MSU Red Cedar Message Board

Minus well be. For all the regulation attached to USPS, it is for all intent owned and run by Uncle Sam.

LOL. What I should have clarified is that the business where I used to work, I was a shipping clerk. I sent stuff via UPS all over the country. Including Kalamazoo, which as stated is 45 miles away. Kalamazoo was next day ground service. In fact the hub is in Kalamazoo. One day one of the idiots in the office wanted me to next day air a 1 pound package to Kalamazoo, at 4 times the cost of ground rate. I tried to explain that sending it air freight was unnecessary and overly expensive. He told me to do it anyway, so I did. Three days later his boss asked me why I sent it air freight to Kazoo and cost the company so much more freight charges. I explained why and the idiot got his ass chewed. That is why I say sending something via air freight depends on how far you are sending it. Sometimes, it just isn't necessary.

I already said earlier, they get about $100 million in tax funding per year.

Howver, they get other benefits of being a government agency (no tax liability, eminent domain, etc).

signed,

the health care industry.

The main money maker for UPS and FedEx is that they can deliver door-to-door way quicker then any other service. If you're near any major city, most of the time if you drop off a package by 2-3pm and choose Next Day early AM, it will be delivered by 9am. UPS makes most of their money off of corporate clients, not single packages sent by most consumers. They can afford to gouge people for a single shipment.

I'm OK with USPS even if they have staffing problems. The one down the street went from 3 to 2 service counters - but sometimes it's only 1 counter and I always end up behind someone buying like 27 money orders. They need to issue those things from a kiosk.

Some of them are getting kiosks for shipping stuff and just buying stamps.

But come on people. You really think there wont be massive problems if the USPS just disappeared? They have like 80% of the business in this country. If you think lines are long now just think about the massive number of people trying to use only FedEx and UPS... I wouldn't be surprised if those two companies actually want the PO to stay in business.

And the USPS has to send things to Guam and bases all over the world at the same price as if I sent a letter across the state. Think about that!

This thread was just frustration brought upon myself by procrastinating and working up until 2 days before we moved cross country. I'm now relaxing with a 24oz of Dos XX at the Hampton Inn in Amarillo. I'm pretty sure I got raped by UPS/FedEx, but at least they were nice and used lube. Also, those 3 extra days I worked more than paid for the entire move. I appreciate USPS, but a lot of their employees lack customer service skills, and their hours suck.

"The Postal Service receives NO tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. We are required by law to cover our costs."

Good luck using UPS or Fed Ex if the USPS shuts down...

"The Postal Service can and does compete with the private sector — and it collaborates, too. UPS and FedEx pay the Postal Service to deliver more than 400 million of their ground packages to residences and the Postal Service pays them for air transportation — taking advantage of their comprehensive air network."

Wrong. It's classified as an independent agency of the Government.

No that isn't correct.

The USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters. However, it does receive tens to hundreds of millions per year in "implicit subsidies", such as breaks on property tax, vehicle registration, and sales tax, in addition to subsidized government loans.[6] Revenue in the 2000s has been dropping sharply due to declining mail volume,[7] prompting the postal service to look to other sources of revenue while cutting costs to reduce its budget deficit.[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service

The minor exception ends up being abotu $100 million/year.