Comments about ‘The shrinking post office’

Snail mail is being replaced by more efficient technology-electonic mail. Technology always drives change and always will. The US postal system is being replaced like the buggy whip or typewritters or the last generation, and yes,people will lose their jobs but new technology always produces new job opportunities.

The Postal Service is not "quasi-public." It is part of the federal government. And it is just as much governmnet as other branch of the government. It does not receive much tax money and the courts have ruled repeated that is is a part of the government. The idea that it is "quasi-government" is nothing more than a PR spin.

The post office has a government granted monopoly on first class mail.

As such the post office once had the idea to ask congress to levy a 1c tax on all e-mails. The thinking went that e-mail could be classified as first class mail.

Actually this isn't such a bad idea. This would cost me less than $5.00 per year, and would require spammers to pay 1c for their e-mail. Which would no doubt reduce the amount we all get.

The government could mandate it so that servers would not pass e-mails unless they had "stamps".

The government could even rebate the cost of the stamps to all non commercial e-mail.

Somewhere in what I've just said is a good idea.

The majority of mail is advertising and junk. Eliminating a day's delivery would do nothing for me. And with UPS and FedEx for business delivery options, imo, it shouldn't affect businesses that much. Of course, some postal workers might get miffed at the possibility of one less day of pay per week... and we don't want them disgruntled, so perhaps they can credit them a little prozac for their off days...

Why doesn't the USPS adopt the Walmart model :low prices, high volume. Personally, I would rather mail a check to a pay bill than do it online. That's just me but it gets harder to justify that as the price of a stamp continues to rise. The USPS is going to all of these locations anyway delivering "junk mail" so it doesn't cost that much more to have more items to deliver. I use the USPS daily in my business and I think they do a great job for the most part despite their reputation for poor service.

I agree the postal service needs to become smaller. I am a USPS employee. There are literally thousands of "small" post offices around the country that don't even sell a $100 of product a day, yet cost the post office over $100,000 yr if you include "all" expenses. As far as closing a day, thats ok too but, it MUST be Saturday. Business' that are closed on Saturday & Sunday already would only get service 4 days a week if Tuesday was set as the day off. Not at all acceptable!! We would lose more revenue and business' would have to go to other carriers to maintain effeciency.

why take out Tuesday??? make it Monday, mail is in-- finish work end of day, get your mail-- why mess up the post office??

you DO have to many people "working" in the PO-- let them find other places to work--

If they'd just get rid of home delivery and only delivered to post offices or cluster boxes they'd save a TON of money.

I see the plight of the Post Office as the result of the privatization of the postal service where private capitalists were able to take the profitable part of the business and leave the less profitable business to the taxpayer.

Remember stamps pay Postal employees salaries not Uncle Sam or the "public" unless you do buy stamps and mail parcels etc... We are still the cheapest in the world. When "snail mail" as you put it ceases to exsist we'll see how many complain!

does not receive any tax money

Postal Bill - You said the USPS does not reveice "much" tax money. That is wrong. The USPS does not receive ANY tax money. The USPS operates on the revenue generated from stamp sales ONLY.

Techology - Yes, e-mail and the internet have had their impact on mail volume. However, that impact has been overstated. Can you explain why the highest volume years in postal history were 2006, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003 in that order? Wasn't the internet around during those years?

The USPS is facing a downturn, just as much of America. History shows that whent he economy rebounds, so does the mail volume.

Imagine - Having a guy come to your house, pick up a package, carry that package across the country, and delivery to it's destination for mere pennies! USPS: Best value, best service, best delivary company - in the world!

Josh | 8:33 a.m. March 30, 2009
Postal Bill - You said the USPS does not reveice "much" tax money. That is wrong. The USPS does not receive ANY tax money. The USPS operates on the revenue generated from stamp sales ONLY.

Techology - Yes, e-mail and the internet have had their impact on mail volume. However, that impact has been overstated. Can you explain why the highest volume years in postal history were 2006, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003 in that order? Wasn't the internet around during those years?

The USPS is facing a downturn, just as much of America. History shows that whent the economy rebounds, so does the mail volume.

Imagine - Having a guy come to your house, pick up a package, carry that package across the country, and delivery to it's destination for mere pennies! USPS: Best value, best service, best delivary company - in the world!

The Postal Service got into trouble by not understanding that it is the universal delivery platform provided by the federal government to all the residents of the United States.

Its core reason for existence is service to the public. It is not a money making enterprise to be run for profit. This does not mean it is not to be run in a business like manner which would mean enough revenue produced to cover costs and capital investments.

The present postage rate structure is having the fully paid first class mail (no presort discount) cover the cost of maintaining the overhead. The first class and standard mail sent at presort discount pays only for the processing and direct costs of delivery and do not contribute revenue to system maintenance.

Alas, economic forces are being used as an excuse to not have to explain this circumstance.

I have shipped over 12,000 items in the past ten years via the post office and they have not lost one thing. The flat rate boxes allow me to ship many items for a fraction of what UPS charges. If something were to happen to the post office and we were left to the tender mercies of UPS and FedEx we would see rate increases that you wouldn't believe. If you don't think so just look at the rates from the private companies the second that something is to big or to heavy for the post office to handle.

I'm happy with the service the Post Office does in delivering my mail and do not think the cost of a stamp is much to complain of.

However I would like there to be an end to all junk mail and for there to be a way to know then the mail has arrived so I don't have to keep checking. Either that or deliver to the door and not the street.

It is a bad idea, on the other hand, to charge people for e-mail. E-mail is wonderful for free, instant personal computer to computer communication.

The Post Office is good for delivering bills, payments and for parcels. The Internet cannot deliver parcels. The Post Office could concentrate on that. I would pay more for service to my door and would use a European-style letter box in my door. Maybe that could be an option rather than mandatory for everyone, as many are quite happy with delivery on the street.

I would be content for the USPO to remain the exclusive carrier of mail if it continued to do a good job, and if it would stop inundating me with junk mail.

Taxpayers don't need another bottomless money pit to keep on life support. The USPS clearly isn't necessary for modern commerce. The best thing to do is sell it off either in an IPO or piecemeal to existing delivery companies that could use the assets more productively.

Generally Happy- Please understand that the Post Office does Not generate the junk mail you receive. It only DELIVERS mail that is paid for by the sender. If you do not want your mail, junk or otherwise, please contact the sender and have your name removed from their mailing lists. Period. The Post Office does NOT print or create mail, they only DELIVER it....something most people that complain about junk mail do not understand!!

I've noticed that a lot of these comments are made by people who are completely ignorant of how the Post Office operates, the laws that govern it and it's employees. I have to blame the Post Office and Congress for not educating the voting public on these critical points. But perhaps commenters should take the time to learn the facts before commenting on things that haven't been true since 1976!

It's pretty obvious the USPS is delivering more service than what people are paying for. If private carriers are delivering the equivalent of first class mail for $15, why does the USPS charge only a few cents? Raise your prices to match your competitors! Yes, the USPS would shrink because of less volume but we'd still get the guarantee of universal service which it's competitors cannot make.