how to save the post office

[Normand]

how to save the post office

Brian-R_CA.po.jpg

[jeffnles1]

Don't laugh, it may come to that.

[CaseyP]

gonna cost me more than that--my beverage just sprayed all over the keyboard...

[Bass_Bug]

Just think what a tank of gas will cost when stamps reach that point???

Casey, thats why I don't bring a beverage near the computer. The computer is only 3 years old, the beverage is usually 12!

[ducksterman]

For that I expect delivery on Saturday.

[Uncle Jesse]

Start with removing the restrictions and let UPS & FedEx compete for letter delivery and raising junk mail rates.

[Marco]

I can understand the problem USPS is having. As for myself, I purchased a book of the "foreve"r stamps last October (?) and haven't used a ONE yet. I do all my correspondence via e-mail or telephone and pay all my bills via my bank e-bills, e-pay. Prior to getting "smart" i was paying over $50 per month on postage . BUT, I know it's coming, a tax on e-correspondence. AND, how can you fix an instutution that allows sick days to accumulate for years. A postal worker can retire earlier using his/her accumulated sick days to discount their retirement date. GREAT deal if you can get it. Whatever happened to common sense ?

Mark
PS: And that being said, in addition to my "signature" I best get my a$$ to work. Short day today, like yesterday, 16 hours.Gotta finish the job before the per diem non completion penalty kicks in.

[EdD]

I can understand the problem USPS is having. As for myself, I purchased a book of the "foreve"r stamps last October (?) and haven't used a ONE yet. I do all my correspondence via e-mail or telephone and pay all my bills via my bank e-bills, e-pay. Prior to getting "smart" i was paying over $50 per month on postage . BUT, I know it's coming, a tax on e-correspondence. AND, how can you fix an instutution that allows sick days to accumulate for years. A postal worker can retire earlier using his/her accumulated sick days to discount their retirement date. GREAT deal if you can get it. Whatever happened to common sense ?

Mark
PS: And that being said, in addition to my "signature" I best get my a$$ to work. Short day today, like yesterday, 16 hours.Gotta finish the job before the per diem non completion penalty kicks in.

The Other Side of the Coin

How about rolling over vacation days? If I don't use my vacation this year, is it wrong to expect that benefit in the future? I have PTO. All time off comes from one pool regardless of whether it is called vacation or sick time. If I get close to retirement, am I not allowed to take time off. If I have enough accrued days to take off and still to get paid until my retirement date, should I not be allowed that benefit. If I work without the rewards at the time, am I to be denied the reward in the future? The harder you work, the less you get. There's an incentive for you.

One last thought about that. If I don't take sick days and they don't have to bring in a replacement worker to cover for me, then they have fewer days with a (in theory) less efficient worker. That means that the general day-to-day productivity should be higher.

How can we fix organizations like that?

[flyguy66]

I think the best way to fix the post office is to let it DIE. Open up competition as someone else mentioned. The USPS is dying because it is an institution that enjoyed a monopoly for so long that when technology made them mostly irrelevant they couldn't even adapt themselves to the changing world around them in time to avert disaster. Not all "institutions" should be saved. Slavery is a good example. Feudalism, the monarchy, ...oh heck...I can think of a bunch of them! LOL

We use about 2-3 stamps per month when averaged out over the course of a year. Most of that is for greeting cards for birthdays, holidays, etc. Everything else we "mail" we ship UPS or FedEx because we already can't count on USPS to get the job done right, or because UPS/FedEx can do it cheaper. Personally, I'm a fan of the UPS Store business model. I walk in with a bunch of items and a list of addresses. I tell them where I want them sent and by what method from their "menu." They help me fill out the forms. They package everything if I want them to. If they do it, the contents are insured against damage during transit. If I do it, I have to pay extra for insurance. I swipe my credit/debit card, write a check, or pay cash and get a receipt with tracking #'s. Oh, need a money order? I can get one of those, too. I can also buy cards, stamps, wrapping paper, stationery, packing materials, and a host of other things while I'm there and make some photocopies. When traveling for extended periods, I can go rent a mailbox there at the same location. I list their street address as my "ship to" address and such so that nobody hits me with that "can't be a PO box" stuff. I can leave instructions to contact me if certain types of things arrive for me and they actually DO it. I can call in from the road and have them go through my mail with me on the phone, then tell them whether or not to forward stuff to me and give them the address I want it sent to this time. I can have faxes sent there/send faxes from there. I can keep track of and manage a lot of this stuff from my laptop and even mobile phone. And as a small business, I can even have all of my billing done on a 30-day credit account. They'll pick stuff up where I want them to and deliver it where I want them to. Or I can go pick it up at their nearest location. And I can ship anything from a postcard to an automobile. They even do APO/FPO...which FedEx does not. Special delivery instructions like "if I'm not home, leave it with the lady next door in the pink house?" Not at any price with the USPS!

[Marco]

EdD,
I'm a small business employer. In my business model I decided to provide 5 paid sick days per year ( additional non paid- per my discretion). They are just THAT, SICK DAYS to be used fro the obvious. Vacation days vary with time of employment by me. First full year, 1 week. Second and subsequent years, 2 weeks. Paid in both instances. I REQUIRE the employee to take that vacation for two major reasons. One, it improves morale and TWO, I schedule my projects around the absence of that employee in my plans for any project etc. I may ask an employee to take early or delay a scheduled vacation but try to adhere to my original plan. In my model, it's "use it or lose it". My business model would collapse if I had an employee who accumulated both sick days and vacation days and presented me with a one ore two month absent request. I can live through the absence of an employee for a day, a week or two weeks, but a month would be a problem. Granted, that scenario would be as a result of an agreement between me and that employee but I could not possibly sustain the policy for long.
As I said before " Great if you can get it". I don't begrudge the employee bargaining for such a good deal. I DO however question the business model that agrees to that deal. Another GREAT example is the retirement health care provided through UAW bargaining with GM.
The USPS is still a government entity in disguise and as such is insulated from using common sense or logic.
THis is NOT a subject for debate between you and me. You deserve everything you and your employer agreed to. I, on the other hand deserve the right to make rules that fit my situation.
Having said all that, while writing this , my bobber went under and I missed the fish. DRAT!

Mark:
PS: flyguy, you have a lady in a "PINK" house NEXT DOOR ????