Postal Service Has Big Plans to Get Even Worse

[GURPS]

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has come up with a 10 year plan that he says could put the USPS on a path of fiscal sustainability. You may remember DeJoy as the Trump crony who tried to deliberately slow the mail delivery and sabotage the election. Of course, he did no such thing but it sure looked good on a TV commercial. As for putting the USPS on the road to achieving fiscal sanity, many experts will believe it when they see it.


Washington Post:

The rate structure announced Friday is the latest installment of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s plan to erase a projected $160 billon in liabilities over the next decade. The agency has struggled for the better part of a year with inconsistent delivery service and soaring package volumes that have gridlocked its processing network. The Postal Service’s on-time delivery scores have not topped 90 percent since July 2020.
DeJoy’s 10-year “Delivering for America” plan, announced in March, calls for longer delivery windows, shorter post office hours and fewer staff.

And DeJoy isn’t stopping there. He’s laying off hundreds of management-level employees. But it’s a drop in the bucket. The USPS has almost $200 billion in liabilities with no realistic way to pay it back. Congress may authorize money to take a large share of those liabilities but the USPS is running a $10 billion deficit this year that’s not expected to fall anytime soon.

And more rate increases could be on the way. The Postal Service on Friday raised prices exclusively for “market dominant” mail, or items such as letters, postcards and marketing mail over which it maintains a monopoly by law. The agency has signaled it will raise prices on other products — including package shipping, on which it competes fiercely with UPS, FedEx and Amazon — in the coming months. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
The prospect of higher prices and slower service standards have spooked mailing industry executives and consumer advocates, who worry they collectively will drive lucrative mail volume away from the Postal Service and worsen its financial condition. Volume of first-class mail, the agency’s most profitable item, will probably take the biggest hit, experts say, as businesses encourage customers to avoid the Postal Service.

Postal Service Has Big Plans to Get Even Worse

pjmedia.com

 

[PrchJrkr]

I check shipping methods on anything I purchase on line any more. If the only option is USPS, I'll pass and go with another vendor. I've had many good experiences with them in the past, but the ****-ups outweigh the good experiences to the point where I'll no longer take that gamble.

 

[SamSpade]

Having worked for the USPS - albeit a very long time ago - I can think of one thing that would probably help -

Postal workers in comparison to their federal worker counterparts, get the best pay and compensation, best promotion tracks, best of everything. A great deal of that is the biggest union (at the time I was in) - in the nation. But it's a pattern that has never changed. My starting salary in the early 80's was in the high 20s - good pay for entry level then - with a track to double that in two years. We paid less for our health care, and got paid on a separate pay scale.

Basically, we got the cream of the budget. I sure didn't complain. Bottom line, they're in the hole because their retirement offerings are going to bite them in the ass for decades.

Another - and a big one - is the way the federal government decides the way they should run. How many post offices are there in St Mary's County? How many SHOULD there be? I would wager that FedEx, USPS and other delivery services have at least as busy a schedule and similar volume as USPS at least in terms of parcels. So how many trucks, staff and facilities do they have? A private enterprise builds facilities - and closes them - based on a business model - but the USPS (and they really are more government than they claim) cannot - or at least, doesn't. They maintain buildings that are superfluous. It is not efficient. Admittedly they stay afloat by distributing fourth class advertising that most people toss.

I suspect in fifty years, the need for snail mail will be very, very small - just as printed newspapers are. You can bet the USPS will likely STILL have most of their buildings running. Because somewhere, someone in Washington says, every town needs to have an office. If you've lived near DC and have to drop off a package - don't be surprised if there's a half dozen within a five minute drive - because there are so many.

Another story I've told before - when you go to UPS or FedEx, can you just wrap a parcel in newspaper, put postage on it and ask them to deliver it? Hell no. You use one of THEIR boxes. Period. But the USPS has to deliver envelopes and boxes of ANY shape or size, and in the mere year I worked for them, you would simply not believe the crap people are allowed to mail - a pill bottle, with a stamp on the cap and an address on the label - a poster being mailed FLAT. Stupid - but allowed. Other services, indeed, other nations, do not permit such freedom - you use their standards or they don't get mailed. I was working on a test site for a new processing machine in Chicago and some German engineers from Siemens were there and I had to test their machine. I asked them if they used that one in Germany, and they said no - it was not necessary. In Germany, there were a very limited number of sizes for envelopes and packages - and their machines were DESIGNED to handle those.

NOPE, not here. Anything goes.

So - short story - cut the exorbitant benefits and pay - they get paid better than other federal workers - cut superfluous facilities. You live in East Bumblef*ck far from the city? EXPECT to go into town for your mail. We don't pay a carrier to hotfoot it out to you. FedEx won't do it. Standardize packages. You're sending out 1000 pieces of mail for your business? They better be standard sizes and shapes.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Having worked for the USPS - albeit a very long time ago - I can think of one thing that would probably help -

Postal workers in comparison to their federal worker counterparts, get the best pay and compensation, best promotion tracks, best of everything. A great deal of that is the biggest union (at the time I was in) - in the nation. But it's a pattern that has never changed. My starting salary in the early 80's was in the high 20s - good pay for entry level then - with a track to double that in two years. We paid less for our health care, and got paid on a separate pay scale.

Basically, we got the cream of the budget. I sure didn't complain. Bottom line, they're in the hole because their retirement offerings are going to bite them in the ass for decades.

Another - and a big one - is the way the federal government decides the way they should run. How many post offices are there in St Mary's County? How many SHOULD there be? I would wager that FedEx, USPS and other delivery services have at least as busy a schedule and similar volume as USPS at least in terms of parcels. So how many trucks, staff and facilities do they have? A private enterprise builds facilities - and closes them - based on a business model - but the USPS (and they really are more government than they claim) cannot - or at least, doesn't. They maintain buildings that are superfluous. It is not efficient. Admittedly they stay afloat by distributing fourth class advertising that most people toss.

I suspect in fifty years, the need for snail mail will be very, very small - just as printed newspapers are. You can bet the USPS will likely STILL have most of their buildings running. Because somewhere, someone in Washington says, every town needs to have an office. If you've lived near DC and have to drop off a package - don't be surprised if there's a half dozen within a five minute drive - because there are so many.

Another story I've told before - when you go to UPS or FedEx, can you just wrap a parcel in newspaper, put postage on it and ask them to deliver it? Hell no. You use one of THEIR boxes. Period. But the USPS has to deliver envelopes and boxes of ANY shape or size, and in the mere year I worked for them, you would simply not believe the crap people are allowed to mail - a pill bottle, with a stamp on the cap and an address on the label - a poster being mailed FLAT. Stupid - but allowed. Other services, indeed, other nations, do not permit such freedom - you use their standards or they don't get mailed. I was working on a test site for a new processing machine in Chicago and some German engineers from Siemens were there and I had to test their machine. I asked them if they used that one in Germany, and they said no - it was not necessary. In Germany, there were a very limited number of sizes for envelopes and packages - and their machines were DESIGNED to handle those.

NOPE, not here. Anything goes.

So - short story - cut the exorbitant benefits and pay - they get paid better than other federal workers - cut superfluous facilities. You live in East Bumblef*ck far from the city? EXPECT to go into town for your mail. We don't pay a carrier to hotfoot it out to you. FedEx won't do it. Standardize packages. You're sending out 1000 pieces of mail for your business? They better be standard sizes and shapes.

I actually just switched my health care plan to the APWU high option, it is an excellent plan, I do pay slightly more than a postal employee, but not by much, most federal employees didn't know they could use their plan.

 

[phreddyp]

Having worked for the USPS - albeit a very long time ago - I can think of one thing that would probably help -

Postal workers in comparison to their federal worker counterparts, get the best pay and compensation, best promotion tracks, best of everything. A great deal of that is the biggest union (at the time I was in) - in the nation. But it's a pattern that has never changed. My starting salary in the early 80's was in the high 20s - good pay for entry level then - with a track to double that in two years. We paid less for our health care, and got paid on a separate pay scale.

Basically, we got the cream of the budget. I sure didn't complain. Bottom line, they're in the hole because their retirement offerings are going to bite them in the ass for decades.

Another - and a big one - is the way the federal government decides the way they should run. How many post offices are there in St Mary's County? How many SHOULD there be? I would wager that FedEx, USPS and other delivery services have at least as busy a schedule and similar volume as USPS at least in terms of parcels. So how many trucks, staff and facilities do they have? A private enterprise builds facilities - and closes them - based on a business model - but the USPS (and they really are more government than they claim) cannot - or at least, doesn't. They maintain buildings that are superfluous. It is not efficient. Admittedly they stay afloat by distributing fourth class advertising that most people toss.

I suspect in fifty years, the need for snail mail will be very, very small - just as printed newspapers are. You can bet the USPS will likely STILL have most of their buildings running. Because somewhere, someone in Washington says, every town needs to have an office. If you've lived near DC and have to drop off a package - don't be surprised if there's a half dozen within a five minute drive - because there are so many.

Another story I've told before - when you go to UPS or FedEx, can you just wrap a parcel in newspaper, put postage on it and ask them to deliver it? Hell no. You use one of THEIR boxes. Period. But the USPS has to deliver envelopes and boxes of ANY shape or size, and in the mere year I worked for them, you would simply not believe the crap people are allowed to mail - a pill bottle, with a stamp on the cap and an address on the label - a poster being mailed FLAT. Stupid - but allowed. Other services, indeed, other nations, do not permit such freedom - you use their standards or they don't get mailed. I was working on a test site for a new processing machine in Chicago and some German engineers from Siemens were there and I had to test their machine. I asked them if they used that one in Germany, and they said no - it was not necessary. In Germany, there were a very limited number of sizes for envelopes and packages - and their machines were DESIGNED to handle those.

NOPE, not here. Anything goes.

So - short story - cut the exorbitant benefits and pay - they get paid better than other federal workers - cut superfluous facilities. You live in East Bumblef*ck far from the city? EXPECT to go into town for your mail. We don't pay a carrier to hotfoot it out to you. FedEx won't do it. Standardize packages. You're sending out 1000 pieces of mail for your business? They better be standard sizes and shapes.

I once mailed a coconut from key west to lusby. No box just inked an address post office inked a stamp and away she went . Took about a week to.deliver.

 

[musiclady]

I worked as a transitional employee with a 360 day contract at a Remote Encoding Center. We typed in addresses that couldn't be read by their computer from all states. Over twice minimum wage. The postal employees made twice that. They had a number of Centers around the country and decided they wanted to consolidate. My location was consistently at the top for efficiency. They signed a 5 year lease on the building we used, then two months later decided to close our location and move the work to Arizona due to the time differences. They had to pay all of us unemployment, pay the lease for 5 years, pay the Arizona employees overtime 12-16 hour days to keep up with their work plus ours. That was in 2006. My friend who followed the job to Arizona says they are STILL demanding overtime. Definitely not cost effective.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I worked as a transitional employee with a 360 day contract at a Remote Encoding Center. We typed in addresses that couldn't be read by their computer from all states. Over twice minimum wage. The postal employees made twice that. They had a number of Centers around the country and decided they wanted to consolidate. My location was consistently at the top for efficiency. They signed a 5 year lease on the building we used, then two months later decided to close our location and move the work to Arizona due to the time differences. They had to pay all of us unemployment, pay the lease for 5 years, pay the Arizona employees overtime 12-16 hour days to keep up with their work plus ours. That was in 2006. My friend who followed the job to Arizona says they are STILL demanding overtime. Definitely not cost effective.

It's cheaper to pay overtime than hire more employees, even at 2x hourly.

 

[SamSpade]

I worked as a transitional employee with a 360 day contract at a Remote Encoding Center. We typed in addresses that couldn't be read by their computer from all states.

And - if FedEx took over the delivery of first class mail - that sort of thing wouldn't happen - because they wouldn't TAKE mail that couldn't be read or was missing vital address information.

One of the most grueling jobs done by postal employees is where you sit at a desk, have a piece of mail appear for one second in front of you, and you key in one of 100 codes to approximate the closest center per the zip code. For example, they read your zip for Leonardtown, and they know from memory which regional office it has to be coded to go to (perhaps DC - I have no idea, actually). They have ONE second to do that - AND - if it has no code, they have to do their best to code it anyway. One second - zip - one second - zip - one second - zip - for four hours at a stretch. No wonder people went "postal".

 

[musiclady]

And - if FedEx took over the delivery of first class mail - that sort of thing wouldn't happen - because they wouldn't TAKE mail that couldn't be read or was missing vital address information.

One of the most grueling jobs done by postal employees is where you sit at a desk, have a piece of mail appear for one second in front of you, and you key in one of 100 codes to approximate the closest center per the zip code. For example, they read your zip for Leonardtown, and they know from memory which regional office it has to be coded to go to (perhaps DC - I have no idea, actually). They have ONE second to do that - AND - if it has no code, they have to do their best to code it anyway. One second - zip - one second - zip - one second - zip - for four hours at a stretch. No wonder people went "postal".

 

[musiclady]

That's exactly what we did. Overnight, in a warehouse with florescent lighting that had only every third light on to "save electricity." Tough to stay awake. 10pm-7am. We would key the numerical portion of the address, the first 3 letters of the street and the zipcode. Had to key over 10000 keystrokes an hour to keep the job. All with the power hungry supervisors who would decide randomly what their rules were. We did have one employee "go postal."

 

[BOP]

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has come up with a 10 year plan that he says could put the USPS on a path of fiscal sustainability. You may remember DeJoy as the Trump crony who tried to deliberately slow the mail delivery and sabotage the election. Of course, he did no such thing but it sure looked good on a TV commercial. As for putting the USPS on the road to achieving fiscal sanity, many experts will believe it when they see it.


Washington Post:




And DeJoy isn’t stopping there. He’s laying off hundreds of management-level employees. But it’s a drop in the bucket. The USPS has almost $200 billion in liabilities with no realistic way to pay it back. Congress may authorize money to take a large share of those liabilities but the USPS is running a $10 billion deficit this year that’s not expected to fall anytime soon.

Postal Service Has Big Plans to Get Even Worse

pjmedia.com

It shouldn't matter; the world ends in less than 10 years.

 

[BOP]

Having worked for the USPS - albeit a very long time ago - I can think of one thing that would probably help -

Postal workers in comparison to their federal worker counterparts, get the best pay and compensation, best promotion tracks, best of everything. A great deal of that is the biggest union (at the time I was in) - in the nation. But it's a pattern that has never changed. My starting salary in the early 80's was in the high 20s - good pay for entry level then - with a track to double that in two years. We paid less for our health care, and got paid on a separate pay scale.

Basically, we got the cream of the budget. I sure didn't complain. Bottom line, they're in the hole because their retirement offerings are going to bite them in the ass for decades.

Another - and a big one - is the way the federal government decides the way they should run. How many post offices are there in St Mary's County? How many SHOULD there be? I would wager that FedEx, USPS and other delivery services have at least as busy a schedule and similar volume as USPS at least in terms of parcels. So how many trucks, staff and facilities do they have? A private enterprise builds facilities - and closes them - based on a business model - but the USPS (and they really are more government than they claim) cannot - or at least, doesn't. They maintain buildings that are superfluous. It is not efficient. Admittedly they stay afloat by distributing fourth class advertising that most people toss.

I suspect in fifty years, the need for snail mail will be very, very small - just as printed newspapers are. You can bet the USPS will likely STILL have most of their buildings running. Because somewhere, someone in Washington says, every town needs to have an office. If you've lived near DC and have to drop off a package - don't be surprised if there's a half dozen within a five minute drive - because there are so many.

Another story I've told before - when you go to UPS or FedEx, can you just wrap a parcel in newspaper, put postage on it and ask them to deliver it? Hell no. You use one of THEIR boxes. Period. But the USPS has to deliver envelopes and boxes of ANY shape or size, and in the mere year I worked for them, you would simply not believe the crap people are allowed to mail - a pill bottle, with a stamp on the cap and an address on the label - a poster being mailed FLAT. Stupid - but allowed. Other services, indeed, other nations, do not permit such freedom - you use their standards or they don't get mailed. I was working on a test site for a new processing machine in Chicago and some German engineers from Siemens were there and I had to test their machine. I asked them if they used that one in Germany, and they said no - it was not necessary. In Germany, there were a very limited number of sizes for envelopes and packages - and their machines were DESIGNED to handle those.

NOPE, not here. Anything goes.

So - short story - cut the exorbitant benefits and pay - they get paid better than other federal workers - cut superfluous facilities. You live in East Bumblef*ck far from the city? EXPECT to go into town for your mail. We don't pay a carrier to hotfoot it out to you. FedEx won't do it. Standardize packages. You're sending out 1000 pieces of mail for your business? They better be standard sizes and shapes.

I don't order a lot of stuff; maybe one or two items every 6 months, but if it's smaller than a set of exhaust pipes for my Harley, FedEx and UPS both deliver to the post office in Lusby. Period. CDs, books, drawing pencils, you name it, all have to be picked up at the Post Office. I've literally had to argue with vendors who'll say "we don't deliver to a PO box." My go-to is "it's gonna end up there anyway." I've had mixed results, by the way.

 

[kwillia]

Forever stamps up 5 cents to .73 starting Sunday.

 

[vraiblonde]

Forever stamps up 5 cents to .73 starting Sunday.

I snail mail almost nothing and receive maybe 2 pieces of mail a year, not counting junk. Everything is electronic now. I still have Forever stamps from last year.

It's like buying checks. I just got a pack of 50 and they'll last me the rest of my life.

 

[my-thyme]

You should have seen the 10-pt Elk mount I shipped from St Marys City once......

 

[phreddyp]

I mailed a coconut from Key West to a Lusby restaurant once.

 

[my-thyme]

You should have seen the 10-pt Elk mount I shipped from St Marys City once......

I mailed a coconut from Key West to a Lusby restaurant once.

Yeah, but I was helping a customer do the shipping. Wasn't my mount.

And the year the college kids picked up on the craz to ship trinkets/memorabilia in taped-up Starbucks cups? Don't know how many of those I shipped out.

And they didn't blink an eye at the odd-shaped surcharge. mamascreditcard

 

[jrt_ms1995]

look guys, they may have to fire those guys that were washing checks and committing frauds and stuff!

somebody's gotta pay fer it!!!

Never happen because ... UNION! They'll be doing them frauds and stuffs until mandatory retirement!

 

[PrchJrkr]

Looking back over this thread, I made a lier out of myself. This past week I needed specialty fasteners to install fender flares and turned to eBay out of habit.