Postal workers plan hunger strike to protest mail service’s financial problems

**Elspeth** · 06-25-2012, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by NJCardFan

Don't get me wrong, boondoggle or not, the USPS does a great job with the mail for the most part, it's still sucking money thanks in part for it being a government operation.

Actually, USPS has overpaid its pension plans by some 11.6 billion and that money could easily be put back in to handle operating expenses. It's CONGRESS that's screwing this one up. (What else is new?)

The Senate and the House are both epic fails on this issue.

**Zeus** · 06-25-2012, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by Odysseus

When did you live in Temple? We were there for four years while I was assigned to Hood.

Never have, been in Copperas Cove for 20 + yrs. Do a lot of business in Temple.

JB · 06-25-2012, 08:52 PM

to stage a four-day hunger strike

Bobby Sands shakes his head in disgust. Four days????? Give me a break.

**DumbAss Tanker** · 06-26-2012, 07:06 PM

NJCadrdFan, Ody, I guess it depends on what you mean by "Efficient." To me it is a combination of speed plus price, not just speed at any price. By and large speed of delivery isn't the big issue people have with USPS, it's the fact that it operates at a loss, for reasons (And accounting methods) over which USPS has no real control, and which pretty much boil down to all the Congresional 'Help' they get. I didn't mention security, because my experience with USPS, UPS, and FedEx has been roughly the same for all of them, which is not to say 'Perfect.'

Next day delivery is a real premium service, there is nothing wrong with paying three to five times as much for UPS Next Day Air vs. USPS Express Mail if you are so inclined, but without comparing loss and on-time delivery rates with real numbers, it's kind of fanciful to claim the one that costs five times more is 'More efficient' just because it costs more, and even then I wouldn't assume that issues of scale might not play a role pro or con.

I hate to break this to you guys, but UPS and FedEx occasionally screw the pooch too. And just like FedEx or UPS guys who monkey with the deliveries, USPS personnel get fired for that too. I've been using Priority Mail (+Delivery confirmation) for business purposes for several years, and haven't ever had a shipment come up missing to include stuff sent to Canada, Australia, and the UK. For me, FedEx and UPS are fine for incoming shipments (If ridiculously expensive in the latter case), but inaccessible and uneconomical to the point of uselessness for anything outbound.