Postal Service ends year $1.7B in the red (Stamp price to be raised to $0.37....GRRRRRRR...)

USA Today ^ | 12/4/2001 | N/A

[RooRoobird14]

WASHINGTON (AP)

[general_re]

Ahh, they ain't doing so bad, all things considered:

US First Class Postage Rates in Current and Constant (2000) Cents for First Ounce, 1880-2000

[The Truth Will Make You Free]

Your point about standardized pricing is certainly valid, but letters delivered per carrier has got to higher in metropolitan areas. Hence the cost per letter delivered has got to be lower.

[Chili Girl]

Bravo! The bulk-rate increase idea is much better idea. I know I get way more unsolicited mail than solicited mail. And they wonder why the dumps are getting soooo full soooo fast! Junk mail!!

[genefromjersey]

If the Postal Service is so broke, how come they're spending millions advertising on TV ?? ( Why in Tophet is a government monopoly advertising in the first place ???)

[monkeyshine]

Exactly. Fire those 3 who were at lunch, and install 3 self-service kiosks! You put the package on the scale, type in the address, swipe your credit/debit card, and it prints a label with postage on it for you! Couldn't cost more than $1000 per kiosk, and they would save $120,000 a year by firing those 3 lunch eating, ineffecient employees. The Kiosk would probably last 3 years with only minor adjustments to the scale, and the post office would save almost $500,000 in payroll costs AT EACH AND EVERY BRANCH ACROSS AMERICA. And if you wanted full service help, you could still wait in line AND PAY MORE FOR IT.

I am sick of the government being inefficient. Not just the post office is this bad. The DMV, Social Security, the Passport service -- all across the land the government is WAY BEHIND. The private sector has advanced tremendously -- if you ship by UPS you can track your package from the loading dock to your front door. The post office doesn't have a clue.

I agree they do a great job, and when you think about the volume they do, losing $1.7B is not so bad considering the volume -- but the solution to their problem is staring them right in the face.

[DeaconBenjamin]

Don't be stupid. The junk mail rates are also going up; and usually the increase is higher than the first ounce of First-Class.

[Waco]

110% Bukshht. Since 1968 postage increases do NOT go to postal service. They go to "reduce national debt"! The gov't gets ALL postal revenue. Goes in general fund. Congress appropiates an amount of $ for post office. If P.O. uses less, they say it "showed a profit". In a recent year I read that the revenue was 45-50 billion $, and the P.O. budget was $26 billion. Lotsa money making gong on here. You can bet revenue far exceeds "budget" and over runs. The media needs to get on this and report the facts.

[DeaconBenjamin]

Probably next fall; possibly next summer if the mailers and Postal Service work out a settlement.

[RooRoobird14]

I've also noticed that the Postal slugs ALWAYS manage to have 2/3rd's of their counter clerks off taking their lunch/sleep/Zoloft breaks during the lunch rush hours.

They couldn't possibly schedule breaks based on better customer service during "rush hour," now would they?

[DeaconBenjamin]

On the assumption that the Postal Service and the federal government are lying to us on this point, where do you get your information that postal revenues go into the general fund?

[weegee]

Do you have an article citation for this? I know that they manage to sneak up othe postal classes (except the junk mail 2nd class) and they eliminated 3rd class (4th class is bookrate) every hike. I really like it how the policy for Priority Mail has gone from 2lbs 2ozs 2 days "guaranteed" to "usually" 2-3day delivery (I had a priority mail package take three weeks to arrive this year). This seems just to be a way to make more money off the ebay crowd if minimum postage for a package goes over $5.

[weegee]

Oh well, I suppose I should be grateful that I can slap a $.37 stamp on a letter, and be reasonably assured that it will go anywhere in the world.

Well it was $.60 to go to Canada and $.80 to go to Europe under current pricing. Don't know what those rates will go to but I can assure you that they won't drop in half...

[weegee]

End the bonuses. I recall that last years bonuses approached $250million.

[weegee]

Why does the Post Office buy ad space at ballparks (without even placing a mailbox on the property)?

Why does the Post Office spend millions of dollars sponsoring the Olympics?

Why does thr Post Office spend millions of dollars on bonuses?

I know that when my company (Compaq) showed no profit, I lost out on my bonus check.

[weegee]

LOL! Did anyone else see the post office skit on saturday night live (or was it Mad TV?) that was almost exactly what you witnessed? Funny and sad all at the same time.

I've seen it but missed the sketch...

[DeaconBenjamin]

Proposed rates here. That is the Postal Service website; the Postal Rate Commission website had posted the 46 percent increase for 2 pound Priority Mail on its home page.

[weegee]

Thanks. I couldn't find this in the "press releases" on the usps.gov website and only found the AP article on-line.

I have a friend that always says, hey it's only a few cents (~10% increase on a stamp but the other rates will climb 25-50% at a time).

Since they ship and recieve a number of packages a month, I just wanted to pass this news along.

[wildwood]

did you see the reference to the postal service as "deep pocket customers" who will be buying oodles of those segways for their people?

i had a DIFFERENT idea about who was actually paying for the segways.

[gogov]

Let's see now. Business is slow. What to do? Hey, I have a great idea. Let's raise our prices!!!

[DeaconBenjamin]

BTW, be advised:

1) Just because the Postal Service asked for a specific rate increase doesn't mean they are going to get it. Final rate increases can be lower or higher than requested.

2) The 46 percent increase in 2 pound Priority Mail is to zone 8. The 2 pound rate is currently unzoned.