Post office may close this winter?

[EweSheep]

The news didn't say a whole lot how it will go about closing or is on borrowed time. I don't know if it is just for rural PO or those who didn't make their quota for the month. Last time i heard that they will cut out weekends and perhaps no Mondays mails.

There goes the hatching eggs and shipping birds and baby chicks!

Would this affect you?

 

[woodmort]

The way I understand it the USPS will run out of operating funds around Christmas and have to shut down--not just rural but every place. Whether this will happen or whether it is the Postmaster General angling for more money and lessen of regulations I don't know. It seems everyone plays brinkmanship in this day and age.

 

[EweSheep]

Well I do notice we are getting less and less mail and more emails. Maybe a four or five workdays a week might help out a bit. You can only cut to the bone for so much but I know they need retirement benefits for the workers.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah, everyone does brinkmanship. It's hard to know what is really going on. The Post Office is really in trouble. They have to cover the same number of delivery points but a lot less mail is being shipped so they get a lot less money to operate on. Not everyone is online, so a cut in service will affect a lot of people. They are looking for ways to economize, such as cutting out Saturday delivery, consolidating sorting locations, reducing payroll, and shutting down the most inefficient post offices. The problem with shutting down the inefficient ones is that these are more likely to be in lightly populated rural areas where people will have to go longer distances to get to a post office. It will create a hardship on some people, but how do you cut spending without hurting someone?

Like a lot of government workers, they don't ncecessarily get a huge salary but they get good benefits, including retirement benefits. My brother has carried the mail for most of his adult life and has made certain plans for retirement. If the Post Office goes back on its word an slashes those retirement benefits just as he is getting ready to retire, it puts him in a bit of a hard place. If he had known that his retirement benefits are going to get cut, maybe he would not have taken his grandkid on that trip to Disneyworld but would have saved that money for retirement. He likes dog food about as little as I do.

I think a whole lot of us are going to get some unpleasant surprises in the not too distant future as the government money runs out. The Post Office may be the first example of this, but I don't think they are going to be the only one. It will be inbteresting to see how we handle that. Maybe it will be a clue as to how we will handle other things.

 

[kareninthesun]

There's lots of ways they can cut down, but it is all politics. They really do not have to cut out rural POs. Within seven miles here, (using my home as the center) there are eight post offices. Really. Who needs that many? Why in the world can't they just choose to close down any that are closer than five miles or less apart? Think of how much money would be saved. Between hiring more, utilities, downsizing on vehicles. Two of the post offices I like to go to because there is almost never more than two people in line, yet there are at least three employess that I can see working (and that isn't counting behind the scenes). If they'd do that, they wouldn't even have to close down on Saturdays (which I think is just a scare tactic). I'm basing all this imput on what a friend shares with me who's a PM.

Before the Government throws more money at them, I'd like to see a pay scale, benifits, and beni packages, the whole enchalada. After all it is US to pay for them, then turn around and pay again for postage.

 

[KenK]

How many people would really miss or be hurt by discontinuing Saturday delivery?
I wouldn't at all.

 

[kareninthesun]

Quote:
Me either. Was thinking of eggs, but since I don't have that experience, doesn't most ship on Mondays and get to their destinations within a few days, or use other services besides the PO? That would save a whole ton of money. And really, they aren't hurting THAT bad, with their if it ships promotion, I think many prefer using this, unless what they are shipping is under fragil guidelines or bigger.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There's lots of ways they can cut down, but it is all politics. They really do not have to cut out rural POs. Within seven miles here, (using my home as the center) there are eight post offices. Really. Who needs that many? Why in the world can't they just choose to close down any that are closer than five miles or less apart? Think of how much money would be saved. Between hiring more, utilities, downsizing on vehicles.

They are not talking about closing all the rural post offices, just the most inefficient. I'd prefer they chose the criteria than me, since I am involved in the details of how they handle logistics. They still have to deliver to all the rural and urban mail boxes, so from consolidated Post Offices, some carriers will have to travel further. But they will save on utilities, personnel, building maintenance, and a lot that I can't think of. My brother has to provide his own vehicle and maintain it, but they do pay by the route. They do mail counts and such so they can determine better routes and set how much each route is worth in salary. Of course, the ones with seniority get to choose their routes.

Part of the possible brinkmanship is that they are saying they will have to close all the post offices, rural and urban, this winter when they run out of money to pay their bills. That's a different issue than just closing the inefficient ones.

Two of the post offices I like to go to because there is almost never more than two people in line, yet there are at least three employess that I can see working (and that isn't counting behind the scenes). If they'd do that, they wouldn't even have to close down on Saturdays (which I think is just a scare tactic). I'm basing all this imput on what a friend shares with me who's a PM.

I think the ones they are targetting are the ones with hardly anyone ever waiting in line. Where they save money by stopping Saturday deliveries is that they don't have to pay their carriers those days. They pay their carriers by how many days they work on a specific route, so they could reduce the number of carriers by 1/6 by eliminating Saturday delivery. Benefits for permanent employees versus part-time substitutes with no benefits factors in too, so it is not a straighforward calculation. But eliminating Saturday delivery would reduce personnel costs quite a bit.

They are not just talking about the local Post Offices. They have regional sorting and logistics centers that employ several people. They want to consolidate these. This means certain communities in certain congressional districts will lose jobs. Many congressmen will resist losing jobs in their district. Don't you love politics?

Before the Government throws more money at them, I'd like to see a pay scale, benifits, and beni packages, the whole enchalada. After all it is US to pay for them, then turn around and pay again for postage.

This is at the heart of it. We the taxpayers do not pay the salaries or benefits. The Post Office has to be self-sufficient. The salaries and other expenses come from the stamps they sell. Congress sets postage rates. They are not selling enough stamps to pay for their expenses and Congress will not raise the postage rates enough for them to cover current expenses. So they have to find ways to reduce costs without losing too many more customers. If the rates go up too much, they lose customers. From talking to my brother, the Post Office has not been a real happy place to work for the last several years as they cut expenses.

 

[Royd]

I have always said that the whole concept of retirement is a glich in the history of man. Even in today's world, retirement is only a 1st world concept.
Even more radical, is the idea of working 20 years and, then, spending the rest of your life in relative luxury. Of course, the 20 year retirement can only be accomplished in the government workforce: military, law enforcement, public service.

The sad part, especially for the average worker, who has to struggle until the age of 65, to get their pittance, and pay for these quick retirements, is that many of these 20 year retirees, turn around and grab another government position and end up with two full retirements, from the same source...This should be against the law. It's called double dipping, just for those who don't know.

Another problem with this system of thinking is the idea that retirement money should all be fun money....Having your medical costs completely covered, with no expense on your part, for 40-50 years, is simply unsustainable, mostly because when it's free, it becomes a grabbag for every little ache and pain.

Oh, I tweeked my back, raking the yard...No problem, I'll run down and get a $1,000 MRI.

Unions are also on the way out, because of this easy retirement mentality. Instead of taking a little, and leaving something for the following group of workers, unions have become a, "Me, here, now." mentallity.....They end up killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
I wouldn't if stuff came when it is supposed to. Here's my rant. I've subscribed to both Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine for over 50 years--the former is mailed for delivery on Thurs the latter on Fri. Since midJuly I have been getting them as late as the following Wed. When I asked at the local PO--I get my mail at a PO Box--I was told the problem is at the distribution center. It seems in the last year they have consolidated these centers and the people working there are taking their sweet time in sorting and sending 3rd class stuff. The local postal clerk is disgusted with the service too The thing is I can get an ipad and have both those magazines sent there on time--oops there goes some more USPS revenue. In many cases it is the poor performance of the employees that is hurting the company and driving material elsewhere. In fact, I've taken to calling it the US Postal--there is no longer any Service involved.