What is the appropriate fix for the US Postal Service?

Great Debates
1

Maybe this has been debated but my search didn’t seem to turn up anything.

The services of the USPS are being cannibalized by the internet. Why have catalogs when you can find merchandise online? The magazine business is tanking. Businesses, particularly financial businesses want you to access information in a paperless format. Paper prospectuses and statements are just a waste. These were huge elements of the USPS revenue stream.

I guess you can say that the USPS serves the basic purpose of efficiently moving printed paper. That is becoming less and less relevant.

Yet, there is a place for printed paper. Printed paper is very important for people that need documents like checks and signed, original documents in order to function. Many people don’t have computers and printers and don’t do online banking. Tell your 90 year old grandfather to set up online banking and pay his bills on the computer that he doesn’t have. If you don’t do it Gramps, you ain’t gonna get your Social Security.

The limitations that Congress has set on the USPS are onerous while they demand that the USPS operate like a private business.

It’s not working and the pressure on the USPS grows by the day.

I don’t love the USPS but, on par, they do a pretty good job as long as I don’t have to go to the station and stand in line watching a bunch of unmotivated clerks not give a shit about anybody else’s time.

I still see the absolute need for a government postal system. But, how can they reinvent themselves?

One thought that came to mind was getting rid of a lot of mailbox deliveries. Set up local stations where people drive to them, use something like a Speedpass that would drop their mail into a bin for collection. Lower tech, gang the mailboxes for a lot fewer locations. Basically, collect you mail instead of having it delivered right to your house.

The price of 1st class is so far below market value that it is ridiculous. It could probably be doubled with little fall-off. People send stuff in Priority Mail for $4.95 that would get there at the same time as 1st class for a fraction of the amount.

Anyway, what are your recommendations for saving a system that I would hate to do without?

2

Two simple things (that have to be done together)

  • Remove all restrictions on USPS and all government subsidies.
  • Repeal Private Express Statutes and the mailbox access restrictions.
3

I’m not convinced that the USPS should run at a profit. There are too many mandates that in my mind, would seriously hamstring it relative to a private company doing the same thing.

For example, the USPS services every pissant town out in BFE with their own post office. I’m talking towns of 200 or less. A private company would just open an office in the big town 30 miles from several of these tiny towns and make the residents come to them, instead of spending the gas and paying the people to deliver the mail, much less having the extra complication of having so many tiny addresses.

Raising rates is a political action; the USPS can’t just raise rates as it so desires, as a public company can.

I think they could save a lot of money by going to a 4 day a week (every other day, more or less) delivery schedule. Very little of the mail I’ve ever gotten was so critical that a day made a difference, and that’s even less of an issue now in the internet age.

They could probably also save/make money by varying rates depending on the difficulty of delivery; sending a letter from Dallas to Ft. Worth would be cheap; sending a letter from Guthrie, TX to Opheim, North Dakota would cost you.

Finally, I think they could set up an automated mail system of some kind, instead of paying people to literally walk from house to house and manually deliver mail.

4

As I understand it, the USPS receives very little in the way of government subsidy; virtually all of their operating budget comes from selling postage and related goods. From the Wikipedia article (if someone has proof that this is incorrect, I’d appreciate the additional information):

“The USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters.”

I agree that they should be able to increase the cost of postage more than the couple-of-cents-every-couple-of-years that they’re currently being allowed to do. The fact is that sending a letter is insanely cheap for what you get, and would still be insanely cheap at twice the price.

5

I see a hole in their budget of $14B or so. Two things can happen, unless measures I suggested are taken. Either USPS closes down (impossible, since the Constitution requires it to operate) or the US Treasury gives it the $14B.

If what I suggested happens, USPS can stop overpaying the pension funds, increase the postage rates, and do whatever else it takes to get back in the black.

6

double or triple the cost of postage. It’s way too cheap. Congress, do you hear me? I WANT MORE EXPENSIVE MAIL.

7

Congress ordered the USPS to overpay pension funds during the Bush administration. It was an attempt to kill the post office that would not begin to take shape until later. Like now. Congress can change this. Don’t expect them to do so in this polarizing, political climate.

http://www.postmasters.org%2Flegislation%2Fpapers%2FTalking%2520Points%2520Pension%2520retiree%2520benefits0311Final.pdf
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (2006; 109th Congress H.R. 6407) - GovTrack.us

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.6407:

The legislation was proposed on 07 December 2007. There was no committee research. It was passed by the House after only 40 minutes of “debate” at 10:33pm and transmitted to the Senate, where was received, then passed by the Senate in the wee hours of 09 December 2006.

It passed the House by voice vote. There is no record of who actually voted for the bill. It passed the Senate by unanimous consent. There is no record of who actually voted for the bill. Considering the manner and timing of the passage, it is conceivable the bill was passed with only a bare minimum quorum present. Perhaps half a dozen people actually voted and passed this legislation.

In other words, a Republican bill with only three cosponsors is introduced, “debated” and passed in less than 24 hours, now brings the Postal Service to the brink of complete collapse. In my view this was deliberate to kill the US Postal Service, without any true understanding of the consequences of such action.

8

Let’s just assume that what you are saying is true.

What is the upside of killing the USPS? How does that make the USA a better place? This is what I can’t get my brain around. We all have our gripes with the USPS but it seems to me that it is necessary and has a degree of constitutional protection.

What philosophical or practical reason is there for killing the USPS? If UPS or Fedex had to handle all 1st class mail, catalogs and magazines under constrictions that are anything like what the USPS has to deal with they would come to their knees in short order.

I can’t see where there is a viable alternative to the USPS despite all of their faults.

Maybe Ron Paul and his ilk should add a sixth to his list of departments to kill. Cummon, Ron, tell us that you are going to kill the USPS and see how you poll after that. It’s like saying you are going to turn all interstate highways into toll roads. That would go over like a concrete cloud.

9

Do not think logically. Think politically. More accurately, think political ideology. And UPS and FedEx now carry the mail under contract from USPS.

10

Let’s not forget that a financially moribund USPS also means a weakened APWU and NALC, and we all know that unions are on the conservatives’ hit list. If USPS’s unionized mail carriers, mail sorters, mechanics and the like are replaced by lower paid employees of profit-making companies, there is more money available for distribution to the managers and/or shareholders of those companies.

11

  1. We’re in the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Don’t cut USPS spending now; don’t restructure now, and don’t raise rates unduly. Have congress cut them a big check: borrowing costs are at a record low – heck 5 year inflation adjusted rates are negative.

  2. Do restructure later. I for one oppose plans to end next-day delivery of local first class mail. That means raising prices. I’m good with 60 cent stamps, if that’s what it takes. IMHO. YMMV.

  3. I understand that the bulk mail industry has pull when setting rates. That’s unfortunate: if anything junk commercial mail should be penalized.

  4. Set up a plan whereby email can be routed through the USPS, thereby falling under mail fraud statues. Contract out a high tech company to do it – google would be best. Have a slow rollout: make sure everybody signs off on it including the EFF, ACLU, NSF, GAO, mozilla, NLG, PTA, FTC, FCC etc. No it won’t be a panacea. But jeez, email technology has hardly advanced in 20 years: it’s time to take the next step. ETA: I’m imagining a micropayment per email delivered, with a cut going to the government, the tech firm and the recipient of the email.

  5. Someone has to deliver the crap we buy at Amazon, and in many cases it makes sense for the post office to play a role.

12
  1. Massive advertising campaign. The USPS is damn good at what they do, but way too many people think they suck. Create UPSandFedExsuck.com and encourage people to post their horror stories about the competition. Come on kids, upload your pics of wet, mangled packages with footprints all over them! Similarly, publicize the heck out of the “fact” that real paper holiday cards and letters mean that you actually care. Your grandparents will love you more than your brother with his ludicrous e-greeting cards.
  2. Raise rates for 1st class mail. A little bottle of tap water costs more than sending a letter across the entire country. $1 would not be unreasonable. 3. Raise rates for junk mail. The bulk mailers don’t really have much power, because if not USPS, who the fuck else are they going to use to send their garbage to my house?
  3. Much as I hate to think it, maybe drop residential delivery to 3 days per week. Less frequent is much better than slower delivery.
  4. Lose counter employees, and decrease the hours they are available. Add more of those automated kiosks, and make it so you can send much bigger packages using them. The biggest legitimate beef with the post office is the DMV-like experience at some branches. Encourage people to use the machine for easy stuff like stamps and normal parcels by offering a slight discount. Then grandma and the guy sending live hamsters to Australia can wait in a much shorter line while the rest of us get in and out.
  5. Partner up with Amazon and other big online retailers. Trade exclusive US shipping rights for attractive discounts.
  6. Partner up with Walmart, Target, Costco, and other big box stores. Put those automated kiosks right in the store. Buy it here, ship it here. A lot of malls have empty storefronts, put some in there, too.
13

Mail Day. Home delivery of mail on Wednesdays.

14

Cutting Sat delivery seems to make sense, although my postal carrier thinks cutting Tuesday would be better. It’s apparently the slowest mail day of the week.

Some people rely on the post office for critical things like delivery of prescription drugs, but I’d hate to see us set the entire PO policy around this tiny minority. Most urban and suburban residents don’t need daily delivery. I don’t even bother to check my mail box more than 2 or 3 times a week and it’s right on my front porch. At least 90% of what I get is junk mail.

The PO needs to adapt itself to the 21st century. Cut back services and charge more for the premium ones.

15

The post office clearly needs to get smaller. The amount of first class mail being sent is now about 30% lower than it was 10 years ago. They probably need to raise prices as well.

16

Those of an extreme libertarian ideological bent think the private sector is always more efficient than the public sector. The theory goes that if you get rid of the Post Office and let private enterprise handle mail delivery, it will be even cheaper.

FedEx, UPS and whoever else replaces the Post Office won’t have to handle everything the USPS does. They’ll just charge a lot more for delivery to the boonies, making rural delivery impractical. We’re basically talking about an “individual mandate” argument: allowing the private sector in means that profitable, high volume commercial delivery will get cheaper, and the USPS will no longer be able to use its revenue from that to offset the cost of unprofitable rural delivery.

For what it’s worth, we’re about to find out how well private enterprise handles bulk mail delivery, because the UK Royal Mail just had its exclusive right to carry mail revoked.

17

It seems that most posters suggest raising prices and cutting services. How does that ever help a business?

The Post Office needs to realize that they are going the way of the Pony Express. UPS and FedEx can deliver packages. There won’t be a market for sending individual pieces of paper once technology gains more acceptance and more old people die off.

18

The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines don’t turn a profit, nor do the CDC, FAA, or other government entities. They’re a service.
I don’t see how the Postal Service can possibly break even while delivering every address in the country six days a week.

19

The USPS is not exactly a business, but here are a few extant businesses that have gone down the more money/less service route.

  1. Grocery stores had “bag boys”, I know because I was one. Nowadays, the cashier or the customer does the bagging, which slows things down. And you can carry the bags to your car your damn self.

  2. Airlines. This should require no explanation.

  3. Gas stations used to be full service, with window cleaning, fluid checking, and all that. Go ahead and ask the cashier to pump your gas for you now. She’ll call the cops.

  4. Every supermarket used to have real butchers who could do all kinds of real butchering involving sides of beef and whatnot, right there in the store. Good luck finding that now.

  5. Shave and a haircut, 2 bits? Not no more. It’s rare to find a barber who does shaves, or even uses scissors. Nowadays, it’s all electric clippers.

  6. Mechanics, especially the dealers’s service departments, used to have free loaner cars. Now, you have to pay to rent one from them or use the ‘courtesy shuttle’, which is like a taxi without the charm or competance.

  7. Didn’t movie theaters used to show shorts and newreels before the 3 hour long main attraction? On a screen the size of a football field, with ushers and cigarette girls, and intermission, and real butter, for a nickel?

20

But the opposite is true too: USPS now carries packages under contract from UPS, for example. I just received some clothes I ordered from Land’s End. They shipped it via UPS, but they only sent to a nearby post office; the USPS sent it the rest of the way to my house.