The US Postal Service

[Mr Light]

My local post offices are terrible. You're guaranteed a 10-30 minute wait every single time. And they look like they're straight out of the 1930s.

Whenever possible I go to my local grocery store which has an express post office in it. It's just one person in a booth but there's never a wait there!

 

[Aragorn]

I use the kiosks when I can, but they don't have the option for media mail which is how I mail about half the time so I have to waste my time in the lines.

 

[Small White Car]

$45,000 is a pretty good average. If the yahoo that delivers mail to my apartment complex and can't even be bothered to ring the doorbell for larger packages makes that much, it's sickening.

Ah, there we go. The personal story.

I thought your emotional investment was a bit odd. ("Sickening?") So you're having a feud with your particular mail-carrier, is it?"

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ Not really, there was someone quite similar in job performance at the last place I lived (same zip code). And that's a "regular" carrier, as opposed to the fill-in people they send out at times.

I've had to work a long time to get to that "average" pay level and government workers (all of them, not just the PO) still have such a sense of entitlement to this day.

It's just another example of the bloated government we have as a free society.

 

[Kestra]

I've seen post offices sell many other items. I've seen art of stamps, calendars and books relating to them, stationery, greeting cards, all sorts of mailing supplies, especially dcorative ones around Christmas. Pretty sure I've seen stuffed animals too. Keep in mind these things are usually stamp themed, expensive, and not very pretty.

 

[Sephiroth]

I've never seen a Post Office in the U.S. that sold anything other than Stamps and plain or flat rate Boxes & Envelopes

 

[Marten]

All post offices here are merged with supermarkets or smaller food stores, with the food employees manning it. Probably saves quite a lot of money.

 

[Mr Light]

It is a good idea to deliver on fewer days... but it'll never happen because that will threaten the salaries of the postal employees. Is the government willing to cut its workers' salaries in half? Or lay off half the work force?

 

[Small White Car]

It's just another example of the bloated government we have as a free society.

So vote with your dollars and go to FedEx. I mean, there are lots of businesses I don't go to but I don't really care how they run themselves. No one's forcing you to use the USPS.

 

[Caliburn24]

My Dad has worked as a letter carrier for the USPS for 20 odd years, and over those years I've been exposed to a lot of the inner workings of the service. And every so often I'll skim through his union literature just for kicks.

And that insanely powerful postal employees union is a big part of why the USPS is running at a loss now. Cutting back from six-day delivery to five-day delivery has been pushed as a cost cutting measure for at least a decade, but the union has staunchly resisted it. As it does with almost any changes suggested by management.

 

[Kestra]

I've never seen a Post Office in the U.S. that sold anything other than Stamps and plain or flat rate Boxes & Envelopes

Wow, that's surprising. I wonder if it's a regional thing or something else.

 

[Mr Light]

My post offices (in semi small towns) only sell packing supplies. But like I said these places are ancient looking, the buildings are a 100 years old.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

It's just another example of the bloated government we have as a free society.

So vote with your dollars and go to FedEx. I mean, there are lots of businesses I don't go to but I don't really care how they run themselves. No one's forcing you to use the USPS.

Anyone you order from over the internet decides how they are going to ship.

Believe me, if there was a choice I'd use UPS or maybe FedEx.

 

[RoJoHen]

I order stuff online all the time, and nobody has ever used the USPS.

 

[tharpdevenport]

44 cetns currently, though I believe that is about to go up again in a month or two.

Basically, free e-mailing, competition, have reduced the number of letters mailed and packages sent. The prices go up on certain things, then people also start to stop using certain services as much.

Exceddingly high pay for long-term carries, and benefits -- something akin to the problems in Wisconsin -- and declining funds are doing in the Post Office.

It's been in the red for many years now. They have been along with UPS, talking about closing an extra day a week and possibly reducing opening hours. The days keep changing, but I've heard Saturday, Wednesday, and Monday.

If we all bought four stamped envelops from them a month and mailed personal letters to friends & family that needn't be e-mailed, it would help, but the death nail is hanging.

 

[Small White Car]

Anyone you order from over the internet decides how they are going to ship.

Believe me, if there was a choice I'd use UPS or maybe FedEx.

Weird. I have NEVER seen that as an only choice on any site I buy from. Like, ever.

I buy from large companies, though. Are you talking about individuals, like Etsy or Ebay? I haven't done much of that.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The post office in the small town where my job is happens to be quite small. There are two counters for customers, and odds are even that only one of them will be staffed--and this is during lunch hour, when they're going to be busier!

They don't sell anything not strictly post-related. The most unusual thing they sell are decorative gift bags.

Now, the post office in Muncie, Indiana is quite a bit larger. They have counters for maybe 6 employees, and they sell stuffed animals and other novelties. Despite it being bigger and busier, I always got out of there faster than I ever get out of the little post office in Little Falls, New Jersey. Ah well.

A lot of the time when I order something online USPS is the only option provided. I order a lot of things through Amazon but it's often third-party sellers so they are the ones picking the shipping options. I haven't had any problems getting things via USPS. FedEx has screwed me around several times, though, failing to deliver packages per my instructions and getting them to me all beaten up. Fuckers. Good experiences with UPS, though.

A friend ordered me something from the UK not too long ago and it took six weeks to be delivered via Royal Mail. Is that typical? I don't know how long it took to get from London to the US, but given that I live near a major hub I can't imagine it spent too much time stateside before reaching me.

 

[Yoda]

Let the post office die. All they are to me is the chore of cleaning out my apartment mailbox because of all the junk mail. Anything that qualifies as 'important' mail, I do online anyway. Stuff from amazon can come UPS or Fedex, or occasionally those weird regional carriers that I can never remember the names of.

The only thing I can think of that comes in the mail that's important is my W2 tax crap. Though I fail to see why that can't come as a PDF.

 

[RoJoHen]

The only thing I can think of that comes in the mail that's important is my W2 tax crap. Though I fail to see why that can't come as a PDF.

Even that you should just be able to get directly from your employer. I've never had my W-2 mailed to me. I just pick it up when I go in to work.

Honestly, the only think I get in the mail that is worthwhile to me are cards from my grandma (which are only worthwhile because they usually contain money, which is meant as an incentive for me to actually call her and say hi) and my Kohl's coupons.

 

[tharpdevenport]

USPS fails, we'll be in the same pickle; UPS, FedEx will pick up the majority of the business USPS handled, and that'a a load they are unprepared to handle. Costs will go up, and they'll be facing similar problems down the line.

Not once ever has it been cheaper, either to mail from UPS. It's always higher, and sometimes there are charges that don't show up until the final cost is tallied.


And I hear from many people FedEx fucks things up, and they don't want to deal with it, either.