USPS Price increase, WOW!!! 0

[Wally's Comics]

With the USPS shipping prices skyrocketing and the Canada loonie falling into the abyss I wonder when the shipping price in Canadian dollars will be worth more than the books inside???

 

 

 

 

 

[Artboy99]

With the USPS shipping prices skyrocketing and the Canada loonie falling into the abyss I wonder when the shipping price in Canadian dollars will be worth more than the books inside???

 

 

 

 

 

already is in many cases.

[mrwoogieman]

The problems started when Congress decided the USPS needed to be run like a business and fund itself. It's a service provided by the government and should be funded through taxes like everything else - highways, ship ports, airports, etc. How come no one demands that the US interstate system be self-sufficient?

[RCheli]

The problems started when Congress decided the USPS needed to be run like a business and fund itself. It's a service provided by the government and should be funded through taxes like everything else - highways, ship ports, airports, etc. How come no one demands that the US interstate system be self-sufficient?

 

The thing is, the USPS gets no money from tax payers/governement above and beyond the services they pay for. So maybe they need to start getting some cash from us citizens. I'm okay with that.

[mysterio]

We aren't paying to move our packages.

 

We are paying to support bureaucratic mismanagement for decades.

 

 

No we aren't . We are paying to support forward payment of benefits that NO OTHER COMPANY in the history of the world has had to pay. This ruling was made by Congress, and the two leaders of the Congressional committee who pushed this through represent Memphis and Louisville, homes of the shipping hubs of Federal Express and UPS. Such a coincidence.

 

When Congress kills the USPS, and rates to ship things quadruple - and they will - I do hope that everyone who about the USPS remembers what they had.

 

Yes. A thousand times yes.

 

USPS was doing fine until Congress and W started making ridiculous demands. But yeah, blame the Post Office.

 

I've never understood why this was so unreasonable. It just means that when everything else is insolvent because the bill finally came due, that USPS employees might actually get what they were promised. Better than a "trust fund" that is actually just a big stack of IOUs. Benefits cost money, and just passing that buck onto future generations doesn't actually make them easier to pay for in the long run.

[Ghost Town]

We aren't paying to move our packages.

 

We are paying to support bureaucratic mismanagement for decades.

 

 

No we aren't . We are paying to support forward payment of benefits that NO OTHER COMPANY in the history of the world has had to pay. This ruling was made by Congress, and the two leaders of the Congressional committee who pushed this through represent Memphis and Louisville, homes of the shipping hubs of Federal Express and UPS. Such a coincidence.

 

When Congress kills the USPS, and rates to ship things quadruple - and they will - I do hope that everyone who about the USPS remembers what they had.

Yup.

[mrwoogieman]

The problems started when Congress decided the USPS needed to be run like a business and fund itself. It's a service provided by the government and should be funded through taxes like everything else - highways, ship ports, airports, etc. How come no one demands that the US interstate system be self-sufficient?

 

The thing is, the USPS gets no money from tax payers/governement above and beyond the services they pay for. So maybe they need to start getting some cash from us citizens. I'm okay with that.

 

Interesting, thanks. Maybe I was thinking of the railroad privatizing that lead to Amtrak...

[Gatsby77]

We aren't paying to move our packages.

 

We are paying to support bureaucratic mismanagement for decades.

 

 

No we aren't . We are paying to support forward payment of benefits that NO OTHER COMPANY in the history of the world has had to pay. This ruling was made by Congress, and the two leaders of the Congressional committee who pushed this through represent Memphis and Louisville, homes of the shipping hubs of Federal Express and UPS. Such a coincidence.

 

When Congress kills the USPS, and rates to ship things quadruple - and they will - I do hope that everyone who about the USPS remembers what they had.

Yup.

 

This.

 

1) The USPS is entirely self-funded. As in, it receives no taxpayer money.

 

2) In an effort to kill the USPS, Congress passed a law requiring the agency to pre-fund pension obligations, as in -- set aside vast amounts of money for pension obligations that won't come due until decades (literal decades) in the future.

 

As was noted, no other private company (or even, government agency) has ever been forced to do this.

 

Its financial shortfall is entirely an accounting fiction -- an attempt by several in Congress to bankrupt the agency so that FedEx/UPS/Amazon/Uber can then absorb it, jack rates and gain exclusive entree to its logistics network (which, btw, is second to none).

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

We aren't paying to move our packages.

 

We are paying to support bureaucratic mismanagement for decades.

 

 

No we aren't . We are paying to support forward payment of benefits that NO OTHER COMPANY in the history of the world has had to pay. This ruling was made by Congress, and the two leaders of the Congressional committee who pushed this through represent Memphis and Louisville, homes of the shipping hubs of Federal Express and UPS. Such a coincidence.

 

Yes, and that would be bureaucratic mismanagement.

 

Who do you think manages the USPS? The bureaucracy. The forward payment of benefits was precisely what I had in mind when I made my post in the first place....and that is a direct result of bureaucratic mismanagement.

 

Congress doesn't manage anything. The bureaucracy does. Congress only legislates.

 

I don't doubt there are other factors involved; there always are in every situation. But at the core...and I know you don't like this, and we're dancing a little close to the line here, so this is all I will say...is that bureaucracy is not, has never been, and by its very nature, can never be efficient.

 

You completely support the bureaucracy, so you think the answer lies there.

 

It doesn't, and cannot.

 

[KPR Comics]

We aren't paying to move our packages.

 

We are paying to support bureaucratic mismanagement for decades.

 

 

No we aren't . We are paying to support forward payment of benefits that NO OTHER COMPANY in the history of the world has had to pay. This ruling was made by Congress, and the two leaders of the Congressional committee who pushed this through represent Memphis and Louisville, homes of the shipping hubs of Federal Express and UPS. Such a coincidence.

 

When Congress kills the USPS, and rates to ship things quadruple - and they will - I do hope that everyone who about the USPS remembers what they had.

Yup.

 

This.

 

1) The USPS is entirely self-funded. As in, it receives no taxpayer money.

 

2) In an effort to kill the USPS, Congress passed a law requiring the agency to pre-fund pension obligations, as in -- set aside vast amounts of money for pension obligations that won't come due until decades (literal decades) in the future.

 

As was noted, no other private company (or even, government agency) has ever been forced to do this.

 

Its financial shortfall is entirely an accounting fiction -- an attempt by several in Congress to bankrupt the agency so that FedEx/UPS/Amazon/Uber can then absorb it, jack rates and gain exclusive entree to its logistics network (which, btw, is second to none).

 

Not 100% correct. USPS pays no real estate or personal property taxes to states or localities. Billions per year that are absorbed by taxpayers (just not federal taxes).

[ComicConnoisseur]

U.S. Postal Service Reports $586 Million Net Loss in Third Quarter; Double-Digit Package Growth

 

WAY overpaid for what is being done. Moving a package from point A to B.

 

Last year for the same time period they lost over 2 BILLION I believe.

 

Elektra101

The USPS employers make upwards $60,000 a year.Plus their benefits are some of the best in the country. That might be a problem. Most usps mailman and cashiers make more than cops and firefighters.

 

The problem the USPS has with money has NOTHING TO DO with current salaries or benefits. NOTHING. To say it does is to show your ignorance

Google retirement benefits usps.

[the blob]

Who do you think manages the USPS? The bureaucracy. The forward payment of benefits was precisely what I had in mind when I made my post in the first place....and that is a direct result of bureaucratic mismanagement.

 

Congress doesn't manage anything. The bureaucracy does. Congress only legislates.

-------

 

RMA, your post makes no sense. There may very well be mismanagement. But that's not what is in play on this issue. At the bequest of USPS competitors, Congress imposed a rule that other agencies and businesses do not have to follow, jacking up their costs exponentially requiring stuff to be pre-funded entirely that most employers do not.

 

now, perhaps, usps should not have allowed itself to have such large pension/retirement obligations. that's fair, but those obligations were cut WAYYYY back in 1985..basically if you started work then (and did like 27 or whatever years) you get a pension that is about half as much as workers who started in 1984 or earlier (this was not a usps specific thing, all federal benefits got much less generous)..so 25% of salary vs. 50% of salary for a pre-84 hire. So it seems like a typical mail carier hired after 1984 might be in line for about a $15,000 pension when they retire. better than nothing, but hardly posh living.

[the blob]

U.S. Postal Service Reports $586 Million Net Loss in Third Quarter; Double-Digit Package Growth

 

WAY overpaid for what is being done. Moving a package from point A to B.

 

Last year for the same time period they lost over 2 BILLION I believe.

 

Elektra101

The USPS employers make upwards $60,000 a year.Plus their benefits are some of the best in the country. That might be a problem. Most usps mailman and cashiers make more than cops and firefighters.

 

The problem the USPS has with money has NOTHING TO DO with current salaries or benefits. NOTHING. To say it does is to show your ignorance

Google retirement benefits usps.

 

http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=United_States_Postal_Worker_%28Carrier%29/Hourly_Rate

 

 

Average mail carrier makes $16 an hour according to this. Considering there is not a $15 minimum wage in some places and we are likely to see that in a few more places in the coming years, this does not seem like a lot.

 

http://work.chron.com/average-pay-postal-worker-2050.html

 

The hourly rate cited here is higher admittedly, but the annual salary is in that $50K range. Does not seem like that much money if you have been at a job 10, 15, 20 years. I think that $16 number comes from averaging in part-time mail carriers, of which there are many and I don't think they get paid as well.

 

I do not know what cops and firefighters make in your neck of the woods. Average NYPD officer makes $82K. Mind you, this is an average, so a blend of rookies and guys with 20 years of experience. Of course, living around here on even $82K can be a challenge. I know other places pay less. This is less about usps folks being overpaid, rather, those police and firefighters being underpaid. Maybe you get better officers if you pay more?

Edited January 19, 2016 by the blob

[RCheli]

The USPS is required to have 75 years worth of retirement benefits funded. So they are funding retirements for a large number of people that are likely neither currently USPS employees or even born yet.

[the blob]

The USPS is required to have 75 years worth of retirement benefits funded. So they are funding retirements for a large number of people that are likely neither currently USPS employees or even born yet.

 

i get the feeling that those extra obligations are a lot more than real estate taxes they do not have to pay (although that was a fair point if you are comparing them to UPS/Fedex)

[jools&jim]

 

Revenues have been in decline for years at the USPS -- there was grousing about this when I was working there back in the pre-internet early '90s. And it's only getting worse.

 

So, anyone care to guess who would get stuck with the tab if the USPS wasn't forced to work ahead and go the pre-funding route, and instead defaulted on its benefit promises...?

 

[RCheli]

The USPS is required to have 75 years worth of retirement benefits funded. So they are funding retirements for a large number of people that are likely neither currently USPS employees or even born yet.

 

i get the feeling that those extra obligations are a lot more than real estate taxes they do not have to pay (although that was a fair point if you are comparing them to UPS/Fedex)

 

Significantly more.

 

The post office is not perfect. They lose things. They deliver things to the wrong address. They also process 40% of the world's mail. They do it rather cheaply.

 

I suppose I'd like them to pay property taxes (though I doubt if it'd be in the billions of dollars yearly); I'd also like churches to pay property (and other) taxes.

[Buzzetta]

As a buyer, I absorb the cost of the shipping when I am buying.

 

As a seller, the cost of shipping just went up for the buyer.

a) I am not inclined to offer as much of a lower price as I would when an offer is made by someone across the country.

b) I will raise the prices on a few things that have free shipping built into the listing.

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

RMA, your post makes no sense. .

 

Really? The whole post, huh? Not a lick of sense to it?

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

Who do you think manages the USPS? The bureaucracy. The forward payment of benefits was precisely what I had in mind when I made my post in the first place....and that is a direct result of bureaucratic mismanagement.

 

Congress doesn't manage anything. The bureaucracy does. Congress only legislates.

-------

 

RMA, your post makes no sense. There may very well be mismanagement. But that's not what is in play on this issue. At the bequest of USPS competitors, Congress imposed a rule that other agencies and businesses do not have to follow, jacking up their costs exponentially requiring stuff to be pre-funded entirely that most employers do not.

 

Not in dispute.

 

The USPS is not "most employers." It is a unique, quasi-governmental entity, in a position that makes it neither governmental agency nor private enterprise.

 

Further discussion is hampered by the inability to discuss politics, so my posts will, unfortunately, probably still not make any sense to you.