Postal Service To Close 2,000 Sites In Next Two Years

Postal Service To Close 2,000 Sites In Next Two Years

voices.washingtonpost.com

"The U.S. Postal Service plans to save as much as $500 million in the next two years as it works to close or consolidate about 2,000 mostly small, rural and rarely visited retail locations, according to senior postal officials. Another 500 sites are slated to close by June."

(visit the link for the full news article)

The article goes on to state:

"We have post offices out there that we have two customers, or three customers come in in an entire day," Donahoe said. "Remember the Maytag repairman? He used to have the loneliest job in the world. We probably have about 5,000 postmasters that have the loneliest job in the world."

Well if that's the case they should be closed. I am sure that some persons, especially in the rural areas,will not be happy with this change, but I guess everyone is going to have to accept their share in eliminating some of these excess costs to taxpayers.

But these closings will undoubtably cause problems:

"But even as some branches move into nearby retailers, others will close completely, forcing customers in mostly small, rural towns to drive up to 20 miles to find the next-closest site."

Last I heard they were going to stop Saturday service to cut costs. Guess that won't be enough......

voices.washingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

We've recently been through similar cuts to our "Royal Mail" in the UK. It's just a sign of the times, e-mail is taking over and though obviously there are times when a letter is the far better option/needed, the frequency of that is on the decline. Escalating fuel costs won't be doing the situation much good either.

This should come as no surprise! With the evolution of paypal, email, etc...there really is no use for the postal service, not to mention a better service provided by DHL, UPS, and Fed ex to name a few. I would be content on having the paper mail, being switched to email. That way the junk mail could always be discarded into the trash bin!

This goes to show that privatized business always beats government-run business.

UPS and FedEx have demolished the US Postal Service in terms of speed, quality, tracking, etc.

This is what needs to happen with everything the government owns.

I'm astonished that they've actually "given in" and decided to get rid of SOME wasteful spending.

On to Amtrak, Fannie and Freddie, Sallie Mae (student loans), etc.

S&F OP.

~Namaste

The Postal Service was started as a works program for returning Civil War veterans.

It grew into the most efficient mail delivery system the planet has ever seen.

Then employees unionized and the era of "going postal" dawned. Now it is model of mismanagement, inefficiency, and government bloat.

reply to post by ScepticalBeliever


More jobs going down the tubes thanks to TECHNOLOGY!

the post office is a much need hub that we would be most foolish to disregard
They want everyone online...and dependant on this digital equipment that will be useless during the expected large solar flares.

how and why would you close an evolutionary work of interconnectory art like the post office, what other network linkng the public together and linking the public sector, in the real world....so without my laptop i cant use the post office to deliver items, pay bills, make transactions and transfers. public sector app. forms, passport renewal, driving license.

this is sabotage,

Originally posted by LanMan54
reply to post by ScepticalBeliever

 

More jobs going down the tubes thanks to TECHNOLOGY!

Yeah, well that's that fault of progress now isnt it?

I know people who refuse to use those self-serve checkouts at the supermarkets because it contributes to job loss.

I cant help but think if these mindless unskilled jobs werent so easy to come by and uselessness so acceptable more people would rise to the skill of perhaps being able to service those machines.

We've coddled the useless far too long.

The open acknowledgment of government being one of the useless is just icing on the cake.

Originally posted by ScepticalBeliever
We've recently been through similar cuts to our "Royal Mail" in the UK. It's just a sign of the times, e-mail is taking over and though obviously there are times when a letter is the far better option/needed, the frequency of that is on the decline. Escalating fuel costs won't be doing the situation much good either.

How often do you have service over there now?
Here in the states it is six days a week, Monday thru Saturday,
but supposedly Saturday delivery to homes here is supposed to
end sometime this year.

Strange, you guys seem to be missing a bit of important information here. That is the mentioning of these being mostly rural PO locations. There has been a large shift from rural areas and into the cities over the decades. I'm sure there's many factors at work here, but that alone might account for a good chunk of the reasoning behind this decision.

reply to post by unityemissions


Are they mostly rural?

Seems counter-intuitive to shut down a post office out in the boonies with a staff of 2 rather than one of the half dozen offices in urban areas staffed with dozens each.

I've been in cities where post offices were just as plentiful as coffee shops.

One more reason to stay rural. Oh what would I ever do without the 10 pounds of snail spam each week.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


That information is in the only quoted sentence in the OP.



I think the key thing to realize is both population density, and also the amount of money it may take to keep a facility operational, even if it's merely staffed by two people.

Originally posted by mike_trivisonno
The Postal Service was started as a works program for returning Civil War veterans.

It grew into the most efficient mail delivery system the planet has ever seen.

Then employees unionized and the era of "going postal" dawned. Now it is model of mismanagement, inefficiency, and government bloat.

edit on 25-1-2011 by mike_trivisonno because: (no reason given)

Here's an article on how the postal union feels about this:

"APWU Web News Article 009-2011, Jan. 24, 2011

The union is “deeply disappointed” by the Postal Service’s announcement — via the Wall Street Journal — that it plans to close as many as 2,000 post offices beginning in March, APWU President Cliff Guffey said Monday."

Source and more info here:

postalemployeenetwork.com...

reply to post by unityemissions


True. Although being in Texas I know of many rural post offices that
will be missed, and often function as more than just a post office,
they are like a gathering place for all the local news....Still it is something
that needs to be done.

Maybe if a SHTF occurs, and all the city dwellers run for the hills,
they will reopen them.......

Originally posted by SonOfTheLawOfOne
This goes to show that privatized business always beats government-run business.

UPS and FedEx have demolished the US Postal Service in terms of speed, quality, tracking, etc.

This is what needs to happen with everything the government owns.

I'm astonished that they've actually "given in" and decided to get rid of SOME wasteful spending.

On to Amtrak, Fannie and Freddie, Sallie Mae (student loans), etc.

S&F OP.

~Namaste

Actually, the US Postal Service has been privatized since 1970 when they did the Reorganization Act. They get a small grant from the government which is probably equivalent to the average corporate tax evasion take-away. They have to subsist almost exclusively on postal costs. They have actually done much worse since they unofficially privatized. They suck because they use a horrible business model that's has never been much updated (except to ruin it by privatization). They still have the upper-hand on general mail but... yeah, that's about it. They are, in every way but in name, a private corporation.

I'm sure this isn't NEW News. My father lives in I guess you would call the "boonies" washington county pa. Hendersonville to be exact. His OLD post office looked like a small house, I actually didnt know it was the post office until he told me it was (NO FLAG, NO SIGN, JUST A HOUSE). He now has a mailbox across the street (previously a P.O. BOX at that house) and the nearest town delevers his mail.

Now in my town of 9,000 people, 5minutes outside PGH, we had a very large Post Office that was extremely old. I remember going there as a child and seeing rows of rows of P.O Boxes. IT was shut down as of recently for it was too large for our town, it was old, and I remember reading in the local paper that its structure wasn't as sound as it should be. We now have a VERY SMALL but brand new post office about 2buildings from where the classic one still sits and is for sale. (why they think someone will buy it if they think it isn't safe doesn't make since, It is a historical site though I believe)

With that said I don't see it as a suprise they are closing so many sites. With technology taking over and seeing how small my towns post office is now, they don't need as large buildings to operate efficiently as they needed the space before. It isn't a bad thing.....yet

reply to post by manta78


When I go to the post office, all I see are watery-eyed clerks who are anywhere from totally uninterested to ambivalent to aggressive. The facilities are run-down, uncared for, and poorly light. The grounds are unkept and ugly. The parking lots are unpainted, cracked, and in disrepair.

I don't know what the Postal Union is doing with our money, but it sure as heck isn't going to the improvement of their delivery systems or the training of their employees.

As usual, another grabscam where the majority of your money ends up in the hands of a few creepy dudes who would probably kill you if you got in their way.

De-unionize the US Postal Service and I would bet that twice-daily delivery, bright eager employees, and clean efficient facilities would return almost overnight.

reply to post by mike_trivisonno


You need to study history before you try citing it. Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster General and the Post Office was created by an Act of Congress at the end of the 17th century. How about posting a link to the claim that it was set up to give civil war vets a job. Sounds like what comes out of the south end of a north bound pony express pony to me.

An update on what's happening with postal services and prices:

"Postage Rates Going Up But Not For Most Letters"

updated 2/18/2011 5:20:54 PM ET 2011-02-18T22:20:54

"First the bad news, postage rates are going up April 17. Now the good news, the basic 44-cent rate for first-class mail stays the same." The Postal Service said Friday that mail price changes it announced last month have been approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission."

"Other decisions on rates included:"

— Post cards will rise by a penny to 29 cents.

— Letters to Canada or Mexico increase to 80 cents, from 75 cents to Canada and 79 cents to Mexico.

— Letters to other international destinations will remain unchanged at 98 cents.

— Express Mail and Priority Mail prices are not affected.

—There will be a variety of price changes for other mailing services, including...."

For more info go here: www.msnbc.msn.com...