Wonder why stuff costs so much? Thank USPS

[AMC RULES 37,132]

  Did it have anyones name emblazened across it?

[1995 520H+96+97 937]

22 minutes ago, AMC RULES said:

  Did it have anyones name emblazened across it?

 

No. Thank everyone that voted that is in the past.

Economic Impact Payment

 

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

Wonder why USPS cost so much? Thank the 109th Congress. 

 

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) was enacted by the 109th Congress and signed into law on December 20, 2006. Among other provisions, the USPS was required to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of post-retirement health care costs -75 years in the future! This burden does not exist for any other federal agency or private corporation. If this one provision was removed the USPS would have had an operating profit for the last eight years! 

 

Can you imagine if every small business or company was required to have a fund for 75 years of benefits to the future before it could start operating?

 

 

Edited March 27, 2021 by shallowwatersailor

[Handy Don 12,244]

21 hours ago, rmaynard said:

When you are up to your a$$ in alligators, it's difficult to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp

A favorite saying of mine, too! Thanks.

[wh500special 2,188]

Up until recently, I was always a big advocate of the post office.  For the price of a stamp, they’d get my mail anywhere in the country in just a couple days.  And I can’t hardly think of any of my letters ever being lost and all of my bills seemed to arrive reliably month after month. 
 

It seems like the wheels fell off last year, particularly with package delivery.  I’d imagine the huge shipping demands prompted by all the at-home shopping meant they were overwhelmed and couldn’t adapt.  
 

I don’t know anything about parcel shipping, but it sort of appears the USPS doesn’t either in comparison to UPS, FedEx, and Amazon.   Plus the arrangements some of these shippers have with the PO to do the “last mile” for a discounted rate has got to be taking a toll. 
 

it seems to me that maybe the PO should give up on anything but letters.  Let the for-profits do it since they are clearly better at it.  Sure it costs more with these service for the person paying the shipping, but obviously the PO isn’t charging enough.
 

the other thing that would help is to start charging a LOT more for the bulk rate and junk mail.  With more online bill paying and financial matters happening without paper, junk mail has got to be making up a large percentage of what the PO physically has to handle.  Make it worthwhile.  
 

I don’t want any of that junk anyway and I’d rather see these companies that are wasting resources think twice before sending me endless solicitations to get new windows or show up at the latest mega-sale at the local used car lot.  It’s such an environmental waste.  
 

Being saddled with pension costs and future benefits is a problem that’s faced by other industries too and I have no idea what to do about that.  It seems likely that at some unknown, distant date all the living pensioners are going to get a surprise kick in the teeth when things go insolvent. 
 

the most likely thing that is going to happen is that in some way we’ll find a way to shovel more money on the fire rather than make any substantive changes.  This isn’t unique to the post office or the government.  We all do it thinking if only we get over this last hump, everything will fall into place.  
 

I sent some things out earlier this year that I’d sold in the classifieds here.  Some went USPS, some went UPS.  Without exception, every UPS package arrived in two days.  Every Priority Mail package took three weeks.  Two packages went to towns in NY just a few miles from each other with one arriving in a reasonable time and the other sitting in a sorting facility somewhere.  
 

anyway, I don’t use the PO for packages anymore.  
 

steve

[EricF 589]

I recall hearing at one time that the Post Office's "Customers" aren't you and me with a mailbox that we use to send and receive mail, rent a PO box, or go to the post office to send a package or two. Nope, Postal "Customers" are the companies that send out bulk mail. The junk mailers, in other words. The Post office will short-change us (the taxpayers!) just to keep the junk mail "Customers" satisfied with on-time service and low rates.