why the post office is losing money

[Terasec]

as a freight forwarder i ship alot via various carriers
large and small
on occassion will check postal rates for comparison
have a large envelope to ship
this is what rates i get
fedex and UPS comes insured for $100
postal mail if i want insurance, proof of delivery, signature, etc.. all extra


Fedex:
Ship date: 02/26/2013
Estimated shipping charges: 9.25

UPS
Total Charged:
9.29 USD


Postal service
Products Expected Delivery Post Office Price Online Price
Express Mail®
Wed, Feb 27 by 12 PM $16.05 $15.13

[croat]

I'm lost ... what are you rambling about?

I just shipped a letter package with the USPS from Milwaukee to Bradenton, FL. The letter to ship from USPS for 2 day air with a tracking number cost me $5.60 (a few cents more than doing it online). Same letter package to ship via UPS - just checked on their site - for 2 day and a tracking number would of cost me $27.40!

So are you saying the USPS is loosing money because they are not financially raping the consumer for shipments?

[Terasec]

Originally Posted by croat

I'm lost ... what are you rambling about?

I just shipped a letter package with the USPS from Milwaukee to Bradenton, FL. The letter to ship from USPS for 2 day air with a tracking number cost me $5.60 (a few cents more than doing it online). Same letter package to ship via UPS - just checked on their site - for 2 day and a tracking number would of cost me $27.40!

So are you saying the USPS is loosing money because they are not financially raping the consumer for shipments?

UPS and fedex focus's on business customers
you may pay $27 as an individual,
but with business discount my rate is $9.25,
also get credit account with UPS/fedex
shipping +$1000/weeks worth thats thousands a month i dont have to pay immediately
i ship $1000/week as a small business customer,

i would love to give USPS a cut of that, but they are not business friendly,
and USPS delivery status, only says delivered, i cannot use that as Proof of deliveries, i need names/signatures which costs extra

UPS and fedex also remiburses all charges for late deliveries
so if delivery is scheduled for 2 days by thursday, and gets delivered friday,
all charges get reimbursed, good luck trying that with USPS
and those reimbursements do add up

[croat]

I don't need you to justify why UPS/Fedex pillages the wallet of the average consumer. May make sense for your particular needs, but not for others.

Yes the USPS made a smart decision to segment all of their services in order to keep costs low for the consumer. Sending a package with no declared value, no need to track it, nor a signature .... why should someone pay a bloated fee to get all of those useless services. It makes more sense for someone to pay for what they need.

[ColoradoMan]

The union is the thing that is ruining USPS. If they didn't have a union they could layoff employees so much easier. Friends that work for USPS says half the people don't do anything but can't get laid off because of the union. Also without the union they could cut wages to where they should be for a job like that. Perhaps around minimum wage. They could also cut all the pension funds that are probably far exceeding what they were ment for. Of course this is all how the government works.

[MrJeepR44]

I've noticed that UPS and FedEx don't send trucks to every single house in America every single day to deliver 10¢ of junk mail, and they seem to be doing fine. Seriously though, the chore I hate the most is sifting through my mail box to find the important papers that come maybe once a week, and throw the rest away (Wears out my shredder, have to take out the trash more). I feel like taking all the junk mail they deliver and dumping it in the nearest blue drop box

Some would argue junk mail is what's keeping USPS alive, but I would argue it's a waste of resources. Stop junk mail and they can probably get rid of half of the employees too. Yeah it sucks, but dying companies have to take drastic measures if they want to profit.... let alone survive.

At the very least they should have an opt-list for solicitations, similar to a do not call list

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AutoGuide App

[croat]

The union has nothing to do with profitability of the USPS, this has been discussed time after time. Also I thought after all of these threads you folks would finally understand that the post office is self run and regulating, not a standard government branch but rather an independent agency (and one that is not funded by taxpayers). You want to talk about why they are having issues - talk to congress whom keeps raiding their pension funds and will not allow them to make the changes they want.

Also - should every person working be reduced to a 3rd world lifestyle making wages to ensure a miserable life with little to no healthcare or pension?

Would you like al

[ColoradoMan]

Originally Posted by croat

Also - should every person working be reduced to a 3rd world lifestyle making wages to ensure a miserable life with little to no healthcare or pension?

I am sure my 16 year old brothers would love those reduced wages. There are plenty of people who would do their jobs for far less.

[Col Pudgebutt]

I'm in complete agreement with "Terasec". we order things for our business all the time and for the most part, they're shipped USPS Express. to us, that means that FedEx picks up the package and in many cases, it arrives in our city in 1-2 days. then usually within the same day of arrival, FedEx delivers it to the local USPS Station.

there it sits......for 3-4 DAYS before someone actually puts it on a carriers truck to come to the house. THAT is what is rediculous about USPS "Express Mail".

my wife ordered a new HP Laptop last year. it was shipped directly from CHINA and arrived in 2 days......cost of shipping? we were charged only $25.00.

I have friends that work for the USPS and I know, for the most part, they're a hard working group of people. BUT the management and their stupid polices are KILLING them.

[Arthur]

Croat are you saying USPS has tracking? Because the entire time I have tried to track a package with USPS all it offers is when it's first scanned and once it's delivered to a sorting facility, that's it, nothing else. With UPS I can findout where my package is, anytime with ease. A shipper once got my zip code off by one number, USPS couldn't even tell me which sorting facility it was at. All they could do was deduce that it was at one of 3 facilities, it was on me to travel to each one to find my package because NONE of those locations even bothered to pick up their phone. Once I was there it was the usual bitter postal customer experience, no hello, no goodbye, no smiles or have a nice day, just rude. Complete opposite in customer experience at a UPS store. If there is a problem I can reach them anytime, 24/7.

[croat]

No idea - I have zero issues with their on time, updated, and detailed tracking.
Heres from my letter package:

Priority Mail® Expected Delivery By: February 21, 2013
USPS Tracking / Delivery Confirmation™

Delivered
February 21, 2013, 11:58 am
BRADENTON, FL 34208

Out for Delivery
February 21, 2013, 9:05 am
BRADENTON, FL 34205

Sorting Complete
February 21, 2013, 8:55 am
BRADENTON, FL 34205

Arrival at Post Office
February 21, 2013, 7:31 am
BRADENTON, FL 34205

Depart USPS Sort Facility
February 21, 2013
TAMPA, FL 33605

Processed through USPS Sort Facility
February 21, 2013, 2:27 am
TAMPA, FL 33605

Depart USPS Sort Facility
February 19, 2013
OAK CREEK, WI 53154

Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility
February 19, 2013, 7:14 pm
OAK CREEK, WI 53154

Dispatched to Sort Facility
February 19, 2013, 2:59 pm
MILWAUKEE, WI 53216

Acceptance
February 19, 2013, 11:41 am
MILWAUKEE, WI 53216

[croat]

Originally Posted by ColoradoMan

I am sure my 16 year old brothers would love those reduced wages. There are plenty of people who would do their jobs for far less.

So the solution to solving America's employment issues and unemployment issues is to ensure there are no decent paying jobs with decent benefits and having all of those folks going down to the wages of a high schooler?

[Arthur]

Wow, I stand corrected, that is a big surprise to me. I wonder what the deal is in Oregon...

[croat]

Don't let one bad experience at one PO taint the name and rep of them all The local rural PO here is nice, friendly, and goes out of the way to do whatever they can. Fed-Ex service out by my work is terrible - UPS is decent. With tracking tho, I have never had issues with it - always been on time and detailed.

[todde702]

This: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-bl...b_1927634.html

The Pensions pre-funding is killing them.

Not to mention the price of a stamp is still regulated. I seriously doubt 46 cents really covers all of the expenses involved in mailing a letter.