First-class mail stamp increase

[JourneyOfLife]

1 cent increase.



Stamp prices to go up 1 cent in January - Nov. 22, 2013 (http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/22/news/economy/usps-stamp-price/index.html?iid=SF_E_River)

[JB in TV]

They should just make it 50 cents... this penny here and penny there is so silly.

[JourneyOfLife]

50 cents would not matter to you or me.... but businesses that send a lot of mail want to keep the price down.

Notice the post office shifted to forever stamps... at least we don't have to run and buy a bunch of 1 cent stamps to finish using our existing stamps.

[billethkid]

what the postal system needs is to be taken out from under the control of the government and privatized.

How many years in a row would a private company be allowed to lose multi billions of dollars with no hope in sight to EVER do any better?

The one cent increase is a joke.....with or without it the bottom line (if there was one) will not be affected.

btk

[JourneyOfLife]

I believe we are inching toward big changes in USPS.

But it will probably be a while before it does change.

[2BNTV]

I buy forever type stamps, because if the price of stamps go up, one doesn't need to add postage. :smiley:

Where I use to work, the mailman informed me that the P.O. has too many layers of management. and not enough carriers. They need to streamline their operation, or increase the price of stamps accordingly. I would tend to think of the volumn of mail, they should be able to turn a profit?

With the internet, and people being able to pay their bills online, adds another dimension to their financial woes.

Who knows if the P.O. will be in business in twenty years. They may go the way of newpaper journlism, and books. There aren't as many newspapers, and magazines as their used to be. Just a lot of stuff, that carriers hate lugging around, especially during the Xmas holidays. IMHO

[zcaveman]

They should just make it 50 cents... this penny here and penny there is so silly.

If they up it a penny every two years it will take 100 years to get to .50.

If they raise it .50 this year then in two years they will raise it another .50, in 100 years no one will be able to afford a stamp.

It also gives them something to do to make themselves feel like they are doing something without addressing the REAL problem which is the law they passed demanding 5 billion in the retirement fund every year.

Z

[JB in TV]

If they up it a penny every two years it will take 100 years to get to .50.

If they raise it .50 this year then in two years they will raise it another .50, in 100 years no one will be able to afford a stamp.

It also gives them something to do to make themselves feel like they are doing something without addressing the REAL problem which is the law they passed demanding 5 billion in the retirement fund every year.

Z

I wasn't referring to a 50 cent INCREASE. :22yikes:

[LeeM]

Amazon goods are now going to be delivered on Sundays via USPS.

[Golfingnut]

what the postal system needs is to be taken out from under the control of the government and privatized.

How many years in a row would a private company be allowed to lose multi billions of dollars with no hope in sight to EVER do any better?

The one cent increase is a joke.....with or without it the bottom line (if there was one) will not be affected.

btk

About.com: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/39/401.html (http://usgovinfo.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=usgovinfo&cdn=newsissues&tm=63&f=20&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/39/401.html)

Been there done that

[PaPaLarry]

To really save some money, they need to do away with Saturday delivery!! I'm sure all of us can go without Saturday & Sunday delivery. (gas & vehicles are so costly) Secondly, they need to start figuring a way to have mail delivered in a centralized area (like The Villages) so time can be saved, and mileage usage can be decreased. Since there has been such a large decline in 1st class mail, (because of computers and direct deposit for checks etc) the Postal Service needs to be in competition with UPS and Fed Ex for parcel delivery. Also close down a lot of the rural Post Offices, and contract out with Super Markets, to have a Post Office in the Super Market. Everybody wins then. The Super Market gives the Post Office free space, and the Super Market draws more customers. Win, Win!! Also get more involved in Fax. Maybe bring in Hallmark cards for sale in Lobbies. I'm sure there's other people out there with some ideas? I myself, would like to see The Postal Service succeed, and flourish. After all, mail delivery is like "apple pie" and USA

[blueash]

I would suggest that they eliminate walk up home delivery. In the nice suburbs the postman walks great distances between homes and takes hours to deliver to just a few streets. Go to all mailbox at the curb delivery. For the disabled a permit similar to the parking permit would be available to indicate at the door delivery. If more economy is needed I would be perfectly happy to go to every other day residential delivery. MWF for one set of homes, TRS for the other. Each mailman thus doubles her territory. If you are a business operating out of a home, or a homeowner who insists they need daily service, then you pay a fee to buy that additional service, or you rent a PO box where you can go daily to receive your mail. Not sure how I would handle the question of a business address getting daily mail or every other day.

[JourneyOfLife]

One big debate was over closing smaller post offices and branches to consolidate operations.... which of course would also reduce the number employees.

There was a lot of push back on the idea.

Many peoples' response: Not my post office!

[zcaveman]

I wasn't referring to a 50 cent INCREASE. :22yikes:

Sorry - that was the way I read your note.

[Bavarian]

Any one wanting to do away with rural post Offices and their P.O. Boxes, never lived in a rural area. Many of these post offices were in the general store and people came there for their mail, no home delivery. And they traveled from their farms. New areas have rural post boxes at the end of the driveways for over forty years.

I know a development built in mid '70s, the builder did not like post boxes so he built community post boxes at the end of each cul-de-sac. But the newspapers put their boxes at each driveway, so no benefit.

The USPS does a good job as they must deliver everywhere in all 50 states.

[JB in TV]

Sorry - that was the way I read your note.

No worries, my post was probably ambiguous..:oops:

[PaPaLarry]

Any one wanting to do away with rural post Offices and their P.O. Boxes, never lived in a rural area. Many of these post offices were in the general store and people came there for their mail, no home delivery. And they traveled from their farms. New areas have rural post boxes at the end of the driveways for over forty years.

I know a development built in mid '70s, the builder did not like post boxes so he built community post boxes at the end of each cul-de-sac. But the newspapers put their boxes at each driveway, so no benefit.

The USPS does a good job as they must deliver everywhere in all 50 states.
There good and bad to that!!! The good part is, the customers come to the little Post Office to pick up their mail, but the bad part is, The Postal Service is renting the building (and the costs that go with the building). I think that's why The Postal Service wants to go to a more centralized way of delivering the mail, with more customers in one section. (again, like The Villages) They are also trying to negotiate with local Super Markets for free space, so they can have postal service in a building that has no cost factors. Like I had said before, it's a win, win situation. The PO gets free space, (no charge for electric, rent etc) and the Supermarket has more customers coming to their store. Of course that just a tiny savings, to the overall picture!! I would love to see the Postal Service survive, but I think the younger generation doesn't see it that way. Just hope the importance of receiving birthday cards, sometimes checks, Christmas cards, and other important letters, lives on forever. Eliminating Saturday delivery, would be a good start!!

[SoccerCoach]

My question of the day. When was the last time that YOU can remember the USPS operating without a fiscal loss?

[PaPaLarry]

My question of the day. When was the last time that YOU can remember the USPS operating without a fiscal loss?
I think when Nixon was president!! I could be wrong.

[Villages PL]

Forever stamps are forever until they file for bankruptcy.

[coralway]

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!

Folks still use stamps?

[twinklesweep]

what the postal system needs is to be taken out from under the control of the government and privatized.

How many years in a row would a private company be allowed to lose multi billions of dollars with no hope in sight to EVER do any better?

The one cent increase is a joke.....with or without it the bottom line (if there was one) will not be affected.

btk

We don't need a privatized postal system. We already have the closest thing to that with UPS and FedEx. But let's see: How much would these services charge for delivering the equivalent of a first class letter to some remote village in Alaska which requires a bush pilot to land where he or she can, who is then met by someone running a snow machine (called a snowmobile in the lower 48 states) to take it to its final destination? And before anyone says it, is the American at that final destination not worthy of the same, say, first class mail service as the American in the heart of any big American city? This is called a governmental service; of course it will never be profitable and may always run a loss.

On the other hand, I do agree that "the one cent increase is a joke." The basic letter rate within our neighbor to the north, Canada, is 63 cents. Maybe it's time for a dramatic postal rate increase (and I don't mean anything like UPS or FedEx rates). You cannot beat the service we get from the post office, but it certainly can handle a reasonable price adjustment—as long as it remains the same service for ALL Americans, no matter where within the U.S. they live.

The Postal Service was founded back in colonial times: 'Three weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in May 1775 to plan for the defense of the colonies against British aggression and “to take into consideration the state of America.” The conveyance of letters and intelligence was essential to the cause of liberty. A committee, chaired by Benjamin Franklin and including Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, Philip Livingston, Thomas Lynch, and Thomas Willing, was named to consider the creation of a postal system.'

The Postal Service Begins (http://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_003.htm)

(Emphasis above mine.) Granted the Postal Service was not created via the U.S. Constitution, it still comes from that time, and one of its purposes was that it was "essential to the cause of liberty." True, we cannot compare the available technology then with that of now, but that technology is not part of the daily lives of countless Americans. For them, the Postal Service may well be their sole means of communication. Let's not be insensitive to the needs of these Americans as well....