USPS Going broke by October 2011

[livnxxxl]

My gf just told me that she heard this on the news tonight. Anyone else hear this?

My first thought when I heard this was are you freaking kidding me? All of the price increases and they are still "supposedly" going broke? How is this even possible?

I just shipped a box this week via priority mail containing two Mego's for $10.50

[Batman]

That would suck I have alot of friends that work at USPS..

[CrimsonGhost]

I guess email is hurting business quite a bit.

[SUP-Ronin]

I don't buy the email excuse. That story has been floating around since 1995 or something.
How many emails do you send that would have been letters in the mail, if email didn't exist? Me? Almost none. With all the stuff people buy online, and have shipped it should more than make up for it.

[BlackKnight]

I don't believe Anything.
I alone Have Probably spent over 300 bucks in Shipping last Month.

[livnxxxl]

I don't believe Anything.
I alone Have Probably spent over 300 bucks in Shipping last Month.

I hear you man! I know I have spent quite a bit on shipping in the past myself. I am not buying it either.

[Hector]

People don't realize what a monumental task is to deliver BILLIONS of pieces of mail to MILLIONS of homes everyday...rain, snow, or shine...the USPS operates 24/7...it never closes...EVER...it has day shifts, swing shifts, and graveyards...and it's not only letter carriers and mailhandlers...but mechanics, computer technicians, clerks, accountants, engineers, custodians, forklift operators, postal police, postal inspectors, supervisors, etc,...and it's full of both mechanical and computerized items that have to be maintained at all times...it's really a never ending process. Yes...they get paid pretty good...especially management...but cutting salaries is not going to help...it goes beyond that...so yes...the internet has a LOT to do with it...the USPS has depended more by First Class letters more than bulk packages...most people are paying their bills online as opposed to mailing physical letters.

But this is really not news per say...the USPS has been in the red for years...the Postal Service has NEVER been a money-maker...NEVER....not even in the Pony Express days.

I myself pay all my bills online...I hardly mail letters anymore...I do ship boxes...but large packages have never been the USPS bread and butter...First Class has...the art of mailing letters is dying...and sad to report...so is the Postal Service.

But email alone is not the problem...it's a combination of many things.

[Hector]

I don't buy the email excuse. That story has been floating around since 1995 or something.
How many emails do you send that would have been letters in the mail, if email didn't exist? Me? Almost none. With all the stuff people buy online, and have shipped it should more than make up for it.

The USPS was already in the red even before email.

[cjefferys]

That would suck I have alot of friends that work at UPS..

UPS is doing fine (I used to work in their Customs brokerage department), I think this is referring to the United States Postal Service (USPS), not the United Parcel Service (UPS).

[Hector]

"Letter carriers delivered 170.6 billion pieces of mail in fiscal 2010, a drop of 6 billion pieces from the previous year, with a significant drop in first-class mail deliveries, officials said. Financial losses also came from about $5.4 billion in obligations to pre-fund future retiree health benefits and about $2.5 billion paid to the federal government's workers' compensation insurance fund"

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fed...85_billio.html

Yes...email has obviously had great effect on the USPS (First Class, their bread and butter)...but again...other things factor into the problem as well.

[Batman]

UPS is doing fine (I used to work in their Customs brokerage department), I think this is referring to the United States Postal Service (USPS), not the United Parcel Service (UPS).

Thanks it was a Typo...

[megoat]

Also, their prices are actually too cheap.

Somebody call UPS or Fedex and ask them if they will deliver ANYTHING for 44 cents.

[Hector]

Also, their prices are actually too cheap.

Somebody call UPS or Fedex and ask them if they will deliver ANYTHING for 44 cents.

Exactly...lol.

[cjefferys]

In my experience, USPS is way cheaper for small items, UPS or Fedex is cheaper for larger, heavy parcels. USPS is more dependable though, I swear that monkeys work at UPS and Fedex, I have to deal with their employees daily at my job and god they hire a lot of idiots.

[Blue Meanie]

Problem that the USPS is having is that about 5 or 6 years ago they went on a hiring spree not thinking that they'd have to pay the new hires as much as they were hiring them at, about $15 an hour for a carrier, and pay the people that were retiring all the benefits they were guaranteed. I don't know about where others may be in the country...but I haven't had 1 steady mailman doing my route EVERY DAY for about the last 10 + years. They basically have 3 different carriers doing my one route every week...sometimes as many as 5 different carriers. They basically screwed themselves by over hiring at a very high rate of pay. They sure as hell ain't losing money because I won't send anyone a letter for 44 cents anymore. With amount of business that ecommerce is doing these days...they're blowing smoke up the public's *****. BTW, USPS is not completely owned by the Fed....just in case anyone wants to say that it may be because the government is having a hard time too. Again, this is just my opinion.