Posted on 04/17/2013 6:25:16 AM PDT by Kaslin
I think you are on to something. For decades the letter to Boise or Fairbanks could go at the same rate because they knew each of us would be spending at least a dozen stamps locally each month when we paid the light bill, water bill, etc. Now that that’s all gone online it’s kicked the legs out from under their subsidy.
They could do better, but of course Congress (not even the supposedly stingy Republicans) will let them.
Comparing them to FedEX or USPS which wouldn't make a profit mailing letters to Searchlight, NV at under $1 a pop is a category mistake.
Gub’mnt pays for its own use of postage, and for franking, and they pay for free for the blind and handicapped mail.
I'll have to disagree there. Anyone who ever has a little time in DC should take a short walk to the postal museum near the Amtrak Station.
It was a model of efficiency post World War II. A letter could get from Maine to California in 2-3 days tops traveling in trains which seldom went over 30 mph. For three cents, or about two-thirds of what it costs today adjusted for inflation.
There was a mail car on this train where a mere 1-2 workers furiously sorted mail en route, leaving a bag at the next station or junction which was bound for a destination in different directions than where the train was heading. Then the worker or workers would get back on a train heading in the opposite direction for the second half of their shift and were back where they started when the shift ended. On main lines, where trains ran through the night, a relief crew was ready to take over 24/7. On the secondaries, there were relief crews for only as long as the train ran, typically 12 or 16 hours.
Where trains didn't make regular runs, buses connected the train routes to perform the same function. If you are as old as I am and still fortunate enough to have parents or grandparents who lived during this time, they will confirm it. My mother, who lived in the west, and her sister, who was working in the east, have penny postcards and replies typically postmarked 3-4 days apart to prove it.
It was an absolute marvel of precision and efficiency with 1940s technology. Of course, postal workers were not unionized and only got a wage and benefit package slightly better than their counterparts in private industry in those days.
I once made the mistake of ordering packets of 25 when I was ordering individual boxes/padded envelopes. Our company has enough in the mail room to last us the next three years (at least) as a result. I'll do anything I can to avoid standing in line at the post office. It is even worth the couple of bucks to avoid it when I need stamps.
Five post offices and yet the Post Office can’t bring itself to make home delivery? That’s an efficiently run service for ya. (Actually there’s one post office on Market Street).
Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution, known as the Postal Clause or the Postal Power, empowers Congress “To establish Post Offices and post Roads”.
Everybody wants to get rid of the USPS, but its establishment is in the Constitution.
The USPS is an easy target, because it is the most recognizable part of the federal government in every city and neighborhood. It still moves an amazing amount of mail (Fed Ex and UPS deliver only a tiny fraction what the USPS delivers daily). If you look at its losses over the past 5 years, it is minuscule to the trillions of dollars of debt from far, far more wasteful and destructive divisions of the government.
Oh Boo Hoo...I guess we should give them fat pensions they don’t deserve into perpetuity on the tax payer!
The USPS is just another part of the DNC Mafia skimming tax dollars off the top for unions that give it back in contibutions.
To hell with the post office!
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