Posted on 01/24/2011 12:28:06 PM PST by Justaham
The U.S. Postal Service plays two roles in America: an agency that keeps rural areas linked to the rest of the nation, and one that loses a lot of money.
Now, with the red ink showing no sign of stopping, the postal service is hoping to ramp up a cost-cutting program that is already eliciting yelps of pain around the country. Beginning in March, the agency will start the process of closing as many as 2,000 post offices, on top of the 491 it said it would close starting at the end of last year. In addition, it is reviewing another 16,000—half of the nation's existing post offices—that are operating at a deficit, and lobbying Congress to allow it to change the law so it can close the most unprofitable among them. The law currently allows the postal service to close post offices only for maintenance problems, lease expirations or other reasons that don't include profitability.
The news is crushing in many remote communities where the post office is often the heart of the town and the closest link to the rest of the country. Shuttering them, critics say, also puts an enormous burden on people, particularly on the elderly, who find it difficult to travel out of town.
The postal service argues that its network of some 32,000 brick-and-mortar post offices, many built in the horse-and-buggy days, is outmoded in an era when people are more mobile, often pay bills online and text or email rather than put pen to paper. It also wants post offices to be profitable to help it overcome record $8.5 billion in losses in fiscal year 2010.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
What with internet banking and bill paying I’m kind of surprised they’ve waited this long. I feel for any impacted postal employees, however.
Name these communities.
1) Cut vacations to only 2 weeks a year. They already get two weeks for federal holidays. End personal holiday days.
2) Provide only basic emergency medical coverage, let employees purchase any extra coverage on their own dime.
3) Reduce pension programs to match Social Security, let employees contribute whatever extra they want.
There. Eleven billion saved, without closing a post office.
Wow, what a tear-jerker from the WSJ. Where is this theoretical remote community? Barrows, Alaska?
There’s always SOME excuse, no matter how trivial, to keep wasting money is sums the human mind can scarcely even comprehend. Some old guys need a place to drink coffee in the morning and wonder if they’ve caught that Dillinger guy whose face is on the poster. That’s worth a few hundred million for sure.
...so, it wasn't just my imagination, they really were sleeping on the job.
Kinda explains why they are losing so much money.
.
Probably no union layoffs.
Also end Saturday delivery. Maybe make deliveries M-T and Th-F. On Wednesday they can work on sorting the mail.
I worked as a casual clerk, then later as a post master relief at small post office in small town, AZ. The post master was the laziest person I think I’ve ever met. She worked at doing as little as possible. She was also a nut. One day, there was a bunch of stuff going on and she was very angry. She was on the phone for a while, then just disappeared. My self and another clerk were working our butts off. I get a call from the post master’s boss who informed me that if the post master came back we are to evacuate the building and call 911. The post master wasn’t around for a couple of weeks (sick leave), then she comes back as if nothing had ever happened.
I have no idea what she said that prompted her boss to tell me to call 911. I eventually quit because the woman was a flipping nut. The post office can save several thousands of dollars a year by sacking her.
I loved that job. But it got to the point where the post master was actually putting my life, as well as her own, in danger by not following security regulations. I also sent confidential information to one of her bosses about her behavior - who sent it right back to the post master. So much for protecting their employees.
remote communities? How about shutting down some big union city post offices that already have too many?
Like any govt agency the USPS has something like 6 administrators for every employee who actually handles mail particles. Reducing that number to 1 administrator for every 6 working employees would put the USPS nicely into the black.
Are you invested in identity theft companies? It’s for gamblers only. That’s my opinion of internet banking and bill paying.
I don’t care how secure your PC system is. Professional hackers will defeat it if they choose to do so.
I’d like to see a list - while I think this has to be done I do understand the comment.
When you live in Podunk, Ohio but your post office requires people to put “East Boofoo” when they mail to you, your actual town gets lost in the shuffle.
Just great. Now where will I get those pre-approved bank card offers??
Mine for sure
>>I also sent confidential information to one of her bosses about her behavior - who sent it right back to the post master. <<
And you then learned how the system operates....cover my butt and I’ll cover yours.
You can have your mail read “Podunk East” and still have the post office in “Bigburg”. They sort and bag the mail in Bigburg and drive to Podunk East to do the route. A little more in terms of gas money, and you still have the same number of route workers, but you lose the facility and management cost.
“The news is crushing in many remote communities where the post office is often the heart of the town and the closest link to the rest of the country. Shuttering them, critics say, also puts an enormous burden on people, particularly on the elderly, who find it difficult to travel out of town. “
Ok? Why is this reason enough to keep pissing away money?
These areas can get mail delivered twice a week, and the USPS can contract with a local store to set up a postal booth where you can go and get your mail or mail something.
Or they can adapt to modern times and use the internet?
I’ve worked in a bank for 3 years.
In that time I have processed a LOT of fraudulent charge claims for clients.
20% are when check are stolen or counterfeit - nothing to do with internet banking
70% is debit card fraud. This CAN be online but isn’t due to banking online, rather, making purchases and entering your card number
Exactly ONE case involved someone’s online banking account being compromised and it turned out it was her boyfriend who had gotten her password.
It’s safer than writing a check, in other words.
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