An Inside Look At The USPS

[wetshavingmonkey]

The postal service does get some federal tax dollars. For FY 2009, it requested $117.7 million from Congress (down from $153 million the previous year). This is a relatively tiny amount since expenses total roughly $80 billion. The postal service gets significant tax breaks UPS and FedEx don't have such as exemption from property taxes and sales taxes.

The post office was a department of the U.S. government headed by the Postmaster General from 1792 to 1971 (cabinet level 1829-1971). The postal service is still an independent agency of the government with most of its governors appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Postal employees have most of the benefits of regular federal employees, including retirement benefits and both life and health insurance plans at lower rates than other federal workers. The post office was removed from regular government primarily for two reasons: one, to make it easier to raise postal rates (eliminating direct Congressional action) and to allow collective bargaining with postal unions on wages (unique in the federal government).

The postal service is not only non-profit but it loses money. Last year it had $80 billion in expenses but took in only $75 billion.

Richard

You're only telling part of the story here. The money request you speak of is an appropriation for reimbursements and reconcilliations from past years -- it is not a subsidy. This is from the USPS 2007 Annual report:

Nevertheless, the Postal Service’s recent and long-term success inspires optimism. When the Postal Reorganization Act (PRA) was implemented in 1971, the Postal Service was a money-losing, heavily subsidized government department in desperate need of modernization, lacking in customer focus and with serious service and efficiency problems. During the nearly-36 years of the PRA, the Postal Service reinvented itself and made tremendous progress on all fronts. Compared to 1971, today’s Postal Service employs only 7.5 percent more people to deliver 244 percent more mail to more than twice as many addresses, with no tax subsidies supporting its operation. During that time, the Postal Service earned revenue of $1.464 trillion and achieved its break-even mandate within about one-tenth of one percent — quite an accomplishment.

The entire report can be found here.

This is from a Finacial Public Release from the USPS website:

At today’s meeting, the Board of Governors approved a fiscal year (FY) 2009 appropriation request totaling $117.7 million. This annual request to Congress includes $69.8 million in reimbursement for free services the Postal Service is required to provide, including free mail for blind persons and for overseas voting. The request also includes reconciliation adjustments for previous years based on final audited mail volumes, which are $2.8 million for FY 2007 and $16.1 million for FY 2006.

In addition, the request includes $29 million for the latest annual installment from the Revenue Forgone Reform Act of 1993. This act requires the Postal Service to be reimbursed for services it performed in 1991 through 1993 and for shortfalls in the reimbursement of costs the Postal Service incurred processing and delivering certain nonprofit mail from 1994 through 1998.

The Postal Service is also authorized by law to request partial reimbursement for the costs incurred in providing universal service. However, the Postal Service has not requested funds for this purpose since FY 1983.

If you want to read more on this, go here.

 

[Tinzien]

Gentlemen,

To not one in particular, just a general encouragement to everyone, please keep this thread civil.

Thank you

 

[cvixx]

I do the background investigations on Postal Inspectors for their 5-year re-evaluation for a LE position and also the backgrounds on the higher-ups for promotions to regional management. I have wandered around a few post offices in large cities and seem what WSM has said. Interestingly enough, the one question I can NOT ask, as I do for all other Federal agancies, is if there are amy mental concerns...such as going postal.

While Postal Inspector seemed like a good job to have, being rank and file in the mill would not be my first choice. Definitely would make one strive for management to get out of the rat race.

 

[Lionhearted]

You're only telling part of the story here. The money request you speak of is an appropriation for reimbursements and reconcilliations from past years -- it is not a subsidy.

I was merely pointing out that the postal service does in fact get taxpayer dollars. It has every year since it started in 1971. I never suggested these tax dollars were a subsidy. The subsidies come in other forms such as tax exemptions (especially property and sales taxes but also others that add up), legal monopoly with antitrust exemption, and exemption from compliance with all state and local laws and regulations, none of which UPS and FedEx enjoy. If not for these government subsidies, the postal service could not compete with private industry and would have gone out of business years ago.

Richard

 

[wetshavingmonkey]

I do the background investigations on Postal Inspectors for their 5-year re-evaluation for a LE position and also the backgrounds on the higher-ups for promotions to regional management. I have wandered around a few post offices in large cities and seem what WSM has said. Interestingly enough, the one question I can NOT ask, as I do for all other Federal agancies, is if there are amy mental concerns...such as going postal.

While Postal Inspector seemed like a good job to have, being rank and file in the mill would not be my first choice. Definitely would make one strive for management to get out of the rat race.

You want to go into Postal management? Can you answer yes to all of these qualifying question?

If you can look people straight in the eye while lying to them, you're a candidate for Postal management.

If you have no problems with adjusting time-keeping records to to prevent employees from receiving overtime pay that they legitimately worked, you're a candidate for Postal management.

If you are a creative writer, and have no qualms about submitting lie-filled statements to the Dept of Labor to try and sabotage the claim of an employee who suffered a legitimate on-the-job injury, you're a candidate for Postal management.

If you get off by harrassing and belittling these same injured employees, you're a candidate for Postal management.

If you can consistently maintain an uncaring attitiude in regards to the personal lives of your employees, you're a candidate for Postal management.

If you have no problems with doing the dirty work for a nasty Posmaster in order to curry favor for better work assignments,
you're a candidate for Postal management.

If you don't mind cancelling your vacations when told to do so by the Postmaster, you're a candidate for Postal management (this fits in with the previous question).

Still interested? Then please step forward for your lobotomy, it will make it so much easier.

 

[Tinzien]

I guess it is up to me to ask the obvious question, but why did you stay with the USPS for 20 years if it is so bad?

 

[Lynchmeister]

I guess it is up to me to ask the obvious question, but why did you stay with the USPS for 20 years if it is so bad?

+1 No offense intended, but you seem hell bent on simultaneously bad mouthing and defending the USPS.

Get out while there's still time.

 

[Daves]

IMHO the USPS does an excellent job. Here's why:

I spent a couple of years at university in France. La Poste was truly horrible. I would not receive packages/letters sent to me. I even had some of my mail burnt. At the post offices the service is very poor. The workers were very surly and it was difficult getting stuff posted. For me it was all a nightmare.

When I got back here I went to the post office where I had a PO Box. I went up to the counter and thanked the 2 gentleman behind the counter and thanked both of them for doing an excellent job.

While I was there I saw a phone number to complain about service. When I got home I called the #. A man answered the phone and said in a very gruff manner "Yeah what is it!" I said "Is this where you make complaints?" He replied "YEAH!" I said " I just want to tell you what a great job you guys do.
He said "REALLY!" He was very grateful I called.

Late on there was a lot of negative stuff coming out about the USPS. There was a lot of talk about privatizing it. People complained about the high costs of stamps etc. A friend of was complaining about it and said that in West Germany they had first class overnight delivery. I enlightened him by explaining to him that West Germany was the size of Pennsylvania and a first class stamp cost 60 cents over twice as much as a stamp in the U.S.

I known some people who have "gone postal." The working condition are a worse than they used to be. I hope something can be done for them.

I salute you for your good work.

 

[wetshavingmonkey]

I was merely pointing out that the postal service does in fact get taxpayer dollars. It has every year since it started in 1971. I never suggested these tax dollars were a subsidy. The subsidies come in other forms such as tax exemptions (especially property and sales taxes but also others that add up), legal monopoly with antitrust exemption, and exemption from compliance with all state and local laws and regulations, none of which UPS and FedEx enjoy. If not for these government subsidies, the postal service could not compete with private industry and would have gone out of business years ago.

Richard

You're still twisting this. What the USPS is getting is reimbursement for services the government tells them they have to provide free of charge, such as delivery of matter for the blind. Think of it this way, your employer requires you to travel, but rather than give you an expense account, they let you pay for your meals and hotels and then reimburse you. Are you out the money until you get reimbursed? Yes, and If they didn't reimburse you, would you feel the pinch after a week on the road? I imagine so. The USPS paid for the fuel and manpower to process this mail, and now Uncle Sam is just paying them back for the service they were told to render. If the USPS didn't get this money back, of course they would go under. What business can stay afloat by providing services free of charge? Obviously, if the money comes from the government, it is tax based. But it is repayment for services the government is hiring the USPS to provide, because if was up to the USPS solely, they would charge for these mailings.

As for FedEx and UPS, you are correct in stating that they receive no government subsidies, and I never said otherwise. But unlike FedEx and UPS, the USPS cannot slap fuel surcharges on mailings every time gas prices spike.

By the way, thanks for taking away the spirit of my thread which was only intended to enlighten others about the working conditions inside the Postal Service and turning it into your own personal diatribe about government funding.

 

[castlecraver]

This seems like a pretty good place to vent on this experience I had earlier this week. I'm almost never available to get to the post office when they're open, so I have to depend on this awesome little ATM-lookin' thing in the lobby called the "automated postal center." Boy, let me tell you how bloody wonderful that thing is... when it works.

11pm and still haven't sent out that razor you sold on B&B last night? No problemo. Need to buy stamps with a credit card? You got it! I could go on.

4 of the last 5 times I've been to visit my little electronic postal friend, however... I've been greeted with a screen informing me that it is broken or undergoing "nightly maintenance" and cannot be used. As they've summarily got rid of the vending machines that sell other manner of stamps (aside from the 41c variety) in my post office, and the priority mail box/envelope/label rack is always unstocked, I'm left with few good options having already burned the gas to go out there.

IMO, this is one of the most helpful technological innovations I've used in a long time. I just wish they kept it working more often.

 

[wetshavingmonkey]

+1 No offense intended, but you seem hell bent on simultaneously bad mouthing and defending the USPS.

Get out while there's still time.

This thread is really getting skewed now. Like I mentioned before, if you don't work there, it can difficult to explain how things operate. For starters, I do like my job and I am very well compensated for the work I do. Let me ask a few questions, does anybody else work for a company whose management seems to go out of their way to make your job more difficult? Are you treated with respect? Do you receive recognition for the work you do? Are you the butt of all of the "going postal" jokes? I'm not "bad mouthing" the USPS per se, but rather the management. As for defending the USPS? I will wholeheartedly defend each and every hard-working man and woman who rise very early in the a.m. to begin processing mail and provide 6-day a week service to every mailing address in the US. We do this even in inclement weather and after dark using flashlights to see. I will also defend the USPS from the idiots who are pissed off because they owe taxes and come to the window on April 15th and and feel they are justified in throwing their returns at me because they think they are paying my salary.

 

[Holton181]

I gotta tell you, I've never really had a terrible expirence with the Post Office. The letter carriers always seem to be very friendly, and if a teller gives me sass, I give him or her sass back. Most of the time, it changes their disposition completely in a positive light.

I have noticed however that the letter carriers always seem to be in a good mood, while the tellers are 50-50. Your opening post sheds some light on why. Sorry you have to go through that.

 

[FriscoSoxFan]

This seems like a pretty good place to vent on this experience I had earlier this week. I'm almost never available to get to the post office when they're open, so I have to depend on this awesome little ATM-lookin' thing in the lobby called the "automated postal center." Boy, let me tell you how bloody wonderful that thing is... when it works.

11pm and still haven't sent out that razor you sold on B&B last night? No problemo. Need to buy stamps with a credit card? You got it! I could go on.

4 of the last 5 times I've been to visit my little electronic postal friend, however... I've been greeted with a screen informing me that it is broken or undergoing "nightly maintenance" and cannot be used. As they've summarily got rid of the vending machines that sell other manner of stamps (aside from the 41c variety) in my post office, and the priority mail box/envelope/label rack is always unstocked, I'm left with few good options having already burned the gas to go out there.

IMO, this is one of the most helpful technological innovations I've used in a long time. I just wish they kept it working more often.

Click n' ship. usps.com.

Print the label online, then put the box in the APC dropbox. Only drawback is that you can only do priority mail. I'm willing to pay.

Unfortunately, I can't send care packages to my buddy in Iraq this way because there is a customs form that you can only do in-person.

 

[castlecraver]

Click n' ship. usps.com.

Print the label online, then put the box in the APC dropbox. Only drawback is that you can only do priority mail. I'm willing to pay.

You know, I haven't considered that option for some time because I was initially put off by the cost of the labels, worrying about weight when I'm not doing the flat-rate box thing, and the fact that I'd still have to burn the gas to drop it off. If it's bothering me this much though, you're right... I might be better off this way.

 

[frogman1821]

I know all about these “auxiliary routes” as i live on one, my road gets split up by another and there are only 4 houses on my end so we kinda get forgotten about, im lucky if my mail shows up at 4:00 but it is usually around 5 and around the holidays its between 6-7.

 

[wetshavingmonkey]

Click n' ship. usps.com.

Print the label online, then put the box in the APC dropbox. Only drawback is that you can only do priority mail. I'm willing to pay.

Unfortunately, I can't send care packages to my buddy in Iraq this way because there is a customs form that you can only do in-person.

Actaully, you can also mail domestic Express and international Priority or Express, as well as print the customs forms.

 

[Holton181]

Actaully, you can also mail domestic Express and international Priority or Express, as well as print the customs forms.

You can print the forms, but you still can't ship it from your house, right? You have to go to the Post Office

 

[Lionhearted]

Click n' ship. usps.com.

Print the label online, then put the box in the APC dropbox. Only drawback is that you can only do priority mail. I'm willing to pay.

By printing a post office label through PayPal you can also use First Class or using PayPal you can also print a UPS label.

Richard

 

[wetshavingmonkey]

I guess it is up to me to ask the obvious question, but why did you stay with the USPS for 20 years if it is so bad?

Lets say you have daughter. A beautiful, bright daughter who gets good grades and has big plans for college and her life. At the tender age of 15, this beautiful daughter announces that she is pregnant. Are you happy with this situation? Do you still love your daughter, or do you banish her from your house? Will her plans for college and her life change? Not necessarily, but it will become more difficult to accomplish.

After 20 years, what do you think my pension looks like? Add to that, a 401K plan with company matched contributions. Potentially, I could be out at 55, because I will have over 30 years under my belt. Would you walk out on this any more than you would your daughter?

 

[Zeni]

read Post Office by Charles Bukowski.

One of my drivers is a carrier and has IIRC 18 months before he can retire. I tell get out when you can don't bother trying to get a few more years in.