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Posted: Jan 28 2009 05:53 pm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/ap_on_go_ot/meltdown_post_office

According to this article, the Post Office lost 2.8 billion last year. My question is this: HOW THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN?

While "real" mail has declined steadily since the late 90s, this year was a fucking banner year for Netflix and Amazon. Netflix ships through the USPS, and Amazon ships its standard delivery through USPS. Many eBay sellers also ship through USPS. So how the fuck are they losing money? My guess is gross mismanagement. It is the government, after all.

Posted: Jan 28 2009 05:55 pm

Maybe because they take weeks to get your package delivered.

Docinsano's Channel 63 · Posted: Jan 28 2009 06:04 pm

Damn, and I thought a monopoly like the Postal Service would've been making money...

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Think about how many letters used to be sent in the mail that are now sent through e-mail. Birthdays, businesses, bills, etc. A mail truck could have been carrying thousands of dollars in postage stamps everyday. Also consider the high price of gasoline over the summer of '08. When the economy slumps, almost everything's affected.

Posted: Jan 28 2009 09:30 pm

Get ready for 99 cent stamps.

Posted: Jan 28 2009 09:54 pm

Gamefly also ships through the USPS.

Posted: Jan 29 2009 12:25 am

My dad is a mailman.

He says it's primarly because of the internet; with e-mail, no one wants to write just plain letters anymore.
He also says that they're in talks to lower the Postal Service days from six days a week to five. Since Tuesday is for some reason the slowest day in terms of volume amount of mail, it's possible that there will no longer be any delivery on Tuesdays.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

I feel bad, but I really can't take the incompetent workers at the post office anymore. Every time I try shipping things to friends in Northern Ireland, I have to bring an elementary student's map of the world, so the hicks at the office will realize that Northern Ireland isn't a region of mainland Ireland, and the postal addresses are different. Even then, it can take over a month for the package to get anywhere (Imagine my surprise when I got a couple of expired packages of Galaxy Chocolate in the mail one day). Now, I just go to a shipping company, they take the package, and it gets there in a fraction of the time.

Posted: Jan 29 2009 09:31 am

Amazon uses UPS, not the USPS.

Also, the USPS is government sponsored, but it is NOT an official part of the government.

The biggest factor in them losing money I'm sure though, despite people sending less regular mail, is that stamp prices didn't go up that much when gas prices did. The USPS has 25,000 trucks driving around every day.

I don't understand why people bitch about the post office so much, especially when it comes to a regular letter. They can get your shit 3,000 miles across the country in a few days for not even 50 cents. How the fuck can you possibly complain about that?

Posted: Jan 29 2009 09:53 am

Amazon uses UPS for rush shipments. If you choose super saver shipping, it comes through USPS unless it's a bulk item. That, or UPS is shoving games and DVDs in my mailbox, which they aren't.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Cameron wrote:

Since Tuesday is for some reason the slowest day in terms of volume amount of mail, it's possible that there will no longer be any delivery on Tuesdays.

Wow. That's going to fuck with businesses. And my eBay purchases.

Posted: Jan 29 2009 11:23 am

i receive amazon shipments thru both UPS and USPS as syd pointed out. even the free super saver shipping comes thru UPS if its a big item.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

The post office should merge with 1800-flowers if they want to make a profit.

Posted: Jan 29 2009 02:03 pm

Fatasses like Newman are driving up their health benefit costs.

Posted: Jan 29 2009 02:04 pm

I dont mind paying more to send a letter, not a big deal in my opinion

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Ermac wrote:

I dont mind paying more to send a letter, not a big deal in my opinion

Yeah, but imagine that you run a company or something, and buying paper and postage makes up a huge amount of your budget, while an e-mail costs an internet connection that you most likely already have. I used to work at a law office, and from what they've told me, they've saved a fortune since they went electronic.

Posted: Jan 29 2009 10:38 pm

Greg the White wrote:

Ermac wrote:

I dont mind paying more to send a letter, not a big deal in my opinion

Yeah, but imagine that you run a company or something, and buying paper and postage makes up a huge amount of your budget, while an e-mail costs an internet connection that you most likely already have. I used to work at a law office, and from what they've told me, they've saved a fortune since they went electronic.

Then they should listen to Haddox and lower the prices of stamps and postage to make a profit through volume, not net margin.

Posted: Jan 29 2009 10:44 pm

Shit. No news is good news!! That's what I say!! The fewer the days that assholes like J.P. Morgan Chase want to send me threats, the better my life is!! Fuck that!! I hope the USPS down sizes!

Posted: Jan 29 2009 11:06 pm

My dad is pretty angry that they might eliminate delivery on Tuesdays; reducing the amount of delivery days from six to five would basically mean no extra days off for the postal workers (not including vacation days).

Posted: Jan 30 2009 09:30 am

SevereFlame wrote:

Greg the White wrote:

Ermac wrote:

I dont mind paying more to send a letter, not a big deal in my opinion

Yeah, but imagine that you run a company or something, and buying paper and postage makes up a huge amount of your budget, while an e-mail costs an internet connection that you most likely already have. I used to work at a law office, and from what they've told me, they've saved a fortune since they went electronic.

Then they should listen to Haddox and lower the prices of stamps and postage to make a profit through volume, not net margin.

Is this a fucking joke? How much money do you think the contribution margin is on a single piece of first class mail that requires only one stamp. Maybe 3 or 4 cents?

I swear to fucking God, people like to bitch about everything even if they have absolutely no idea how it works. Pretty much everything is more complicated than anyone gives it credit for; you're just like the woman at the fucking airport when my flight to Texas got canceled who said "Well if flights are getting canceled, why don't they just add more flights so people can get where they're going?"

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

SevereFlame wrote:

Greg the White wrote:

Ermac wrote:

I dont mind paying more to send a letter, not a big deal in my opinion

Yeah, but imagine that you run a company or something, and buying paper and postage makes up a huge amount of your budget, while an e-mail costs an internet connection that you most likely already have. I used to work at a law office, and from what they've told me, they've saved a fortune since they went electronic.

Then they should listen to Haddox and lower the prices of stamps and postage to make a profit through volume, not net margin.

Is this a fucking joke? How much money do you think the contribution margin is on a single piece of first class mail that requires only one stamp. Maybe 3 or 4 cents?

I swear to fucking God, people like to bitch about everything even if they have absolutely no idea how it works. Pretty much everything is more complicated than anyone gives it credit for; you're just like the woman at the fucking airport when my flight to Texas got canceled who said "Well if flights are getting canceled, why don't they just add more flights so people can get where they're going?"

I propose a new solution.

To cut down on the expense of people who deliver mail, the post office will begin to offer a wonderful new technology based service called Electronic Mail.

No longer will you pick your mail up at the post box, instead you will receive it in your computer's mailbox which we will call your inbox.

When you wish to send a letter it will be FREE!!! You simply send the message.

Best of all, the process is virtually instant!

No longer does it take days for your messages to arrive!

To compensate for the loss of jobs that will occur in the postal delivery team, we will begin to offer new types of jobs called "Email Administrators" and "Server Administrators". These people will be white collar workers and will make sure that distribution works well and that people don't stick their hands into other people's virtual mailboxes.

Man... I am a fucking genius.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

GPFontaine wrote:

I propose a new solution.

To cut down on the expense of people who deliver mail, the post office will begin to offer a wonderful new technology based service called Electronic Mail.

Perfect!!! That'll be great for sending and receiving packages!

Oh wait.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

DarkMaze wrote:

GPFontaine wrote:

I propose a new solution.

To cut down on the expense of people who deliver mail, the post office will begin to offer a wonderful new technology based service called Electronic Mail.

Perfect!!! That'll be great for sending and receiving packages!

Oh wait.

Fedex, UPS and other carriers can handle it.

Posted: Jan 30 2009 01:31 pm

GPFontaine wrote:

DarkMaze wrote:

GPFontaine wrote:

I propose a new solution.

To cut down on the expense of people who deliver mail, the post office will begin to offer a wonderful new technology based service called Electronic Mail.

Perfect!!! That'll be great for sending and receiving packages!

Oh wait.

Fedex, UPS and other carriers can handle it.

And who's going to handle standard letter size things? You can't Fedex a postcard either.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

GPFontaine wrote:

DarkMaze wrote:

GPFontaine wrote:

I propose a new solution.

To cut down on the expense of people who deliver mail, the post office will begin to offer a wonderful new technology based service called Electronic Mail.

Perfect!!! That'll be great for sending and receiving packages!

Oh wait.

Fedex, UPS and other carriers can handle it.

And who's going to handle standard letter size things? You can't Fedex a postcard either.

I was being sarcastic in my message about email. I thought it was pretty obvious. I was just fooling around with this response to carry on.

We can't live without the postal service and never will be able to. It is the physical link between people in our world and realistically what makes the US NOT a 3rd world nation. Our ability to move things quickly to anyone within our borders makes us special.

K?