I'd hate to see the post office fail.

But a lot of the services have become obsolete. I see it going the way of the Pony Express. Maybe it could continue to exist in a very limited capacity.

But I also get non-junk mail. UPS and FedEx would be okay, but they are expensive compared to postal service.

but it doesn't have to deliver 6 days a week either.

As times change, businesses change with them.

They just love them some failure soup!

Priority Mail is by far the best balance between speed and cost you can get in package delivery. You can usually get a package delivered cross country in two days in for half the price UPS or FedEx would charge you for three day service.

Had a disaster a few years ago with legal docs that went out via Express Mail.

I own a mail order business and having to rely on UPS or Fedex would drive me out of business.

A lot of people would take a huge hit if required to pay out the nose for UPS/FedEx. For many, that hit would be impossible to overcome.

I have a relative who is the senior carrier for a large area, they see which people and business are doing shipping of smaller packages. They have been reaching out for new customers. The local candy shipper, ebayer, small business...if the post office is delivering mail they can pickup packages too. The carriers hand out information or arrange for further contact calls. The USPS is a business, it wants customers.

People don't realize how much UPS, FedEx and USPS work together. They get drop shipments of parcels from FedEx and UPS and deliver them to the individual address. That keeps them so profitable by passing along the ones that are unprofitable and since we're delivering there anyway it's a win-win for both.

Case in point I have 2 large bumpers sitting in my garage they are all wrapped in USPS tape and box materials but they were delivered by FEDEX what? My relative points out it was a post office arranged shipment, most likely due to weight and size.

They all have been working together for sometime, yes they have....

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/ups-usps-deal

The post office emps, have been trained to determine if you are a crook, when you purchase Post Office money orders. Get some Homeland Security bucks. I'm sure they could swing a tank in large PO lobbies.

Has someone in your 21st Century totally up-to-date world ever stopped to think that not everyone has all the wonderful time-saving gadgets to get along in this wonderful age of technology? Not all have computers (pity them) nor Skype services. Some people actually have only one tv and no cell phone! The Postal Service has been at the mercy of a Congress that is trying to strangle it. Just take away the stringent pension obligation imposed a few years ago and let the organization compete with the market. But I'm so glad you are one of the fortunate ones that don't have to get by with silly old snail mail.

Newsflash: there are a lot of people living in small towns all over the country where there is little to no internet service, or the service is very expensive, unreliable, slow. I know that some even at DU consider residents of rural areas to largely not count, for the sin of living in "fly-over" territory, but people do live there, and they have to take the hand dealt to them.

Eventually technology infiltrates more places. A few decades ago indoor plumbing was not at the level it is today either.

You said "Eventually technology infiltrates more places." The key word here is "eventually." Eventually, everyone may have indoor plumbing. Eventually, everyone may have a computer (or ready, consistent access to one) and internet, too. It may be years or decades. Unfortunately, the end of the postal service seems to be coming quickly. And with the USPS wanting to close thousands of small post offices, loss of service is going to further isolate people who are already quite isolated from the rest of the world.

there are many places in my state that do not have broadband internet or have barely broadband. And the truth is, the US is way behind in technology as well as all of the hard infrastructure like roads and bridges and the electrical grid.

I don't think we are all going to get to the 21st century anytime soon.

We depend on the post office here. And I sure would not want to be forced to pay the prices that UPS and FedEx charge for there services. But more importantly, they would just leave most of this state with no services at all.

This endless sprawl is non-productive.

I live in town now and want to move back to the country. Some of us do not like cities.

The current structure of our postal system needs some updating, but there is still a demand for postal services.

Which is why FedEx and UPS are doing okay. There are still courier services in large metropolitan areas. And the "postal centers" in many towns do okay.

However, the number and availability of post offices is inconsistent with their business potential. They need to switch to a model where there are postal services sold at the 7-11 or Walgreens desks. Post Office boxes could be located in grocery stores. Extremely small towns might have a desk that is only open 2 days a week for 4 hours.

They are at most hate government, kill it threads.

Hey OP? Are all public schools anachronistic?

Not so much.

Here is a thread I started on public schools.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002178962

It has a Constitutional mandate to exist. I say give 'em email.

Congress was authorized by the Constitution to set up a post office. Nothing there says they have to exist forever.

I believe I first heard that the Post Office was doomed in 1978-- based off of biased and personal anecdotal experiences then, too.



"I only see the trend worsening."
The trend of absolutist prognostications based on bias, personal experience and inference? Me too.

And I see it magnified many times over. Many people just don't use the post office to the extent they once did.

While I get what you're saying, you can't be taken too seriously when you say that you "have not bought a stamp in years." Maybe it's true if someone else gave you stamps when you needed them or you used someone else's postage meter. But you're trying to imply that you don't need the post office at all, which isn't true. There are many things that require being sent (or received) by mail.

I was just relaying my own experience. I have not encountered anything in years that needed a stamp. I think paying my property taxes online this year was an extra 1.50 or something, but I felt it was well worth it.

Sadly, I couldn't tell you what a stamp costs these days without looking it up.

in your short post.

Unfortunately, the current business model does not have them reaping much of that profit.

I am an ardent supporter of the USPS. If all those who feel it is unnecessary would research, for just a moment, how very valuable it is and how much will be impacted by their absence (including very very very high FEDX and UPS delivery fees), I think you might actually seek to support it.

I just can see that a lot of people are using it quite a bit less. Maybe an email tax to help support it would be a good idea. Could tax companies that provide email addresses based on their amount of traffic.

and these postal increases are hurting them.

It's bogus that the Post Office needs to die, it needs to be revitalized and used as a community
center with all kinds of offerings

I'm sure their rates must be cheaper.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_142.htm

UPS and FEDEX are geared to corporations

Individuals are better off with media mail rates from the Post Office generally.

And forget about overseas, so expensive with Fedex

I had a car radiator old heavy shipped FEd Ex wanted $110 UPS $96.00 the Post Office delivered it to me for $24.00. I apoligized to my postman for the trouble and he said he was happy to deliver it.

I am presently working up shipping costs for some car parts to Israel and so far the US Postal service is the winner.

I hate how e-bay defaults to UPS or FED Ex for shipping.

lately.. there were those years where things got lost but that seems to have been fixed (we hope)!

School dention notice kepts looking for it for weeks....never showed. One day an envelope came from the USPS, much to my dismay inside was my detention notice mostly charred but readable. It apparently got stuck in a machine.

I'd did have it happen about 5 yrs ago a money order never showed for a e-bay item. The PO re-issued one according to their rules. The old one showed up in Mo. 3 months later looks like it got stuck in some machine.

If we want our small businesses to be able to compete in the global marketplace, we need affordable international shipping options. Only the USPS really delivers on that front.

and DHL. Another reason to assume the repukes are at work on every level.

all the time, and almost all of them are delivered via USPS. I use the post office frequently. UPS and FedEx are more expensive and less convenient.

I used to receive a lot of junk mail, but I took the necessary steps to stop that, and hardly get any now. I even almost stopped credit card offers, which used to be a daily occurrence.

When you renewed your passport, how was it delivered to you?
Beside, the Internet is just a passing fad anyway. Fifty years from now nobody will even remember it.

But it is a far cry from 30 years ago where I would mail stacks of letters each week.

People rarely write letters anymore, nothing to savor, nothing to express, its all done instantly. Imagine love expressed with a few characters on a little screen. Love's lost and love's gained an not a trace. Paper bits going away for electronic bits that will never survive the test of time.

Schools are debating doing away with cursive writing, imagine there is not more need.

http://childswork.com/blog/2012/01/minnesota-schools-debate-teaching-the-%E2%80%9Clost-art%E2%80%9D-of-cursive-handwriting/

And all three pieces were junk mail catalogs. Everything else I do is online these days, but I'd still hate to see the USPS go away.

"At the heart of the matter is a 2006 Congressional mandate put on the US Postal Service contained in the “Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006” to pre-fund healthcare benefits of future retirees, a 75 year liability over a 10 year period. No other agency or corporation is required to do this. This provision costs the Postal Service $5.5 billion a year. When you add in an adjustment that was made in how workers’ compensation costs were calculated based on interest rate assumptions and long term predictions concerning health care and compensation of $2.5 billion (a non cash accounting adjustment), you come up with $8 billion in cost. Actual loss was $500 million and when added, comes to the $8.5 billion reported for 2010. While $500 million is a lot, it doesn’t compare with $8.5 billion and is down from the previous year loss of $1 billion. If you took out the onerous pre-funding mandate, the Postal Service actually shows a $700 million profit over the last four years instead of the $20 billion loss. The Postal Union has been trying to get Congress to authorize the transfer of the Postal Service’s money estimated to be between $50 billion and $75 billion overpaid in the Civil Service Retirement System transferred into the PSRHBF."

http://my.firedoglake.com/mmonk/2011/08/19/the-pre-funding-mandate-bringing-down-the-american-postal-workers-union/

MORE information on why the USPS should not be forced (by said onerous pre-funding mandate) to fail:

The United States Postal Service:

1. Receives no taxpayer dollars
2. Is funded by the products and services it sells
3. Working with its unions, has already reduced its workforce by 110,000 employees, improved efficiency, and introduced new products and services
4. Handles more than 40 percent of the world’s mail more efficiently and at lower cost than other services
5. Despite the growth of the digital world, continues to support a $1 trillion mailing industry with more than 8 million jobs
6. Has a workforce that is made up of 40 percent women, 40 percent minorities, and 22 percent veterans, many disabled

There is a crisis, but it is not because the Postal Service is inefficient and its workers overpaid. It is because the Postal Service:

7. Is the only federal agency or private company required to pre-fund retiree health benefits for 75 years *<<<
8. Is therefore required to pay $5.5 billion annually to the Treasury, an amount not required of any other agency or company *<<<
Without these unique requirements, it would have earned a surplus of over $600 million during the last four years. In addition, the USPS:
9. Has over-paid its obligations to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) by an estimated $50 billion (and this money should be returned) *<<<
10. Has overfunded the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) by approximately $6.9 billion (and would be profitable if these funds were returned) *<<<

http://www.newdeal20.org/2011/09/22/ten-reasons-that-the-us-postal-service-is-not-a-failure-and-is-vital-to-our-country-59384/

Some of us don't use Skype (and have zero desire to). Some people rely on receiving checks by mail, not to mention sending out various forms. Not everything is allowed to be scanned and sent, nor does everyone have access to a scanner or know how the hell to create PDF files.

The post office is NOT broke! They are being asked to fund themselves for the next 70 years in TEN YEARS! Did you know this or are you unwittingly spreading misinformation that just plays into the hands of the fascist demons?

I get mail in my mailbox daily. I mail books, packages and letters frequently.

Your anecdotes are just that, one person's experience and not indicative of anything but your experience.

It isn't really necessary to point out the enormous flaw in that argument is it?

The worst part is that there is an argument to be made that your conclusion is somewhat correct. You just didn't do it.

Even my elderly parents rarely use the mail anymore.

But since I have had online banking, I very seldom use USPS. I bought a book of stamps 2 years ago and still have most of them left.

Mon-Wed-Fri or maybe Tues-Thurs-Sat for those who need to interact with their carrier on the weekend. Nobody needs daily delivery of junk mail anymore.

Interestingly, so does FedEx with their FedEx SmartPost service.

When it comes to low-weight shipping for residential customers, consider the efficient, economical FedEx SmartPost service. By utilizing the U.S. Postal Service® for final delivery, FedEx SmartPost reaches every U.S. address, including P.O. boxes and military APO, FPO and DPO destinations. You can even use FedEx SmartPost to ship to Alaska, Hawaii and all U.S. territories.

http://www.fedex.com/us/smart-post/index.html

They have been mandated to have enough money in their pension accounts to cover the next 75 years!! That is what's breaking them!! WAKE UP!!

a lot of packages come through the mail. But for many people like you and me, 90% of what comes in that mailbox is just high-priced litter. I'd love to see the cost of junk mail double to keep the system afloat, and keep the mailing of packages cheap.

to the days before eBay and online shopping - I never used USPS (well, also I'm in Canada but I didn't use Canada Post either...except for once a year at Christmas). Now, when I buy I make sure they only ship USPS because FedEx and UPS charge horrible fees for international shipments. So USPS has received probably more than a thousand dollars from me over the last 12 years. I think lots of people in the US even will ship USPS because it is cheaper. Think about how much internet business is going on now that didn't even exist 10 years ago. Those packages have to get shipped somehow, and a lot of places still use USPS. As online shopping skyrockets, I see the USPS doing fine. I agree that offering new services, such as package pick up would be a huge plus for their business.

It's because the GOP is out to destroy it with that ridiculous mandate that their pensions be funded 75 years in advance. And we all know why: It's because postal workers are *gasp!* unionized.

A Manufactured ‘Crisis’: Congress Can Let The Post Office Save Itself Without Mass Layoffs Or Service Reductions

Both the news media and a number of politicians have claimed recently that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is in “crisis,” and that it is necessary to lay off thousands of workers or reduce service in order to make the post office fiscally stable. And the Post Office itself has proposed laying off as many as 120,000 employees and withdrawing from federal health care plans in order to navigate upcoming fiscal crunches.

It is true that USPS is facing fiscal challenges — it lost nearly $20 billion over the last four years and is at risk of not being able to meet a $5.5 billion mandated payment to the Treasury at the end of this month (which has been put off six weeks thanks to the last continuing resolution in Congress).

But what has been lost in the political debate over the Post Office is why it is losing this money. Major media coverage points to the rise of email or Internet services and the inefficiency of the post model as the major culprits. While these factors may cause some fiscal pain, almost all of the postal service’s losses over the last four years can be traced back to a single, artificial restriction forced onto the Post Office by the Republican-led Congress in 2006.

At the very end of that year, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under PAEA, USPS was forced to “prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years in an astonishing ten-year time span” — meaning that it had to put aside billions of dollars to pay for the health benefits of employees it hasn’t even hired yet, something “that no other government or private corporation is required to do.”

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/28/330524/postal-non-crisis-post-office-save-itself/

...as more and more shopping is done on the internet.

Which is why its not doomed to failure at all.

I've always wondered how much shipping was up due to the internet,

I don't have the numbers handy, but went over all this the last time "the post office is doomed!" thing came up.

First class delivery is down, packages and third class is up. The overall effect on income from operations is down about 3% or something, which is about the "noise" in the numbers on any given year.

and huge chunks of the country have no access to highspeed other than very slow and expensive satellite systems that depend on line of sight, which means many have almost no hope of high speed service.

Affordability and access remain serious problems for many people.

I would hope it would just make adjustments,

my family uses the post office for mail and packages, even though we also have internet. I have friends who are postal workers, and they work hard for a decent wage. Why should it be allowed to be privatized so that corporations can make more profits while giving a less than decent wage to their employees so that they can make those profits and the CEO can make millions. I heard today that stamps may go up to fifty cents; that's still cheaper than paying a corporation.

Oh, and the privatizing, government hating repugs can kiss my blue arse. If they get their way in privatizing everything, the american people better get ready for a royal screwing. Because the only ones who will be counting, who politicians will listen to, are the corporations.

The repugs always talk about big government. Well, that's code word for allowing our corporate friends to do anything they want; but when it comes to individual liberties, especially women; they're more than willing to create a new department (homeland security), pass laws infringing on civil liberties or spy on americans. Of course, while they're railing about big government, they'll be happy to pass our tax dollars to their corporate friends.