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Mail is declining and 3200 outlets out of 34,000 will be considered for closing their doors forever. One such Post office in HAWLEYVILLE, CT. is putting up a fight to save their office. I say bravo to them. (click here) I'm wondering if mine will be next? As the United States Postal Service, weighed down by a crippling multibillion-dollar deficit, shrinks its operations, post offices across the country are on the chopping block. Each year, hundreds of postal operations shutter, but this coming fall could be the single biggest consolidation in Postal Service history.
U.S. Postal Service: RIP
Posted Jun 15 2009, 06:05 AM by Douglas McIntyre
The U.S. Postal Service, which has been dying for years due to the advent of the fax, e-mail, and overnight delivery, may finally be close to its last act.
The agency lost nearly $2 billion in its last fiscal year and is faced with the serious consideration of cuts of up to 3,100 offices, potentially eliminating thousand of jobs. Media reports say that first class mail volumes are plunging.
What is killing and will probably eventually finish off the Post Office? In a word: “broadband,” the high-speed Internet system that the current Administration plans to build out in the next two years.
According to MarketWatch, the Postal Service is already looking at stopping Saturday delivery. The next moves will probably cut the number of weekdays the mail is dropped off, particularly outside urban areas where the cost of reaching homes and businesses spread over a wide geography is enormous.
Broadband has taken away the need for sending letters and may large documents. Broadband connections allow users to securely download encrypted files, some of which are the equivalent of thousands of pages of paper. The files can be sent and received in a few seconds compared with days to move them by mail.
Payment systems which wire transfer money have nearly eliminated the role of the check in paying bills. This will only increase as e-banking does.
Even the magazine and newspaper industries which relied on physical delivery systems for decades now use the Amazon (AMZN) Kindle as a way to get the printed word over the Internet and downloaded onto the device. Almost every major print product also has an Internet version. Sending magazines via mail is expensive. Cutting back on that form of delivery would be a blessing.
The modern postal system killed the pony express. The USPS could only last so long before it was itself replaced. That time has finally come.
Top Stocks blogger Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.
Yeaaahhhh.... o.k. - Moderator for The Postal People Photo Blog
It's been a while since I posted on this blog. I was in the ongoing battle of transitioning from the fearless side of being a Mailhandler to crossing over to the darkside of customer services as a level 17 supervisor in southern California. Probably the most traumatic employment I've ever experienced in my life. Unfortunately I'm one of the good guys, and this new age of an undertime environment, I'm in between a rock in a hard place with upper management blasting me, employees adding to the drama, and the customers, who expect to recieve the highest level of customer service within the boundaries of excessing and no budget to make a difference. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) previously announced a loss for the quarter ending December 31, 2008, in an 8K filed on February 9, 2009. USPS discloses that its unaudited January 2009 financial results were an estimated $5.80 billion in revenue and $6.55 billion in expenses, resulting in an estimated net loss of $751 million. This loss compares to a loss of $44 million in January 2008, which resulted from total revenue of $6.58 billion and total expenses of $6.62 billion. Mail volumes declined by over 16% in January 2009 from January 2008. The January results continue to illustrate that the downward pressure on the Postal Service business continues into 2009. Did you get all that? Well, I figured now is the time to start posting again. Where is Captain America when we need him now? I look forward to your photos and comments. uspsblog@gmail.com
Poway, California 92064
A U.S. Mail truck drives through flooded streets in Freeport, N.Y. A spring storm lashed the East Coast, dumping record amounts of rain. Monday, April 16, 2007
Yours truly found one Newport Beach, California. Too bad it was too hard for me to grab a shot of me and the whole box.
Wishing all my fellow Postal Employees throughout the world, a very Happy and Safe Easter to you and your families.
That's right... do a great job in Southern California and they reward you with a wooden nickel. Each one is good for a free soda and if you accumulate six you can harden your arteries with a greasey fried cheeseburger. I think I'll work even harder for that. Hmmmmmm.
Planetary visitor disappointed by the misrepresentation of droid. I tried to explain to him that employees are often left feeling that way also.
Google maybe helping out the Post Office? Introducing Gmail Paper. Everyone loves Gmail. It's Google's free and easy to use email system. I have been using it for quite a while now and love it but not everyone loves email, or the digital era. What ever happened to stamps, filing cabinets, and the mailman? Well dedicated Google members asked for it, and a new feature is available in Gmail. You can request a physical copy of any message with the click of a button, and they will send it to you in the mail. Google will print all messages instantly and prepare them for delivery. Allow 2-4 business days for a parcel to arrive via post. Google takes privacy very seriously. But once your email is physically in your hands, it's as secure as you want to make it. Learn more about Gmail Paper by clicking here. If youd like an invite to start your own Gmail account contact me at uspsblog@gmail.com.APRIL FOOLS!!!!! Google is bad and so am I. Hope you enjoyed. I fell for it at first.. did you?
15 new Star Wars Stamps unveiled in L.A. at the Chinese Theatre to be available May 25th. The Star Wars fans are destined to surpass the sales of the Elvis stamp. I personally can't get enough of the Wonder Woman stamp but Darth Vader might just take over my collection. The madness has only just begun.
Oh that aint right. I was actually showing somone a photo from my vacation on my camera phone while on a break on the workroom floor and the Plant Manager had a fit. Reminds me of how other countries were in the past.
New Forever Stamp unveiled at the Postal Forum. The stamp will be good for mailing one-ounce First-Class letters anytime in the future — regardless of price changes. The Forever stamp goes on sale April 12 at 41 cents. Customers can begin using the stamp when postage changes May 14.
With the 30th anniversary of Star Wars the Postal Service has transformed the old boxes into R2-D2 robots all over the country. USPSjedimaster.com shows a peak at the promotion that will take effect. Postal Employees all over the nation will appreciate seeing a sign from the Force after having to work for the Darkside for so many years.
Another photo of some of the devastation from 9/11 in NYC.
One of the few remaining ways to deliver the Mail is via bicycle at the St. Petersburg, FL. “Open Air” Station. A few of the benefits…. The bikes are low-visibility, attention-grabbers and quite unique. On the downside, when it rained “cats & dogs” which it does so frequently down there, all you had was a USPS issued umbrella which strapped to the underside of the frame, and if you were lucky some overhead tree branches. This picture was taken by a passing motorist in the late 80’s when I was a carrier there, and some are still in use today and really haven’t changed all that much.
FBI agents check the identification of a postal worker seeking to enter the Federal Building in Los Angeles as security measures were tightened coast to coast after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
One thing we never have enough of on the Postal Service is space. Although maybe that's a good thing. Lots of mail = Job Security.
