http://news.yahoo.com/postal-plan-save-20-billion-white-house-170626630.html They think they are going to save 20 billion dollars over the next few years by getting rid of saturday mail. This just means more work on mondays to sort and get ready the mail. Maybe if that doesnt work, they will get rid of friday mail and that will save 40 billion! Then thursday mail and that will be 60 billion! Heck...just not deliver the mail at all and its all profit!!! The only way to make the post office profitable is double the price of stamps. The post office sells about 30 billion stamps per year. Double the price and thats an extra 13 billion per year.
How about privatising the USPS? That's would save a lotta money plus bring a one off capital gain (well, hopefully).
They just need to raise prices. In 1847 when the first 5 cent stamp was introduced, that 5 cent stamp would mail a letter weighing less than 1 oz to any destination within 300 miles (it was 10 cents if over 300 miles) Now since silver was money back then and 1 dollar = .77 oz of silver, that means in todays money at todays silver price, it cost $1.54 to mail a letter up to 300 miles away and $3.08 to mail it over 300 miles away. Today we can mail a letter for 44 cents anywhere in the country. Heck, I've sent books/dvds across the country that weighed 12 ounces for about $2.40 which is cheaper today than it was back then. The USPS made 67 billion in 2010 and lost about 8 billion. In 2005 it made 47 billion and had a profit of 1.8 billion. So obviously something happened and a raise in prices is the only solution. 20% flat rate rise in prices should cover it. Or just get rid of media mail. Thats probably where they are losing all their money.
Obama: âWe canât just cut our way out of this hole." Why doesn't this apply to the PO? I still fail to see the cost savings on cutting Sat delivery. The PO runs 24/7 365. They are still going to have to deliver express mail on Sat or the priority mail, otherwise it won't be very priority now will it? If you have 6, 8 hours work days, what are going to do, deliver 16 hours worth of mail on Monday? Granted you eliminate one vehicle run or walk route, you think a walking mail carrier can carry 2 days worth of mail? Obama wants to create jobs but first let's cut a few at the PO.
My dad always said that first class mail made up for losses on all the other classes and that junk mail was a loss leader. Why not just increase junk mail rates?. Oh wait, what am I thinking? We can't do that. That would be reducing corporate welfare. That would be "anti-American." Still, it would be nice not to find you mailbox stuffed with trash everyday.
How about everyone face the facts that the world has gone electronic and the USPS is a defunct business model. Keep it around for essential kinds of things and everything else is electronic. The only people I know who get credit card bills, and such, through snail mail are generally over 70 years of age. No need to get your utility bills through snail mail. Get rid of the junk mail. It all goes into the circular file anyway. The business model has to be scrapped and reworked from the ground up. Otherwise, they are going to continue to lose money hand over fist. Or, like someone else said, raise the price of a stamp to such a lofty level to make people think twice about using USPS. It's all electronic now. No need for paper arriving in my box other than maybe 1x per week.
i agree with you but... i still opt in for paper delivery of everything for one very simple reason-go ahead and try to get your ONLINE bank or utility or any statement from anyone for like 2008 and beyond. good luck with that. even for 2-3 years back..nope..no such thing..when IRS or whatever gvt agency come to your house you better have whatever they ask on paper man..cause in this country you are guilty,until proven innocent..
Cut mail all together. It's just useless credit card offers, political junk mail, and birthday cards, all of which I can live without. If a person wants that slop, he or she should go to the city PO and get it themselves. The kids in my neighborhood will just have to find somewhere else for their fire crackers.
True. It can't be an across the board cut. There would have to be essential things like correspondance from/to the IRS. Things like utility bills need not come in the mail. There are websites where you can pay your utilities at no extra charge. Personally, I pay them through my bank the way I pay all my bills. I don't write checks for much. Things like field trip money for my kids has to be in a form of a check so there are exceptions but roughly 98% of my bills get paid either through auto-debit or directly from my bank, electronically. I don't need an electric or cell phone bill. Send me the bill in an email. Agree with the credit card statement short comings. I don't save anything that's over 2 years so that's not much of an issue for me but CC's typically offer only 6-12 mos of statements, which isn't much.