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“So, your point is what? Somebody left your mail where the dog ate it or something?”

Seems like I recall from past communications that you are a USPS employee. But no matter. The USPS is a disgrace! and it’s a “joint venture” between voracious PE unions and stupid management. I read recently that at it’s zenith, the USPS employed 900,000 people; that it’s now down to something around 400k, and it needs to be half that based on the workload ( mail isn’t as popular as it once was). There are strong parallels between Amtrak and the USPS. They both, from all outward appearances, are run for the benefit of their employees and not their customers. We have a cadre of self-important postal workers where I live that make a trip to the PO worse than going to the proctologist. Because the know there is no discipline, they get away with being assholes to all who enter. And equally problematic are the “postal service rules.” Example: We have a PO Box for our business. My wife was out of town and had the only key. She called and talked to a supervisor who told her that they would give me the mail if I just went in and identified myself to one of the clerks. Not so fast. The clerk I engaged informed me that it was “against the rules” for them to get me the mail, but they would “sell” me a new key for ten bucks!. It was only when I told her the name of the supervisor and the commitment that had been made that I was able to get the mail without being blackmailed into buying another key. The USPS could shut down tomorrow and we would all get by with e-mail, and the private carriers like UPS and FedEx. Sorry, but that’s how I see it. Just wondering about how long you will keep your chair there and how much of a pension you will receive.

900,000?

Don't let your imagination run away with you.

Peak was barely over 600,000 ~ but thanks to modern mechanization, automation, computerization, improved work methods and robotics USPS was able to achieve advanced productivity rates.

When I first worked there they had about 500,000 employees and 35 billion pieces of mail. When I left just a few years back they had about 600,000 employees and over 200 billion pieces of mail.

Their geographic coverage area (for delivery) had doubled.

AMTRAK, in contrast, has gotten smaller and smaller ~ it's a hollow shell of the rail passenger system that preceded it. It's annual costs and income aren't in the same league as USPS, and it does not pay for itself out of fares but requires a substantial government subsidy. USPS pays for itself out of postage for mail service.

The USPS Is hardly a disgrace.

BTW, next time they're going to toss your mail to your neighbors dog. Same result, but you won't know it for a while. Making that call now eh!

I have worked for companies that do a LOT of shipping, and got familiar with the personalities of the various carriers. The USPS has its foibles, but UPS and FedEx are not exactly angels. Just TRY to get UPS to honor a warranty for a package damaged in transit that had insurance. You might be able to do it, just like the kids who scored the free Christmas tree in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". Customer friendly they were NOT. UPS also managed to misdirect a $1,500 hard drive from E.Hartford, CT to Milpitas, California. They later tried to claim we signed for it, pointing to the signing for a smaller package received BEFORE the drive was sent.

An overnight letter I sent to a residence in Poughkeepsie, NY wound up in a shopping mall.

UPS and FedEx treat you better depending on how close you are to their hubs.

USPS provides a good value in both their Media Mail and Priority Mail.

USPS' biggest failure is not slowness, but paperwork for business customers. The Manifest Mail application is an ordeal straight from the Byzantine Empire. Tracking features are not what they should be. Even when available and paid for, huge gaps are often found even when the item is "in the system".

All told, all are imperfect... all are mostly good. If you don't like unions, then stay away from UPS.

I like the idea of ensuring that there is a USPS, because I want at least one service where the employees can't outright go on strike (like UPS did), and the carrier won't simply file Chapter 7. The post office predates the Declaration of Independence, and postal roads are included in the U.S. Constitution.

There are some parts of the system that are definitely money losers: 45 cent stamps to North Pole, Alaska, Death Valley, Giam, and APOs in Afghanistan for starters. I'd hate to see what other carrier would even send a post card to those locations.

Key Fee; I wrote the rules on that one. Copied them from the model regulations Canada had pioneered. The basic idea was that key replacements should pay for themselves.

In Stage I we raised the price from 30 cents to $1.00 ~ in those days we had our own lock and key facility ~ but now they are provided commercially so the price has gone up to $3.00. it's not exactly a fee ~ more like a deposit ~ to be returned to you when the key is given back to USPS at the end of your rental. See; http://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm300/Notice123.pdf