No snail mail if the government shuts down?

[laruemtt]

just thought of this......

[brer cat]

1. USPS has it's own funding

Will continue, rain, sleet, snow or dark of night.

[alfredo]

4. Right. It gets its funding from postage.

[GKirk]

8. Aren't they running

a massive debt too?

How do they keep in business?

[alfredo]

9. They have no control on postage rates, products/services provided,

and are required to give universal delivery. That means I have to drive ten miles round trip on a one lane road to deliver one piece of bulk business mail. I have to go there even if I don't have mail. The customer might have outgoing mail and I am required to check. If the road is impassible, I can skip it though.

[GKirk]

13. Sounds like you are a mail

delivery person, what is your take on no Saturday service? As a customer it doesn't bother me.

[alfredo]

15. I was. Five day delivery will not happen any time soon. Six day works for

The customers, and the workers.

[GKirk]

18. I understand it working for the workers

but how does it benefit the cusomter? I own a business and depend on the mail to deliver customers checks but I can wait for Monday, same with home delivery.

[alfredo]

19. There's plenty mail to deliver. If we don't deliver on Saturday

we will have three days of mail to deliver on Monday. On Monday's it wasn't unusual to have to sort a 20 ft stack of mail in two hours then hump that mail around for 6 hours. Add another day of mail to that, and look for more injury more turnover of personnel.

I went out on disability. I had way too many Monday's carrying too much mail over too many miles

[mikekohr]

17. They are required to be free standing but Congress will not let the PO make the decisions

that a normal business would make. They must apply for postage increases, the last was denied. They can not close unprofitable Post Offices for economic reasons. To do so they must hold hearings that can stretch over 2-3 years, and pressure from residents and congress often results in obvious money losers staying open.In our 613-- zip code area the Post Office has over 50 offices. Fed Ex has one. UPS has one. Saturday Mail needs to be eliminated. Congress has to approve that as well.
T worked for the PO for 10 years. The fixes needed are common knowledge. Congress stands in the way.

[GKirk]

5. Crap

I will still get my bills :)

[SheilaT]

12. Didn't you see the movie The Postman?

Even after nuclear war the mail must be delivered!

[Moondog]

2. Nope. Independently funded for years now.

[glowing]

3. They are not funded thru govt.. they operate on their own budget...

will not shut down the post office.

[robinlynne]

6. I love my mail!!!

[laruemtt]

7. Yay!!! Thanks.. n/t

[freshwest]

10. Well, that would stop my bills from coming... but then they'd shut off my utilities...

[davidthegnome]

11. I wish

Nope, I'll still get my bills that I can't pay. All I've got left that they can shut off though, is my phone. Since I went completely and utterly broke, my parents pay for the net and whatnot - they use it as much as I do. Well, dad does, mom still thinks it's the work of Satan.

[hayu_lol]

14. Here in Klamath Falls, OR,

there have been many winters(deep snow, dangerous ice)when the Post Office shut down delivery...at the same time, the independent contractors working for our local paper always manage to deliver the paper. City of 45,000 with small outlying farm towns and VERY rural farm routes.

[taterguy]

16. For chrissakes, whatever happened to being a good citizen and checking for duplicates?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=846715&mesg_id=846715