Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Loren Pechtel · 01-30-2003, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sakpo
Simply put, sometimes we still need or want words printed on real tangible paper. Moving these pieces of paper about is a necessity for a healthy United States. The USPS is by far the most effective way for most people to move their pieces of paper about.

Today I got a letter of reccomendation from an instructor of mine, which I needed so I could physically include it with an application to a university program. For various reasons I won't get into here he couldn't give it to me personally so he had to send it. Canada Post was by far the most cost efficient and practical way for this to be achieved. It happened in Canada but it could have occured in the United States just as easily.

We need wide acceptance of something like PGP. Then he could have e-mailed it to you.

The modern on-line generation has very litttle need of the post office and honestly would be served fine by 1/week deliveries. It's the older people that need it.

SkepticalThomas · 01-31-2003, 05:37 AM

Just to answer a few questions from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

I've worked for the USPS for 18 years now and here's some facts about the USPS.

The USPS is huge organization with a huge impact on our society.

We deliver 680 million pieces of mail to 138 million addresses every day except Sundays and Holidays.

We employ over 750,000 people.

Our operating budget is about 50 billion dollars a year.

We deliver as much mail as in a week as UPS does in a year; and more in 2 days than FedEx delivers in a year.

We are a government organization in the fact that we are regulated by the govt and they in essence set our prices.

Howver, Since 1982, we have been completely financially independent. All of our revenue comes from the sale of

postage and postal products. We do not receive any tax dollars for operating expenses.

During the bad years the USPS, like any business must borrow money to operate. We borrow this money and pay it back.

We are mandated by law to break even. We are not allowed to make a profit for a sustained period.

The USPS does have a monopoly. However, it is only on First Class Mail. Hence the existence of UPS (Parcel Post) and Fed Ex (Express Mail) The USPS monopoly on First Class Mail is in place to protect service to the consumer. This monopoly allows the USPS to provide universal delivery at a universal price. If the monopoly were not in place, you would pay 10 cents to get a letter across town, but you would pay 10dollars to get it across country. You would have to pay surcharges for rural deliveries. You would have to pay large surcharges for difficult or dangerous deliveries (i.e. Hawaii, Alaska, the bottom of the Grand Canyon, etc.)

Despite the fact that the USPS has this monopoly we are the most efficient mail delivery service in the world. Currently we process and deliver 46% of the cards and letters in the world. Japan is next at 6%. We deliver a standard First Class letter for 37 cents to anywhere in the United States of America. In Japan on the other hand, you would pay the equivalent of 62 cents to deliver your mailpiece to anywhere in a country roughly the size the California.

Last but not least keep in mind what you get for that 37 cents. A person will come to your front door to pick up you letter. Your letter can go from Miami Florida to Nome Alaska usually within 3-4 days. If your friend has moved a couple of times without you knowledge the USPS will forward your letter as many times as necesary to wherever you friend has moved. They will maintain your friends forwarding order(s) for one year. They will deliver that letter to your friend's front door. All this for 37 cents.

I hope this helps to put in perspective what the USPS does and doesn't do.

Tom

[fixed formatting - 99%]

Loren Pechtel · 01-31-2003, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SkepticalThomas

Despite the fact that the USPS has this monopoly we are the

most efficient mail delivery service in the world. Currently

we process and deliver 46% of the cards and letters in the

world. Japan is next at 6%. We deliver a standard First

Class letter for 37 cents to anywhere in the United States of

America. In Japan on the other hand, you would pay the

equivalent of 62 cents to deliver your mailpiece to anywhere

in a country roughly the size the California.

I do agree that the USPS does a pretty good job.

One thing I would like to see, though--how about non-deominated stamps? They would be only for the common amounts (ie, a 37 and a 23, and whatever is used for priority and overnight) but the stamp wouldn't have a postage amount. Instead it would be for a purpose. A first class stamp would mail an ounce, period. Rate increases would not change this--yes, you would get somewhat less postage but you would get the money earlier, this should balance. If the cost of mailing isn't going up faster than inflation (and why should it?) this would work. It would make it a lot more convenient for the casual users of the system that buy books or rolls of stamps rather than having meters.

MortalWombat · 01-31-2003, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Grad Student Humanist
Let UPS first show that it can get my letter from here in Mississippi to Hawaii or Maine for less than 37 cents and then we can talk.

Not only that, but see if they will charge 37 cents to send a letter across country after first coming to your house to pick it up.

ohwilleke · 01-31-2003, 05:37 PM

The postal service is better described as a public utility than it is as a monopoly.

There are business lines that aren't particularly useful for the USPS to be in. It could leave the parcel post business, the P.O. Box business, and the express mail business without a notable disruption of commerce. It is already leaving the home pickup business and door to door delivery business in new communities.

I've toyed with the idea of abolishing bulk rate mail, so that anyone who wanted to send it would have to pay the regular 37 cents, but I'm sure it would drive regular mail prices way up.

There are also services provided by USPS that would be there otherwise. General delivery mail service and universal service are two of the most significant. Universal mail service makes mail very useful for legal purposes, since you know you can mail anyone, even if they don't have an address.

Certainly, mail is cheap, and certainly there are great economies of scale to having monopoly service. Also, since the process is so simply, technological advance is less important for mail.

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01-31-2003, 05:37 AM	#22
SkepticalThomas New Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3	Just to answer a few questions from the horse's mouth, so to speak. I've worked for the USPS for 18 years now and here's some facts about the USPS. The USPS is huge organization with a huge impact on our society. We deliver 680 million pieces of mail to 138 million addresses every day except Sundays and Holidays. We employ over 750,000 people. Our operating budget is about 50 billion dollars a year. We deliver as much mail as in a week as UPS does in a year; and more in 2 days than FedEx delivers in a year. We are a government organization in the fact that we are regulated by the govt and they in essence set our prices. Howver, Since 1982, we have been completely financially independent. All of our revenue comes from the sale of postage and postal products. We do not receive any tax dollars for operating expenses. During the bad years the USPS, like any business must borrow money to operate. We borrow this money and pay it back. We are mandated by law to break even. We are not allowed to make a profit for a sustained period. The USPS does have a monopoly. However, it is only on First Class Mail. Hence the existence of UPS (Parcel Post) and Fed Ex (Express Mail) The USPS monopoly on First Class Mail is in place to protect service to the consumer. This monopoly allows the USPS to provide universal delivery at a universal price. If the monopoly were not in place, you would pay 10 cents to get a letter across town, but you would pay 10dollars to get it across country. You would have to pay surcharges for rural deliveries. You would have to pay large surcharges for difficult or dangerous deliveries (i.e. Hawaii, Alaska, the bottom of the Grand Canyon, etc.) Despite the fact that the USPS has this monopoly we are the most efficient mail delivery service in the world. Currently we process and deliver 46% of the cards and letters in the world. Japan is next at 6%. We deliver a standard First Class letter for 37 cents to anywhere in the United States of America. In Japan on the other hand, you would pay the equivalent of 62 cents to deliver your mailpiece to anywhere in a country roughly the size the California. Last but not least keep in mind what you get for that 37 cents. A person will come to your front door to pick up you letter. Your letter can go from Miami Florida to Nome Alaska usually within 3-4 days. If your friend has moved a couple of times without you knowledge the USPS will forward your letter as many times as necesary to wherever you friend has moved. They will maintain your friends forwarding order(s) for one year. They will deliver that letter to your friend's front door. All this for 37 cents. I hope this helps to put in perspective what the USPS does and doesn't do. Tom [fixed formatting - 99%]

01-31-2003, 05:37 PM	#25
ohwilleke Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Denver, Colorado, USA Posts: 4,834	The postal service is better described as a public utility than it is as a monopoly. There are business lines that aren't particularly useful for the USPS to be in. It could leave the parcel post business, the P.O. Box business, and the express mail business without a notable disruption of commerce. It is already leaving the home pickup business and door to door delivery business in new communities. I've toyed with the idea of abolishing bulk rate mail, so that anyone who wanted to send it would have to pay the regular 37 cents, but I'm sure it would drive regular mail prices way up. There are also services provided by USPS that would be there otherwise. General delivery mail service and universal service are two of the most significant. Universal mail service makes mail very useful for legal purposes, since you know you can mail anyone, even if they don't have an address. Certainly, mail is cheap, and certainly there are great economies of scale to having monopoly service. Also, since the process is so simply, technological advance is less important for mail.

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