Postal Service wants to raise rates, end Saturday delivery

[Thor]

I think you're talking about the constitutional amendment allocating all vehicle excise taxes to "Transportation"???  The amendment reads a MAX of 60% to roads and MIN of 40% to mass transit... That means 100% can go to mass transit... when the people buying vehicles pay for it.

Yeah, that's the one. Can you say, "hosed??

[bkg]

Yeah, that's the one. Can you say, "hosed??

Massively... hypocricy at it's best. Even the GOP stood up and said "it's better than nothing.." 

[AllosaursRus]

Massively... hypocricy at it's best. Even the GOP stood up and said "it's better than nothing.."  

There's some real logic outa the Repubs, huh?

Here's a clue you idiot politicians, if it can't support itself, you don't ****in' need it!

[bkg]

There's some real logic outa the Repubs, huh?

Here's a clue you idiot politicians, if it can't support itself, you don't ****in' need it!

I say that all the time... and get yelled at for it..   

[AllosaursRus]

I say that all the time... and get yelled at for it..   

Uh.........more info than I needed to know! heh, heh!

[Wineslob]

Thats a helluva business plan. Our sales drop, we must maintain the work force, so we jack our end product prices up.

Ya, that's gonna work.

[bkg]

Thats a helluva business plan. Our sales drop, we must maintain the work force, so we jack our end product prices up.

Ya, that's gonna work.

It's the government way...

[Chris_]

Panel rejects Postal Service request for postage rate increase

The Postal Regulatory Commission says the Postal Service failed to justify its bid for a 5.6% increase, which tops the inflation rate, and blames the agency's business model for its fiscal woes.

The commission's decision was unanimous among its five members, Goldway said. She said the commission acknowledged the decline in mail volume during the recession, but said she believed the rate increase was an attempt by the Postal Service to deal with the agency's long-term structural problems.

Ouch.

LA Times

[AllosaursRus]

In my opinion, any gubmint agency that collects money from the public should operate on the same principles as any private org!!!

Unfortunately, for the past 80 or so years, since the lefts hero, Roosevelt, that is not the case and they're allowed to cost the taxpayer money!

[DumbAss Tanker]

Thats a helluva business plan. Our sales drop, we must maintain the work force, so we jack our end product prices up.

Ya, that's gonna work.

The ohter side of that is that they exist to offer a service, but aren't allowed to charge what it costs to actually deliver it because Congress, rather than the organization providing the service, controls the pricing.  Anything remotely like a business plan would have to start with free market pricing.

Replacing the USPS with UPS or FedEx strikes me as a ridiculous idea, workable only in the densely-populated areas where the allegedly-Conservative talking heads on TV who support it live in blissful ignorance of anything west of Philadelphia.  Those companies deliver a great service but it's not cheap and it basically cherrypicks a part of the USPS customer base so that they aren't really doing the same thing at all for the most part, i.e. what makes up all of their business makes up only a minority of the business USPS has to do.  They are basically couriers (High volume, highly-automated ones, but still just couriers), not mail services.

Privatizing the postal service on the other hand could work, but not unless the enterprise taking it over had price freedom on the postage.  I don't believe that would make it actually go down, just the opposite, though if it just stayed the same the overhead in USPS would have to be cut drastically by the new operator. 

[AllosaursRus]

"Toots" worked a coupla years as a replacement/part time courier. I had to listen to her every night complain of the absolute waste and laziness of the other postal workers. She has stories that would just make ya go "Huh, what, ya gots to be kiddin' me"!!!

Everything from drinkin', and smokin' herb on the job to employees not delivering mail because the walk uphill was to taxing! 30 some holidays and "personal time, not including 2 weeks vacation after your first year. The list went on and on! She however was hired outa some temp agency and actually had to work for a living!

You know, just like a union!

[Thor]

In my area, since it's considered a "rural route", the postal carrier won't get out of their vehicle to walk up the steps to deliver a package or anything requiring a signature. On a good day, he'll leave the package alongside the mailbox (if it won't fit inside). Otherwise, I have to travel into town and retrieve the package/ letter from the post office. I don't have this problem with FedEx or UPS.

[AllosaursRus]

In my area, since it's considered a "rural route", the postal carrier won't get out of their vehicle to walk up the steps to deliver a package or anything requiring a signature. On a good day, he'll leave the package alongside the mailbox (if it won't fit inside). Otherwise, I have to travel into town and retrieve the package/ letter from the post office. I don't have this problem with FedEx or UPS.

I finally gave up and got a PO Box as every winter the snow plows were wastin' my mail box. I usually check it about once a week. Beats the hell outa them puttin' my packages out along side the mailbox on the highway!

[Thor]

I finally gave up and got a PO Box as every winter the snow plows were wastin' my mail box. I usually check it about once a week. Beats the hell outa them puttin' my packages out along side the mailbox on the highway!

We don't HAVE that problem here in Texas.......    I DID have to deal with that when I lived up in MN.

[cavegal]

We are a rural route also. Just 3 times a week. We can call ahead for stamps and can mail out some boxes.