Post Office Proposes 3-Cent Rate Increase

[kurth]

May 3, 2006, 8:42AM
Post Office Proposes 3-Cent Rate Increase
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — The Postal Service said Wednesday it wants to raise the price of a first-class stamp by 3 cents _ to 42 cents _ and suggested a "forever" stamp that people could use as hedge against future rate inflation. The changes would take effect in the spring of 2007 if approved by the independent Postal Rate Commission...

For example, each penny increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline costs the post office $8 million, and payroll, health expenses and other costs also have been rising. And, unlike private delivery companies, the post office cannot simply add a fuel surcharge to its rates.

The forever stamp would help soften the blow of a rate increase by allowing customers to stock up. As originally proposed it would sell for the first class rate and, once purchased, the special stamp would remain valid for whatever the first-class rate is when it is used, regardless of future increases. ...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/3837398.html

[babylonsister]

1. What a bunch of crap! They just raised it .02 since Christmas.

:banghead: Is this for the war chest?

[napi21]

2. Actually, this doesn't surprise me. Gas prices are affecting them

just as much as they are affecting every other business. HOWEVER, what I'd prefer to see is either a temporary increase, or something like the adjustable fuel sur-charge used by UPS & FedEx uses.

I expect, at some point, gas prices will come down...to what level, I have no idea. But we all know, when the PO gets a rate increase, it NEVER goes away!

[kestrel91316]

3. Dear USPS: Don't you think just maybe it's time to invest in some

ALTERNATIVE FUEL postal delivery vehicles????? Maybe?????

There is no earthly reason why they can't order up some biodiesel or gas-electric hybrid or all-electric vehicles. Where is the foresight?

Oh, that's right. The Bushistas run things. Foresight is a thing of the past. And we need all our money to go to the war effort.

[slackmaster]

6. How about jacking up the rates on commercial junk mail?

Anyone else agree?

[Dora]

9. I am in complete agreement.

I'm tired of the argument that their rates are so low because their mail places less of a burden on the mail processing system - it's presorted, etc.

The sheer volume of commercial junk mail is a burden on the system, and I'm tired of subsidizing junk mail with all the postage we pay.

[slackmaster]

11. Less of a burden my ass

In terms of weight alone, junk mail is the primary load on our postal workers.

[Dora]

12. Imagine what that would save in fuel costs alone.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[kestrel91316]

10. Gee, do ya think???? (I could go for that, too!)

[Warpy]

4. My pop bought a roll of 100 37 cent stamps just before he got sick

and now I've inherited them. Another damn rate hike? I know their fuel costs have gone up with ours, but at this rate, I'll be covering the entire outside of an envelope to use up those damn 37 cent stamps.

[slackmaster]

5. I've switched everything I can to electronic payments

I use a small fraction of the number of stamps I did a few years ago.

Most of the mail I get is unsolicited junk. Commercial pre-sorted rates are ridiculously low.

[W_HAMILTON]

7. They need to stop this...

I remember back when a stamp's price would almost never seem to go up, now it's possibly going to go up, what? This would be the third time in recent memory, I think.

I don't know if I agree that it's all about the price of gas, either. That seems to be a convenient excuse for everyone to bump up their prices and make more money out of it.

If it is true though, oil companies are screwing us over in every facet of our life -- not just as the pump. Something needs to be done about that IMMEDIATELY. Put limits on their profits, fine their asses, whatever it takes. This bullshit has got to stop.

[Divernan]

8. Just get rid of the excess catalogs/advertising.

I swear to god - everytime I order something with a different credit card, I get additional copies of the same monthly catalogs. I know the businesses get special (lower) business rates, but guess what, the gas used by planes and trucks costs the same no matter what class of mail is being transported. So I pay - 39 Cents to mail a 1/4 oz. check & payment stub; but merchants aren't paying a fraction of that rate for the big fat catalogs they're deluging me with monthly. Can someone get the numbers on what we pay to send first class mail per oz., versus the rates for mailing these business materials? Another example of corporate welfare to charge lower rates to businesses than to individuals.

[Squeech]

13. How about

we all chip in by sending back all the postage-paid reply envelopes we get from the credit card companies-- without including the application? That should help the Postal Service's bottom line...

(Actually, does anybody know whether it does? Or do the recipients weasel out of paying for the mail that doesn't actually benefit them?)

[gatorboy]

14. Shouldn't they be making out like gangbusters?

One of their original excuses for raising the price was because of email correspondence. But the way I see it, the internet is one of the best things to ever happen to the USPS. You should see the number of packages a friend sends out each week because of Ebay alone!