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Postal Service to Make Sunday Deliveries for Amazon (Privatize the Government)
NYTimes ^ | 11/11/2013 | RON NIXON

Posted on 11/11/2013 4:35:42 AM PST by RoosterRedux

The cash-short United States Postal Service, which has failed to win congressional approval to stop delivering mail on Saturdays to save money, has struck a deal with the online retailer Amazon.com to deliver the company’s packages on Sundays — a first for both, with obvious advantages for each.

For the Postal Service, which lost nearly $16 billion last year, first-class mail delivery, particularly on Saturdays, is often a money loser, whereas package delivery is profitable.

The deal, announced on Sunday and taking effect immediately, in time for the holiday shopping season, gives the Postal Service a chance to take some business from United Parcel Service and FedEx, which do not deliver on Sundays. Now, some orders that would have been handled by either of those carriers for Monday delivery will go through the Postal Service and arrive on Sunday.

The Postal Service said it expected to make more such deals with other merchants, seeking a larger role in the $186 billion e-commerce market. Amazon.com would not say if it would try to arrange Sunday deliveries with other parcel carriers.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
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To: RoosterRedux

Face value it looks great.

Reality it is our subsidy that makes it happen. That isn’t a level playing field.

It boils down to actually a bit of fascism.


21 posted on 11/11/2013 5:41:24 AM PST by CincyRichieRich (“Life is hard, but it’s harder when you’re stupid.” John Wayne)
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To: Artie

“I’ll go out on a limb and predict double the losses if they have to pay triple time weekend differentials to the union employees.”

Not to worry. Most Post Offices have enough under worked substitute carries (who are paid less) to deliver on Sunday and thus avoid the expensive overtime. As it is now, (without Sunday deliveries), overtime is still very difficult to come by. Individual Post Masters are necessarily stingy with overtime.


22 posted on 11/11/2013 5:47:06 AM PST by rgboomers (This space purposely left blank)
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To: rarestia

I buy tons of used books from Amazon, all of which come from small sellers.


23 posted on 11/11/2013 5:57:13 AM PST by colinhester
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To: RoosterRedux

The Post Office really can’t be fully privatized, because much of it exists by treaty, the Universal Postal Union, that took both the British Empire and the United States to create in 1874. Today, it would be impossible to create such a treaty. It is administered by the UN, in the French language.

This means that international post goes from one nation’s post office to another nation’s post office, instead of from nation to nation.

However, that still leaves a LOT of partial privatization that can be done.


24 posted on 11/11/2013 5:57:48 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (War on Terror news at rantburg.com)
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To: Repeal The 17th
I don’t understand why the author says that Saturday mail delivery is more of a money loser than the other days of the week.

Do union postal workers get premium pay for working the Saturday shift?

25 posted on 11/11/2013 5:58:42 AM PST by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: Artie
I’ll go out on a limb and predict double the losses if they have to pay triple time weekend differentials to the union employees.

I believe they already out delivering for Express Mail, the added cost may by negligible.
26 posted on 11/11/2013 6:15:34 AM PST by Dr. Sivana (There's no salvation in politics.)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham
Speaking of which, I'm surprised that the Postal Service doesn't consider lowering its rates.

Well, for first class mail, it probably wouldn't persuade you to send an extra letter to Aunt Tilly, or to drop your on-line bill pay. Sometimes, when the demand curve goes down due to forces unrelated to the business (obsolescence, due to Internet), prices have to go up for the relatively inelastic part of the curve. The USPS has to ask "Mother may I?" for First Class Mail, so everything else goes up more.
27 posted on 11/11/2013 6:19:25 AM PST by Dr. Sivana (There's no salvation in politics.)
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To: BfloGuy
In my area, UPS prices are considerably lower than the post office rates.

I do a fair amount of small carton shipping and I save a couple dollars on each carton by going to my UPS store. And I don't have to wait in line forever like I do at my post office.

Leni

28 posted on 11/11/2013 6:43:03 AM PST by MinuteGal
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To: RoosterRedux

I am not an Amazon Prime subscriber.

So, when I do order anything from Amazon, orders takes up to 6 weeks to be delivered.

Thus, I order very little from Amazon.com.

Their ‘storefront’ providers have a bit faster delivery, but most time, it takes significantly longer than ordering from Newegg or TigerDirect or Walmart, etc.

I follow the online trackers. Many time, a package will sit in a location for days without showing any transport movement.


29 posted on 11/11/2013 6:44:12 AM PST by TomGuy (.)
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To: TomGuy

Six weeks is very unusual. I usually get it within a few days. Perhaps you’re ordering items out of stock?


30 posted on 11/11/2013 6:46:43 AM PST by Ted Grant
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To: RoosterRedux

We are Prime members and love it since it is 150 miles to a big town. Need an ink pen? Get it in two days with no shipping. But we live in some geographical mystery spot where some people around us have mailboxes but we are forced to have a post office box. On Saturdays they hand out packages for 30 minutes mid-morning if they decide to open the window. Sunday delivery for us would mean we get a notification in the post office box on Sunday instead of Monday.


31 posted on 11/11/2013 6:54:11 AM PST by eartrumpet
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To: Ted Grant

No. The online invoices show ‘items shipped’.

I have tracked them to distribution center. One was in NJ, where a package sat for over 3 weeks and 2 additional weeks in PA. Others have sat for 2 weeks in NY, PA, or north MS.

If they were marked ‘back order’, I would understand, but when they are marked ‘shipped’ and takes weeks, that is some other problem.


32 posted on 11/11/2013 6:56:40 AM PST by TomGuy (.)
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To: rarestia
As much as I hate that Amazon puts smaller businesses out of business...

If you're looking for something they don't carry (or even if they do) there are options that come up from other, often small, businesses. The service through Amazon with them is very good, as they want a favorable rating. I've found real good sources for vinyl records, specialty foods, made-in-the-USA greeting cards, as just a few examples. Besides that, the purchases get points in Amazon prime.

33 posted on 11/11/2013 7:02:25 AM PST by grania
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To: Dr. Sivana

I was thinking about junk mail!


34 posted on 11/11/2013 7:02:31 AM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (If you liked the website, you'll LOVE the healthcare!)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham
I was thinking about junk mail!

The junk mail prices have been kept really low, especially for large bulk mailers. Small time mailers (e.g. niche periodicals) got hammered instead.
35 posted on 11/11/2013 7:06:13 AM PST by Dr. Sivana (There's no salvation in politics.)
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To: MestaMachine

Pity it’s just NYC and LA. I guess the rest of us in flyover country don’t count. . .


36 posted on 11/11/2013 7:08:58 AM PST by Salgak (http://catalogoftehburningstoopid.blogspot.com 100% all-natural snark !)
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To: Dr. Sivana

Netflix (dvd shipments) used to be the biggest client of the USPS, but when Netflix split dvds from streaming, their dvd business dropped significantly.

About the same time, the USPS was closing some regional distribution centers, thus creating delays in delivery.

Under their original arrangement, I would get dvds in about 2 days, so the cost wasn’t too bad. Afterward, deliveries would take 3 to 4 days, so the cost was substantially more. I dropped the dvd service but kept the streaming.


37 posted on 11/11/2013 7:17:42 AM PST by TomGuy (.)
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To: Salgak

LA & NYC is just where they will start. They will expand to other areas later. I would not expect it to get to anywhere in rural areas anytime soon.


38 posted on 11/11/2013 7:22:33 AM PST by woodbutcher1963
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To: BfloGuy
The Postal Service's rates are already substantially less than UPS or FedEX.

As are their service levels. USPS missing commit greater than 18% of the time, whereas UPS and FedEx are in the 99.xx% range.
39 posted on 11/11/2013 7:24:36 AM PST by TexasGunLover ("Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists."-- President George W. Bush)
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To: TomGuy
So, when I do order anything from Amazon, orders takes up to 6 weeks to be delivered.

That is highly unusual. Average overall time to door is 3 days for Amazon.
40 posted on 11/11/2013 7:25:38 AM PST by TexasGunLover ("Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists."-- President George W. Bush)
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