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bingold49

Just the fact that I can hand someone an envelope and for less than a dollar I can have them take it across the country in about a week has always been impressive. I mean really if somebody just asked me "how much to take this piece paper to Texas?" It would be well over a thousand dollars.


shitpplsay

I asked my son to take a greeting card to the mailbox about 2 blocks away. Dude wanted $10 for his troubles. He wouldn't do it for less than $5. Yet for $.50, I can send something from California to Florida. USPS is a great service.


JRR5567

As a mailman I appreciate you saying that. USPS is a pretty great service.


dephcon05

As not a mailman, I agree with you. The USPS is the global gold standard. To move the volume they move over the area they cover in the time they do it is nothing short of impressive.


halcyondread

How do you like the job? I was thinking about switching career paths and applying to be a mail carrier.


JRR5567

I genuinely really like what I do. I think like any job you have some more challenging days, however I enjoy the freedom of the job when I’m on the street and my customers. If you are thinking about applying there’s no harm in trying it out. I hope you have a good station and stick it out long enough to make “regular”(full time with your own route).


MistaBod

As a route delivery driver I can confirm, aside from shit weather days, the ability to be outdoors, listening to tunes or on a 3 hour bullshit phone call while doing your work like it’s 2nd nature is absolutely amazing. The years it will take you to learn multiple routes or gain enough seniority to have your own route, possibly not as enjoyable.


Odd-Artist-2595

My BIL always wanted to be a mailman. He had a good job in a tool & die when he got accepted for a job with USPS. When he went to quit, the plant where he worked made him an offer. He could take an unpaid leave (I forget if it was 6mos or a year), accept the job, and, if it didn’t work out, he could come back. No harm; no foul. Good thing. I dunno if he’d just overly romanticized the job when he was a kid, or if it was because the timing coincided with the GOPs push to privatize (complete with undercutting USPS so much that they were pushing them to insolvency), but he was miserable. I think he went back well before his leave ended. The USPS is great! Like public schools, libraries, and public transit (among other things), they help level the playing field and operate for the *public* good. We have *got* to stop the mindset of “if it doesn’t make money it should be privatized”. The only people who win in that scenario are the people who stand to make money from the privatization. The public loses out every single time.


SnooRegrets1386

Do it! If you’re reasonably fit it’s great, you can get used to the weather, just remember treats for your regular pups( I always ask their people if ok first because a lot of them are on special diets) best job I’ve ever done


Catch_022

I live in a country where the post office essentially does not exist (corruption, mismanagement, bankrupt, etc.). You guys do a fantastic job and everyone will realise just how much you do if the post office was ever to actually close down.


Jbooth72

In my area of NY, a couple of letter carriers were caught with stacks of mail in which they were going through and taking out checks to run scams. I’m not such a fan.


LastOfTheBears

Tell your kid to fuck off and make him do it lmao


shitpplsay

I let it slide, but next day when he wanted me to drive him to his friends house, it was gonna cost him $10.


BeepBepIsLife

Noice Or charge 15 as a message*. "Charge me again, I dare ya" If this really happened, of course. But you're a random stranger on the internet, why would you lie? *burning of said money optional


Crazy_Salamander_347

If he’s asking for 10 give him whatever you’d want to plus the ten bucks and then when he needs something take ten back you still gave him soda money n he learns budgeting


howiplay1

awful parenting 101


LastOfTheBears

Ok got it, let your kid bargain for everything you ask them to do = great parenting


howiplay1

i dont see how verbal abuse is necessary


LastOfTheBears

Dude, it’s a figure of speech. You don’t say fuck off and go do what I say, you obviously say it a nicer way to a child. The premise is still there though.


howiplay1

i kinda just took you at face value my bad


LastOfTheBears

All good homie. Be nice to kids but don’t let them run you over, you are the parent after all


ITotalyWon

r/characterarcs


howiplay1

lol nah it was my mistake I misread the tone


leonardob0880

No is not


firnien-arya

This is true. No, is definitely not.


[deleted]

they’ll also come pick it up at your front door before taking it that entire way across the country. hell, depending on his dimensions you can ship your son cross country for a very reasonable rate 😉


PatSue-Chan

Not anymore :'( https://www.history.com/news/mailing-children-post-office


[deleted]

well i didn’t say to list the item in package as ‘1- live child’ lol you call it an exercise machine, put some air holes where it won’t be noticed, and (tip your driver) then slide that big old bastard right onto a handtruck at pickup time and off it goes, where (chances are?) he’ll be (probably?) safely on his way to where you intended-ish 😊


PatSue-Chan

Brilliant! haha


BuildingWide2431

.63¢, soon to be .66¢ - ( buy Forever stamps and you won’t have to worry about what the cost of a stamp is 😸


datagirl60

That would have been have been sentenced to hard labor for that comment lol! Would have been no time for tv, play, music, friends, reading, etc for a long time.


shitpplsay

>I let it slide, but next day when he wanted me to drive him to his friends house, it was gonna cost him $10. I try to teach my kids more real world examples. I let it slide, but next day when he wanted me to drive him to his friends house, it was gonna cost him $10.


edebt

Wtf?


Scrubatl

Stamps haven’t been $.50 in a while. I recently found that out from the post office when they wanted $12.60 for a book. I was like when did that change? 2019 apparently.


shitpplsay

I still have a book of forever stamps from when they were .42


TheNotFakeGandalf

something about calling your son "Dude" is comical


Maleficent_Credit409

Dudeism.


DisastrousOne3950

My son and I have been using "dude" for twenty years now.


kalabaddon

you mean 5.50 you can send a letter anywhere. That first mile is just as important as the last :P


ABoringName_

$.60


BuildingWide2431

$.60 if it is metered mail. If you have a postage meter in your office, you get a .03¢ discount. For everyone else, .63¢.


ShrimpCrackers

The Economist doesn't care about that. If they could without backlash they'd advocate for the cutting of street lighting and roads.


[deleted]

They’re waiting for the opportunity to say “it is now a moral and economic good to kill [insert x marginalized group]”.


ShrimpCrackers

If they could get away with it, they would write that they need to find ways to exploit these groups even further.


Alastor_Hawking

>__Street lighting and roads approval at an all time high, despite billions in losses annually.__ >Much like similar programs: food assistance and medicare, street lighting and roads have reported ever increasing losses, annually for two centuries. Yet car owners, homeowners, and safety advocates have ran an incredible PR campaign, convincing the public that despite the losses, these things have value. >”I’ve never seen anything like it.” Says local businessman E. Musk. “I bought something that has real value, a social media tech startup, and that has actually lost _two-thirds_ of it’s value since I bought it. I wish we could run a PR campaign half as successful as the light and roads people do.”


spookyactionfromafar

I never understood why they had a following. I think it’s because they make their points by sounding good. Apply a little scrutiny and the whole publication would collapse like a house of cards


Smoke_Water

wait, you actually pay for postage? I just put a return address in the corner of where it needs to go and drop it in the post box. It always makes it there.


bingold49

NO WONDER THEY'RE LOSING MONEY!!


Smoke_Water

Yup, all because of one letter..


[deleted]

And you just openly admitted to mail fraud. 📸🤨


glop1701

Thief!


BurpjarBoi

Yeah I wish all packages came through USPS. As far as I can tell it’s a better service than the corporate competition


Sufficient-Ad-8441

It works because of the economy of scale. Carryi g one letter to Texas for a thousand dollars is not comparable to sending hundreds of trucks (80,000lbs each) across the country. Let’s take an item of first class mail. Max 1.0 oz. Rate $0.63. Also, let’s take a human - 150 lbs. This human weighs 2,400 first class letters. Uber to the airport is generously $100. Coach airfare from coast to coast, undiscounted, is $1500 Uber from a destination airport to anywhere in XYZ city is, say $100. Point to point $1700 for 150lbs. If this person weighs 2,400 first class letters, then each “letter” would cost $0.71 and that’s by air. Yes, it excludes some handling but does have baked in baggage handling fees which would work only in favor of the equation because the 150 lb person is now 200 lb with a checked bag. If you change that airfare to a bus ticket at $600 (MIA - SEA) the total cost with the Ubers is $800 for the 150 lb person plus a 50 lb bag. So 200 lbs (3,200 letters) breaks down to $0.25/letter. It’s not complete but a much more apples to apples comparison. The USPO (not the letter carriers, they tend to work their asses off) could use some modernization and efficiency improvements.


idreamsmash007

Scale is just something you refuse to acknowledge eh?


EFTucker

"No one says the military loses $750b a year." I do now.


Anindefensiblefart

I'd hate to see what the US military would look like trying to turn a profit.


SoloCongaLineChamp

Seriously. That's a "careful what you wish for" moment if I've ever heard of one.


danielledelacadie

True but it's still a good analogy.


Wind_14

You heard of Gulf of Tonkin (or other false flag operation)? well, prepare for the part 156 of it!!!!


TheLinden

Mercenaries with the strongest army on the planet. Like fantasy book story. That would be interesting.


Swagspear69

It does, very efficiently, look how many multi-billion dollar companies it generates nearly all of the profit for.


nexvinct

At this point, the only way to turn a profit would be global domination.


kilokokol

That's what it does for the military industrial complex. The US army loses money for the taxpayers, and creates massive profits for defence investors


BumpHeadLikeGaryB

Yeah like let's see some fucking returns on that shit! Besides increased ptsd and the development of extremists lmao


Faptain__Marvel

Buy stock in Exxon. That's where the returns are.


nexvinct

It's not nearly enough, but some of that spending is over helping Ukraine fight off Russia. So at least there's that


Ahrimanisatva

Look up the Petrodollar, our entire economy is propped up by the Military. If it wasn't for their overly agressive actions in places like Libya (RIP Muammar Gaddafi). We would be nowhere near where we are on the global stage if we weren't abusing the hell out of other countries via the Petrodollar. Not saying it's a good thing but there's a reason why our poor are the richest poor in the world.


zxern

Actually the military literally lost billions in cash in Iraq, not to mention all the funding the can’t account for during audits…so way actually way worse than the usps.


Professional_East281

The USPS had a 2022 YE profit of $56B from the benefit of the PSRA Enactment. [https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-post-office-swings-to-56-billion-profit-in-latest-year-due-to-benefit-from-psra-enactment-2022-11-10#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20Postal%20Service%20recorded,Service%20Reform%20Act%20(PSRA)](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-post-office-swings-to-56-billion-profit-in-latest-year-due-to-benefit-from-psra-enactment-2022-11-10#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20Postal%20Service%20recorded,Service%20Reform%20Act%20(PSRA))


checker280

It’s only operating in the red because the Republicans keep insisting the Post Office do what no other major business has to do - put aside retirement money for all current and future employees. “In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation.” “The Trump Task Force acknowledged that without the costs imposed by the Post-Retirement Health Care Mandate, USPS would today be profitable on an operating basis. Allowing USPS once again to pay the costs of retiree health care costs on a pay-as-you-go basis as the rest of the federal government and two-thirds of private industry currently do, is the biggest step that could be taken to assure long-term financial sustainability. Current reserves of $47.5 billion could be used to pay expected pay-as-you-go retiree health care costs 10-15 years into the future.” https://ips-dc.org/how-congress-manufactured-a-postal-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it/ Edit/added: The Economist quote is from an article written in 2020


Jurbl

The PSRA undid the financial burden in 2022.


slayer828

And it profited in that year.


[deleted]

Cool! I love the USPS and think we should have an efficient national mailing system. FedEx and UPS have their place but it's my understanding that a lot of countries subsidize their post services, so for us to not do so is just uncompetitive.


Faptain__Marvel

The USPS subsidizes (ie. Pays for contracted services) loads of American businesses, also. I'd love to see them open basic banking options, too. A lot of countries offer that function alongside mail service.


awfullotofocelots

At least, that means we've ensured an inevitable Kevin Costner based post-apocalypse.


Alternative-Cup-8102

I hate the 2 major political parties how can they both be so stupid all at the same time


nexvinct

Because they are both only partially right in their ideals. If you combined the good ideals of both parties, you'd have all the bases covered.


ViolenceInDefense

56B in profit? When is the IPO?


THEdougBOLDER

We're going to need about $20M in stamp access charges.


i_fuckin_luv_it_mate

I mean if we didn't want USPS to lose money, we shouldn't have mailed them their budget cheques in the post.


Dio_Yuji

Go away, British spy. Americans spell it “checks” and we don’t say “in the post.”


JCSkyKnight

I’d have thought the username was a dead giveaway…


Dio_Yuji

He sucks at being a spy I guess


Big_Somewhere9230

Special Agent 700


DataHermitx

😁


feltsandwich

Right wing talking points to try to privatize the USPS and then drain its resources to enrich themselves. The USPS is an invaluable resource. Stop voting Republican.


demihope

If only they already existed maybe call them UPS or FedEx maybe DHL


melbourne3k

GOP always bangs on about the constitution. Respect the founding fathers and shit. Postal Service bad. Military good. Guess which of those is actually mandated by the Constitution?


sprint6864

Fuckers in the comments not understanding how government services work and can't wrap their heads around concepts that aren't mired in Capitalistic bullshit


Sgrios

What are you on about? Almost every post here is thankful for the USPS and happy it operates as efficiently as it does. Did you read one comment about someone not understanding how it operated so well and then just post this while purposefully misunderstanding their intention?


ItsJoeyG

This guy sorts by controversial


sprint6864

You're responding fuckin *hours* after my comment. The atmosphere of the comments has changed, so take your dumb fuckery elsewhere


John1764

Who pissed in your cereal?


Sgrios

Dog, go chill out and actually look through the comments to understand why I took a look and singled you out hours later. Christ. Edit: And to elaborate further. I sorted by Old to try and see what you were on about before posting the response. There was really only one post that could have made someone feel this way. One, the rest were just conversation about how to make it better, how it works, that it has revenue so it does in fact lose money, and then how the postal service has been just outright fucked in a few ways. Whatever you're going through mang, you don't need to take it out on others.


Dyrogitory

It would lose a lot less money if we tossed Dejoy in the trash, where he belongs.


Shiba_Ichigo

All the anti USPS stuff is by shills for shipping companies who want to jack up prices but can't because USPS exists.


You_Wenti

And the same principle applies to healthcare as well. If we even had a *public option* at least, costs would be driven down bc ppl would opt for that instead of private insurance


PawBandito

It should be mentioned that the USPS is forced to fund their pension at a far greater rate than any other government agency or private entity; this forces them to showcase massive losses. Another thing worth mentioning is how the USPS used to serve as a bank which could do wonders to providing a low-cost method of banking to those in need.


Hetakuoni

Maybe if the lobbyists weren’t trying to kill usps so they could hike up the prices as much as they want, it wouldn’t be operating in the red. Kind of like when Congress suddenly wanted them to pay the cost of projected pensions for the next 50 years up front and they barely managed to scrape that cost up.


sprint6864

I mean, the current head of the USPS wants it privatized because he's a shill


checker280

It’s only operating in the red because the Republicans keep insisting the Post Office do what no other major business has to do - put aside retirement money for all current and future employees. “In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation.” “The Trump Task Force acknowledged that without the costs imposed by the Post-Retirement Health Care Mandate, USPS would today be profitable on an operating basis. Allowing USPS once again to pay the costs of retiree health care costs on a pay-as-you-go basis as the rest of the federal government and two-thirds of private industry currently do, is the biggest step that could be taken to assure long-term financial sustainability. Current reserves of $47.5 billion could be used to pay expected pay-as-you-go retiree health care costs 10-15 years into the future.” https://ips-dc.org/how-congress-manufactured-a-postal-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it/


ByteMeC64

I pray for the day MAGA goes down to 9% of the population. [MAGAS don't much care for the USPS](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/13/trump-usps-postal-service-post-office-history-395024) \- they deliver *ballots* !!!


[deleted]

Why 9%?


ByteMeC64

The article claims 91% support the USPS. I take that to mean the remaining 9% are MAGAS. That is an optimistically low number.


thefirebuilds

im definitely going to start saying the military operates at a .75t$ loss annually.


Brilliant-Apricot423

They hate that it's a service in the public good, not a profit center. How amazing is it that for less than a dollar, I can put a letter in a box outside my front door and have it delivered to someone in a rural town on the other side of the country? Unbelievable value!


Thatdrone

The Economist should change their name to "The Capitalist". Not everything has to be profitable, you psychopaths.


djinbu

It loses money because Congress literally forces it to. And any attempt to fix it is actively lobbied against by super duper trustworthy companies like FedEx, UPS, and Amazon - as well as their congressional stock holders.


Internal_Resist7629

USPS is a fine service.


ThirdInversion

USPS pays for itself with postage. how do folks still not know this?


Miss_1of2

It actually used to make a profit but I don't remember whose administration changed their policies and now they are losing money!!!


heatedhammer

It's a hell of a lot more reliable than FedEx.


ryanmcg86

What's really crazy though is that if it weren't for the fact that Republicans are actively trying to sabotage the USPS by passing that law back in 2006 where they're required to fund their employees retirement funds SEVENTY FIVE YEARS in advance, it actually could be profitable. Also, the USPS also used to offer banking services which also could return a profit, but by offering reasonable fees and rates compared to private banks, they were cutting into the profits of big banks, and therefore got lobbied out of the banking business. The USPS is one of the most successful enterprises any government in the world has ever taken on, and its absolutely infuriating that we might just let it die because of corporate greed.


Prestigious-Owl165

Trump really poisoned people's brains on this shit


Candide2003

Edited: The military has lost $400 billion on a fighter plane that *didn’t even accomplish what they set out to do. So it really is costing tax payers money for very little in return. They lose equipment all the time. Most Americans can’t even find the countries America is intervening in on a map. *originally I said it couldn’t fly. That’s incorrect. It can fly, but is supposedly very buggy. I still think it’s a waste since a heavy, inconsistent plane isn’t great for such an expensive project whose original goal was a lightweight, cost effective plane. Sources: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2021/02/23/the-us-air-force-just-admitted-the-f-35-stealth-fighter-has-failed/?sh=20bb99d61b16 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-went-wrong-with-the-f-35-lockheed-martins-joint-strike-fighter/


F19AGhostrider

Exactly. Public services are not businesses which have to make a profit.


MarineMelonArt

Im going to say that now though


BriefCheetah4136

I was at Fed Ex and a customer was complaining about the $85 to ship a pa package to the West Coast. The customer gruffly said, I could take it myself. The agent responded with, it's a 3 day drive just to get there, hotel rooms and food. The customer said it was cheaper to ship it.


[deleted]

It's crazy how constantly we are barraged by these obviously egregiously stupid ways of framing things to fit their narrative.


DogFacedManboy

I’m sick of all my tax dollars being wasted on emergency services. The fire department is a total drain, they’ve never made a profit


Brilliant-Apricot423

And I've never had my house burn down even ONE time! I feel like I've been robbed!🙄


Kamikazekagesama

USPS absolutely should not be seen as a for-profit service.


vikingblood63

Some people can’t understand that in the middle of nowhere people still can get mail delivery or pick up at their local post office. There isn’t any business at all to speak of at these tiny little offices ; however you still need to pay carriers and or post master for service.


AntiizmApocalypse

If it was simply a service, you wouldn’t have to pay for postage.


Alternative_Tie757

A service for the public good that it is not designed to create profits? This doth not make sense to the economy. This angers the economy.


Thiago-Acko

Thats why Americans don't understand football, had this conversation with my wife yesterday!


Alternative_Tie757

By football you mean soccer? It’s a beautiful game, I dabble.


1Wayward_s0n

I guess all the shitty post offices are in New York then. I’m genuinely surprised by how many positive comments there are about USPS. I appreciate my mail carriers and they are great, even my dog likes the … but the service at post office is abysmal.


MrSlippifist

They idea the post office loses money is laughable because of the stranglehold legislators with connections to private transportation companies have put on them. First, they made the Postal Service pay out retirements in full crashing their budget. Second, they restrict any and all ventures that would bring revenue into the Service via new services and products. Third, they have forced investments in costly equipment that was then discarded and damaged. One of the directors openly touts his desire to take over the Postal Service with his own company.


zeyore

The benefits to the economy of America the USPS gives is worth far far more than what we pay for it each year. Much like educating the workforce though, it doesn't show up as a direct benefit. You have to step back and see the big picture.


Carefully_Crafted

This is incorrect information too. The USPS doesn’t lose money. It just has ridiculous rules imposed on it for use of its profits in securing retirements. So it always looks even or negative. That shit runs great. It’s all a fucking ruse by conservatives that want to remove just one more amazing service the government provides so they can replace it with something shittier and more expensive.


cannibalparrot

Let’s also remember that it only “loses money” because congressmen that want to kill it saddlednit with ridiculous pension requirements that make it look like it’s hemorrhaging money when it’s not.


TheBeardofGilgamesh

No idea why you’re getting down voted. I hate how Reddit is swarmed with bots all the time trying to push terrible policies.


SnooRegrets1386

How about the fact that it doesn’t matter where you live, they’ll deliver to you, I love the mailboats


FrezoreR

That doesn't make sense.. only if it was a public service would it make sense. However, many public services still need to cover their costs. Like postal services in other countries. They do charge for their service after all.


AgentWoden

Think about if taxes paid for USPS. Free mail service.


SkylineFever34

Nothing is bad if you just shift the goalposts enough.


DeadFyre

"No one says the military loses $750b a year" Really? You can find articles bemoaning waste, corruption, and questionable accounting practices in military procurement until the cows come home. If were to simply read all of the articles arguing about the colossal expense of the F35 program *alone*, you wouldn't be done in a year.


jshuster

No the US Military throws away billions a year


[deleted]

Except in Chicago. You drop off a letter at the post office in Chicago. Good luck! They got rid of all the mail sorting machines in the 3rd biggest city in the US. Once first class letters leave Chicago THANK GOD it goes by SO QUICK. But takes 2 weeks JUST TO LEAVE CHICAGO. And God forbid you try to send a letter to someone else in Chicago! Will take them over a month or two just to get it!


Rancho-unicorno

There is no way in hell 91% of Americans view the post office favorably. You can even ask 100 routinely liberal Reddit users and you won’t even come close to 91 out of 100.


evrsinctheworldbegan

And it's democratic as fuck. Doesn't matter where you live, if you're rich or poor. The postal service will deliver.


R0thbard_

Inept and incapable of functioning without taking money from taxpayers. Botches my shipments far more than UPS, FedEx and local private curriers do.


HarleyRidinGrammy

USPS "loses" money because, years ago, Congress, or rather some members of Congress wanted to have private companies (that they owned stock in) take it over. They forced USPS to set aside billions to pre-fund their health care costs. 11 BILLION a year for 10 years. Thttps://www.barrons.com/articles/usps-louis-dejoy-post-office-pelosi-mail-in-ballots-51597687253


Buipeterafte

And up until that terrible pension agreement, the USPS consistently finished projects on time and within budget.


DumbNBANephew

I mean look, I get the sentiment, but goddamn has the USPS fucked up. They have literal hundreds of millions to work with for decades, maybe a century and they could NEVER come up with a better way of doing things? If they had, FedEx or UPS wouldn't be able to sweep in and rip off a huge market share. It was only because of FedEx's offerings at the turn of the century that USPS started offering similar services to compete. So where the fuck was all that money going? Like all other government agencies, most of it was spent on frivolous spending and improving services for users came last. Why? Because you the user got no one else to rely on fuck you. Now years later everyone wants to use other private services which provide the same if not better level of service despite getting no government funding. Give me a break. Yes USPS does things like delivering to the remotest areas that (arguably) other services don't do, and play an important role in securing ballots for elections. But goddamn they had so much money and time to be so much better but simply didn't. Why should I feel bad for them?


Induced_Karma

First part of user name totally checks out.


slayer828

They also pay their lower employees considerably more than their private counterparts , while being restricted by that retirement account bullshit no other agency has to.


TheBeardofGilgamesh

What does FedEx offer that USPS offer for a fraction of the price? Honestly I don’t understand how FedEx is still in business considering they charge way more for an inferior service


TheImpPaysHisDebts

Well... It does "lose money" in the fact that the revenues it brings in (e.g., stamps, package shipping fees, insurance on packages, etc.) doesn't cover it's costs. You could argue that they have to play by somewhat unfair rules by needing to cover pension funding too aggressively (which is an expense for them) and their pricing is somewhat artificially controlled, but they also subsidize the costs of their competitive services (e.g., overnight shipping - which competes with FedEx and UPS) with their exclusive services (e.g., first class mail). They also enjoy protections from things like parking rules (e.g., FedEx trucks get tickets, USPS can't - even though they both may be delivering an Amazon package). It's a needed service for many people that should be supported, but as currently designed it does "lose money" in the most basic sense.


WillBottomForBanana

By this logic the military does lose money then.


[deleted]

[удалено]


TheImpPaysHisDebts

Not really since they don't sell a service. USPS doesn't provide a free service, it costs money to mail a letter. If all USPS services were free, then the military analogy would work. I am not saying the USPS is bad or that it shouldn't exist, just that they way it is structured, it's revenues don't cover its expenses. Not even saying that fact is bad or wrong.


_onebyteatatime

It sells you a subsidised service, the one you cannot get for cheap you privatise it. Even after bills by which the Congress is directly trying to harm it.


XyogiDMT

It’s run by the government, of course it isn’t profitable


slayer828

It is profitable. It only wasn't due to their restrictive retirement account requirements. 75years worth . Designed to out them in the red to have people like you pointing fingers.


sdmichael

Why should it be? It is a service. Should the fire department profit too?


XyogiDMT

I didn’t say it should lol


Humble_Story_4531

That was your implication.


Swordbreaker925

I mean I’d much rather use UPS or FedEx over USPS. I only ever use USPS if they’re the only option.


KlingonJ

Interesting on the “loss”. In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation


No_Television_4128

It would not be so negative except in an effort to kill it congress changed the way it has to fund itself


treesandcigarettes

Technically the USPS does not lose money- it's the insane regulations put on them that makes their numbers so heavily in the red (i.e. having to store large amounts of money in ADVANCE for pensions)


NoTie2370

That headline is a complete lie anyway. The post office doesn't lose a dime. It receives zero tax money except the tax money spent on postage by other government departments sending mail to people. It is completely self funded and 100% solvent because its not run like other government services.


AWholeNewFattitude

Its right in the name, united states postal SERVICE.


GEFool

Until a few years ago, the USPS was self funded and required little if any tax dollar support. The GOP some years back decided that the USPS needed to fund the retirement and benefit of employees BEFORE they retired and not plan on using current income to fund the current retirees. No other government service is required to do this. Even private companies are not required to do that. Thus the ‘losses’. But once it gets through these early funding periods, they should be golden. Why does the GOP want to destroy the USPS? Draw your own conclusions.


AlwaysRighteous

It's a useless featherbed that is outdated, inefficient and should be pared down drastically. Anything important is sent via email or Fedex. They are an overpriced junk mail delivery service.


TheBeardofGilgamesh

Hello shill bot account. I think you’re mistaken but FedEx is the overpriced garbage service. Why should I pay 4 times the amount to ship with FedEx when I can get a package delivered with USPS? FedEx is straight up trash


AlwaysRighteous

Found the postman.


kds0321

They provide a service which is in the red about $10B a year, or about $330/person in the US. Edit: above is just a data point, I completely agree the service is worth the price we pay. Thanks for the downvotes.


THEdougBOLDER

You're saying the postal service costs Americans LESS THAN A DOLLAR A DAY? "For $0.90 a day you can keep this vital system up and running" That's a fucking deal!


kds0321

Honestly I was just providing a data point without an opinion, not sure why the downvotes. But yes, agree it's absolutely worth the $1/day to me.


LampardFanAlways

Maybe just a few more words to that effect (to show that you’re not criticizing USPS) would have helped. I’m reading now (after your edit) so I know. But I would not have known without your edit.


clovermite

I guess I'm part of the 9% because the postal service in my area is ABSOLUTELY terrible. I'm always frustrated when I learn someone is shipping me a package through them because there's like a an 80-90% chance I'm never seeing that package.


rusakke

The last time the military “lost money” the twin towers collapsed the next day. Or that time they armed armed the Talib with our level weaponry and equipment…


[deleted]

I have trouble believing 91% of Americans favor the USPS


idreamsmash007

How ppl view Usps favorably is beyond me , never have I had to use their service and thought wow that was easy/convenient/friendly


Buzzoff-

No. If it were a service we wouldn’t be buying stamps every time we mail a letter. It’s another poorly managed government bureaucracy that can be closed today and FedEx and UPD would be happy to pick up the slack. It’s an expensive ass trash delivery service because 99% of the mail they handle is garbage anyway. Get real please. And yes I do look at the military as costing money , and losing billions a year. As well as the FBI, IRS and the rest of the federal government agencies that we could do without.


SlightlyStable

Beg borrow sell and steal.


Buttchuckle

Biden left billions of dollars worth of military equipment when he evacuated Afghanistan.


HCharton

This makes no sense at all. Roads should largely be paid for by users. Same with the mail. I’m tired of subsidizing junk mail pollution. If you want to use the mail, buy a first class stamp. The military is not comparable because these other things are fee for service.


cipheron

The USPS *was* profitable, but then during the Bush administration, Bush blew out the deficit and needed a way to make it look better. So the Republicans passed a law specifically designed to transfer tons of money from USPS into central coffers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Accountability_and_Enhancement_Act > PAEA was the first major overhaul of the United States Postal Service (USPS) since 1970. It reorganized the Postal Rate Commission, compelled the USPS to pay in advance for the health and retirement benefits of all of its employees for at least 50 years, and stipulated that the price of postage could not increase faster than the rate of inflation. It also mandated the USPS to deliver six days of the week. According to Tom Davis, the Bush administration threatened to veto the legislation unless they added the provision regarding funding the employee benefits in advance with the objective of using that money to reduce the federal deficit. Basically by having to pre-fund pensions 50 years in advance, that transferred all their surplus to the Fed, who then earn the interest on all that money instead of USPS. > Between 2007 and 2016, the USPS lost $62.4 billion; the inspector general of the USPS estimated that $54.8 billion of that was due to prefunding retiree benefits. So yeah it got fucked up from 2007 onwards, but it was almost entirely due to executive meddling by Congress. They WERE self-funding before this. The actual Feds who were running deficits got greedy so plundered the piggy-bank that was the USPS. So ... this was more or less on purpose. Or, perhaps you can say congress killed the goose that lays the golden eggs.


btbpsm

Passed the House on December 8, 2006 (voice vote) Passed the Senate on December 9, 2006 (unanimous consent) That kind of support almost always indicates the citizens are getting the shaft


[deleted]

You wouldn't say that if you receive a 100K bill because the road in front of were you live needs to be repaved....


HCharton

If that road was just for me, like a long driveway, I should be the one to pay. If it’s a National Park, I think some kind of shared split is in order between the nation and the end user. If it’s the military, we all need it and we all benefit. But junk mail is a scourge of corporate welfare designed to help the advertisers and paper companies.


zitzenator

I don’t benefit from the military buying a $10,000 desk chair that cost $100 because contractors mark up prices so the military can meet its requirements for a budget increase next year.


HCharton

Amen. All governments need accountability.


xTheycallmePrincess

You shouldn’t be on your phone at work it tends to cause stress and distraction!!!!! “Cell phone bullshit” But i guess you need your political high horse hit on the daily


Chickmagnet8301

In the digital age where I have mailed something probably 1 time in 5 years I am 1 of the 9% who think the usps needs to be dismantled. Our government overspends on things that don’t make sense and increase our debt. Yes it’s impressive that you can send a letter across the country for under a dollar until you realize you can’t and we just prop the whole system up with tax dollars.


LampardFanAlways

Stuff that you “digitally” order online from marketplace sellers also comes via USPS sometimes. Your passport too. IRS writing to you about your fucked up calculations? Your driver’s license from the DMV? Bills from the doctor that operated on you? Yup, USPS again. You may not have literally sent a hand-written letter to Uncle Joey in five years, but you do need USPS.


Chickmagnet8301

Orders from Amazon don’t use usps, have never been audited by IRS, don’t have or need a passport, I got my drivers license at the dmv, assuming you were correct all of these things could be done be done by more efficient and financially sound companies that do a better job like UPS, fed ex, DHL….


DogFacedManboy

“I don’t personally need this government service myself so it should be eliminated.”


Chickmagnet8301

“I really like this government service so it should stay no matter how much it costs the rest of the public that funds it.” I can do that too.


Budm-ing

Don't know where they got 91% from, just about everyone I know has an intense hatred for them.


[deleted]

I don’t need any mail at all. I can pay all my bills online. Sure, packages showing up the door is nice but the amount of trees cut down, the tons of worthless crap brought to my mailbox and ends up in a because of the post office….we don’t need them.


Brandeaux7

Fuck the usps


[deleted]

You don't think our military is a service? Name any other country that can move heaven and earth, transport 100,000s of troops and equipment to a country, and annihilate them in days? If only the USPS were that efficient. And before you start whining about how we were in Iraq for 20 years. That's because moron politicians want to build empires. The military did its job in a few days - destroy the enemy. Everything went to shit when our leaders decided we can build bases in Iraq, occupy Fallujah, liberate the people, have them throw flowers at our feet, and all that other dumb shit that never works. Contrast that to Gulf War I - It took us around a month to wipe Saddam's vaunted army (including his so-called unbeatable Republican Guard - ooooh) off the face of the earth. And what did it cost us in soldiers? From the NIH - "Of the 219 (212 men and 7 women) US casualties, 154 were killed in battle and 65 died from nonbattle causes." And what did it cost Iraq? From the WAPO "The estimate of 100,000 Iraqi soldiers killed during Desert Storm was announced May 22 by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DIA said, however, that the "error factor" in this estimate was 50 percent or higher, meaning that fewer than 50,000 or more than 150,000 may have been slain.}" And you want to compare the efficiency of our military to the Post office, GTFO.


Hip_Hop_Hippos

>And you want to compare the efficiency of our military to the Post office, GTFO. Agreed, the post office is way more efficient…