Small Town Post Offices Threatened

[harvey007]

Source: Wall Street Journal

The financially struggling U.S. Postal Service expects to say Tuesday it will consider closing 3,653 post offices, mostly in rural areas, an announcement certain to trigger a battle with the targeted communities.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903999904576467921947248738.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

[MichiganVote]

1. Actually I support this. Its costly and given the current buying habits/unecessary to have so many

[harvey007]

2. Well I think it is ridiculous

We'll have to have a John Goodman face-off.

:hi:

[MichiganVote]

4. Ok. But I suck at Bowling. :)

[cyberpj]

5. LOL!

[mikekohr]

17. I worked at the USPS for 10 years and at UPS for 17 years

In our 613-- service area, Fed Ex has one facility, UPS has one facility, the USPS has 63, some serving communities of 50 or less.
One community on my USPS rural route had a total of 27 customers. I delivered about 1/2 of the residents that chose to put up a roadside mailbox. The USPS was forced to spend approx. $80,000 per year to keep open a facility that could have been served by a rural carrier for a few thousand per year.
Close 'em and cut out Saturday delivery. Do it now.

[wishlist]

32. I agree. Some small town PO's are only 2 miles apart, many less than 5 miles

Some small town PO's serve only a few dozen up to a couple hundred customers at most and it makes sense to close/consolidate while leaving open PO's in larger cities where the PO serves thousands who would have to drive over 5 miles further in heavy traffic to get to the nearest PO and wait a long time in long lines if it closes.

[Oasis_]

36. I also worked for the USPS (7 years including Management)

and your "proposal" would all but destroy universal service as we know it.

It would all but concede the very lucrative overnight and second-day package and parcel market to its competitors. Loss of Saturday delivery would only accelerate the movement to remove additional service days as well. Once put in motion, it would lead to an inevitable death spiral.

Close to 600,000 people (with good salaries, health care and benefits) are employed directly by the USPS, with hundreds of thousands of others indirectly (contractors, shippers, mailers)

The USPS is forced to pre-fund its retirement program to a much greater degree than the private sector, or any other government entity for that matter.

The internet has HELPED the USPS bottom line, as parcel deliveries increased significantly. First class mail represents an infinitesimally small percentage of overall business, as demand for the service has been on the decline for decades.

Parcel and package business, particularly prescriptions by mail and said internet-created continue to grow and expand--which is why the private carriers want nothing to do with the standard "letter-mail delivery" but will do anything to place USPS in an uncompetitive environment as possible (which includes the virtual elimination of the Postal Service)to increase market share in overnight and second day shipping for themselves.

Oasis

[joeglow3]

41. And a $7.7 billion annual loss

I agree with much of what you say, but there is no rational way you can say there is no room to cut insane costs. The internet HAS helped....and made the local office much less needed than it was just a decade ago.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. when they quit delivering my bills does that mean I no longer have to pay them?

:hide:

[valerief]

8. Yeah, you just have to pretend you're one of the 1%. They pay for nothing. nt

[freshwest]

33. Yeah, I don't think some of those firms are willing to pay the rates at UPS and Fed Ex.

Guess your defense can be it's not the worth the effort to bill you...

[Betsy Ross]

6. I lived in one of those places.

The village market and gas station was also the PO, deliveries two days a week. It served a fairly wide area, at least 6 miles to the next PO.

[valerief]

7. Why can't they put post offices in Wal-marts like they have Dunkin Donuts in gas stations? nt

[redwitch]

11. I won't go to WalMart so how will I get my mail?

:-)

[valerief]

12. I don't go there either but isn't Wal-mart the only store in rural areas? nt

[KamaAina]

34. They do. They're called "contract stations".

But could we please put them somewhere besides Sprawl-Mart? That might be the answer for the smaller towns, at least the ones that still have stores that Sprawl-Mart hasn't killed off: move the PO into them and give them an extra revenue stream.

[sybylla]

9. Too bad. I live in a large rural county full of small towns.

The county seat only has 2700 people. Close any one of the P.O.'s and people are driving 20-30 minutes just to mail a package or buy stamps.

I'd like to think they're taking some of this into account. But my instincts tell me this is purely a money/population game.

[lynne]

10. That's a good first step. They should also eliminate Saturday delivery -

- and consider going to 3 day a week delivery.

The small town I grew up in lost their post office about 15 years ago. They've been shaving them off for years. This is nothing new.

[No Elephants]

19. Are you sure closing this many at once is nothing new?

[lynne]

20. This is probably a larger lump sum than they've done before -

- and that's too bad. Had they done this earlier they might not be in the fix they're in today.

[No Elephants]

45. Then why did you describe it as "nothing new?"

[certainot]

13. fuck that privatizing bullshit from UPS and fed ex who will never deliver to the outer

reaches because it's not 'cost effective'

[former9thward]

15. Both those companies deliver to any address in the U.S.

[happyslug]

21. They will, even to Supai, Arizona??

Do they use the same method as the Postal Service (Mules) or Helicopters? There is NO other way into that town which is on an Indian Reservation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supai,_Arizona

[former9thward]

26. Maybe you should order something and find out.

[certainot]

22. wait till they don't have to compete with the USPS- if it's not profitable to their specs

they'll drop you

[former9thward]

27. By law they can't compete with USPS. USPS has a monopoly on first class mail.

[certainot]

39. so they won't bother if it's not profitable enough

[former9thward]

40. They deliver packages to any address in the U.S.

Do you really think every address is profitable? The post office does not do daily delivery to every address in the U.S. Many people have to get their mail at area post offices for that reason.

[certainot]

42. they compete with the USPS, when that competition is gone they will drop you

[former9thward]

43. They do not compete with USPS, they compete with each other.

As I said USPS does not do delivery in some out of the way areas. You have to pick up mail/packages.

[certainot]

46. and UPS now delivers to other locations because they are competing

with USPS. do they advertise that they can deliver those places?

if they don't have to compete w USPS i suspect they will find all sorts of excuses for not delivering to many places its not cost effective, and the two companies will collude and maybe charge huge fees.at the moment, as you say people just need to drive to their post office, like me - (very short drive.

[former9thward]

48. They are competing with Fed Ex.

Stay in the 20th century if you must.

[joeglow3]

44. Let me follow the logic

They will serve you when they can get less than half the business, but when they can get 100% of the business with the vast majority of their costs being fixed (truck, gas, labor, etc.) they will drop it?

[certainot]

47. it's good PR against USPS to say they'll deliver anywhere but when the option

of going to the local post office to pick up the mail they'll be able to split up territories and charge anything or drop it all together.

[Rosie1223]

24. Not always-- I live in a rural area

many times when I order something, UPS or FedEx ships the item through to the nearest distribution center to me. Then they take it to the USPS for final delivery depending on if they have enough other deliveries to my area to make it cost effective.

[former9thward]

29. The post office does the same thing.

There are many many addresses the post office does not deliver to. People have to come to area post offices to get their mail. Which is completely logical in a country as big as this one. It would be insanely expensive to deliver daily mail to every back woods cabin.

[mac56]

14. Once again I will advance my theory.

If they would sell advertising on postage stamps the USPS would be above water again in a matter of weeks, and we'd be back to mailing letters for a nickel.

[Ian David]

16. I like that idea. n/t

[Born Free]

18. deleted

sorry

[happyslug]

23. The old Washington Monument ploy....

The term "The Old Washington Monument Ploy" meant the old ploy by the Department of the Interior whenever it was told to cut back expenses by Congress. The Department would issue a statement saying it was following the ORDERS of Congress by closing down the least essential part of the Park Service, the Washington and Lincoln Memorials. Congress would panic and come up with the funding.

Now, Congress did take notice of the Park Service ploy, so in recent decades Congress had provided specific money for what is in Washington DC (The Memorial and the Mall), thus the Park Service has to look elsewhere for its latest Washington Monument Play. About 20 years ago, I notice the ploy in operation when I went to the Shenandoah National Park, the Camping area nearest Washington DC was close, while the other two were open, the Park Service thus cut the National Park nearest the Capital for maximum effect).

While the Park Service received the honor or holding the name for this ploy, it is a common ploy. The Air Force in its Budget always cut out funding for the A-10, knowing the Army wants it and will lobby Congress to restore the Money for the A-10. The Army return the favor for those bases it supplies the soldiers (The Azores is a Classic Example, the Navy flies the planes, the Air Base is maintained by the Air Force and the Army runs the Port. the Army and Air Force always de-fund The Azores first, knowing the Navy wants the base and will lobby Congress to keep it open).

Other Branches of Government does the same, when it comes to budget cuts, look at what would cause the most harm to any Congress person, knowing that Congress Person will fight to get that cut undone (Defense Contractors know this, thus any large Defense project ends up being spread over all 435 congressional districts, even at the cost of doubling or worse the price of the project).

The Postal Service biggest gun in any fight for Federal Funds, is to threaten to close Rural Post Offices, thus it will always be pulled when funding is tight. Worse for the GOP the people most affected tend to be the most loyal GOP voters (Fundamentalists are NOT as liable as rural people in general, thus the GOP caters to such Fundamentalists for the GOP can rely on most of Rural America, outside the South, to vote the way their ancestors shot in 1861, the South is the Big exception to that rule, turning to the GOP only in the last 50 years, before then the rural south also voted the way their ancestors shot in 1861, the key to FDR's coalition of the 1930s till the 1970s was the Rural South and the Urban North embraced the Democratic Party, previously the Urban North had been a Bedrock of the GOP).

My point is the Postal Service is using these rural Post Offices as a club on Congress, and mostly the GOP, give the Postal Service money OR release the Postal Service from the six day a week delivery Congressional mandate OR we will do what we can do, close these Rural Post Offices and the Congressmen from those rural areas will suffer the heat from the Closure. It forces Congress to make a decision, further restrict the Postal Service, which the Postal Service can point to as a cost impose on the Postal Service by CONGRESS, OR give the Postal Service want it really wants, the ability to go to three day a week delivery. It is the old Washington Monument Ploy, showing Congress want the Agency can do unless Congress does want is needed.

[Steerpike]

25. Yup when we get rid of the USPS

We will eliminate another facet of what was once called "The American Middle Class". And, of course, the price of mailing anything will triple within 2 years. Some places will have no mail at all...
Another small step into the new "Gilded Age".

[Ilsa]

28. I'm against this if it slows down delivery for these people.

The postoffice was never intended to be a break-even or profitable center. It's meant to provide a needed service. So what if it operates at a loss. So do our wars. ;-)

[tpsbmam]

30. Mixed feelings

I'm all for streamlining. BUT this hits the little guy once again. My local PO isn't on the list. I currently drive 3.5 miles to my PO. If it was, on the list, I'd be driving 13 miles to the nearest PO, 26 miles roundtrip. With the cost of gas, this would hit my pocketbook. Just food for thought.

[robcon]

31. There have to be fewer post offices: revenue is way down.

I think the plan to close a lot of post offices is sound.

Fax, FedEx, UPS, email, etc. show no sign of retreating in their incursions on the USPS business. Fewer deliveries, higher prices and fewer post offices are the appropriate response to lower costs and the Post Office deficit.

[KamaAina]

35. Most of these places don't have banks anymore

so the postal money order is the only financial product available.

[alp227]

37. Postal Service names 3,700 post offices that could be closed

Source: The Washington Post

The U.S. Postal Service is targeting 3,700 post offices across the country that could be closed, the largest downsizing in the history of the money-losing agency.

The unprofitable stations, branches and main offices that could be shuttered starting in January account for about 11 percent of the Postal Service’s retail operations. In the Washington area, 32 post offices could be jettisoned, from those servicing Congress in the U.S. Capitol to ones in Silver Spring and downtown Leesburg.

Another 124 elsewhere in Maryland and Virginia are on the list, with the rest are scattered across 47 other states. The local post office with an American flag flying overhead has helped define communities — rural, suburban and urban — in many of these areas for more than two centuries.

The Postal Service hopes the contraction will save $200 million a year. That does not come close to recouping the $8 billion the agency is expected to lose for the second year running as it fights plummeting mail volume. But postal officials said they intend to review half of their network of 32,000 post offices for closure in the next decade as they try to slash labor costs.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/postal-service-names-3700-post-offices-that-could-be-closed/2011/07/26/gIQARk3tbI_singlePage.html

[customerserviceguy]

38. While I sympathize with both the USPS

for doing what it has to do, and small town residents who like an excuse to come to town to pick up their mail, I still think the best solution is to double the cost of sending junk mail.