USPS needs to to be gutted. Yes, I've come around and I hate this agency.

[JDCrimson]

Mail theft by post office employees in our area has become a real problem. They had a ring of people they recently convicted working in the Montgomery post office.

 

[arthurdawg]

No, their revenue has continued to slide due to declines in first class and marketing mail. From 2015-2024, they have lost $78.7 B. The demand continues to drop, but the office is failing to adjust. Frankly, the best thing for it would be for a corporation who knows how to NOT lose their asses to take over. The obvious problem here is that I can't imagine anyone wanting to take over with all the pre-funded retiree healthcare costs they would be stuck with, not to mention a union almost as crooked as the NEA. Nope, don't look for corporate America to bail out this loser. Someone might prove me wrong one day, but I doubt it's anytime soon.

The prefunding requirement and the inability to fire bad employees and raise rates as needed causes most of this. The management under De-joy was a De-zaster as well.

It's a tough scenario all the way around.

 

[Padreruf]

We have "centrally located" mailboxes for much of our development. I am amazed at how often the post person gets properly addressed mail in the wrong "box." We joked for several years that they were on a "meet your neighbor" game plan. I've made "friends" with our delivery persons of all companies and it really helps.

 

[mdb-tpet]

No, their revenue has continued to slide due to declines in first class and marketing mail. From 2015-2024, they have lost $78.7 B. The demand continues to drop, but the office is failing to adjust. Frankly, the best thing for it would be for a corporation who knows how to NOT lose their asses to take over. The obvious problem here is that I can't imagine anyone wanting to take over with all the pre-funded retiree healthcare costs they would be stuck with, not to mention a union almost as crooked as the NEA. Nope, don't look for corporate America to bail out this loser. Someone might prove me wrong one day, but I doubt it's anytime soon.

Starting in 1974, the USPS is unique in it's requirements to fund all of it's own future liabilities unlike other federal agencies. Additionally, the USPS cannot raise it's prices or change it's expenditures.

And in 1990, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 made USPS responsible for unfunded CSRS liabilities created by cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) to retiree benefits. This meant the Postal Service must pay CSRS employer contributions, amortization payments related to pay raises, and a new set of amortization payments related to COLAs.

Other federal agencies didn't have to cover additional payments beyond employer contributions, which continued to be funded by congressional appropriations.

Then in 2003:

And the Postal Service’s employer contribution was increased from 7% to 17.4%.

The reform also changed the way OPM would calculate USPS’s CSRS obligations. CSRS liability would be calculated on a dynamic basis that made USPS responsible for projected future pay increases, inflation, and interest rates.

Meanwhile, the rest of the federal government continued to use a static basis that did not incorporate pay raises or inflation into their calculations.

Etc.

The Postal Service has been used as a political football for decades. They cannot raise their prices without approval, and the postal service cannot change their service to every single house and business in the country including much of the world. They are literally stuck between a rock and a hard place fiscally. Plus, they are a government service without the requirement to make a profit, meaning they are providing a national service at below cost with cost burdens no other agency has.

Postal Retirement Funds in Perspective: Historical Evolution and Ongoing Challenges

A dynamic and interactive digital story on the history of postal retirement funds and future challenges

stories.uspsoig.gov

 

[CrimsonNagus]

Mail theft by post office employees in our area has become a real problem. They had a ring of people they recently convicted working in the Montgomery post office.

Yep. I don't often mail stuff these days, but I never use USPS anymore. You can't trust the Montgomery offices.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Yeah, the USPS is horrible in our area. There's only one guy who runs our route occasionally who does the job right. When I see him, I beg him to get them to switch him to our route full time. The rest of them who do our route are careless and are borderline incompetent.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

the mail at my apartment comes any time between 9am to 10pm. Not kidding. It is the most inconsistent delivery time I have ever seen. I once went a month without getting any mail. Nothing. Not even junk mail for a month. I was actually expecting something and it never showed up.

 

[AWRTR]

Yes, I am ranting. Yes, I am mad. Right now, if a pollster called, I would side with Trump on the USPS; it needs to be gutted or privatized because it sucks.

The people who work there are lazy bums who refuse to do their jobs. My daughter starts her senior year of high school this week, their senior trip is to Italy and France, so we need to get the ball rolling on a Passport. So I go online to USPS.com and schedule an appointment for last Wednesday @ 8 am. We show up at 7:50 am, 8 am comes and goes, and no one is there. A worker finally shows up around 8:1,5 but takes another 5 minutes to open the doors.

We are then told that the employee who processes passport applications only works on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The website mentions none of this, which allows you to make appointments for any day of the week except Sundays (yes, according to the website, you can schedule appointments on Saturdays). I leave while angrily telling the employee that maybe they should let the web admins know the crappy hours this lazy Federal employee has, so the website can reflect the actual times they work.

So, I get home and we make another appointment for this morning. We also need a photo taken, which the USPS website says can be done at this location. Get there, and this lazy bum says he doesn't do pictures at all.

I'm done. I hate this organization. Fire them all and hire people who want to do the stupid job. I don't care if the current admin tries to gut this place; they deserve the hate they get.

I tried to forward mail last January. They weren't capable of it. I had to go back to the post office multiple times because we were getting no mail at all. Absolutely incompetent. This is the state of most of the federal government.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Mail theft by post office employees in our area has become a real problem. They had a ring of people they recently convicted working in the Montgomery post office.

IDK if it's still that bad around here, but it was terrible for a while. We send out a lot of mail with SASEs included, waivers and stuff like that. If the USPS employees see "attorney," they think it may include a check and will tear it part way open to peek inside. It used to be almost every delivery...

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Starting in 1974, the USPS is unique in it's requirements to fund all of it's own future liabilities unlike other federal agencies. Additionally, the USPS cannot raise it's prices or change it's expenditures.

And in 1990, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 made USPS responsible for unfunded CSRS liabilities created by cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) to retiree benefits. This meant the Postal Service must pay CSRS employer contributions, amortization payments related to pay raises, and a new set of amortization payments related to COLAs.

Other federal agencies didn't have to cover additional payments beyond employer contributions, which continued to be funded by congressional appropriations.

Then in 2003:

And the Postal Service’s employer contribution was increased from 7% to 17.4%.

The reform also changed the way OPM would calculate USPS’s CSRS obligations. CSRS liability would be calculated on a dynamic basis that made USPS responsible for projected future pay increases, inflation, and interest rates.

Meanwhile, the rest of the federal government continued to use a static basis that did not incorporate pay raises or inflation into their calculations.

Etc.

The Postal Service has been used as a political football for decades. They cannot raise their prices without approval, and the postal service cannot change their service to every single house and business in the country including much of the world. They are literally stuck between a rock and a hard place fiscally. Plus, they are a government service without the requirement to make a profit, meaning they are providing a national service at below cost with cost burdens no other agency has.

Postal Retirement Funds in Perspective: Historical Evolution and Ongoing Challenges

A dynamic and interactive digital story on the history of postal retirement funds and future challenges

stories.uspsoig.gov

Thanks for beating me to it. These have been conscious steps by Republicans to force it into being a financially negative agency. The hope was that it would force privatization, with all the grift attached thereto...

 

[Tidewater]

Yes, I am ranting. Yes, I am mad. Right now, if a pollster called, I would side with Trump on the USPS; it needs to be gutted or privatized because it sucks.

The people who work there are lazy bums who refuse to do their jobs. My daughter starts her senior year of high school this week, their senior trip is to Italy and France, so we need to get the ball rolling on a Passport. So I go online to USPS.com and schedule an appointment for last Wednesday @ 8 am. We show up at 7:50 am, 8 am comes and goes, and no one is there. A worker finally shows up around 8:1,5 but takes another 5 minutes to open the doors.

We are then told that the employee who processes passport applications only works on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The website mentions none of this, which allows you to make appointments for any day of the week except Sundays (yes, according to the website, you can schedule appointments on Saturdays). I leave while angrily telling the employee that maybe they should let the web admins know the crappy hours this lazy Federal employee has, so the website can reflect the actual times they work.

So, I get home and we make another appointment for this morning. We also need a photo taken, which the USPS website says can be done at this location. Get there, and this lazy bum says he doesn't do pictures at all.

I'm done. I hate this organization. Fire them all and hire people who want to do the stupid job. I don't care if the current admin tries to gut this place; they deserve the hate they get.

And to the opening post, it is extremely inconsiderate and lackadaisical to only do appointments on certain days while your own web page says you do them six days a week,
Just fix the web page, for Pete's sake.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

And to the opening post, it is extremely inconsiderate and lackadaisical to only do appointments on certain days while your own web page says you do them six days a week,
Just fix the web page, for Pete's sake.

Ain't my job, man.

 

[75thru79]

And to the opening post, it is extremely inconsiderate and lackadaisical to only do appointments on certain days while your own web page says you do them six days a week,
Just fix the web page, for Pete's sake.

Something tells me that this idea of only taking appts on a few days was something cooked up by the local post office, probably by this person because they are high up in the local PO hierarchy. I doubt the folks in DC know anything about this.

 

[Padreruf]

Years ago 2 postal vehicles were parked in front of our house. I heard one postal worker shout at the other -- expletives deleted -- your cannot go back even if you are through...you will make the rest of us look bad. Go get a cup of coffee and wait an hour.

I cannot tell you the number of deliveries that we have had go missing since we moved here 7+ years ago. Our post office is a small town, rural one, and seems to be corrupt to the core. Amazing...

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I'll throw this in - FedEx and UPS are now not any better than USPS. We have to order our "red meat" (ostrich and emu). Our primary supplier will only use UPS, because he had too much spoilage with FedEx. UPS is far from perfect, but it beats the other two. FedEx has fallen very far from being the elite service it once was...

 

[dayhiker]

Locally, the courthouse works really well for passports. I use Walgreens/CVS, etc for the photo. My kids had to get one earlier this year, so had to figure it out. The hardest one was for my son in Murfreesboro, TN. Their courthouse was booked out for months. There was a passport office on campus at MTSU and he was in and out pretty quick. For all 3 we paid for expedited process. I don't recall how quick the turnaround, but it was much quicker than what was advertised.

 

[75thru79]

I'll throw this in - FedEx and UPS are now not any better than USPS. We have to order our "red meat" (ostrich and emu). Our primary supplier will only use UPS, because he had too much spoilage with FedEx. UPS is far from perfect, but it beats the other two. FedEx has fallen very far from being the elite service it once was...

Amen to the Fedex bashing. I buy so much stuff online it is crazy. I even buy dog food online. For some reason Chewy.com insists on using Fedex and they keep delivering my dog food to my neighbors house. They have done it three times in the past year and my neighbor just keeps it (even though I have a photo from Fedex clearly showing my dog food leaning up against their garage door). I confronted him about it the first time but he denied the garage in the picture was his. The first time I complained to Fedex they suggested I go talk to my neighbor. No. It's not my job to fix your screw-ups. FWIW, I have absolutely no issues with Amazon and UPS. Fedex stinks.

 

[75thru79]

Locally, the courthouse works really well for passports. I use Walgreens/CVS, etc for the photo. My kids had to get one earlier this year, so had to figure it out. The hardest one was for my son in Murfreesboro, TN. Their courthouse was booked out for months. There was a passport office on campus at MTSU and he was in and out pretty quick. For all 3 we paid for expedited process. I don't recall how quick the turnaround, but it was much quicker than what was advertised.

My wife and I updated our passports this Spring. She filed for expedited and I just did the regular. She got her passport one week before me. It wasn't worth the extra $ for expedited.