The Post Office is Going to Die

[theoldwolf]

This is not a threat - Federal Agents take note - but merely a prediction. As long as they continue raising rates and cutting services, there is no way this government entity can continue to exist.

When we moved into our new neighborhood, I noticed with disgust that we were the victims of the "central point delivery" scam, where our mailbox is clustered with about 80 others at the entrance to our subdivision. No more door-to-door delivery or pickup.

Today I went to the post office to mail a package. Signs said "Last collection time 2:00." Great - except there's no collection bin large enough to accept a medium-size flat-rate box. So I waited at the mailboxes outside until 2:20, hoping to catch the carrier as (s)he came for the collection. And nobody came.

The USPS may be an independent, self-sustaining agency, but they are still receiving subsidies from the Treasury to cover their deficits - and that means my tax dollars. And every year that goes by, I get a stronger and stronger feeling that I'm getting ripped off.


Bah.

Comments

[thefoxaroo.livejournal.com]

I'm quite disgusted to hear that this is all the US Postal Service provides to a community, in what is supposed to be a vital service.

Yes Old Wolf, you are being ripped off. Every time you have to walk down to that so-called central point delivery site, while the politicians are dining on fine food and drink in one of their assemblies.

[dhlawrence.livejournal.com]

Call the nearest branch and rattle some cages. If they're going to cut off your service they need to actually say so and not hope you won't notice.

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

Government Agencies never die.

I understand that the Spanish Office of the Inquisition still exists, giving employment to bureaucrats.

If the Post Office discontinues all its services, I'm sure that it will continue to exist as a bureaucracy to oversee postal operations conducted by private enterprise. Sort of like the ATF, but with jurisdiction over FedEx and UPS.

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

I have been highly disappointed in the postal service since they pretty much reduced their local operating hours to near impossible to get there before they close. They hired someone to deliver our mail who has an inability to close a mailbox. The post mistress has the personality of a wet blanket and the public skills to boot. *and to think I applied to work for them...I am thanking the Goddess that I didn't get hired by them.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

But if they did hire you, you'd do a better job, right?

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

But if they did hire you, you'd do a better job, right?

Of course, but given that my application expired with them about a year ago that is not going to happen. I am not taking the postal exam again.


My dad was going to get an interview with them once, except that who ever(in the postal service) stuffed the envelope forgot to put an application in it. *nods*

[ccdesan.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, yes. I actually considered it once. I'm glad I never pursued it.

[alaskawolf.livejournal.com]

http://www.newsminer.com/view/full_story/10188642/article-North-Pole-postal-worker-questioned-over-missing-mail?instance=local_news

>(

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

I would have to say not all postal workers are bad, though. It's just gone down hill in the last 5 or 6 years. Ours especially since our old post master retired and our old delivery person retired. If the new ones had done as good as job right away as our old ones we wouldn't have had any complaints, but they didn't, they did a half assed job.

[secoh.livejournal.com]

Yes but isn't an efficient government service at low cost another form of socialism? (tee hee :D)

Me <3 Australia Post. It's not perfect and the parcel delivery contractors are often thieves, but on the whole we have it good I recon. I can send a 5kg parcel anywhere in Oz for $10 and a 20kg parcel for $28. And I've never had one go missing though it does happen.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

No, it must be pure communism -- because it can never come true. :P

[secoh.livejournal.com]

Haha! :-P

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

It doesn't feel that long ago that the USPS was making $6 billion a year. But you're right: barring a dramatic change, they'll have to leave snail mail to the likes of FedEx.

[marmoe.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about the situation in the US, but over here private companies are picking the lucrative areas of mail delivery and leave the deficit producing, unattractive outlying areas to the service by the federal mail carrier, which is mandated to cover everybody.

Back when the federal carrier had a monopoly they had a common rate fro all areas and would subsidise the outlying communities with the earnings from the densely populated areas, where they in effect overcharged. Now that private companies are picking out the raisins, of course the federal carrier accrues deficits and needs to reduce its service. No wonder there.

So, how many private mail couriers cover your area? Nada?

[ccdesan.livejournal.com]

Ja, bupkis, for all intents and purposes.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

I'm with Marmoe. The Royal Mail has a hard job now since so many of it's "sweeteners" have gone... you can't get a TV licence or pay many bills via the GPO now, you use PayPoint or similar... and bulk mailings go with TNT and Business Post and the like....
Of course there is the other side, just think, it's Christmas, they take on casuals for a short while... and if someone took on a casual job (with a false identity?) with the aim of skimming off the good stuff it would be a Heaven sent opportunity to get in place now. And of course when the crap hits the fan they are no longer there or traceable.
*poof!*

[kusanagi-sama.livejournal.com]

The neighborhood we used to live in when we lived in Mesa, Arizona had the mailboxes located on the main street in between each street, this was of course, 1986, so I don't think its anything new. Of course, we would have to drive out to where the post office is to drop off packages.

Now, where I live now, Wichita Falls, TX, they want to close the main postal processing facility and merge it with the one in Fort Worth, TX. Of course, this is only to make the Ft Worth processing facility look good, since they lost quite a bit of business when the one in Wichita Falls opened about 10 years ago, and have been slowly taking business from it and giving it to the one in Ft Worth since then.

We have a situation where if you want to mail a letter to someone in my town, it gets sent to the processing facility in my town, then to the one in Ft Worth then back to my town for distribution.

We have a grand total of three regular Post Offices in this town of 104,000, and they had been toying with the idea of closing the one downtown. When that caused too much of an uproar, I guess they went with the idea of closing the mail processing facility. I think the Post Office seems to not like this town.

Also, what sense does it make to have all the lights on in a post office when nobody is there at night? Only the lobby lights need to be on.

[carlfoxmarten]

I wish USPS could be as good as Canada Post is.
(you can even track parcels through C.P., and maybe registered letters. Plus it costs less than UPS and the like)

Only drawback is it still takes some time to get there.
(though we have often been surprised at how fast it has taken to get places)