USPS doesn't have to pay traffic tickets - UPS and FedEx do...

[ChromeFoundry]

Postal Service's big delivery edge: no parking tickets
Kyle Stock
Published 3:13 pm, Saturday, September 6, 2014

The Postal Service has a monopoly on letters, they argue, and is raising prices on some customers unfairly to subsidize big retailers. The Postal Service, however, has another huge advantage they are past griping about: It doesn't have to pay traffic tickets. UPS spokesman Dan McMackin said fines are a cost of doing business. "When there aren't enough parking spots or loading zones for us, we have to double-park," he said. "And when we double-park, we get tickets."

Neither company breaks out how much it pays in municipal fines, but a look at New York public records show the tab must be sizable. FedEx was paying almost $2 million per quarter to the city of New York last year, according to Crain's. That's almost $8 million a year in just one city, enough to cover about two-thirds of the pay package for CEO Fred Smith and enough to pay Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe 18 times over.

...

Mail carriers don't have similar concerns. The city of East Cleveland tried to collect some $700 in traffic fines from Uncle Sam last year, only to get a letter from a Postal Service lawyer reminding the municipality that the organization has "federal immunity from state and local regulation."

More here

[arcane1]

1. Fortunately for UPS and FedEx, they don't have an absurd 75-year pension mandate to deal with

[pnwmom]

3. LOL. Great minds think alike.

[arcane1]

6. Haha! Indeed :)

[TheBlackAdder]

35. One that Bain Capital (or other PE firm) might seize, and the US Taxpayer forced to replenish. nt

[pnwmom]

2. So? UPS and FedEx don't have to fund pension obligations for employees who haven't even

been hired yet -- 75 years into the future.

[PM Martin]

4. What are you talking about?

[U4ikLefty]

7. Let me Google that for you.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=usps+75+year+funding

[joeglow3]

9. The first post says the do NOT have to fund it, just account for it

Thus, it is in alignment with every company and consistent with generally accepted accounting principals.

[pnwmom]

11. The UPS and FedEx do not have to "account" for pension obligations 75 years from now. n/t

[joeglow3]

14. Sure they do.

I am a CPA and we have to account for the estimated pensions liabilities that will be paid to existing employees. Can you please cite we here the 75 year number is coming from because in hours of looking, all I have seen is talking heads saying it. Even the GAO says it is 50, which is consistent with private businesses.

[pnwmom]

15. The PO has to pre-fund pensions 75 years into the future. Fed Ex and UPS do not.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/28/330524/postal-non-crisis-post-office-save-itself/

At the very end of that year, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under PAEA, USPS was forced to “prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years in an astonishing ten-year time span” — meaning that it had to put aside billions of dollars to pay for the health benefits of employees it hasn’t even hired yet, something “that no other government or private corporation is required to do.”

As consumer advocate Ralph Nader noted, if PAEA was never enacted, USPS would actually be facing a $1.5 billion surplus today:

By June 2011, the USPS saw a total net deficit of $19.5 billion, $12.7 billion of which was borrowed money from Treasury (leaving just $2.3 billion left until the USPS hits its statutory borrowing limit of $15 billion). This $19.5 billion deficit almost exactly matches the $20.95 billion the USPS made in prepayments to the fund for future retiree health care benefits by June 2011. If the prepayments required under PAEA were never enacted into law, the USPS would not have a net deficiency of nearly $20 billion, but instead be in the black by at least $1.5 billion.

SNIP

[joeglow3]

18. I have read the bill and did NOT see that

The GAO says that is not in there. What it says (and I saw) is that the government must account for the next 50 years worth...just like generally accepted accounting principals.


http://www.cnbc.com/id/45018432

[pnwmom]

20. The article you just linked to says they have to PRE-FUND the payments for 50 years.

Last edited Sat Oct 4, 2014, 04:41 PM - Edit history (2)

Private businesses do not have to do that.

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-postal-service-would-have-broken-even-without-accounting-charges

It is also worth noting that the prefunding requirement has little or no precedence in the private sector. It targets an extraordinarily high level of prefunding (many companies pay benefits as current expenses), to be reached in a short period of time. It also uses assumptions on health care cost growth that are far above recent growth rates.

[joeglow3]

36. Yes, businesses do.

We have minimum funding requirements, based on expected payouts to current and prior employees...same as the post office now needs to do. I know this because I am an accountant who works on calculating the entry every quarter.

The reason it is killing the post office is because they never did it and are catching up to where they should be.

[pnwmom]

63. The minimum funding requirements of businesses are NOT equivalent to

what the Post Office is being required to do now and you know that. The articles that have been linked to even give examples -- and they're not comparable.

[former9thward]

78. Name the last year the Post Office actually paid their pension payment.

They have not bothered paying it for four years now. So they don't have that as an excuse.

[pnwmom]

88. The issue is that the funding requirement is unfair. n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

10. This:

How Congress is killing the Post Office
By Felix Salmon July 20, 2012
September: the long-term secular decline of postal mail, on the one hand, combined with all manner of Congressionally-mandated restrictions which make a bad situation much, much worse.
" data-share-img="" data-share="twitter,facebook,linkedin,reddit,google" data-share-count="true">
Tags:
The Post Office’s problems are the same today as they were back in September: the long-term secular decline of postal mail, on the one hand, combined with all manner of Congressionally-mandated restrictions which make a bad situation much, much worse. And now the inevitable has happened: we’re going to have a $5.5 billion default.

A default of that magnitude sounds scarier than it actually is. Congress requires the Post Office to make inordinately huge pension-plan payments, for reasons which nobody can really understand. But in the final analysis, USPS pensions are a government obligation, and it doesn’t make a huge amount of difference whether they come out of a well-funded pension plan, a badly-funded pension plan, or just out of US government revenues.

What does make a lot of difference is the degree to which the Post Office is hamstrung by Congress. There’s still room for the Postal Service to reorient itself and become a successful 21st-century utility — but there’s no way that’s going to happen if it’s constantly on the back foot and if Congress prevents it from entering new businesses, possibly including banking.

To put it another way: the Post Office is broken, in large part thanks to unhelpful meddling by Congress. And it won’t get fixed unless and until Congress gets out of the way and stops forcing it into the corporate equivalent of ketosis, essentially consuming its own flesh in order to survive.

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/07/20/how-congress-is-killing-the-post-office/

[ChromeFoundry]

12. How does this have anything to do with abiding by traffic laws?

Look, I *get* your point that the USPS got screwed by congress on the healthcare and pension funding.
But, that should not allow them to be above the state and local laws. If a postal vehicle blocked your driveway and made you an hour late for work, or parked in front of a fire hydrant as your house burned... would you still respond with, "Well, they have pension obligations?" And that makes it OK?

[kcr]

23. Yes. It makes it okay.

World's tiniest violin for UPS and FedEx.

[TheBlackAdder]

37. Just like how a State Trooper can speed, but a Pinkerton Rent-A-Cop can't.

Besides certain parking meter enforcers, who are paid by commission to write tickets...

Most police and residents ignore the FedEx and UPS drivers, even when they are driving 75MPH on the interstate.

===

In Philly, the parking meter guys wait for the normal scheduled deliveries of produce trucks and supply trucks to stores and, back in the 1980's they used to have the tickets pre-filled out, waiting for the guy to arrive. While that completely sucks, it was part of the cost of urban delivery, by a non-government agency. FedEx and UPS are no different that the food and office supply delivery trucks.

[pscot]

62. Complete baloney

This story is based on a purely local beef that occurred a couple years ago between the mayor of Cleveland and the local postmaster over $700 in fines. No such blanket immunity exists.

[ChromeFoundry]

65. Here ya go...

[FSogol]

87. Completely agree. n/t

[malaise]

5. Only one of them is mentioned in the

Constitution

[former9thward]

79. Which means they don't have to obey traffic regulations?

Ok, got it...

[DontTreadOnMe]

8. UPS and FEDEX hand off all packages in remote areas to the USPS

areas that are not "profitable", they hand off to the USPS. They don't advertise it, but in reality both UPS and FEDEX do not service all areas. If the USPS didn't cover for them, they would lose a lot of their business.

[pnwmom]

13. And they charge a special premium for that -- rural customers pay higher rates.

As opposed to the PO, which charges the same rates for a package to or from anywhere in the US.

[TheBlackAdder]

33. Clarifying: The USPS charges pennies above cost to do Final Segment Delivery for FedEx/UPS.

Last edited Sat Oct 4, 2014, 06:44 PM - Edit history (1)

The USPS, while performing 'Final Segment Delivery', the most expensive part of package delivery... charges FedEX and UPS cost.

FedEx and UPS use the USPS so they don't have to invest in any major infrastructure or logistics. At the same time, the private carriers bribe government officials with contributions to weaken the USPS so they can no longer deliver most 1st Class letters in one day. Many of the distribution facilities have been closed to a 1st Class letter now takes 2-3 days to deliver. Nothing like removing competition.

===

These firms fight to weaken and remove first class delivery competition, while at the same time using them to do their most costly deliveries.

The FedEx and UPS perform the old scheme to... PRIVATIZE PROFITS and SOCIALZE COSTS onto others.

===

Also, once that pension system is prefunded, a private equity firm, such as Bain Capital, will more than likely seize it, scuttle the funds, declare bankruptcy--and the taxpayer will be on the hook to replenish the pension system.

[Lee-Lee]

16. They don't pay a lot of things

They don't pay state or local property taxes, or sales taxes, but still get fire and police protection.

They don't pay fuel taxes, vehicle registrations, vehicle inspections or anything else that funds the roads, yet they use them.

They don't pay to get a business license, occupancy permits, don't pay fees for putting up signs many cities have.


You know whey? They are THE GOVERNMENT! Government agencies taxing or fining other government agencies is just a circular rotation of money that makes no sense at all.

[tritsofme]

17. Nothing irritates me more than when I see a USPS driver improperly block or use a handicapped spot.

If they can't be ticketed in those situations, they should be towed, or held liable personally.

[U4ikLefty]

22. I got really irritated when the amulance blocked my driveway because a shooting occured

in my neighborhood. I think they should be towed !!1!1!11

[tritsofme]

24. Dumb analogy. Would you mock a disabled person to their face like that?

Are disabled people always the butt of your jokes?

The water bill isn't a matter of life and death, why can't they park somewhere that doesn't cause harm to the disabled?

[ChromeFoundry]

28. So now the USPS offers Emergency Medical Services for those critically ill?

Give your local post office or 1-800-ASK-USPS a call with any problem with the services they offer. They offer about the worst customer service known to mankind. They are in the Top-5 most unresponsive and rude organization I've had to deal with.

That is about the funniest response on this thread. I can just imagine a postal carrier trying to give CPR... they would probably probably just drive over the body, stating that they thought that was the best method of giving chest compressions without actually getting out of their truck.

[TheBlackAdder]

30. A couple of letter carriers performed CPR in my town, so your post supports a level of bogusness. nt

[ChromeFoundry]

32. So has a UPS delivery man in my city, to a homeless man.

But that's a nice strawman ya got there.

[TheBlackAdder]

34. Learn what strawman is. Your raised a bogus point, I replied, you refute it with a bogus reply.

I responded to your strawman post, about a joke you could not comprehend, that the USPS would not assist.

I stated that they do assist. I didn't mention the private carriers, because they were not part of this retort.

You then have to defend it with a UPS driver doing it, as some weak justification.

[ChromeFoundry]

39. I know exactly what straw man is

U4ikLefty made the point of comparing a postal truck to an ambulance.
I pointed out how laughable that was. USPS is not an EMS responder as defined by their charter.
You had to jump in and tell me how a postal carrier did perform CPR on someone.
Note: No USPS carrier is required to be certified in CPR. Nor are they required to perform life saving measures as part of their job requirements. Period... the end.

U4ikLefty ignored the original position of traffic laws and USPS being exempt by comparison to an ambulance.
I responded how ridiculous it was to compare a USPS carrier to a paramedic.
You responded with a USPS carrier in your town did perform CPU.
Therefore, USPS carriers perform life saving duties, granting them permission to ignore traffic laws, and equating them to EMS workers.

To clear up what straw man is for you, since you seem to be confused; The Straw Man fallacy is committed when a person simply ignores another person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position.

I presented someone else performing the exact same duties as your USPS carrier, performing a life savings act to someone where it was not a part of their job description. Yes, they are both heroes for the courageous act they performed. Yes, they both must follow local traffic laws.

[TheBlackAdder]

42. That's not what was posted. U4ikLefty made fun of your displaced anger with an anger analogy.

An analogy that went way over your head.

===

I did not ignore your actual post, I responded to your actual post that a USPS person would not save someone.

The 'other person" was YOU! It is you who lack a grasp of basic critical reading and analysis skills.

===

It is you who distorted what a strawman was and then tried to justify that the UPS people are just as good.

I guess, in your mind, that justification and defense of the UPS mattered.

[ChromeFoundry]

43. Umm, U4ikLefty was not responding to me...

That's not what was posted. U4ikLefty made fun of your displaced anger with an anger analogy.

Get your facts straight.

[TheBlackAdder]

45. Wow! It was YOU who responded to U4ikLefty. Do you even know what you are doing?

I responded to YOUR post, that YOU made to U4ikLefty.

This is when you retorted with that invalid strawman reply.

===

Now, you're just out in left field.

[ChromeFoundry]

49. Wow is right!

YOU stated U4ikLefty responded to me and made fun of my displaced anger. I told you to get your facts straight.

Here's an idea.
Step away from the computer and take a few breaths.
(In through the nose - and out from the mouth)
Then re-read your claim that U4ikLefty was responding to me (hint: tritsofme).

I'm not here to fight with anyone, seems like that is your M.O.
But if you want to see how far you can piss, be my guest. Try not to be aimed toward the wind.
I have better things to do that listen to nonsense.

Good day!

[TheBlackAdder]

51. Whatever M.O. is in your mind and solely owned by you. Your projection does not correct this. nt

[ChromeFoundry]

53. Here's a virtual hug...

[TheBlackAdder]

54. Truce.

I don't like conflict.

back atcha

[SickOfTheOnePct]

38. I agree, worst customer service around

At least that's my experience. The clerks at my local post office are so rude, I won't even buy stamps there, for the rare times that I need stamps.

I pay my bills on-line, and use USPS only for greeting cards that I can mail well in advance.

For packages or letters that need to be there quickly and reliably, I use FedEX.

[ChromeFoundry]

41. Don't get me wrong...

I do value the USPS and the services they provide (even with all the rudeness). I don't want to see replaced by a private entity.
But the USPS is a for-profit extension of the federal government.

If they (USPS) do not have to follow traffic laws, then other public, for-profit companies that offer the same services should be granted the same immunities. They are not above the law. Heck, many of the USPS carrier routes are being outsourced to private contractors.. They drive official USPS vehicles, but they are civilians - not even employed by the USPS.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

55. I don't want them replaced either

I see people rave all the time about how they love USPS, and good for them - I'm glad they have good service. That just isn't the case for me.

But I'm with you on the traffic fines...they shouldn't be exempt from following the same traffic laws as anyone else, to include parking. The idea that they're a government entity is beside the point - if they are breaking local or state traffic laws, the federal government should have to pay the fines.

[LiberalArkie]

64. It used to not be a business.

But I think around the Nixon era or sometime around there some wanted to privatize it to save money and the thought was that it would go bankrupt if it had to operate as a regular business. This may not be true, as it has been a long time, but that is what I think I remember.

[Nye Bevan]

25. Should they also be exempt from speeding laws?

What other laws should "government agencies" be exempt from that the rest of us have to abide by?

[MindPilot]

76. Smog & safety equipment

If you get a look at the manufacturer's information plate on many federal vehicles, it will likely say "For overseas sale only".

[ChromeFoundry]

31. How about the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)?

They are a government agency.
They need to eat lunch too, ya know! Should they be allowed to double park where ever they want because they don't feel the need to walk more than one block? Heck, why not let them park up on the sidewalk! They can always claim that they are inspecting the quality of food at Joe's Deli.

[ChromeFoundry]

52. That would be under Local & County jurisdiction

with an off chance the FDA would be involved.
I was pretty clear that this was in regard to eating a meal.

[Ikonoklast]

21. Libertarians are idiots.

[ChromeFoundry]

48. So are people that refuse to read the argument

It has nothing to do with UPS or FedEx. It has only to do with USPS being exempt from local and state laws.
In an extreme case: A USPS carrier driving a USPS truck, intoxicated, is exempt from the laws governing DUI.

[Ikonoklast]

72. You do know that East Cleveland's use of traffic cameras was ruled unconstitutional, right?

And the the USPS was correct in telling them to fuck right off..

[ChromeFoundry]

73. You do know that Cleveland and East Cleveland are not the same city, right?

The USE of traffic cameras was not ruled unconstitutional in CLEVELAND. They way the appeal process was handled violated a state requirement that appeals of traffic tickets issued for moving violations must be heard in municipal court. CLEVELAND's appeals were being heard by an administrative officer.

Oh, and by the way.. CLEVELAND changed their appeals process and are still issuing tickets through the use of automated traffic enforcement for speeding, red-lights, no turn on red, and school zones speeding voilations.

[Ikonoklast]

89. East Cleveland was cited in your OP and again in post #65.

East Cleveland is NOT Cleveland, you are correct.

Why are you deliberately conflating the two?

[ChromeFoundry]

90. The unconstitutional suit was filed against Cleveland, not East Cleveland

Cleveland had to change their appeals process. It was not against East Cleveland, like you claimed.
Currently, both cities are still using automated traffic cameras.

[Ikonoklast]

91. Wrong, go look again.

East Cleveland along with other cities in NE OH were all affected by the appellate court ruling as they were doing the exact same thing, unconstitutionally.

The court ruling was against them, too. Using administrative action to settle the tickets was ruled illegal in this state, for every political jurisdiction.

[ChromeFoundry]

93. The "USE" is not unconstitutional

Your original argument was that the use of traffic cameras was unconstitutional.

Yes, the court ruling was a decision that affected the administrative end of the appeal process for all Ohio jurisdictions... but that was not a part of your original statement.

“Administrative” traffic camera enforcement violates Ohioans’ right to defend themselves before an elected judge, as well as their due process right to judicial oversight before deprivation of their vehicles.

Note: For clarification, my use of "unconstitutional" is in reference to the state of Ohio, and the Ohio Constitution, not the U.S. Constitution.

[Lefta Dissenter]

26. Good! I love the USPS

And, as others have pointed out, they deliver to ALL addresses in the country. They can't pick and choose like the others do. More power to them.

[TheBlackAdder]

29. +4.3 Million

[TheBlackAdder]

27. The USPS also doesn't BRIBE Government Officials to penalize their competition.

Your complaint is about as silly as saying a Pinkerton Rent-A-Cop can't speed, but a State Trooper can.

===

The USPS is just that -- A SERVICE ; not a FOR-PROFIT business entity.

It caters to EVERYONE in the country, the poor, the disabled, the shut-ins, the rural, etc.

FedEx and UPS only cater to those who pay for their services, and they USE the USPS to do their HEAVY LIFTING at almost break-even costs. Since the USPS services the entire country, they perform Final Segment delivery for the other two carriers, since the other two would GO OUT OF BUSINESS if the USPS didn't subsidize these deliveries for them.

YES - FedEX and UPS 'Privatize their Profits" while they 'SOCIALIZE their Costs'. They use the Quasi-Public USPS to save money.

===

What the FedEx and UPS does is heavily donate to congress to weaken the USPS to the point where they can no longer deliver a 45-Cent First-Class letter in one day. These two helped to shut down many of the regional USPS Distribution Centers, while FedEx and UPS built competing facilities RIGHT NEXT TO THEM--in the plan to take over their functions.

In the mean time, they fight to keep the USPS just viable enough to provide the MOST EXPENSIVE leg of package delivery - the Final Segment, where drivers have to take packages to individual homes. In heavily populated areas, FedEX and UPS perform this function--except when they need the USPS to help them out during the holidays.

You will notice that most of the Post Offices now have FedEx and UPS drop boxes at them. This is because the USPS provides First Segment (or more) handling of the packages and White Labels the packages so you would never know the USPS is doing this.

===

Now, getting to the whole Pension Funding scheme. Search a little and you will find that Bain Capital and several other capital firms have been mentioned in Postal Commission hearings and other trade presses about possibly PURCHASING the USPS--meaning that they will be able to SEIZE those BILLIONS and do a Kay-Bee Toys on them... leveraging debt against the pension money, driving the USPS into bankruptcy...AND THEN HAVING THE TAXPAYER BAILOUT THE PENSION PLAN!

===

You need to OPEN YOUR EYES to see how you will be scammed.

The FedEX and UPS don't go to people's homes and businesses every day to pickup and deliver packages--all while charging 45-Cents for a First Class letter, whether it's mailed next door or across the country. Those other two would GO BANKRUPT. But, since the USPS is A SERVICE, the provide it to EVERYONE in a similar manner. Seniors, those with learning or physical impairments, shut-ins, poor all have EQUAL mail access. Yes, there are many who do not have the internet or a car. Can you imagine someone who is 95 trying to schedule a delivery?

Right now, FedEX and UPS are suggesting people in rural areas would have to drive 20-30 miles to mail a package that the USPS does without a gripe.

When you start this whole Libertarian Gripefest about the USPS, you should really learn what you are griping about.

[Lefta Dissenter]

40. +4.4 Million

[ChromeFoundry]

44. Right, the Constitution already does that for them. n/t

[TheBlackAdder]

46. Ignorance is not a virtuous trait.

I can tell that you could not comprehend my post, even if you'd tried.

Take a Politics course in college and learn about the "Iron Triangle", a closed network that is comprised of Legislators, Bureaucrats, and Private Industry. Public participation is shut out of this group as the private industry finances legislators to pressure bureaucrats--to favor the private industry.

While you are at it, take an Introduction to Politics and a Civics class, because you seem to have a funny vision of how government works.

[lolly]

66. Thank You!

USPS also pays a decent salary for its employees. It is a stepladder to the middle class for many working class folks and veterans.

That alone accounts for much of the one-percenters' hatred. Anything that improves the lot of their inferiors must be destroyed and looted.

[Beaverhausen]

47. Good

I fucking hate UPS.

[tularetom]

56. Yeah, and besides that they drive on the wrong side of the road!

How can we ever expect the private sector compete with this kind of government favoritism?

[bluestateguy]

57. Then I guess the next step has to be towing

nt

[TorchTheWitch]

58. are we talking parking tickets or traffic violations?

Waiving parking tickets is one thing, but waiving traffic violations like blowing off stop signs or speeding is dangerous and asking for traffic accidents.

[ChromeFoundry]

61. Traffic violations. Like as in speeding in School Zones.

This news article explains a bit more in detail for what the City of East Cleveland was told.

http://fox8.com/2013/02/02/mayor-upset-usps-wont-pay-traffic-tickets/

“We respect the postal carriers,” Norton told Fox 8. “But they’re not the Secret Service, they’re not the CIA. They do not have a law enforcement function, there’s no reason they need to speed through school zones.”

The postal service said if a police officer stops one of its carriers and writes up a ticket, the carrier would be responsible for it personally, and the postal service would not try to fight it.

But because tickets issued for violations seen on cameras go not to the driver, but to the owner of the car, the postal service won’t pay because, by law, it can’t be billed by a state or local government due to its immunity.

Van Allen said that the postal service’s agreement with its union prevents it from passing along a ticket to its carriers to pay.

[lolly]

67. Ah, a Fox news affiliate

I'm sure they don't have an ax to grind against the government service provided here.

But note that the article DID say that drivers, if caught by a police officer, WERE liable for any traffic violations--so no, drivers going 80 mph through a school zone with a .15 blood alcohol can't just say screw you, officer I work for USPS!

What they did say was that infractions caught on camera rather than by a live police officer are generally billed to the owner of the car, since there is no way to ascertain for sure who the driver is. And the post office has invoked government privilege in saying that it will not pay those tickets, and apparently the courts agree.

Wonder how many of those up in arms over this are avid opponents of the traffic violation cameras at the root of it? Probably a lot. There are all sorts of problems associated with the cameras. This adds one more to the list.

[ChromeFoundry]

69. CBS sit better with you? Says the same thing.

American Traffic Solutions (ATS) – the Arizona-based company that enforces East Cleveland’s camera citations – did not agree with Ms. Breslin’s legal stance on the two school-zone speeding citations and five red-light infractions committed by postal trucks in December.

http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2013/02/01/u-s-postal-service-seeks-immunity-from-local-traffic-fines/

The courts have not made a ruling on this as of yet.
The legal representation of the USPS has claimed that the USPS is under the Executive branch and therefore has the same rights as the Presidential motorcade.

[lolly]

70. No, should it?

Oh, that's right. CBS is supposedly the leader of the "liberal media" that we all take marching orders from.

But it does point out the same thing I mentioned--drivers are individually liable if caught.

And one other tidbit--the aggrieved party mentioned here is not the the city itself, but the company that has been given the contract by the city to profit off of tickets administered by machines --excuse me, I meant protect the public safety:

American Traffic Solutions (ATS) – the Arizona-based company that enforces East Cleveland’s camera citations – did not agree with Ms. Breslin’s legal stance on the two school-zone speeding citations and five red-light infractions committed by postal trucks in December.

So, this huuuuuge problem of USPS drivers careening through neighborhoods all over the country and gaining an insurmountable advantage over those vastly superior private delivery companies amounts to--$700.00 less profit for a private out-of-state company.

Damn those government workers! When will they stop interfering with the rights of out of state companies to make a profit off of the public!

[ChromeFoundry]

71. They are not simply parking or speeding tickets.

They were in School zones and Traffic Lights. Unless you are an advocate of allowing drivers to speed through school zones, then yes, these serve as a deterrent and help save the lives of kids. I personally have no problem with automated traffic enforcement in school zones and high-accident intersections. It's not about $700 and who is collecting the money for the infraction, it's about the USPS claiming that they have the same right to ignore traffic laws because they stated that they are on the same level of immunity as the presidential motorcade.

USPS only hire the best of the best...I'm sure of it!

And they even deliver to people living in the ravine!

Yes, I know there are just as many bad UPS and FedEx driver... None of them should get a pass!

[ohnoyoudidnt]

59. Are UPS or FedEx going to deliver a letter for 42 cents?

I see the USPS as a public service. It is one I rarely use except for the occasional birthday or holiday card.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

60. Rarely indeed.

I think it's up to 45 or 47 cents now. Which is why I'm glad they switched to 'forever' stamps so that I don't have to always worry about buying piddly 2 and 3 cent stamps to add in case of rate hikes.

[DesMoinesDem]

77. It is illegal for them to do so.

The USPS has a monopoly on first class and standard mail.

[rickford66]

68. Our rural USPS mail lady comes by our house 6 days a week.

Even when we have no mail, right? If a package, sometimes a FedEx or UPS delivery, won't fit into our mail box, she drives up to the house and knocks on the door to deliver it. If FedEx or UPS delivers directly, they usually just drop it near the door. Once I found a UPS package in a pickup that I hardly drove. Who knows how long it was there? Don't get me wrong. I appreciate all three delivery systems, but it's hard to compare their different business models, especially when Congress wants the USPS to operate as a business, but doesn't let them.

[FSogol]

74. Fuck Rand Paul and all his idiotic Libertarian fan boys.

[former9thward]

81. Seems pretty libertarian to ignore traffic laws.

[FSogol]

82. That's an isolated local problem, go complain to your local postmaster. Supporting

libertarian ideas about privatizing the Federal Government services is the real problem here.

[DesMoinesDem]

83. Federal immunity is an isolated local problem? WTF?

[former9thward]

84. Complain to the postmaster about police ignoring P.O. violations?

Yeah, I'm sure he will get right on that.

[FSogol]

85. Complain to the postmaster to get postal trucks to stop parking in HC spots. n/t

[gollygee]

75. So there are advantages in some areas, and disadvantages in others

I know there's an anti-post office movement, but I'm not part of it.

[hatrack]

80. Aaaaaaaaand Poutrage Spincast Results - 3.5 out of 10

Decent placement, but notably short . . . .

[WinkyDink]

92. So what? Diplomats can't get tickets, either, and they're foreign!

[ChromeFoundry]

94. This is not true.

They cannot be arrested.
Diplomats get parking and traffic tickets all the time (especially in NYC). Most fines are paid.