Story about Postal Service that will piss you off!

[mello]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/The-Postal-Service-Service-Is-Going-Broke-5227

[madengr]

Why not just shutter the whole operation? Almost all of my mail is junk. Anything else (important) could be delivered FedEx ground for a few $. All my bills now come via email.

[Jordan]

Why not just shutter the whole operation? Almost all of my mail is junk. Anything else (important) could be delivered FedEx ground for a few $. All my bills now come via email.

No joke. The Post Office just subsidizes mass snailmail marketing pieces.

[MozoVote]

The cost of a postage stamp is a good proxy for the devaluation of the currency. The largest expense of the postal service is still manpower to physically sort and handle all the pieces of mail at final delivery. It became highly automated decades ago with ZIP codes and processing centers. I remember it being 13¢ in the 1970s.

I think they should just go ahead and chuck Saturday delivery. Most of my mail is just credit card solicitations, coupons/flyers and politicial junk anyway. Back when I lived in an apartment, I let my box deliberately fill up so the postman would get the hint that I really did not want any more trash left there.

[Jordan]

The cost of a postage stamp is a good proxy for the devaluation of the currency. The largest expense of the postal service is still manpower to physically sort and handle all the pieces of mail at final delivery. It became highly automated decades ago with ZIP codes and processing centers. I remember it being 13¢ in the 1970s.

I think they should just go ahead and chuck Saturday delivery. Most of my mail is just credit card solicitations, coupons/flyers and politicial junk anyway. Back when I lived in an apartment, I let my box deliberately fill up so the postman would get the hint that I really did not want any more trash left there.

I'd go so far to say to deliver it 3 days a week. MWF.

I think the reason they haven't cut it back is political. They need those employment numbers. Same thing with the war. :(

[specsaregood]

I'd go so far to say to deliver it 3 days a week. MWF.

I'd be content with 1 day a week. And let people opt out of solicitations. We can opt out of spamemail and spam phonecalls, why not spam postal mail?

[Jordan]

I'm still wondering why they can't create some kind of bar code system for addresses.

Input an address, get a barcode + stamp all in one, then have machines sort it. Once it's sorted, it could then be bundled together and the top piece of mail branded with the address to make it easy to read/deliver by the postal worker.

[MozoVote]

Actually you can opt out, it's called "Mail Preference Service" although it takes a while to come into effect - and doesn't get rid of the political stuff. You also have to write back to various marketers and tell them you want to be removed. I never bothered, but my (retired) parents with more time on their hands made the effort. They say it does help.

I agree with the basic point that it should be easier, though.

It is all so stupid. I just saw the mail truck arrive while I was sitting here today. Gottta go walk out there and remove the coupons from my mailbox and carry them to the trash can. Sheesh. All so that the garbage man can pick them up next Wednesday, and take them to the dump.

[mello]

I can't believe that the average post office carrier gets paid an average $83,000!?!? What the hell.