Post office default

[Soyeong]

I'm sure there's an aspect of "equal service" --- it has always BEEN a requirement (though I don't know if it is actually codified) and a pullback from that would hurt a certain demographic more than others. It would be tough to decide who gets "door to door" service and who doesn't.

For instance, we can choose which company collects our trash and yard waste, so couldn't who gets "door to door" service be determined by who is willing to pay for it?

[Sparko]

For instance, we can choose which company collects our trash and yard waste, so couldn't who gets "door to door" service be determined by who is willing to pay for it?

we should contract it to Omni Consumer Products, the corporation who ran the privatized police force in RoboCop. Then they can develop RoboPostmen in armed vehicles to deliver the mail via mortars.

PM309 - You are in violation of Postal Code 32.4. You have 10 seconds to comply.
Customer - But I was sure I put enough postage on that envelope!
PM309 - You now have 5 seconds to comply.
Customer - Wait. I - I - I can't find my wallet, gimme a sec!
PM309 - Time is up. ******Blasts Customer to dust ***** - Thank you for using the Omni Consumer Products Postal Service. Have a nice day.

[Challenger Grim]

we should contract it to Omni Consumer Products, the corporation who ran the privatized police force in RoboCop. Then they can develop RoboPostmen in armed vehicles to deliver the mail via mortars.

PM309 - You are in violation of Postal Code 32.4. You have 10 seconds to comply.
Customer - But I was sure I put enough postage on that envelope!
PM309 - You now have 5 seconds to comply.
Customer - Wait. I - I - I can't find my wallet, gimme a sec!
PM309 - Time is up. ******Blasts Customer to dust ***** - Thank you for using the Omni Consumer Products Postal Service. Have a nice day.

So you're saying it would IMPROVE customer service at the post office.

[Sparko]

So you're saying it would IMPROVE customer service at the post office.

yeah since nobody would dare to enter it. No lines. More efficient.

gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "going Postal"

[Mountain Man]

In other words, if the Post Office is doing its job right, it should be losing money.

Let me guess: you voted for Obama.

[Sparko]

robomailman.jpg

[Cow Poke]

For instance, we can choose which company collects our trash and yard waste, so couldn't who gets "door to door" service be determined by who is willing to pay for it?

Trash collection and yard waste are not nationally interconnected. Postal Service, by nature, has to be.

[Soyeong]

Trash collection and yard waste are not nationally interconnected. Postal Service, by nature, has to be.

That just means the businesses have to spread out and/or communicate with each other. It doesn't explain why the government needs to handle it.

[Cow Poke]

That just means the businesses have to spread out and/or communicate with each other. It doesn't explain why the government needs to handle it.

I don't believe the government needs to handle it, anymore than the government needs to handle public education.
I just think it's impractical for local entities to try to manage national mail and package handling -- too much duplication of effort and coordination.

I believe an entity like UPS or somebody would be more likely, but they would probably have to be subsidized to do it in the rural markets -- but not nearly as much as the current boondoggle.

[nomad]

I don't believe the government needs to handle it, anymore than the government needs to handle public education.
I just think it's impractical for local entities to try to manage national mail and package handling -- too much duplication of effort and coordination.

I would have agreed with this yesterday, but then I was thinking about telephones... they have a similar problem (you need everyone to be able to talk to each other for it to work.. i.e. someone in LA on PacTel (or whoever they are these days) should be able to call someone on a Sprint cellphone in NY), and they seem to have worked it out. They are 'large', but not national companies in most cases. And it did require some regulation for that to happen IIRC, but in this case I think it's appropriate.

I do think it would have to be handled like local phone and electricity service though... i.e. local monopoly status. Fedex, UPS, DHL, and the post office can deliver to my house. That makes sense for 'sparse' deliveries (on any given day, only a few houses in my neighborhood, even including nearby neighborhoods, are getting packages anyways), but for postal-type delivery, to get savings that are going to make it worth it, you'd have to 'own' the entire street... if two different companies both had door-to-door postal delivery on my street, i think the inefficiencies would be high enough to eliminate the cost savings from privatization. But then it becomes less private, because local monopolies always means local regulations for price control... hmm.....

[Cow Poke]

I would have agreed with this yesterday, but then I was thinking about telephones... they have a similar problem (you need everyone to be able to talk to each other for it to work.. i.e. someone in LA on PacTel (or whoever they are these days) should be able to call someone on a Sprint cellphone in NY), and they seem to have worked it out. They are 'large', but not national companies in most cases. And it did require some regulation for that to happen IIRC, but in this case I think it's appropriate.

The clear differences is technology -- it is easy to have a digital interchange for communications, with a person in NYC making a phone call to Dime Box, Texas with ZERO human intervention ... but the postal service comes down to a human being putting a letter into the system in NYC, for example, and another human being placing that same physical piece of material into a box in Dime Box, Texas, with a whole lot of "handing over" happening in between, involving trucks, airplanes, sorting machines, clerks....

There are major differences.

I do think it would have to be handled like local phone and electricity service though... i.e. local monopoly status. Fedex, UPS, DHL, and the post office can deliver to my house. That makes sense for 'sparse' deliveries (on any given day, only a few houses in my neighborhood, even including nearby neighborhoods, are getting packages anyways), but for postal-type delivery, to get savings that are going to make it worth it, you'd have to 'own' the entire street... if two different companies both had door-to-door postal delivery on my street, i think the inefficiencies would be high enough to eliminate the cost savings from privatization. But then it becomes less private, because local monopolies always means local regulations for price control... hmm.....

I don't mean to be disagreeable, but even local phone and electricity are no longer monopoly status. I have changed electrical providers twice since living in my current home, dropping my electric rate from 14 cents per KWH down to 8 cents, and I have switched my cell service from Verizon to ATT.

Is DHL even around anymore?

[Cow Poke]

I do think it would have to be handled like local phone and electricity service though... i.e. local monopoly status. Fedex, UPS, DHL, and the post office can deliver to my house.

This would almost have to come down to different entities bidding for service areas - and there would be some areas nobody wants because of large territories with very few inhabitants. I think it would have to boil down to many rural areas having one local pickup point, either a small manned distribution office, or a bank of lock-boxes like I mentioned for gated communities or apartment complexes.

But we agree, I think, that it has to make economic sense. The current postal system clearly does not.

[Cow Poke]

On a purely anecdotal note (I do that a lot) I cannot tell you how valuable the postal system was to me as a police officer many years ago.

In a hostage situation, for example, the local letter carrier was able to tell me the name of the person who frequently received mail at the residence, even though that person was not the owner or renter of the house. It enabled our hostage negotiator to make the personal connection in communications with him because we were able to find a relative of his who could help talk him into surrendering.

Since the local letter carrier is in the neighborhood every day, they would often notice something not quite right, and be able to supply information about a drug house or other illegal activity, or the names of persons (as mentioned above) who receive mail there but are not registered as the owner or renter. They were not obligated, obviously, to give us that information, but often cooperated as concerned citizens, due to a good relationship between police and postal workers in our community.

[Sparko]

well since the USPS is already in place, the government should just cut the apron strings and let them become a private business. Then they can compete with UPS and Fed-ex on an equal footing.

I think the USPS is just whining because they want to raise their rates again.

[Cow Poke]

well since the USPS is already in place, the government should just cut the apron strings and let them become a private business. Then they can compete with UPS and Fed-ex on an equal footing.

This would make the most sense --- let them continue their mission, but with a new mandate and a business savvy CEO. There are at least THREE unions, however, that would have to be addressed to allow the changes that need to be made.

I think the USPS is just whining because they want to raise their rates again.

And, if they were allowed to cut some of their dead wood, the situation would be less drastic.