[Wyatt's Torch]

“Junk mail” is the only class of postage that has been growing. First class mail has been in a steady decline since the mid-90’s with the advent of email and it took another huge hit with electronic bill pay.

They have to rationalize their infrastructure. They need to offload their retiree benefits as well. Those are untenable as currently constructed.

[MD Expat in PA]

“Junk mail” is the only class of postage that has been growing. First class mail has been in a steady decline since the mid-90’s with the advent of email and it took another huge hit with electronic bill pay.

And also Direct Deposit – paychecks, SS and SSI payments, etc., and even unemployment payments are all, or nearly all paid via direct deposit or deposited to a pay card now.

99.9% of all the USPS mail I receive is junk mail that goes unread, straight into the recycling bin. I don’t even go to my mail box but once a week.

I pay all my bills on-line and am notified of when bills are due via email or txt message. I can’t even remember the last time I wrote a check or mailed anything. I bought a book of “forever stamps” two years ago and have to date, used two.

I used to have a couple of magazine subscriptions but converted them to digital subscriptions.

Every once and a while when I order something from Amazon, if it doesn’t qualify for Prime 2-day shipping which is rare, it is delivered via USPS but other than that, I wouldn’t notice or care if USPS folded.

[Dr. Sivana]

Sadly, that's one of the few things that is profitable for them.

“Junk mail” is the only class of postage that has been growing.

I am not so sure that junk mail is profitable for them. It all depends on how the calculations are done. If it is "given" that every house will be visited every day, then yes, Junk mail gives him something to bring to the door. I do know that past price increases made foreign mail (a first class letter costs a dollar to go to Canada?!) and non-huge periodicals shippers nd others take a bigger brunt of the shipping while the junk mailers costs stayed level.

I am under the impression that junk mail rates are actually low to keep employment levels and infrastructure large, to give the USPS more political clout. or as W. Torch put it, "They have to rationalize their infrastructure. They need to offload their retiree benefits as well. Those are untenable as currently constructed."

I would rather take a one time hit on pensions and switchover costs including lost capital projects (a large fleet of custom built postal trucks instead of cheaper off the shelf delivery vehicles like those used by FedEx) instead of kicking the can farther down the road.

This should be in Trump's wheel-house.