Please, Call Congress

[Lady's Human]

Exactly!! ! I'm a "rural person" and you have hit the nail on the head. My SS is a direct deposit, and if it wasn't and got delivered on a Saturday, I wouldn't be able to cash/deposit it till Monday anyway. And meds by mail - yes - order a few days ahead if that is an issue.

I do all of my bill pay and banking electronically. Not only does it save me writing a check and paying postage, but IMO it is more secure than USPS. I have also gone paperless on EVERYTHING. Not only does it cut down on the paper that I have to shred, but it also eliminates the chance of it getting delivered to the wrong address. Yes - it does happen. If I get other people's mail on occasion - then I'm positive some of mine is ending up in the wrong mailbox. I don't need my banking or credit card statements in anyone's hands but my own! If my postal carrier wants to deliver my junk mail to the wrong address, then that's fine with me.

So I'm another that thinks eliminating Saturday delivery is a good idea. Sorry, LH...........

To those of you who think the USPS is losing money in the same way a business loses money, you're wrong.

The issue is simple, as stated above, the USPS has been required by Congress to make 75 years worth of financial obligations paid in advance in 10 years.

To put this in a manner that most people can understand, if you have a 30 year mortgage, and one year into the mortgage the company sent you a letter stating that they were unilaterally changing the terms of the mortgage and you were now required to make payments on a 5 year mortgage, would you be able to make those payments? Probably not.

Take the same situation, and you call the bank and say "okay, I can do that, but you're going to need to move money from a different account to pay the mortgage", and the bank says "no, you can't, we need that money, it's unavailable", would you be able to survive financially?

The USPS has between 50 to 90 billion in overpayments in various retiree accounts (GAO, 2 independent audits). Congress refuses to return that money.

The USPS has actually turned a profit over the last 5 years, minus the prepayment requirements.

Take a break from listening to what the media is putting out, and look at the audit results. They don't mesh.

The propaganda doesn't meet the reality various accountants have found.

As to the security of the mail? When was the last time a check in an envelope was hacked? There are major hacks constantly. The worst thing that might happen to a mailed check is it gets torn in the machine, and either returned to the sender or sent to the recipient with a note stating what happened.

You may not have a bank available on Saturday, Pom, but even out here in the sticks I dont have to drive far to find a bank branch open on saturday, and the local grocery store is more than willing to cash a SS check.

Compared to the amount of mail handled, the amount of mis-delivered mail is tiny, almost statistically insignificant, and is normally intercepted by the carrier before delivery.

Again, take a break from reading the propoganda and read the audits.

[pomtzu]

To those of you who think the USPS is losing money in the same way a business loses money, you're wrong.

The issue is simple, as stated above, the USPS has been required by Congress to make 75 years worth of financial obligations paid in advance in 10 years.

To put this in a manner that most people can understand, if you have a 30 year mortgage, and one year into the mortgage the company sent you a letter stating that they were unilaterally changing the terms of the mortgage and you were now required to make payments on a 5 year mortgage, would you be able to make those payments? Probably not.

Take the same situation, and you call the bank and say "okay, I can do that, but you're going to need to move money from a different account to pay the mortgage", and the bank says "no, you can't, we need that money, it's unavailable", would you be able to survive financially?

The USPS has between 50 to 90 billion in overpayments in various retiree accounts (GAO, 2 independent audits). Congress refuses to return that money.

The USPS has actually turned a profit over the last 5 years, minus the prepayment requirements.

Take a break from listening to what the media is putting out, and look at the audit results. They don't mesh.

The propaganda doesn't meet the reality various accountants have found.

As to the security of the mail? When was the last time a check in an envelope was hacked? There are major hacks constantly. The worst thing that might happen to a mailed check is it gets torn in the machine, and either returned to the sender or sent to the recipient with a note stating what happened.

You may not have a bank available on Saturday, Pom, but even out here in the sticks I dont have to drive far to find a bank branch open on saturday, and the local grocery store is more than willing to cash a SS check.

Compared to the amount of mail handled, the amount of mis-delivered mail is tiny, almost statistically insignificant, and is normally intercepted by the carrier before delivery.

Again, take a break from reading the propoganda and read the audits.

So - wouldn't eliminating Saturday delivery save a whole pile of money? That's the point I was trying to get across - make cuts "somewhere". Isn't that a start in the right direction?

[Lady's Human]

So - wouldn't eliminating Saturday delivery save a whole pile of money? That's the point I was trying to get across - make cuts "somewhere". Isn't that a start in the right direction?

Ending Saturday delivery would save nothing. The proposed changes to the postal service would actually start a death spiral for the USPS, as there is another independent audit out that states the USPS would LOSE an additional $5 billion due to business shifted elsewhere because of the changes in service standards and delivery days.

If Congress ends the pre-payment requirements, the USPS wouldn't be losing money.

If the USPS stopped spending money on boondoggles such as the new Flats Sorter machinery, it would save even more money. THey've spent billions on those machines to get a system that costs more to run than the systems it replaces, and doesn't sort mail as quickly as the old machines, the new machines also damage mailpieces at a horrendous rate, all to "save" money by increasing processing capacity on a dying mail class. As an example of efficiency, the older machines would be down about an hour on a catastrophic failure, only affecting delivery for a few towns. When the new machines go down, they're down for hours to days, affecting delivery for hundreds of towns, and costing the USPS millions in overtime.

[pomtzu]

Ending Saturday delivery would save nothing.

That's pretty difficult to believe. I'm sure that working Saturday's for postal employees isn't done simply out of the goodness of their hearts. And gas, etc to run the trucks - is that free???.....and what about manning the post offices??? Maybe I view "would save nothing" differently tho.

[Lady's Human]

Again, the loss of business to competition would more than offset any savings from ending Saturday delivery. If they end delivery, the post offices will still be open, mail will still be being processed 7 days/week, and there would be additional overtime costs due to a higher volume of mail on Mondays. Delivery, which is all they're talking about eliminating, is only the piece the public sees, the tip of the iceberg.

Why are stores open 24/7 now? They have to have a stock staff working in the store anyway, so they might as well gain a little revenue from employees they would have to have there anyway. Cutting their hours doesn't save them money, it just shifts the customers to the competition. Same idea with the post office cutting delivery. The clerks and processing personnel still have to process mail. It really doesn't save as much as you think.

Businesses which are in trouble don't under logical conditions cut service and raise prices and survive, but this is precisely what the postal service is proposing.

[pomtzu]

Yikes LH - with postage rates what they are in some instances, the USPS should be knee-deep in $$$$$

I received an Express Mail flat rate envelope in my mailbox today. It shipped from Washington state to Delaware, 2 day delivery, not insured, to the tune of $18.95. I think that is somewhat pricey.

[Lady's Human]

My sincere thanks to those who contacted their Senators.

S. 1789 passed this afternoon, heavily amended. While it still isn't a long term fix, it will provide some short term relief.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

So - wouldn't eliminating Saturday delivery save a whole pile of money? That's the point I was trying to get across - make cuts "somewhere". Isn't that a start in the right direction?

When there is a Monday holiday, that would only give us a 3 day mail delivery. Not even working half a week they might as well just shut it down all together.

[Cataholic]

When there is a Monday holiday, that would only give us a 3 day mail delivery. Not even working half a week they might as well just shut it down all together.

I am math impaired...so maybe I am missing something, but wouldnt that still be a four day mail delivery, Tu-Fri??

Pom- I received a single sheet of paper, certified mail....$5.00. I was ready to call the county commissioners (it was from the court system) AND the USPS...lol...

[momoffuzzyfaces]

I am math impaired...so maybe I am missing something, but wouldnt that still be a four day mail delivery, Tu-Fri??

Pom- I received a single sheet of paper, certified mail....$5.00. I was ready to call the county commissioners (it was from the court system) AND the USPS...lol...

OOPS!!! Looks like I'm the math impaired one here. You are right. so sorry !!!

[Lady's Human]

Pom- I received a single sheet of paper, certified mail....$5.00. I was ready to call the county commissioners (it was from the court system) AND the USPS...lol...

And that same sheet of paper, sent via UPS, would have cost the court system $30.00 (Just did a UPS calculate time and cost for grins).

[Cataholic]

And that same sheet of paper, sent via UPS, would have cost the court system $30.00 (Just did a UPS calculate time and cost for grins).

Two wrongs.....and all that.