I have control. Too many times I've got that you password and account name do not match or worse. We have NO record of this email address in our files. All this while I am looking at an email they sent me to the email address in question,
 
This is why I never do my banking online. I pay for some services online but mostly, I prefer writing checks too. At least I have control. Too many times I've got that you password and account name do not match or worse. We have NO record of this email address in our files. All this while I am looking at an email they sent me to the email address in question,

Oh, doesn't that just drive you CRAZY? All of a sudden my ID or password doesn't work and I'll go through the whole "forgot your log-in/password?" rigamarole and reset it. Then a few days later, the NEW one doesn't work and I have to do it again.
 


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