To Postal Workers, No Mail Is ‘Junk’

The point is that if the USPS 1.1 Billion in the RED just for last quarter then it needs to raise the rates on this high volume mail category to appropriately account for the cost of doing business instead of forcing the 1st Class and Parcel Post customers to subsidize this junk that fills many people's trash cans. Rate hike on pre-sort/bulk mail will do one of two things A) raise revenue to USPS to prevent the US taxpayer from making up the cost differential -or- sufficiently decrease the volume of mail transported to allow the USPS to reduce staffing in sorting, transportaion and ultimately delivery as well so that department wide it can live within boundries of its incoming revenue.

I cannot imagine ever using the Post Office for any purpose. Fedex and UPS are the only way to go if you care about your message or your package. Sloth and laziness are endemic at the Post Office.

If the Post Office charged the direct mail companies the same amount they charge me to send a 1 ounce letter, they would more than recover their losses. And, if the direct mail companies are determined that their "junk mail" is going to make somebody some money, they will pay the extra cost.

The postal workers are out of line and unrealistic. It doesn't make sense and is extremely wasteful to deliver junk mail that I don't read, throw away, some which I have to waste my time sorting and shredding! STOP MAILING ME YOUR UNWANTED JUNK! Then subsidizing it with my tax money, and ultimately charging me more postage so they can handle the volume of junk mail! STOP!!!

Seriously? If there is such a drop in volume, then why do I still wait 15 minutes to mail a bulk package? Why is there one worker at the Post Office counter, for every ten people waiting. Maybe the post office should get with times, come up with methods, products, and prices that work for an e-based society (email, ebills, ecards,...) and for the love of it all..... hire workers who can get you in and out of there BEFORE your lunch hour is up. Maybe a better image would help, it certainly couldn't hurt.

Seriously? If there is such a drop in volume, then why do I still wait 15 minutes to mail a bulk package? Why is there one worker at the Post Office counter, for every ten people waiting. Maybe the post office should get with times, come up with methods, products, and prices that work for an e-based society (email, ebills, ecards,...) and for the love of it all..... hire workers who can get you in and out of there BEFORE your lunch hour is up. Maybe a better image would help, it certainly couldn't hurt.

If snail mail is being used less, the postal service should adjust to that change. Why not cut delivery in half, I know I wouldn't mind going to the mail box only every other day. Their system is broken and outdated and needs to adapt.
Raise prices or cut employees, it's called adjusting to new market pressures in order to be profitable, of course as a tax payer, I'd be thrilled if they could just break even and stop hemoraging $$$.

The postal workers should NOT be advising anyone when they cost the TAXPAYERS a $5 BILLION
annial oss!!

The postal workers shouldn't be running/advising on a $5 billion dollar per year loss to the TAXPAYERS!!

So if I???m to understand this correctly, the post office stands to hypothetically lose about 3-4 billion dollars for their financial year-end if they maintain their current revenue deficit EVEN with all the crap mail that marketing companies are sending out?

Obviously, they have too many employees and I???d imagine that there are WAY too many retired employees on pensions which coupled with benefit costs are destroying any potential for profit due to monthly outlay they probably have in that regard.

Unfortunately, much like Newspapers & Magazines, physical mail will soon be outdated in favor of electronic documents and communication. I get all of my bills via email and pay all of them electronically; in fact the only thing I really get in the mail is JUNK I never asked for and wedding invitations since those will probably always be a formal physical piece of mail.

The US Postal service needs to slim down their employee base OR raise the price of stamps/package delivery in order to remain profitable. If the direct mailing on the part of marketing companies is as beneficial as the postal employees claim; then there shouldn???t be a problem with raising the prices for sending said marketing materials due to their inherent value.

I have an idea. Let's just pay postal workers to cart junk mail directly to recycling centers - in fact, the USPS should probably buy GreenDimes so they can get paid twice for the same service. Also, we could pay some postal workers to do nothing but mail letters to other postal workers.

(I'm a happy GreenDimes subscriber)

The post office is just really badly run. Anybody notice how much easier it is to mail something through UPS or FEDEX???? Their stores are staffed by much nicer people and to top it off I have never gotten anything lost by either of these companies. The USPS however always seems to lose important mail, and there overnight and 2 day services are a joke.
With the large increase in internet shopping over the last few years don't you think that that would make up for the decrease in bill paying and letters??
I am sure it has, just not for the USPS because of the reasons I stated above the "private" companies do a much better job. People will use the better services and companies no matter if its changing your oil or sending packages through the mail. The USPS has simply worked itself out of the market by bad service to the public.

I like to receive catalogs especially the ones I request through the internet.

I like to receive catalogs some of which I request through the Internet.

The catalogs give e a chance to look at the products when I'm not surfing the Internet plus they have a mail-in form to make purchases.

The post office employs over 700,000 Americans (that's tops in the country along with Walmart). In these economic times, how difficult is it to deal with a few pieces of RECYCLABLE paper if it saves someone's job?

I don't think Ms. Plimpton read the part of this article that stated direct marketing is what keeps the post office alive. Much of the paper used in direct marketing is recycled as well. What's worse having someone call your home to telemarket all the time, or a piece of mail that you can ignore, recycle or respond too? I mute my home phone for that simple reason, the annoyance of telemarketing. Although, I would be open to the post office cutting out a delivery day, that would help the surging fuel costs.

Would it be so tough to only have mail delivered every other day? Wouldn't that save a significant amount of money for the postal service? I know I'd welcome the change.

I have used Catalogue Choice, which helps people opt out of junk mail, for over a year now. I have submitted about fifty companies. After a year, only about twelve of them have stopped sending catalogues. Each time I receive a catalogue that I've previously opted out of, I re-submit it. No luck. Opting out of catalogue mail is even more difficult than stopping telemarketers by going on the Do Not Call list. I expect the Post Office has about five years more than they think they have.