strausmouse ([info]strausmouse) wrote,
2009-03-26 09:31:00

Going Postal

It seems that no matter how rooted an institution is these days, and how insulated it would be against a recession, no one is safe.
Apparently the Postmaster General told Congress yesterday that the USPS is going to run out of money this year, unless they get some extra government funding.
Really. REALLY? The postal service is running out of money? Forgive my ignorance, but WHA???? Come on. How is this possible? Are people not mailing things anymore? Really? Does that mean FedEx and UPS are experiencing record increases in business?
And isn't the USPS's normal solution to financial woes to just raise the price of a stamp by 4 or 6 cents?
The PG proposed reducing mail delivery service to 5 days a week to help save millions of dollars. Fine, I don't think people will miss their Saturday mail too much, but I can't believe this is necessary.
So what am I missing here? Anyone?

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  • 4 comments

[info]kruppenheimer

March 26 2009, 15:42:47 UTC 3 years ago

Actually yes. There's been a huge hit to correspondence by USPS. Mail, like print, has gone digital. Bank statements, bills, magazines, catalogs... it's all done over the internet now. FedEx and UPS are staying afloat by virtue of overnight delivery and package delivery, which frankly USPS sucks at and can't really compete. I honestly can't tell you the last time I mailed something - I pay all my bills online and I suspect BofA does a lot of those payments with electronic transfers. USPS has had multiple price increases in recent years to try to stay in the black, and another one is on its way. But all that really does is make people balk and push them towards alternatives. Sort of a catch-22.

Can you tell I'm in an industry this affects?? :)

[info]strausmouse

March 26 2009, 15:52:36 UTC 3 years ago

I understand that in the past decade, the online world has decreased people's use of the postal service, but this is the first time they have been crying bankruptcy unless they get more funding. This recession has not been around that long - it might sound cynical, but I think the USPS is using the recession as an excuse for getting more $$.
We mail Xmas cards every year, and whenever we ship gifts or anything we use the post office...I would assume that in big cities the lines at the PO are still really long...
All I'm saying is that they weren't worried about going bankrupt a year ago, so it's convenient that now when the gov't is handing out $$ they come running - which is weird, because they ARE a gov't agency, so I'm not sure how that works...
Talking finance gives me a headache...

[info]jamietr

March 27 2009, 04:06:11 UTC 3 years ago

As a writer, I live for the mail. While some of my submissions are by email, submissions to the biggest markets are still via snail mail. Whenever I have a story out, I look forward each day to checking the mail box to see if I have an acceptance or rejection slip. Having to wait an entire weekend seems crazy to me. If they had to cut to 5 days, I'd prefer they'd cut Tuesday instead. All I ever get is circulars on Tuesday and if they cut Tuesday's, they might as well cut the circulars too since I hate them.

Anonymous

March 28 2009, 20:24:33 UTC 3 years ago

USPD

Just returned from the local post office, which is normally a very busy place at midday on a Sat. There were no customers there - no one in line at all. They really are hurting. I would much prefer to give our gov. funds to them than to many of these corrupt companies. And the price of a US stamp is still cheaper than most other countries.
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