# The USPS closes. What will be the result? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 5, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295 "2011-09-05T18:24:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/121 "2011-09-08T00:18:55Z")
> [@biddee](#): > > I know that in Antigua there is home postal delivery maybe once a month. Antigua? Don’t people take chickens on to buses there? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/122 "2011-09-08T00:49:03Z")
My post office is a big old building (built before WWII). High ceilings and mostly empty. It must cost fortune to heat this antique. Why not sell off these old buildings and move to smaller quarters? Many of these buildings must be worth a fortune-sell them and realize some cash! ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/123 "2011-09-08T00:52:54Z")
Has anyone else had the USPS close down Automated Postal Centers near them? I found them very convenient when the pose office was closed or the line was too long, but they closed the APCs in the two closest post offices to me. I wish they APCs in stores and stuff. If I was reading the stats right: less than half of postal employees are letter carriers, so just cutting routes and delivery days might not save as much money as you might think. I wouldn’t mind if they just had one delivery point for my street or even my subdivision. but I’d like to see how much money it would save. ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/124 "2011-09-08T00:57:24Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Antigua? Don’t people take chickens on to buses there? We’re talking about the Caribbean island, not Antigua, Guatemala :D. ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/125 "2011-09-08T00:59:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That might make sense in sparsely populated areas, but would be an absolute nightmare in cities. The whole premise of this thread is that it costs a fortune to deliver mail to rural areas isn’t it? Antigua is pretty sparsely populated which is why it works there. ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/126 "2011-09-08T01:01:26Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > If I was reading the stats right: less than half of postal employees are letter carriers, so just cutting routes and delivery days might not save as much money as you might think. Surely every little bit helps. If they cut routes and delivery days, centralised mail boxes for rural areas, and raised postage rates, I’m pretty sure the USPS would be a viable entity in a very short period of time. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/127 "2011-09-08T01:02:31Z")
> [@biddee](#): > > The whole premise of this thread is that it costs a fortune to deliver mail to rural areas isn’t it? No. That has been one sub-discussion as part of the larger discussion of what to do with the USPS in the US. ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/128 "2011-09-08T01:10:57Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > No. That has been one sub-discussion as part of the larger discussion of what to do with the USPS in the US. Sorry, tired, didn’t really read the entire thread and thought that wast the gist of it. Leaving now 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/129 "2011-09-08T01:56:59Z")
> [@biddee](#): > > Surely every little bit helps. If they cut routes and delivery days, centralised mail boxes for rural areas, and raised postage rates, I’m pretty sure the USPS would be a viable entity in a very short period of time. I think the correct answer is that every little bit saves a little bit. We are talking about a 10 billion dollar deficit here. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/postal-service-financial-rescue-plan-in-works-at-white-house/2011/09/06/gIQAHEqy7J\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/postal-service-financial-rescue-plan-in-works-at-white-house/2011/09/06/gIQAHEqy7J_story.html) It looks like a lot of the savings proposed is by closing offices rather than cutting carriers. You might want to look at the list and see if your post office is on the cut list. It looked to me like West Virginia would lose the most post offices on a per capita basis. It looked like about 140. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/130 "2011-09-18T14:52:59Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Only major urban centers will get any mail delivery at all for anything under, say, $20? At least we wouldn’t have to listen to urban people complain. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/131 "2011-09-18T23:26:26Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > It may not be urgent, but plenty of it is still important: Bills, prescription drugs, even some checks. Not to mention business and legal correspondence. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/132 "2011-09-23T15:03:52Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > By delivering items over the last, most expensive, mile. Perhaps the USPS should price that service differently than it does then. Or did some politician with ties to Fed Ex ram thru some goodies for them? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/133 "2011-09-23T18:06:43Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Perhaps the USPS should price that service differently than it does then. > > Or did some politician with ties to Fed Ex ram thru some goodies for them? The USPS wants to raise prices. But they aren’t allowed to set their own rates. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/134 "2011-09-23T18:58:32Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/135 "2011-09-24T13:56:48Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > The USPS wants to raise prices. But they aren’t allowed to set their own rates. So FedEX incurs their own costs to get the package to the local post office… and then pays the full postage that anybody would pay to have the USPS deliver it the last few miles?? Doesn’t sound like a subsidy to me. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/136 "2011-09-24T17:30:17Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > So FedEX incurs their own costs to get the package to the local post office… and then pays the full postage that anybody would pay to have the USPS deliver it the last few miles?? Considering that FedEx puts a label on the package that explicitly defines the final destination, I suspect they get discounts like everyone else that pre-processes mail before giving it to the USPS, as well as volume. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/137 "2011-09-25T11:46:04Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Considering that FedEx puts a label on the package that explicitly defines the final destination, I suspect they get discounts like everyone else that pre-processes mail before giving it to the USPS, as well as volume. I thought that those pre-sorted mailings subsidized the cost of mail for the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/138 "2011-09-25T12:15:43Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I thought that those pre-sorted mailings subsidized the cost of mail for the rest of us. Pre-sorted mailings reduce USPS’s costs, as they have less work to do, so they charge less. Whether the reduced work equals the amount of cost eliminated, I don’t know. I guess you could call that a subsidy in the same way as a 44 cent stamp on a cross-town letter subsidizes a 44 cent letter across the continent. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/139 "2011-09-25T12:33:39Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Without competition (ie, a market), there is no way to determine the market price. Right now, you pay whatever the USPS says you pay, or you don’t mail the letter. That’s bull. The U.S. Postal service is owned by the U.S. Government, which we elect. We thus have control over the costs by representational democracy. Furthermore, without a profit motive, the market price is the market price of the materials and labor that go into the service, combined with how much we the people are willing to go over that amount to create a surplus. We have control, so we can keep the market price from going higher than we think it should. And, finally, the fact that you are willing to decide for other people whether they can have mail service is completely and totally irrelevant. The idea that companies would take it on themselves to subsidize costs is laughably naive. The only incentive without government intervention is good PR, and even that only counts if said good PR will actually get them more business, which is unlikely since postal service is something people tend to need rather than want. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295/140 "2011-09-27T00:31:05Z")
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