What's Really Going On With Trump and the Post Office?

Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen The current intent of both the USPS and Congress is that the PO is self-funded. Not monay-making, but not money-hommorhaging, either. Unfortunately, certain Congressional mandates have made that more difficult (like requiring pre-funding retirement rather than pay-as-you-go like virtually every other retirement program, to include most government programs). Additionally, union rules directly hamper productivity. As a letter carrier, I routinely had to sit on my thumbs. If my sorting was done, I wasn't allowed to help another letter carrier who had high volume. And if I was waitong on a clerk to finish sorting packages, I was not allowed to go over and help them sort. Doing either of those things was "stealing their work" and I was infringing on their hours. The fact that they were going g to go I to overtime and I had time to spare was irrelevant. Because... Unions.

Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen - I don't understand your computers in Tampa analogy to rural post offices. My entire family (except me) lives in rural areas. they would get by with out the post office just fine. It is a fallacy that old people and people in rural areas are waiting by their mailboxes to be a part of society.

Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen - I lived in a rural area when most of America was a rural area. Here's the problem. One size never fits all. (I learned this having a 7-3/4 hat size) For example... We had a problem financing health care in this country. We could have taken care of it by focusing on those who needed help. The cost of providing free healthcare or subsidies to those who needed them would have been an infinitesimal percentage of the disaster known as Obamacare. Now, only those with free healthcare can afford it. The rest of us are paying monstrous premiums for policies with such large deductibles that it's as good as no insurance at all. Now, let's talk postal delivery. The vast majority of people in this nation live in urban areas with excellent wifi or cable coverage. Yes, we're still waiting for hi-speed Internet to reach the rural areas. So, we should maintain the horse and buggy postal service in urban areas? Now, let's talk reforms that maintain postal service everywhere. The Post Master General has already mentioned having carriers sort mail in the afternoon and delivering it in the morning. That, according to studies, would eliminate most of the overtime (and you can bet the unions don't like that one). How about metered postage? Why does a letter crossing the street cost the same as one crossing the nation? The successful services (FedEX, UPS, etc) aren't that stupid.

CPT Jack Durish The successful services don't have congressional mandates to pre-fund retirement, constitutional requirements to go to every residence (FedEx, UPS, Amazon, and even DHL outsource last mile delivery to USPS), or expensive unions. Apples and oranges.
And with ONLY the exception of a standard first class letter, postage IS metered based on distance and method. And if you are complaining about 55 cents to send a letter across the street, ask FedEx or UPS how much that will cost.

And no area, not even the rural ones, has horse and buggy service. Some have dog sled service or pontoon service, but no horse buggies.

CPT Bob Coleman And those without internet? And the packages which can't be scanned?

CPT Bob Coleman Actually letter mail is a VERY small portion of USPS business. Parcels and direct mail (ads, coupons, flyers, etc.) Make up the overwhelming majority. And study after study has shown that direct mail is FAR more effective than e-mail marketing, amd far less expensive than media marketing - so that ain't going away either.

Additionally, some documents HAVE to be honest-to-goodness paper (like legal documents, vehicle registration), and sure, they can go a different way (FedEx, UPS, etc.), but 9 times out of 10, USPS is cheaper - and more reliable.