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The Mailman Should Goethe
Recently, my dad sent me a package via the USPS (United States Postal Service.) He forgot to designate Express Delivery. It took three weeks to get the package from Los Angeles to Auburn. A few weeks latter my son sent me a package, also from L.A., via UPS (United Parcel Service). It was here in three days for about the same cost. In fact UPS basic ground service will get most packages to almost anywhere in the country in about 4 to 5 working days.
Not too many years ago, when you mailed something, you had a choice, “regular” or Air Mail. Air Mail was the fastest because it was transported by air, which is what I am guessing Express Delivery is today. I don’t know what transportation mode was or is used for “regular” mail, but it would take less then three weeks time for a twenty-mule team or someone walking to travel the 400 miles from L.A. to Auburn.
A couple of years ago the U.S. Postal Service ran several, very expensive, commercials during the super bowl game promoting a new service designed to keep up with Fed-Ex, UPS and the like. A couple of days ago, I received an ad in the mail from the Postal Service promoting new automated postal centers. Of course, if they work as well as the change machines and stamp machines in the post offices it will be even more money wasted by the Postal Service.
Why is the Postal Service spending money on trying to expand services? Why are they spending money on advertising? When the Postal Service was established in the late 1700’s, it was designed to provide a service that no other entity could provide at the time, mail delivery, which they still do very well. However, the postage fees only cover a portion of their operating costs, the rest is paid by their employers, us the taxpayers. Now, that there are other entities that can deliver packages more efficiently at comparable prices and do not have to be subsidized by us, the U.S. Postal Service should cut back on some of its operations, not expand on them and try to compete at our expense. In this case, smaller is better because it is more cost effective.
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When was the last time our gov't did anything "cost effective"? Your comments are dead on!
Whoa, someone needs some more valid information. For starters, the US Postal Service came in to existence in 1970. Before that, it was the Post Office Department and heavily subsidized by the Federal Government to keep rates artificially low.
The US Postal Service receives no tax dollars from the government for operations, and has not since 1986. The only way that a taxpayer pays for operating expenses is through the purchase of stamps and services, period.
Regular or Airmail? I have worked for USPS for 24 years and in that time, there has not been a separate Airmail service for Domestic Mail.
Sure, there are times when mail is delayed and takes a while to get to the destination, but that is not unique to the USPS. Please, when you try to compare USPS to UPS, take some other things in to consideration. UPS does not deliver on weekends, without charging an additional fee. UPS also does not deliver to what it considers "Rural Areas". Those packages are consolidated and handed off to the USPS for final delivery through UPSs SmartPost. UPS also adds Fuel Surcharges and Residential Surcharges to their posted rates.
USPS rolls out new products and services for the same reason that any other company does, to increase revenue. The APC that you mentioned is a great tool that allows people that have to go to the PO, to not have to stand in line to send a package. These APCs are replacing the antiquated stamp vending machines. As you expressed, the vending machines do not work very well. Well, these machines are so old that it is impossible to find parts for repairs.
The USPS delivers more than 214 Billion pieces of mail each year. If USPS only had to worry about packages and a few Urgent Letters, things would be quite different. But there is such a volume of First Class Letter Mail that has to be dealt with as well.
Maybe to give some perspective. Last Christmas season, on the busiest delivery day of the year for all of the courier services, USPS delivered just shy of 1 Billion pieces of mail to more than 140 million addresses. UPS, on the other hand, made a point of making a Press Release touting that they would be delivering 20 Million packages that day. FedEx, less than that. It is quite a spread from 20 Million to 1 Billion.
I hope that you have found this informative. There are a lot of misconceptions and flat out false information out there. I hope that I was able to clear up a few of those.