USPS is run by politicians so what can you expect? I recently had a note in my mailbox that the package can be now picked up at the PO "at my request"! Are you kidding me! I politely met with the Postmaster and as luck would have it the carrier was still in building. I told her we were home and watched the carrier drive past our house and left this note in our mailbox. She left me at counter and asked the carrier. Holy cow! The carrier stated she was late and didn't "have time" to stop at house to deliver the package so she left note instead. So the Postmaster comes back to me and apologizes profusely and told me she was going to have meeting with all carriers. Seems there has been some similar complaints. In defense of the carriers, I found out the PO cut the number of contract carriers way back so many are doing double routes, mixing routes together so the carriers are working to 7-8PM weekdays. So now you have heavier mail, less carriers, longer hours, et al so not sure what we can expect from an agency so poorly run. Heck the USPS has lost money ONLY in 13 straight years to the tune of $78
Billion as of 8/2020.
So what is the problem? The
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act signed into law in 2006 is the culprit.
From Wikipedia:
PAEA was the first major overhaul of the United States Postal Service (USPS) since 1970.[5] 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,[4] and stipulated that the price of postage could not increase faster than the rate of inflation.[6][7] It also mandated the USPS to deliver six days of the week.[8] 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.[2] When he signed the bill on December 20, 2006, Bush issued a signing statement that says that the government can open mail under emergency conditions, though Waxman asserted that the government cannot do this without a search warrant.[9]
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.[10] By the end of 2019, the USPS had $160.9 billion in debt, due to growth of the Internet, the Great Recession, and prepaying for employee benefits as stipulated in PAEA.[11] Mail volume decreased from 97 billion to 68 billion items from 2006 to 2012. The employee benefits cost the USPS about $5.5 billion per year;[12] USPS began defaulting on this payment in 2012.[10] The COVID-19 pandemic further reduced income due to decreased demand in 2020.[11] The latest quarterly financials of the USPS do not suggest the COVID-19 pandemic further reduced income due to decreased demand in 2020. [13]
According to
Bloomberg, prefunding the health benefits of retirees "is a requirement that no other entity, private or public, has to make".
[14] Columnist Dan Casey wrote in a July 2014 op-ed in
The Roanoke Times that the PAEA is "one of the most insane laws Congress ever enacted".
[2] Bill Pascrell, a Democratic House member from
New Jersey, said in 2019 that it was rushed through Congress without due consideration, and referred to it as "one of the worst pieces of legislation Congress has passed in a generation".
[4] In May 2020, a segment on
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver examined the law and its impact on the USPS, demonstrating that it has contributed to its debt.
[6] It has been alleged that this legislation contributed to the
2020 United States Postal Service crisis.
[3]
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So there is an effort to reform (see attached) but not sure where it is and what Congress is going to do. After reading this, I am contacting my Congressman and just ask what is the plan? It cannot keep operating like a "drunk sailor" is some of the comments I have read from Congressional representatives. SO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! It really can't keep operating like this. I just paid and extra $4 for delivery for FedEx to just keep it out of USPS hands that's how bad delivery has gotten in my area.
does not result in execution of the messenger, but who can "like" an accounting of negligence combined with bureaucracy.
