Postal news for those interested in the mailing industry, postal employees, stamp collecting, etc... This site is not affiliated with the U.S. Postal Service
"...Trump has previously suggested a takeover of the Postal Service by the Commerce Department, and said the concept of privatizing the agency was “not the worst idea” he’s heard.
The USPS is an independent agency of the government; critics have warned that a challenge to that independence — particularly privatization — would risk letter carriers’ mission to deliver the mail to every American. A private USPS could make rural delivery more expensive or non-existent, they warn. ..."
Why is it you cannot go to the lobby of a U.S. Post Office and purchase a stamp after-hours? Well it seems the Postal Service decided to remove the stamp vending machines citing the expense required to repair and replace the antiquated machines. The Postal Service has attempted to quietly 'play it off' that changes in U.S. currency to prevent counterfeiting made it too costly to update machines to handle new bills, as well as a decline in first-class mail. Although the not-so-naive customer identifies it as a move to privatizing another once great service. Of course the elimination of stamp machines has come at a greater cost in convenience and loss of revenue generated by eliminating that convenience. The postal service came up with a plan to eliminate its 23,000 vending machines by 2010.
To this day, you still hear customers grumbling during 'after hours' stops to local Post Office lobbies, complaining about the absence of a stamp vending machine. Many are actually angry that when at the spur of the moment they want to make a quick run to the local Post Office after hours to mail a quick letter or birthday card only to find they now have to go to a 'convenience store' to buy a book of stamps, stand in line, fight the traffic, only to have to return to the Post Office to mail the letter because the Postal Service has not only removed the stamp machines, but have also removed the majority of the freestanding blue boxes where people could quickly mail letters. As one customer remarked, "It's like the U.S. Postal Service is purposely attempting to anger us so we become frustrated with the lack of convenience so that we are forced to turn to private retail businesses to pick up a stamp. It just seems the Postal Service should now be called the U.S. Postal Disservice! Why would a business want to turn customers away from a business model that worked so well at one time and is still needed and desired just as much today? It just doesn't make sense." This Article is From: The Postal Newsgroup Read our latest posts!
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"...A recent article in the Huffington Post discusses an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) plan, written in 2011. According to the article, the AEI plan is to make USPS look worse than it is. It should appear like “the USPS is obsolete and doomed..."
"...Although delivering mail may not turn a profit, it is a valuable public service. The Postal Service delivers 40 percent of the world’s cards and letters, according to the Center for American Progress. Sending letters, though less common today, is far from obsolete. Spending a small amount of tax money to keep the postal service afloat is not automatically a bad idea...."
Oversight Panel Approves Postal Reform Bill Ending Saturday Delivery
"...the revised version would prohibit postal unions and management from negotiating protections against layoffs in future contracts; increase health insurance costs; limit collective-bargaining rights; close post offices, stations, and branches; consolidate plants; and privatize operations...."
"...The senators have asked Majority Leader Harry Reid to include language in the next appropriations bill that would prevent the USPS from closing or consolidating mail processing facilities or rural post offices for the next six months...."
"...Today, the USPS announced a new Expanded Access study list...."
This Article is From: National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 317 - ...proudly providing world class postal service with a quality union workforce Read our latest posts! .
Rep. Darrell Issa selects Rep. Justin Amash, of Grand Rapids, to help lead panel investigating federal worker pay and benefits
"...I look forward to examining closely whether some of USPS's functions could be done more efficiently through competition and the private sector," Amash's statement said...."
"...A plane contracted by the U.S. Postal Service may have lost up to two bags of priority mail on a flight from Billings to Kalispell, totaling up to roughly 25 pounds of cargo...."
"...private companies would not want responsibility for the other services that the Postal Service provides, such as delivering a postcard to a remote area.
The USPS provides universal service, the president said, and private companies would not. ..."
"...heard presentations on a wide range of topics, and shared important information relative to staffing, operational, and other areas of concern and interest. The Task Force will develop and oversee implementation of a comprehensive Action Plan to address both the challenges and opportunities presented by the current state of affairs in the U.S. economy, and through actions being considered by the USPS...."
"...privatization of post across Europe will produce services that are deeply uneven and unequal. It will produce a grossly unfair two-tiered postal system, with one set of quality services for the large corporations and urban middle class, and another set of poorly provisioned services for rural areas, the urban poor, small businesses and the outermost territories of member states – if they even have access to such services at all. ..."
