Any ideas about what can be done to save the United States Postal Service?

The next President should sign an Executive Order to sell corporations advertising on stamps and other US Postal items would be my suggestion. They already have their names on sports arenas why not sell them the right to sell their goods on US stamps. We could have a Papa John's stamp, for instance. Or, a Publix First Day Issue. Happy Meal Collectibles in stamp images.

Would hope that some kind of decency standards would be written into the advertising. Could use without the Victoria's Supermodels stamps or the Playmate Stamp of the Month.

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Any ideas about what can be done to save the United States Postal Service?

The next President should sign an Executive Order to sell corporations advertising on stamps and other US Postal items would be my suggestion. They already have their names on sports arenas why not sell them the right to sell their goods on US stamps. We could have a Papa John's stamp, for instance. Or, a Publix First Day Issue. Happy Meal Collectibles in stamp images.

Would hope that some kind of decency standards would be written into the advertising. Could use without the Victoria's Supermodels stamps or the Playmate Stamp of the Month.

this could be an interesting thread:
1. we have a great set-up here in the villages for receiving mail. no home delivery, all mail is picked up in centralized locations by residents. this idea should be rolled out in every housing development. no one should have the luxury of home delivery.
2. more automated services at the us post offices. no more waiting in line when many services do not need the interaction of a human.
3. close many free standing post offices and house some of them in supermarkets and other 24 hour a day retailers.
4. raise the price for bulk mail. why should junk mailers pay next to nothing and 'real mail' pay a premium rate?

am looking forward to hearing of others ideas!

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Any ideas about what can be done to save the United States Postal Service?

The next President should sign an Executive Order to sell corporations advertising on stamps and other US Postal items would be my suggestion. They already have their names on sports arenas why not sell them the right to sell their goods on US stamps. We could have a Papa John's stamp, for instance. Or, a Publix First Day Issue. Happy Meal Collectibles in stamp images.

Would hope that some kind of decency standards would be written into the advertising. Could use without the Victoria's Supermodels stamps or the Playmate Stamp of the Month.

will imposing a decency standard cause a ruckus over the advertiser's right to free speech? even adult entertainment venues are allowed to operate just outside a designated school or church zone.

i wonder how advtg on stamps would be handled - some businesses don't have a major presence in certain parts of the country and might not want to pay for providing stamps in those areas - no krispy kremes in the northeast comes to mind []; some may not be able to afford whatever a full run of printing stamps would cost - as opposed to being able to bid for the naming rights to a sports-type venue for however many years the bid is for; but it is an interesting possibility!

There are actually TWO pieces of legislation in congress right now to address this issue.

The senate has already passed a postal overhaul bill, but has not been brought up by the senate.......The post office criticizes the senate bill saying it does not go far enough.

The house bill allows for more sweeping changes that would enable the post office to cut costs sooner, has met resistance from some lawmakers who are concerned it would lead to slower service and more post-office closings.

So, the federal government will come to the rescue at some time !

If you expect quick fixes forget it..this is the US Govt where we are losing billions with GM !!

But, they appear to have something in mind.

my postman told me - the govt just has to eliminate the requirement that the usps pay millions of $$ annually for the pensions of employees who have NOT yet been HIRED. seems simple! what other business has to pay for the pensions of employees not yet hired? it's absurd! jesse james used a gun when he ran hold-ups!

Originally Posted by njbchbum

my postman told me - the govt just has to eliminate the requirement that the usps pay millions of $$ annually for the pensions of employees who have NOT yet been HIRED. seems simple! what other business has to pay for the pensions of employees not yet hired? it's absurd! jesse james used a gun when he ran hold-ups!

Actually the senate bill I alluded to gets rid of this prepayment (where else does your retirement get paid in advance) but the postal authorities do not feel it goes far enough.

Every time I see something like this prepayment, I think of this same group administering health care for everyone

Originally Posted by Bucco

Actually the senate bill I alluded to gets rid of this prepayment (where else does your retirement get paid in advance) but the postal authorities do not feel it goes far enough.

Every time I see something like this prepayment, I think of this same group administering health care for everyone

apparently this pre-payment goes back years and is a significant reason for the post office being in the fiscal shape that it is! that bill is likely to face stiff opposition is the house since they do not have a mechanism for replacing those dollars that will become lost revenue.

The Post Office's woes stem from three factors: (1) The volume of first class mail continues to spiral down as electronic communications replace it, (2) The profitable package delivery service has been drastically curtailed by competition from FedEx and UPS who do it faster, more reliably and cheaper, (3) The Post Office continues to use defined benefit pension plans while the private sector has shifted almost exclusively to a defined contribution plans.

The only solution I see is to privatize the organization. Take congress out of it entirely. This will allow the private company to consolidate operations thereby reducing costs, shift to a defined contribution pension structure, combine operations with FedEx and UPS, eliminate Saturday deliveries, etc. As long as Congress is involved with determining how the Post Office is run, it will be run badly for the benefit of the individual Congressmen and Senators showing how many facilities can be kept open in their district/state.

Get rid of the union welfare system and abuse of the taxpayer:

Federal Times

Paid to do nothing
11,000-plus postal workers idle at any given time

The U.S. Postal Service, struggling with a massive deficit caused by plummeting mail volume, spends more than a million dollars each week to pay thousands of employees to sit in empty rooms and do nothing.

It's a practice called "standby time," and it has existed for years — but postal employees say it was rarely used until this year. Now, postal officials say, the agency is averaging about 45,000 hours of standby time every week — the equivalent of having 1,125 full-time employees sitting idle, at a cost of more than $50 million per year.

Mail volume is down 12.6 percent compared with last year, and many postal supervisors simply don't have enough work to keep all employees busy. But a thicket of union rules prevents managers from laying off excess employees; a recent agreement with the unions, in fact, temporarily prevents the Postal Service from even reassigning them to other facilities that could use them."

Paid to do nothing | Federal Times | federaltimes.com

Originally Posted by BBQMan

The Post Office's woes stem from three factors: (1) The volume of first class mail continues to spiral down as electronic communications replace it, (2) The profitable package delivery service has been drastically curtailed by competition from FedEx and UPS who do it faster, more reliably and cheaper, (3) The Post Office continues to use defined benefit pension plans while the private sector has shifted almost exclusively to a defined contribution plans.

The only solution I see is to privatize the organization. Take congress out of it entirely. This will allow the private company to consolidate operations thereby reducing costs, shift to a defined contribution pension structure, combine operations with FedEx and UPS, eliminate Saturday deliveries, etc. As long as Congress is involved with determining how the Post Office is run, it will be run badly for the benefit of the individual Congressmen and Senators showing how many facilities can be kept open in their district/state.

Some good ideas and the best idea is to take Congress out of it entirely. Congress can't run a one car funeral. Will this happen.......
Nah!

Originally Posted by justjim

Some good ideas and the best idea is to take Congress out of it entirely. Congress can't run a one car funeral. Will this happen.......
Nah!

Could make it private but this administration considers private enterprise without government control to be totally ....well, lets just say bad.

President wants EVERY industry to be a GM...gee, how much of our tax money is being lost there ?

USPS pays 5.5 billion $'s a year for a pre payment of future retires health care. This was not their idea. This was placed on the 2006 reorganization bill approved in congress and signed by Bush. There is no company who would want to buy or even take over the USPS because they would lose money in the rural areas of this country. Having multiple companies run this system would be too complicated for the businesses and citizens of this this country to figure out. One company would charge a dollar to send a letter from LA to NYC and another would charge a dollar and a quarter to send from NYC to LA. Imagine the confusion. Rather than cut Sat. delivery and reduce hrs of service, keep the Post Office open longer and provide more service such as banking and whatever else they can think of. As far as those clerks who are on standby time, that was something that management agreed to in contract talks. It was used very little until lately. But the clerks had their contract renewed by management approx a year ago and still agreed to it. So the unions are just asking and getting what they ask for. Not imposed on them. So get rid of the prefunding and the PO instantly will be in a lot better shape and become more viable for other ideas.

Originally Posted by HMLRHT1

USPS pays 5.5 billion $'s a year for a pre payment of future retires health care. This was not their idea. This was placed on the 2006 reorganization bill approved in congress and signed by Bush. There is no company who would want to buy or even take over the USPS because they would lose money in the rural areas of this country. Having multiple companies run this system would be too complicated for the businesses and citizens of this this country to figure out. One company would charge a dollar to send a letter from LA to NYC and another would charge a dollar and a quarter to send from NYC to LA. Imagine the confusion. Rather than cut Sat. delivery and reduce hrs of service, keep the Post Office open longer and provide more service such as banking and whatever else they can think of. As far as those clerks who are on standby time, that was something that management agreed to in contract talks. It was used very little until lately. But the clerks had their contract renewed by management approx a year ago and still agreed to it. So the unions are just asking and getting what they ask for. Not imposed on them. So get rid of the prefunding and the PO instantly will be in a lot better shape and become more viable for other ideas.

Good post...did not realize what you posted. And it matters not who was president to me.

Is this handing over the keys to the store typical with the federal unions ? I honestly do not know !

as long as the risk of cutting spending involves any reduction of facilities and employment in any of the congressional districts there will never, ever be anything done about it.

The problem with the USPS is the exact reason why many companies choose to bring in a third party to fix the real problems that existing management just will not do.

We all go merrily along with the ongoing allowance of a broken business run y the government to continue by always going along with the annual price increases and the non actions to eliminate the KNOWN costly problems.

There is no mystery to why the USPS continues to operate in the red....the owners do it every day....spend....spend...spend.

The USPS will never change until such time as it is privitized and run like a business.
btk