USPS now using COVERED WAGONS?

[DCP]

USPS may now be using COVERED WAGONS:holysheep

Well Pony Experess still would be quicker:kidding:

255 mi, 4 hours 34 mins away by those Fanny new Gas things:[smilie=2:

Shipped 1/14/12 still not here on 1/19/12[smilie=b:

[fryboy]

i've had packages that made it across the country quicker than some just a couple states over ..do i blame myself or should i pay the extra for guaranteed overnite delivery ? guess it depends upon how soon i want it .....

[canyon-ghost]

USPS has slowed down because of the cost on things. Shipped on a weekend means it will wait til Monday to even get sorted. Patience, it's still the best deal in town.

[rockrat]

I sent 2 medium flat rate boxes out , early last month, at the same time. One to PA, one to NH. The NH made it in 3 days, the PA one took 20 days

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

got another "horror story"

A while back I was dating a girl in El Campo, TX. She had a PO Box. The box was 2 feet from the mail drop. I sent her a birthday card. She got it two weeks later with a MINNESOTA postmark

? ? ? ?

[DCP]

So do you have relatives or friends in Minnesota. [smilie=1:
That can get you out of a jam[smilie=s:

Bet I am not the 1st to ask. :drinks:






got another "horror story"

A while back I was dating a girl in El Campo, TX. She had a PO Box. The box was 2 feet from the mail drop. I sent her a birthday card. She got it two weeks later with a MINNESOTA postmark

? ? ? ?

[Geraldo]

USPS may now be using COVERED WAGONS:holysheep

Well Pony Experess still would be quicker:kidding:

255 mi, 4 hours 34 mins away by those Fanny new Gas things:[smilie=2:

Shipped 1/14/12 still not here on 1/19/12[smilie=b:

Pony Express covered that distance in one day, but the rate was $5/half ounce which was lowered to $1/half ounce. Even using the later rate, if what you're waiting for is only three pounds it would have cost your $96 in mid-19th century dollars, which converts to about $1600 now.

Just something to take your mind off the wait. :kidding:

[Hickory]

got another "horror story"


I used to do a Newsletter for our home-school group.
It took 11 days for one person to get the news letter,
they lived 16 miles away.

[Alchemist]

Guys, I'm a mailman and can tell ya that if it makes sense, USPS don't do it that way. ALL letter mail that goes in a drop box goes thru automated sorting...the days of "Local" and "Out of Town" are GONE! If you drop a letter in outgoing mail 10' from the P.O. box it's addressed to, it will get there in the automated mail (usually the next day, but it can get "mis-sent").

All kinds of head-scratching stuff goes on. What goes on down at the processing plant is anybody's guess.

[Blacksmith]

How come my local PO has two drops one for local and one for out of town?

[DIRT Farmer]

Blacksmith, It hasen't been put in the budget to change the lables yet.
My wife would get a piece of mail for a box down the road. When she started, she would inital the stamp and deliver it. They started requiring it be brought in to be sorted. And they wonder why they are running out of money.

[imashooter2]

How come my local PO has two drops one for local and one for out of town?

To make you feel good.

[Harter66]

I just got a box from Midway via UPS ,sorta. It took 6 days from Lexena? Ks to Sparks Nv ,2 hr to Fallon Nv,then 2 days in the USPS from Fallon to Reno (so close to hello you can see Sparks) then to Hawthorne.. .

[Bret4207]

Well, there's the other side of things too. I just ordered a pair of Mickey Mouse boots last Friday. The money was removed from my account the same day. The following Thursday I got an email saying my were shipped! 5 days at least to stick some boots in a box and send them out. And I paid for the the shipping, not the "free" stuff.

That makes me madder. If they hadn't emailed me I would have happily blamed the USPO.

[Beau Cassidy]

If you ever dealt with PO employees outside of work you would understand why it takes so long for things to get done. Multiple different unions- all doing things differently. Th PO employees I have dealt with have all been paranoid and scared about their jobs. I just don't see it. You ever heard of a PO employee being clipped? In my opinion making cuts only gives them a chance to be lazier.

My recent personal experience involves the tag for my truck after I moved to GA. It took 6 weeks- weeks- not days- for it do go about 100 miles.

[GRUMPA]

They're not only using covered wagons but I have a strong hunch it's being pulled by Shetland Ponies as well.

[oneokie]

They're not only using covered wagons but I have a strong hunch it's being pulled by Shetland Ponies as well.

I beg to differ. IMO, they use snails to pull the wagons. Hence the term "snail mail".

[MT Gianni]

If you ever dealt with PO employees outside of work you would understand why it takes so long for things to get done. Multiple different unions- all doing things differently. Th PO employees I have dealt with have all been paranoid and scared about their jobs. I just don't see it. You ever heard of a PO employee being clipped? In my opinion making cuts only gives them a chance to be lazier.

My recent personal experience involves the tag for my truck after I moved to GA. It took 6 weeks- weeks- not days- for it do go about 100 miles.

Yea several PO workers I knew lost jobs. That mentality comes from the top, from management always holding that club over their head.
This perspective comes from working for companies that always seem to loose money the 3 quarters before their Union Contracts expire then doing great for 3-4 years til the contracts roll around again.
I just got an order from Mid-South, it came across the country in a week but I paid 35% more than USPS would have charged as Fed ex is their cheapest option and USPS flat rate is not one.
We all get what we pay for.

[Trey45]

Man don't even get me started on the post office. I went to war with the post office in chesapeake va for leaving my mailbox door open EVERY DAY. I lived on one of the busiest roads in chesapeake at the time, 6 lanes of traffic in front of my house, trucks fly by and suck my mail out of the box because the driver was too lazy to close the door which forced me to dodge 6 lanes of traffic to recover my mail out of the road. THREE YEARS this went on, countless complaints were filed by dozens of people on that road, they finally moved the driver to another route instead of making him actually CLOSE the mailbox doors! They even sent out an inspector to check my mailbox door to make sure it closed properly! I talked to the guy, told him my mailbox worked fine, their delivery driver was malfunctioning! If this had been any other enterprise where a worker was failing to do their job on a daily basis, that worker would have been given his walking papers, but not so with the post office, they simply moved him to another route, as if that was going to cure him of not closing mailbox doors. So now a whole new neighborhood has inherited our old problem of having to chase mail down in the street because the mailman is too friggin lazy to close the door!

I almost forgot, this same lazy driver refused to ever exit his mail truck, if you had a delivery confirmation, or a package too large to fit in the box, he wouldn't even knock on your door, he'd fill out a yellow card and put it in your box. I was outside on several occasions when he did this and stopped him at the next box, demanding my package and asking why he didn't even attempt to knock on the door. No excuse was given, just rudely thrown the package after signing for it. I'm not normally a man driven to violence, but I was tempted on more than one occasion to drag that guy out of his truck and beat him senseless. Of course, I'd be in jail if I had. That's the only thing that stopped me, was jail. If there was ever a person in dire need of a good old fashioned beating it was that guy.

[alamogunr]

I don't pay for delivery confirmation anymore. All it does is tell you when it was entered into their system. Delivery is confirmed when it arrives at the destination post office.

I like UPS and FedEx. They tell you the intermediate stops along the way.

[jcwit]

I normally get delivery of all my packages within 3 days of sending, once in a while it will take the limit of 5 days.

For the amount of packages, letters, and junk mail the post office is burdened with its almost a miracle anyone gets anything, and at what it costs.

To all of you out there who have complaints about the mail service, think you could do any better, now be honest.

Ya, you may have an answer for your own little problem but a solution to solve the problems nation wide covering millions and millions of pieces daily??

[waksupi]

I don't pay for delivery confirmation anymore. All it does is tell you when it was entered into their system. Delivery is confirmed when it arrives at the destination post office.

I like UPS and FedEx. They tell you the intermediate stops along the way.

If you use the online tracking, it tells you every move of the package. I sent something to another board member a couple weeks ago, and we had all the tracking info to find it. Turned out, his P.O. had dropped the ball, and had not given him his delivery notice, so there it sat at the P.O. Without the delivery confirmation, who knows where the package would have ended up?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Wow, lots of anger toward the USPS.

With one exception,
I've never, ever had a problem with the USPS.
I've sent and received hundreds of packages via the USPS
in the last three years,

And that one exception,
there was an issue with how the addressee had addressed the package.

I guess I am just lucky.
Jon

[Freightman]

I kinda like my mail man stops and says hello and if the package is large he rings the door bell and sets it inside. JMHE

[alamogunr]

If you use the online tracking, it tells you every move of the package. I sent something to another board member a couple weeks ago, and we had all the tracking info to find it. Turned out, his P.O. had dropped the ball, and had not given him his delivery notice, so there it sat at the P.O. Without the delivery confirmation, who knows where the package would have ended up?

I'm going by the notification I get when, for example, a mold is shipped. I get a notification that the post office has been notified to expect a shipment. It also says that there will be no more updates until the package arrives at its destination. If it never arrives, it doesn't exist as far as the USPS is concerned.

Obviously, I am talking about something different.

[cbrick]

Man don't even get me started on the post office.

No kiddin, same here. The PO would make money if they simply disbanded the civil service which is the single worst thing that ever happened to America. Think about the concept, hire someone for life and pay them from the cash cow, sorry, I mean the tax payer. No matter how incompetent and lazy they are the only way to get rid of them is to promote them. Once hired they are set for life including an extremely generous pension and health plan. Don't think for a second that your tax money isn't supporting the PO and the civil service.

I had the exact same problem with a letter carrier that refused to close the door. Mail box was right at the street and there was no side walk so people walked up & down the street all day, every day. I get most of my paychecks by mail and to anyone walking by, about two feet away in plain sight were my checks. Never in the two years I lived there did I get her to close the door, made numerous phone calls, wrote numerous written complaints all for nothing. I never found anyone at the PO that cared any more than that letter carrier and why should they, their paychecks and fat pension is gauranteed.

At one point they were replacing a water main on the opposite side of the street, the project took almost a month. For a month she refused to go down my street because it was a construction zone and she thought she could get hurt. For a month no one on my street got any mail including my paychecks. The PO only holds mail for so long and then they return to sender . . . Including my paychecks.

And it's not just the PO, it's anything where the government hires someone and inproperly calls it . . . civil service.

Rick

[montana_charlie]

I don't pay for delivery confirmation anymore. All it does is tell you when it was entered into their system. Delivery is confirmed when it arrives at the destination post office.

I like UPS and FedEx. They tell you the intermediate stops along the way.
UPS and FedEx provide tracking numbers ... which track progress.
Although the USPS Delivery Confirmation number is starting to be used at each change point, it is only intended to confirm delivery.

If you sell something to me and I tell you I never got it, you can't call me on it if you don't have a Delivery Confirmation number.

Maybe I'm lying, maybe it got lost. You will never know, and you can't prove anything to the Post Office, either.

If you buy your postage online with Click n Ship the postage costs less, and the DCN is free.

CM

[fryboy]

ummmm " but I was tempted on more than one occasion to drag that guy out of his truck and beat him senseless."

i think some one had already beat you to it ( and he never recovered ..part of that "hiring the handicapped " i'd wager ...)

[ErikO]

The secret is to be nice to your carrier. Several times when the car has been in the drive she'd walk the mail to our door and knock so we didn't have to go get it.

Also, I work right above a post office. If I drop a pre-paid envelope or package in the drop box inside, it gets taken care of before lunch as they don't get many items before 9am.

[Goatwhiskers]

cbrick, I will concede that you had an extremely discourteous and poorly trained carrier, they do exist, but most carriers know they are in a public service job and are very proud to provide that service. I worked 23 years as a rural carrier and was a trainer for 5 of those years. Just FYI, the Postal Service does NOT run off taxpayer money, it has been operated as a self-supported business for over 40 years. Now I will admit that it is top heavy with "managers" who produce nothing and I think that is the cause of the current financial crisis. Let's badmouth the Post Office, it's the American way! Goat

[waksupi]

This is what my deliver confirmation info looks like. Do people get something different?

11, 2012, 11:14 pm
Expected Delivery By:
January 14, 2012
Delivery Confirmation™
Out for Delivery
January 11, 2012, 9:14 am
SEELEY LAKE, MT 59868
Sorting Complete
January 11, 2012, 9:04 am
SEELEY LAKE, MT 59868
Arrival at Post Office
January 11, 2012, 8:11 am
SEELEY LAKE, MT 59868
Depart USPS Sort Facility
January 11, 2012
MISSOULA, MT 59801
Processed through USPS Sort Facility
January 11, 2012, 2:24 am
MISSOULA, MT 59801
Dispatched to Sort Facility
January 10, 2012, 3:50 pm
SOMERS, MT 59932
Acceptance
January 10, 2012, 12:14 pm
SOMERS, MT 59932

[bowfin]

Nine days for a CARE package from Columbus, Nebraska until the soldier pulled it off the air dropped pallet in Afghanistan during the Christmas Busy Season, all for $12.95.

I was impressed...

[Harter66]

3 yrs ago I sent 1 over there too 5 days flat.

I've had no issue w/our PO. Our lil' berg doesn't have street delivery only PO boxes . Remarkably over 95% the street addressed mail gets in the right box on the 1st try.

[bowfin]

I much prefer the Post Office to Fed Ex or UPS.

Our UPS guys are in too much of a hurry to wait for someone to answer the door. My wife received a package from the UPS that was torn open and haphazardly retaped. She said she would not sign for it until she checked to make sure the contents weren't damaged. The UPS driver kept interrupting her with, "How does it look, because I got to get going."

[alamogunr]

This is what my deliver confirmation info looks like. Do people get something different?

11, 2012, 11:14 pm
Expected Delivery By:
January 14, 2012
Delivery Confirmation™
Out for Delivery
January 11, 2012, 9:14 am
SEELEY LAKE, MT 59868
Sorting Complete
January 11, 2012, 9:04 am
SEELEY LAKE, MT 59868
Arrival at Post Office
January 11, 2012, 8:11 am
SEELEY LAKE, MT 59868
Depart USPS Sort Facility
January 11, 2012
MISSOULA, MT 59801
Processed through USPS Sort Facility
January 11, 2012, 2:24 am
MISSOULA, MT 59801
Dispatched to Sort Facility
January 10, 2012, 3:50 pm
SOMERS, MT 59932
Acceptance
January 10, 2012, 12:14 pm
SOMERS, MT 59932

I have never seen anything like that. What does that service cost?

[oneokie]

It costs nothing. Go to the USPS web site, click on tracking, enter your DC #, and hit go.

[Pigslayer]

Ya know people, I along with many others have questioned the work ethics of the USPS. But I honestly have to say that they, on the overall do a good job. I have never . . . never lost a piece of mail. I have lived all over the world (via the military) & from one coast to another & I have never lost a piece of mail. That's pretty amazing. I came home from work the other day & it was 20 degrees & the wind was blowing about 30 mph & the USPS delivery lady was delivering mail in that cold & freezing her butt off in that weather. Yep, she makes about $20.00 an hour & worth every penny . . . at least to me.
I get frustrated sometimes too 'cause I'm really anxious to get whatever it is I'm waiting on but hey, moving the mail is a "MASSIVE" undertaking. The dynamics of which are of monumental proportion! So, I try to give 'em a break.

[Bret4207]

I don't know about anyone else, but my mail carrier is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Hard worker, he and his wife putt heir daughter through Cornells Veterinary program. He works crazy hours and yet he always has time to chat with my kids if they're out to get the mail. Everyone should be luck as to have a guy like him.

Now, the twerp behind the counter down in town that gives me an attitude no matter how pleasant I try to be...him I could do without.

Our old Fed Ex guy was an blooming moron of the first caliber. Our current guy is pretty decent, something of an old car nut.

Our UPS guys are without fail polite and efficient and IMO always in a hurry and behind the 8 ball. I had an uncle that did 25-30 years with UPS and he worked ridiculous hours.

[oneokie]

I beg to differ. IMO, they use snails to pull the wagons. Hence the term "snail mail".

That was posted in jest.

Can anyone think of a service that beats the low cost of delivering something to anywhere in the U.S. for a lower cost? Heck, you can't even deliver a piece of mail across town for less money.

[DCP]

Ok guys here is the point

On Sat the 14th my package was mailed from Missouri to Illinois’ 255 mi, 4 hours 34 mins away

On Tue the 17th my package was mailed from Mississippi to Illinois 725 mi, 12 hours away

Same size and weight

They both arrived today the 20th

There is a BIG difference here

Now for all you people that has never had a problem with USPS. I hope it stays that way for you.

I also have a great mailMAN. They ride those poor guys and gals horrible. They make their routes longer and longer constantly. Hide in the bushes and spy on them. They have name for the people who can’t take anymore it’s called GOING POSTAL.

The post office has been mismanaged by MANAGEMENT not the people at the bottom. To allow a bad employee do his or her job incorrectly is a Management failure (Union or not)

[waksupi]

I have never seen anything like that. What does that service cost?

Get the regular delivery confirmation. Go to the USPS site, and enter the number. As you see, it is followed all the way to delivery.

[thenaaks]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/397806_2940224660543_1108972589_3063867_1779875242 _n.jpg


I didn't know this was an acceptable form of payment for a flat rate box. For the record, my local post office and carrier are great! But my parents had a deliveryman that was awful...he would smash packages into (or halfway into) the mailbox, or hang them in a walmart bag from the flag, regardless of the weather.

[thenaaks]

There were ninety-two 17cent stamps, and one 1cent stamp. I kinda feel sorry for the PO employee working at the counter....and everyone else waiting in line.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

My folks collected stamps,
He started back in the 1960's buying full pages of commemoratives.
He even had the Moon landing stamps.
When they retired in the late 80's they tried to sell them.
it turned out those stamps weren't worth jack.
The best offer he had was 70% face value.
ANYWAY,
From 1991 til about 4 years ago,
I never needed to buy postage (except from my Dad).
Four years ago was about the time I started trading Brass
and stuff online (on another forum).
The first 30 or so Flat rate boxes I shipped out looked like the one above.
The clerk at the PO was plenty happy when I ran out of their stamps.
Of course he'd bust my chops once in a while.
a few of the stamps in a Annual collectors pack from the late 70s were
labeled "official business only" ...One of the flat rate boxes
I put them on, the clerk refused it, saying those stamps
are for Official Post Office business only and asked where I got them.
I said they were in a collector pack...He just said sternly, take 'em off.
which meant a round trip back home or buy 60¢ worth of stamps.
I bought the stamps...then he just laughed about it.
Jon

PS. also, they never let me tape over the stamps,
the box above looks like they have been taped ???
The Clerk said they have to stick on their own,
if they peal off because of old glue, it's your tough luck.

[Alvarez Kelly]

And it's not just the PO, it's anything where the government hires someone and inproperly calls it . . . civil service.

Rick

When I was active duty in the service of our great country, I managed to get a Civil Service employee "fired" for incompetence. It took a year, but he walked out the gate forever...

Actually, it's something I am incredibly proud of accomplishing! :-)

[shdwlkr]

USPS
First they will get there sometime
Second if it gets lost it is not their fault
Third if it arrives damaged it must have been shipped damaged
Fourth over night shipping means it will get there in at least 11 days
I live in Idaho mail moves when we get the ground shaking and any other time it is an accident.

[DCP]

This is funny:goodpost: He must have had a problem or two


USPS
First they will get there sometime
Second if it gets lost it is not their fault
Third if it arrives damaged it must have been shipped damaged
Fourth over night shipping means it will get there in at least 11 days
I live in Idaho mail moves when we get the ground shaking and any other time it is an accident.

[white eagle]

shoot if you can get it there faster another way I would use it

[schutzen]

Alvarez Kelly is right! I too had one dismissed for incompetence. The only issue is you have to do your job. Document his/her short commigs, council him/her on the short commings and how to correct them, follow up in 30-60 days with another counciling telling the employee if he/she is progressing or still failing, have your supervisor council him/her, more documentation, minor disiplanary action if there is no improvement, more documentation, major disiplinary action, more documentation, then termination. Yes, it is a long drawn out process and it requires much work on the part of the immediate supervisor; but it can be and is done.

You want the mailman to close your mail box door like he is supposted to. File a complaint with the post master. After one month, make a time dated home movie of the mailman leaving the mailbox door open and the mail being sucked out my passing traffic. File another complaint with the postmaster. Wait 30-60 days make another time dated movie and send it to your congressman. You will get action. If this does not stop it, make a thrid time dated movie and send it to your congressman again. The second time the same issue comes down from congress to a federal agency, senior management is upset. For those that tell you the USPS is no longer Federal, don't worry it is. All that was done was a smoke and mirrors trick to make the government look smaller and allow the senior managers to draw more compensation.

You can get action, you just have to work at it.

[shdwlkr]

DCP
I have no problems with my local post office they have even found a package or two for me. My carrier is great also and no I don't have a regular carrier that I know of as it was a route that was up for bid and last I heard no one had bid on it yet.
For one had a package mailed from back east got to SLC and on to Boise when it got to Boise they put a no such person on the package and sent it back to SLC city. Funny thing is that I had done a forwarding address and my post office knew it and yet it still got sent back to SLC and almost lost there. My post master found that one for me.
Another time a package from SLC went to some state back east then to a southern state then to Arizona I think it was back to SLC and then on to Wyoming who must have finally read the zip code and on to me. how do I know all the postal stamps on the package should have kept some of them but didn't.

One package never did arrive so the shipper put an signature request on the package and just 3 days later it was here. The one that got lost was in the mail for over a month and then just disappeared, shipper told me that and realized that I never got the package.
Sent an overnight priority letter took it 11 days to get to them and they are only 2 states away from me and with the way I drive just over 20 hours. Go figure I really wonder how anything makes it from one place to the next these days.
Had someone here mail me a signature request package and it came by way of mule I think it took so long to get here. But it got here which is what I care about most times as if it takes 2 or 10 on most things it doesn't matter. I mail things to get them from one place to the next and if I want it there fast then I pony up some real money and ship it that way.
Getting upset only makes my day bad doesn't bother the other folks as they deal with it all the time. What really confuses them is when you just want to have your package and you don't go postal on them.

[Trey45]

Schutzen, I filed numerous complaints, followed up, other people on the same road filed complaints, NOTHING was done for 3 years until they simply relocated the driver. The post master at the chesapeake branch either didn't care, or didn't know how to do his job. It took 3 years of weekly calls, written complaints and pictures for them to realise there really was a problem. I no longer live there, the small town I live in now runs their post office the way it should be run, occupied by people not afraid to work and who actually know their job. This is also one of the offices they want to close, go figure.

[montana_charlie]

This is what my deliver confirmation info looks like. Do people get something different?

11, 2012, 11:14 pm
Expected Delivery By:
January 14, 2012

Delivery Confirmation™
Out for Delivery
January 11, 2012, 9:14 am
SEELEY LAKE, MT 59868
.......................................
.......................................
.......................................

Dispatched to Sort Facility
January 10, 2012, 3:50 pm
SOMERS, MT 59932
Acceptance
January 10, 2012, 12:14 pm
SOMERS, MT 59932
I have never seen anything like that. What does that service cost?
That is the common Delivery Confirmation Number.

When USPS first started that program, getting carriers to scan the packages they delivered was like pulling teeth. It was a 'new, extra, responsibility' and they didn't like it.

Eventually, confirmation of delivery became pretty reliable as carriers got used to the system.

Now, they are scanning mail at all kinds of points within the mail stream, so you see more and more examples of what Waksupi posted.
The 'Delivery Confirmantion Number' is evolving into a 'tracking number'.

CM

[cbrick]

schutzen, please tell us where outside of government and the civil service anything close to all of that is needed to get an employee to correctly do their job? Next explain why it should be either needed or acceptable within the governemnt?

Rick

[montana_charlie]

schutzen, please tell us where outside of government and the civil service anything close to all of that is needed to get an employee to correctly do their job?
His advice was directed more at having the employee fired than it was for changing the employee's performance.

But, take yourself down to the large 'private' employer of your choice ... like a bank, or a hospital, or maybe a university ... and try to make them change the performance of their employees.

When you compare the effect of your efforts in the 'private sector' with those required for 'public agencies' the similarities will outnumber the differences.

CM

[MakeMineA10mm]

With the current economic climate, the smart employees in my govt job classification have tightened up both performance and attitude. The trouble most of the time, cbrick (or others interested), is that in most govt jobs, there's no competition in the line of work the "company" is involved in, so happy employees, and quality (leaders vs. Managers) management is greatly lacking... This seems to have carried over from the days the post office WAS a govt entity and the only game in town. Once UPS and FedEx started competing with them, the old mgt. style didn't leave (or get replaced), and they ratcheted up their draconian style even more. (Wonder why you heard few complaints about the postal service and never heard of a postal worker going crazy and going on a shooting rampage before the 70s??). Now, USPS can only compete on price (not service), which is why they can't turn a profit.... And the answer now from the new generation of draconian Hitlerites? Let's raid the retirement fund..... This is why unions are critical in public sector jobs. Do you really think anyone of quality would be interested in working in such an environment with no protections? Give WI about 10 years and we'll see their roads in worse shape and their high school grads tests scores be far lower. THEN, there'll be an outcry to fix that... We never learn from our history.

Sorry to the OP for dragging a little off-topic...

[cbrick]

If WI gets rid of the teachers union they will have the highest test scores in the country. Ever read one of the teachers unions monthly publications? Pure socialism.

Rick

[Tonto]

Funny thread. I complained once to a buddy who was a postal inspector, about a stamp price increase. He produced a postcard sized fact sheet that compared postage rates around the world. At the time, it cost $1.47 to mail a letter in Madagascar compared to the .30 cents in the USA. I was told, see what a bargain still! My response was it should be cheaper in the US and over time, it should get cheaper still. He was furious. I laughed. Compare the bennies of the USPS compared to the rest of federal employees, they are better. They sponor the Olympics and Tour du France for millions. We just sent an envelope via first class mail from Minneapolis to Chicago and it's ten days and counting. If the USPS dried up and blew away, I'd shed no tears. Every price increase reminds me how much I dislike everything about them.

[Alvarez Kelly]

I LOVE their flat rate boxes though. I bet they got a BIG chunk of business back from UPS because of those. At least from us individuals. I understand companies get great rates not available for you and I from UPS and FedEx...

[jcwit]

My response was it should be cheaper in the US and over time, it should get cheaper still.

Why?


If the USPS dried up and blew away, I'd shed no tears. Every price increase reminds me how much I dislike everything about them.

What do you purpose to replace the USPS with?

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

[/quote]

[Dan Cash]

I kinda like my mail man stops and says hello and if the package is large he rings the door bell and sets it inside. JMHE

Kind like my mail man throws the package on the ground from his pick up truck window. If it is heavy, he throws it in the ditch. The North Dakota wind will remove the light ones. If there is snow on the ground, he won't come at all as he makes more money driving a snow plow for the county.

[montana_charlie]

Kind like my mail man throws the package on the ground ...
If any part of that is true, what have you done to correct that problem?

CM