Can you see the post office becoming extinct?

[Another Fan]

I wouldn't say I was a fan but I was always appreciative of the post office.  One of my first memories in life was taking a tour of a post office in pre school.  The neighborhood I grew up the mailman Joe was like a neighborhood fixture everyone loved.  Everyone knew him and he could always make you laugh or what not.  But he retired years back.  

 

 

Fast forward to modern day when more and more messages get delivered via other means.  That and I was surprised myself at how antiquated I found the USPS.com website.  It felt like the technology and speed of the website was from the late 90s.  That and well even buying stamps at a post office has a sort of dated feeling to it to me.

 

 

I mean ideally I wouldn't want that day to come but I can see it.  

 

 

[Augie]

I haven’t been in a post office in years, and I don’t miss it. Like libraries, they no longer serve a purpose in daily life. The world has changed. Instead of having mail delivered 6 times a week, we have stuff delivered throughout the day, all day, every day. My wife ordered an immersion blender recently about lunchtime on a Sunday. It arrived before dinner that day. The post office can’t compete with that. 

[Nextmanup]

I think it will go in the opposite direction.

 

Shopping malls are becoming extinct as people learn that it is much easier/efficient to shop online.

 

I have a next door neighbor that--I swear--has something delivered to her house almost every day. It's usually Amazon Prime, but UPS, Fed Ex, you name it.

 

I get--and mail--packages through Ebay with USPS all the time.

 

The USPS probably won't be sending "letters" from one person to another in the future, but packages, and also all the direct mail advertising crap we all get.

 

People have been bitching about the USPS since the beginning of time.

 

I find them to do a pretty remarkable job.  They get stuff from here to there in a few days, in a huge country, for not that much money.

 

 

[Bulldog]

I greatly appreciate the work that the US Postal Service does. It remains a mystery to me how it is a cottage industry for some people to complain about the Postal Service. 

Imagine being able to walk into a building in Western New York & hand some paper to someone behind a counter and say to them - "Send this to Alaska for me" and they say - "Yes Sir - that will be 63 cents & we'll have it there in a couple of days". I think that it is amazing that such a low-cost service is available to everyone, from anywhere, in the United States - yet people complain about the price of stamps! The issue is that the Americans have been spoiled by the Postal Service & have lost appreciation for it.   

 

On the other hand - the Postal Service will need to transition from the "letter" business to the "package" business as our economy continues to evolve. I believe that this transition is already in progress. I hope that the Postal Service, in some form that serves our country, will exist for generations to come.                    

 

 

[SinceThe70s]

I think we need @Howard to weigh in on this.

[Draconator]

I generally go to the post office when I have to mail a package. Just find it more convenient.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

I would rather see the idjiot courier service van drivers (especially the phantom carriers with no identifying signage) driving 50 m.p.h. down residential streets get dismissed, than U.S.P.S. or Canada Post staff and services diminished. 🤨

[Augie]

50 minutes ago, Draconator said:

I generally go to the post office when I have to mail a package. Just find it more convenient.

 

My car knows the way to the UPS store next to my grocery store. I’m at the grocery store almost daily anyway. Very convenient with ample parking and short lines. The same cannot be said about the USPS locations near us. Like anything, it will vary some by location I suppose. 

 

I don’t dislike the USPS in any way. The lady who does our neighborhood is very nice. What she brings us is generally junk mail (I looked up cruises on my iPad and the deluge of slick marketing brochures commenced!)  and the occasional birthday or Christmas card from friends or family. All the stuff my wife has sent to the house gets returned via UPS with the exception of a rare FedEx package. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

No. It's constitutionally mandate. The roads you drive on are basically free because of the P.O.

 

It's the first thing we do when we nation build. Build a P.O.

 

Unless you want to live in an elitist world... Libraries and Post Office aren't going anywhere. They are the top 2 institutions in a free society. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

8 hours ago, Another Fan said:

I wouldn't say I was a fan but I was always appreciative of the post office.  One of my first memories in life was taking a tour of a post office in pre school.  The neighborhood I grew up the mailman Joe was like a neighborhood fixture everyone loved.  Everyone knew him and he could always make you laugh or what not.  But he retired years back.  

 

 

Fast forward to modern day when more and more messages get delivered via other means.  That and I was surprised myself at how antiquated I found the USPS.com website.  It felt like the technology and speed of the website was from the late 90s.  That and well even buying stamps at a post office has a sort of dated feeling to it to me.

 

 

I mean ideally I wouldn't want that day to come but I can see it.  

 

 

the post office is so poorly run. It loses literally billions of dollars each year. 

[Augie]

1 minute ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

the post office is so poorly run. It loses literally billions of dollars each year. 

 

If it ceased to exist, how would it affect your life? 

 

Differently answers for different people, I’m sure. 

[Johnny Hammersticks]

My mailman has seen me naked at least 4 times.  You see, after I mow the lawn I strip down and throw my sweaty clothes in the washer.  Then I walk upstairs to the shower passing the front door on my way through the foyer and up the staircase.  Sometimes he’s just there.  I’m beginning to think he times it out so he can catch a glimpse.  Worst part is the eye contact.  Very uncomfortable.

[Pete]

I miss the post office.  Anyone that says privatization is good, only needs to look at the post office and see how it ruins good institutions.

 

Stamps go up in price constantly now.  It takes forever to receive local mail.

 

I ordered a rare vinyl record.  I moved recently, all my mail is supposed to be forwarded.  
 

my mail lady delivered to the old address.

 

I called many times, and spoke with someone in charge.  “ I spoke with the carrier.  She knew it was supposed to forwarded.  She is going to ask new resident if they could return the LP.  That’s first step”

 

a month went buy nothing.

 

I called- “this case has been resolved”

 

”it was delivered to the wrong address!”

 

”it made to a residence”

 

”it doesn’t matter if it’s the correct recipient?  As long as it made it to any resident?”

 

”it made it to a resident”

 

it’s sad what’s become of the post office 

 

[Gregg]

12 hours ago, Augie said:

 

If it ceased to exist, how would it affect your life? 

 

Differently answers for different people, I’m sure. 

 

Not much to be honest. Pay bills online, shop online. I guess I would "miss" all of that "wonderful" junk mail that I just throw in the trash. I honestly don't remember the last time I was in a mall. It's been years so malls are another thing that seem to be going bye-bye.

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

Some a$$-backward government thinking for you:

 

We live in a small town outside DFW. Our post office is relatively small, and has customer service only 4 hours per day M-F and no Saturday service.

 

The last time I was in there I asked the customer service lady why they don't have one of those self-service kiosks where you can buy stamps and send packages.

 

She said that their location doesn't do enough volume to warrant a kiosk. They only put kiosks at locations that have a lot of volume.

 

Isn't the whole idea of self-service kiosks that you can use it any time and DO NOT need to have a postal employee there?

 

 

[dpberr]

I can see the USPS becoming the company that delivers prescriptions daily from central pharmacies as Walgreens and CVS roll back retail pharmacy for large central pharmacies.  Your day-to-day medicines are processed like Amazon Subscribe and Save and routinely delivered.   Since so many people have chronic health conditions and need the same medicines every day, there's a lot of auto-pilot medicine prescriptions to be filled.  Not a lot of money in it, but it's a service the USPS is ideally suited to do.

 

I could also see them carving out a niche as couriers for lab draw stations.  

 

I also wouldn't rule out Amazon, in the end, partnering exclusively with the USPS for their deliveries.  Instead of Amazon spending tens of millions on vans and staff, they will contribute to the USPS.  Delivering your $5.30 order of cat magnets is expensive if you factor in the the actual cost of that "free" delivery.  I just don't see how Amazon continues to do that.

[boyst]

i wish it would. sadly, it's Constitionally declared.

 

it's long been too expensive to operate as it has become a bureaucrative waste.

[Westside]

Forget the post office, I see our species coming extinct. Lol.

Seriously, with the govt being able to print money whenever they want will keep the post office running. Have they ever been profitable? Just curious.

[Augie]

3 hours ago, Gregg said:

 

Not much to be honest. Pay bills online, shop online. I guess I would "miss" all of that "wonderful" junk mail that I just throw in the trash. I honestly don't remember the last time I was in a mall. It's been years so malls are another thing that seem to be going bye-bye.

 

Malls near where we have lived are having to transition from traditional retail shopping to more “entertainment centered” with games, arcades and restaurants. I can’t tell you how many times a day I check the front door for packages. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

17 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

the post office is so poorly run. It loses literally billions of dollars each year. 

The PO is funded only by price of stamps. NOT your tax dollars.

 

A first class letter to my neighbor OR Point Barrow, Alaska cost the same.

 

Of course it's gonna lose money. Should a letter to Alaska from the Lower 48 cost $40?

1 hour ago, boyst said:

i wish it would. sadly, it's Constitionally declared.

 

it's long been too expensive to operate as it has become a bureaucrative waste.

Once again... You have roads because of the Post Office. 

[K-9]

1 hour ago, Westside said:

Forget the post office, I see our species coming extinct. Lol.

Seriously, with the govt being able to print money whenever they want will keep the post office running. Have they ever been profitable? Just curious.

The USPS recorded a $56 billion profit for fiscal 2022. 

[GoBills808]

i go to the post office at least once a week

 

not everyone wants ACH

[LeviF]

34 minutes ago, K-9 said:

The USPS recorded a $56 billion profit for fiscal 2022. 

 

Yes, because they no longer have to ensure that their retirees get their benefits in the future lol

 

Quote

On a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, the Postal Service had net income of $56.0 billion for the year, compared to a net loss of $4.9 billion for the same period last year, due almost exclusively to the one-time, non-cash impact of the PSRA.

 

That being said, I hope the post office sticks around. There are certain benefits that government-adjacent services provide that are good returns for taxpayer contributions. I can think of many other government agencies I'd prefer to slash the funding of before the USPS.

[K-9]

36 minutes ago, LeviF said:

 

Yes, because they no longer have to ensure that their retirees get their benefits in the future lol

 

 

That being said, I hope the post office sticks around. There are certain benefits that government-adjacent services provide that are good returns for taxpayer contributions. I can think of many other government agencies I'd prefer to slash the funding of before the USPS.

My post was a tongue in cheek comment, but good on you for doing the research.

[boyst]

1 hour ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

The PO is funded only by price of stamps. NOT your tax dollars.

 

A first class letter to my neighbor OR Point Barrow, Alaska cost the same.

 

Of course it's gonna lose money. Should a letter to Alaska from the Lower 48 cost $40?

Once again... You have roads because of the Post Office. 

the post office cannot even be self-sustaining. forget what it was even 20 years ago, grandpa.

 

you have some people arguing that, yes, it should be $40 to send that letter but that defeats the purpose of the organization.

 

ups and fed, among others do it better. let them do it.

1 hour ago, LeviF said:

 

Yes, because they no longer have to ensure that their retirees get their benefits in the future lol

 

 

That being said, I hope the post office sticks around. There are certain benefits that government-adjacent services provide that are good returns for taxpayer contributions. I can think of many other government agencies I'd prefer to slash the funding of before the USPS.

the last 3-4 years the usps has started to get back on track. but jeesh, it was rough. the mandates for funding their retires bennies was funny and they just keep hiring contract workers.

[ExiledInIllinois]

13 minutes ago, boyst said:

the post office cannot even be self-sustaining. forget what it was even 20 years ago, grandpa.

 

you have some people arguing that, yes, it should be $40 to send that letter but that defeats the purpose of the organization.

And if it can't be self-sustaining, then we as tax payers should be forced to make it self-sustaining.

 

The PO is the cornerstone of free society.

 

Like somethings... 😉😉... It's inherently governmental. You can't get rid of it and let the other two non-governmental companies be the only show in town.  I think you missed my post above about NOT becoming a society to the elites.

 

The USPS serves a public check to the other big two.

 

All a fruitless effort... It ain't going anywhere being it's the cornerstone of society.

Edited July 24, 2023 by ExiledInIllinois

[Fleezoid]

Where would we employ all the Aliens?....

 

[QCity]

23 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

the post office is so poorly run. It loses literally billions of dollars each year. 

 

The Post Office is more of a public service than a business. Nobody goes around saying the military loses $750B a year.

 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

3 minutes ago, QCity said:

 

The Post Office is more of a public service than a business. Nobody goes around saying the military loses $750B a year.

 

good point. I do think they fall behind even their modest projections though.
 

But one would think congress could set them up a little better to succeed; should be able to at least break even when private companies like UPS and fed ex turn nice profits. 

[Augie]

This thread made me think of another dinosaur. We were in NYC recently and went to my wife’s office, a huge commercial enterprise. A MASSIVE floor with hundreds of people.

 

We went by a large room that seemed to be a storage area. Nope! It was the “Copy Room.” Remember those? Everybody needed a copy room in the office, especially something that big. Now? Everything is digital. They still had copiers, but they were not really there to be used. We went to the museum later that day, but didn’t see any copiers. Yet.

 

I had a couple friends decades ago in the copier sale/office supply business. I wonder what they are doing now? And when it had to change. 

[QCity]

8 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

 

But one would think congress could set them up a little better to succeed; should be able to at least break even when private companies like UPS and fed ex turn nice profits. 

 

Agreed, there's a lot of potential for profits in shipping now compared to 30 years ago. Someone posted in this thread that they actually turned a profit last year.

[Punching Bag]

On 7/23/2023 at 6:33 PM, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

the post office is so poorly run. It loses literally billions of dollars each year. 

 

The US Post office is mandated by congress and micromanagement agencies to provide services which are uneconomical.  The US Post office needs to get approval for almost everything including closing of uneconomical post office locations and raising cost of postage.  It is impossible to run the postal system economically.

On 7/24/2023 at 10:27 AM, boyst said:

i wish it would. sadly, it's Constitionally declared.

 

it's long been too expensive to operate as it has become a bureaucrative waste.

 

It is a pork barrel for congressman so of course it is "a bureaucrative waste".

 

Quote

When the Constitution was ratified in 1789, the Postal Clause in Article I, Section 8 gave Congress the power "To establish Post Offices and post Roads" and “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper” for executing this task.

 

Unfortunately the Constitution does not mandate Congress make laws AND REGULATIONS which make sense.  There is no mandate for the regulations they make.

[Punching Bag]

On 7/24/2023 at 6:09 PM, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

But one would think congress could set them up a little better to succeed; should be able to at least break even when private companies like UPS and fed ex turn nice profits. 

 

Private companies like UPS and Fed Ex can raise rates at will and can choose not do business which is not profitable.