Government efficiency!

[Lady's Human]

Yes, the US Government is so efficient....

There are about 342 mail processing plants in the US.

The government is allowing the USPS to close or reduce operations in:

New Castle, PA........#1 in cancellation operations nationwide in 2009

Watertown, NY........#7 in cancellation operations nationwide in 2009

Binghamton, NY.......#9 in cancellation operations

Wilkes Barre, Pa.....which is also a very efficient plant

They are considering closing:

Dulles, VA.......which is where USPS Engineering tests a lot of equipment prior to full fielding, and which has a $100 million machine which was just installed.

However,

Albany, NY, which is a perennially poor performing plant, is getting more mail.

Hard to get into specifics without violating the"loyalty clause".........but people wonder why USPS employees are in a bad mood?


Employees in Binghamton were told about plant consolidation after the early retirement window had closed.

Employees have been told they will be able to transfer to other locations.......but there are no other jobs to move to in other locations.

Wonder why your mail is late or lost? Look at the plant consolidations. Somehow moving mail 150 extra miles for processing is more efficient, and will have no impact on the delivery time. Somehow closing efficient plants and moving more mail to poorly performing plants will create efficiency.

By the way, we deliver prescription drugs, and do so for a large number of people. Sorry your drugs were late, but we had to close the plant to make operations more efficient.

[Grace]

I know that Postal Service was authorized in the Constitution, but I'm confused about its status in the here and now.

It's considered a government agency, but gets no taxpayer dollars. So in a way it's independent of the rest of the U.S. Government. The Post Master General is not re-appointed every time a new President takes office - sort of like the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Does Congress have any input into the day-to-day operation?

[Edwina's Secretary]

Just wait until they ship all the USPS jobs to India!

[Grace]

Just wait until they ship all the USPS jobs to India!

Don't even think that

[Lady's Human]

Congress has oversight of the USPS, however the USPS is considered a private business running under congressional authorization, but the employees are federal employees, with oversight by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), except for the ones who are contract employees, like the USPS Shared Services (HR) which is in NC........which is entirely contracted out......


It's a byzantine mess.

While speaking to a congressional staffer, he asked me what I wanted Congress to do? Investigate one small postal plant being closed?

As I've managed to get a decent quasi-working relationship with some of the politicians in the area, I bit my tongue, because the reply which immediately came to mind was:

You fools investigate whether or not Roger Clemens shot himself in the butt with steroids, but you won't hold hearing on something you have CONSTITUTIONAL oversight on?

(see Karen, my temper has improved in the last 25 years)

[Nomilynn]

As a result of this, will delivery standards change? It's my understanding that depending on the service, there is a time limit in which mail must be delivered... I used to have to do up USPS postal statements at my old job, mostly bulk mail but sometimes first class.

Perhaps to make things run more efficiently, USPS should relax some of their mail peice regulations.. I worked in that industry for 3 years and STILL never caught on to all the ins and outs of USPS restrictions and regulations!!!

[Lady's Human]

Service standards:

Each plant has a delivery area in which a 1st class piece of mail will be delivered next day. This is mandated by law. (Sorry, Oneonta, kiss that goodbye. You customers just aren't important.....Tim Leonard has the authority to delay mail, just ask him)

Each plant also has a 2-3 day delivery zone, also mandated by law.

Congress has never changed these restrictions, the USPS however, has evidently chosen to ignore them completely.

Mailpiece Standards:

USPS allows a huge amount of mail which would never be allowed in other countries, and is on the edge of what can be processed on the machines. The 6X11 3/4" postcards which have become popular fliers for businesses are a nightmare to run.......but they're paying about 1/4 of what you are for 1st class postage.


Business practices:

The USPS is bleeding money..........but we're giving a 20% discount to major mailers, who are already paying only roughly $.13 per mailpiece.........for the 1st class service which the rest of us pay $.44 for. I loved a poster the Union had.....it showed 3 first class mailpieces, with three different postage rates, with no difference between the mailpieces. What's the difference? I can't tell, and I work on the machine that sort the stuff.

We outsource snowplowing.........despite the fact that we have 2 trucks with plows on them in the fleet at our plant, (which we still have to use, because the contractors get there when they can, not when we need them) and part of our staffing package includes plowing. Eliminate the contractor, save money? Nah.

We have personnel in our plant who are supposed to repair the building....but the last door (Just a door, nothing fancy, a run of the mill entry door) which was put in was contracted out.

We have $45,000 in test equipment sitting idle because they don't have the money (in theory) to teach people how to use it. I offered to teach a class on parts of it, but they won't allow it because someone would have to get paid overtime.

The USPS has cut hundreds of thousands of full time employees over the past 5 years........but the ranks of management have actually grown.

USPS could be a case study in how to waste money.

[Lady's Human]

My apologies for rambling, but it infuriates me to no end to see headlines about the USPS losing money, then blaming it on the employees.

If they LISTENED to the employees for 30 seconds or so, and then implemented some of the suggestions which have been made by the employees, they might actually find themselves making money.

Just one final example of postal efficiency......

All the electronic techs are required to be able to repair computers.

The last couple rounds of computer purchase the USPS made, they bought warranties on all the computers. As they are warranty items, the techs can no longer fix them.

Instead of using the in house trained personnel, they pay $148 per computer to ship them next day to a repair facility, then $148 to return a computer to the facility which sent it. In a classic example of efficiency, the last time one particular computer died, it took 5 repaired computers to get one which worked. Any of the techs in the plant COULD have fixed it, but we couldn't, as we would have voided the warranty. (The computer in question cost roughly $700, so we spent more in shipping than the computer was worth, and the original problem was a bad $70.00 hard drive)

[lizbud]

There was an interesting story on the USPS by CBS 60 minutes just this evening. Anyone else see it?

[Cinder & Smoke]

USPS could be a case study in how to waste money.
...

If they LISTENED to the employees for 30 seconds or so,
and then implemented some of the suggestions which have been made by the employees,
they might actually find themselves making money.

Maybe you should hire a Ghost Writer ...

Hope the wrong people aren't reading this material.
-----------------------

But it's all Ohhhhhh so true!

Spend a little while "loitering" in you local PO and *watch* what goes on.
Example from not-so-long ago:

I had an envelope with a County Tax payment that I'd put off buying
a stamp for - and NOW it was the last day to postmark it without being
hit with a late payment penalty. Off we go to the local PO.

Me: HI, one stamp, please.
Post Mistriss: Sure! That'll be one arm & half a leg, please.
Me: Ouwch! ... This'll get a TODAY''s postmark, won't it?
Her: Looks at calendar/chart on wall ... Hmmmmm - can't guarantee that.
Me: WHAT? How long does it take to truck it to Downtown and cancel it?

Her: It doesn't go "Downtown" today ... the truck runs it to Akron/Canton today.
Me: That makes sense ... half hour drive turned into an hour plus trip.
. . . So WHY can't it get a before midnight postmark?

Her: They process a lotta mail - might sit for a while before it gets put onto the line.

Me: OK, just smack it with your local Hand Stamp thingy.

Her: OH, we're not supposed to DO that anymore. Messes up "the Count".

Me: Delivering an absolutely EVIL DIRTY GLARE ....

Her: Oh, OK ... I'll do it for you. But I could get into TROUBLE for this.

Me: (silently, to myself) REALLY? And maybe get FIRED, too?

So ended another *adventure* at the Local PO.

[Lady's Human]

The clerk was right......putting a hand postmark on a piece is frowned on.

After all, it takes the clerk precious seconds to do that, when instead they could be asking you the 90 questions they have to about express mail, priority mail, etc.

They have a 'mystery shopper' program. If the clerk fails to ask certain questions of the mystery shopper, the clerk will be spoken to about it.Now, you could be a customer the clerk sees every day, and always for similar transactions, but the clerk still has to ask you the same questions.

They want to reduce the amount of time spent in line, but they keep reducing the number of window clerks.

They have introduced a line of postal related products that they want to sell in offices........while they are reducing office traffic by getting customers to use pack & ship, buying stamps at CVS, etc.

They have the business acumen of a field mouse.

[RICHARD]

I loved a poster the Union had.....it showed 3 first class mailpieces, with three different postage rates, with no difference between the mailpieces. What's the difference? I can't tell, and I work on the machine that sort the stuff.

I always tell any PS worker that they are doing a good job when I interact with them-they always look at me like I am crazy, want to beat them up or would like them to do a backflip...

They are a under appreciated part of the USPS.

I am not saying this to curry favor with anyone.

-------------------

YOU grab a bag of paper and walk around the 'hood fighting dogs, heat, sprinklers, rain, traffic and all kinds of BS to do your job?

---------------

LH,
You reminded me of a battery backup for a computer that I had to send back to the manufacturer because it died.

This thing weighed about 45 pounds, was sent to the manufacturer, via the USPS, only to arrive at the manufacturer and deemed not replaceable.

We ended up buying a unit that was half the size and more expensive.

I got yelled at for info lost when the power unit failed, the cost of sending the unit out for repair and the money it cost to replace the unit.


Mangement will always grow amid a decreasing work force.'

We need CZARS to make sure us proles are in line.

[Nomilynn]

Service standards:

Each plant has a delivery area in which a 1st class piece of mail will be delivered next day. This is mandated by law. (Sorry, Oneonta, kiss that goodbye. You customers just aren't important.....Tim Leonard has the authority to delay mail, just ask him)

Each plant also has a 2-3 day delivery zone, also mandated by law.

Congress has never changed these restrictions, the USPS however, has evidently chosen to ignore them completely.

Mailpiece Standards:

USPS allows a huge amount of mail which would never be allowed in other countries, and is on the edge of what can be processed on the machines. The 6X11 3/4" postcards which have become popular fliers for businesses are a nightmare to run.......but they're paying about 1/4 of what you are for 1st class postage.

Yes, I remember doing many many postage statements for those postcard-y type things. I can only compare, however, to the Canadian postal standards (as I've never lived anywhere else) and it always seemed like there were a ton of restrictions for the US mail (aspect ratio?? really??? )

It's an unforgiving job, and I tip my hat to you!

[blue]

If the USPS doesnt get taxpayer dollars, why is at least part of the USPS budget funded by the federal budget? Are there two federal budgets?

[Edwina's Secretary]

As long as we are on the subject of the USPS...I have a question.

The practice in my home is...my husband slices open all the envelopes with an opener thing - checks if it is "important" and then sorts it. This works for us as a result of a nasty incident where my inattention to details cost me $125.oo for a new car title.

Yesterday, he opened the bank statement of Mustafa SomelastnameIcantremember who lives on some street not in our neighborhood.

Normally misdelivered mail is to someone on our street in which case I can take it to them, apologize and assure them we did not read it and do not know they have advanced to the next level of Scientology or not paid the bank for three months or whatever.

What is the correct procedure when you open misdelivered mail? We taped it and put it in the mailbox along with our bills, etc. Is that correct? Should we have written a note? Given it back to our mailperson via the mailbox with an explanation?