The Post Office ( moved from thread in the news)

[cowboy]

yep UPS needed the 3.9 million could not have done it without my tax dollers 81000 each wish the goverment would give me a fleet of new trucks that only cost a doller a gallon to fuel. when george town burnt they asked congress for 10 grand to rebuild and tom jefferson said if he had the money he would gladly give it but that the money that he held as a member of congress was not his to give. they would do good to remember that today!!!!

[KSneedsCNG]

Re: Ryder leasing LNG trucks

Strange but ironic though that UPS gets subsidy for "fixed routes" that it's trucks are travelling, however what about the US Postal Service that DAILY are truly driving fixed routes that are to EXACT place each time!!

How can the US not be helping the struggling Postal Service by immediately dropping fuel costs??

[cowboy]

Re: Ryder leasing LNG trucks

the problem is the post office thinks it cant go out they are still thinking like goverment (we have always done it that way). lets open up first class mail to any co that wants to get involved I bet ups and fedex would jump on it. I bet they could do it and loose a lot less mail. and cheaper to. the way the post office is now I never send anything important with them fedex or ups is the only way to go. if I mail a letter to someone in deerlodge where I live from deerlodge they send it all the way to knoxville and back round trip of about 85 miles or better for it to end up within two or three miles of where it was sent from now what in the world would make you think that a co that would do something as stupid as that would try to save money on fuel and clean the air by burning cheap clean fuel I say let them go by the wayside and let free enterprise take over. do the math .44 cents times 16 oz in a pound times 48000 pounds in a truck works out to 337920.00 (three hundred and thirty seven thousand nine hundredand twenty dollers) that is a lot of money for one truck load now granted they have to gather it sort it and deliver it but I will bet even money that ups or fedex could do a better job loose less mail and do it for less I have never lost anything fedex and only one package with ups and they found it in just 2 days after they were told it was missing loose something at the post office they will tell you thats nice

[KSneedsCNG]

Re: Ryder leasing LNG trucks

You're right Cowboy . . . US Postal Service has to Re-Invent itself if it wants to survive. I'm sure they are swimming in draconian in-efficient processes that need to go.

USPS is in process of closing lots of postal sort locations to save money, so they'll be "Back Hauling" local mail even farther than before . . . not a proper business decision based on lowest cost.

Probably could pay someone minimum wage at cities/towns of certain size to just KEEP mail that is local to stay in same town, rather than be trucked somewhere to be "sorted" by machine to tell them it goes right back to same town. In old days, major mail locations and post offices themselves got free labor from customers by having both a Local mail drop, and Out-Of-Town mail drop . . . what a concept that got lost with idea of only machine sorting everything.

Time will tell whether US Postal Service can rebuild itself in profitable way.

[cowbay]

Re: Ryder leasing LNG trucks

The postal service is in a real bind. First thing is they have to fund their pensions system for people who have yet to be born as mandated by the federal government. Try doing that with local, state, and federal government and they would be bankrupt. The other thing is believe it or not even though they are a quasi private organization they are really constrained by the government on what they can do. As a result from that the waste and inefficiency that is created is mind numbing. So every time they make a cut a politician or some interest group protesting. We do work for the post office and some of the projects are an utter waste of taxpayer dollars all in the name of pork. So you add that and inefficiency within the organization it is like climbing mount everest.
So as stated above time will tell

[twh_mn]

Re: Ryder leasing LNG trucks

Our local post office will soon stop sorting mail locally and will transport it 154 miles to be sorted at a larger urban center. Our post office lobby used to have a stamp vending machine to dispense stamps after hours. Now you can no longer purchase stamps after hours, you need to purchase them elsewhere or buy them between 8:00am to 5:00pm (4:47pm) from a union clerk...

[cowboy]

Re: Ryder leasing LNG trucks

I think the post office is trying to go broke so it can be saved kinda like the mouse that roared.

[ritch123]

Re: Ryder leasing LNG trucks

Our local post office will soon stop sorting mail locally and will transport it 154 miles to be sorted at a larger urban center. Our post office lobby used to have a stamp vending machine to dispense stamps after hours. Now you can no longer purchase stamps after hours, you need to purchase them elsewhere or buy them between 8:00am to 5:00pm (4:47pm) from a union clerk...

Any CVS or Supermarket will sell you stamps at face value.

[twh_mn]

Re: Ryder leasing LNG trucks

You get the irony right? Post office - no stamps; gas station convenience store, ATM, gocery store, etc. - stamps. Dispenser machine is profitable, convenient, available and a threat to union clerks. You see, if you can buy the stamps from a vending machine anytime you don't need as many clerks from 8:00-5:00. Another subsidized/protected failing enterprise.

[Lakewood90712]

Re: The Post Office ( moved from thread in the news)

Apples and blueberries. Can't be compared. If Fedex had to visit EVERY private mailbox , 6 days a week for free , and send a 1 oz letter either down the road , or from Vermont to Hawaii for 45 cents ? Would be like $3.00 . 1st class postage needs to be at least $1 for the first oz. to even match cost.

It's conventional 1st class mail service and daily visit with or without a letter that is a drag on the postal service. Huge money looser. They make money on the bulk mail crap that fills your mailbox.

Fedex 2nd day letter with pickup and delivery to a residence is about $24 , USPS priority mail is $5.20 .


Fedex and UPS are great.I use the frequently . The post office is a lot cheaper in most cases.


If Fedex and UPS did not have that pesky old subsidized postal service around , where would non overnight parcel rates go ? I guarantee , not down.

Fedex and UPS are both unionized in the warehouse and on the road. The Fedex union long haul drivers have about the best pay/benefits in the nation.

Have a problem with Postal Management ? Bash them ! Have a problem with the mandate of the postal service, call your Congress rep!

Try throwing 150# mail bags all night for a few years as a part time postal employee during college , and dealing with tyrants in postal management . Not fun , not easy . I ASSURE YOU!