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05 Dec 2011 10:19

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U.S.: U.S. Postal Service: First-class mail could become second-day affair

  • bad The U.S. Postal Service, facing the worst financial crisis in its history, will likely be forced to shave $3 billion off its budget, in the process dropping half of the country’s 500 mail-processing centers. This would come on the closing of numerous post offices.
  • worse This is the kind of change that consumers will feel. For the first time since 1971, there would be no way for a first-class letter to reach its recipient in a single day. Which means your Netflix will be late and your rent check better get in the mail pretty early. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Nov 2011 19:54

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U.S.: USPS expected to default on payment, could be broke by next year

  • $5.1 billion lost in fiscal 2011 by the US Postal Service source
  • » They could be broke by September 2012: On top of that, they expect to default on a key health care pension plan payment (which forces them to pre-pay for workers’ future health benefits decades in advance) — of $5.5 billion.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Oct 2011 13:46

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Politics: Why the U.S. Postal Service’s massive deficit is really sort of an illusion

  • illusion The U.S. postal service has had to pre-pay large amounts of their health care costs for a number of years — roughly $5.5 billion this year, which they nearly defaulted on and only survived thanks to U.S. government help.
  • reality In reality, they’re pre-paying health benefits over the next 75 years — a point which likely includes many employees yet to be hired or born — as a way to make the federal deficit look a little less depressing. Wait a second … source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Sep 2011 16:58

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Biz, U.S.: Obama administration endorses cutting Saturday postal service

  • Say goodbye to Saturday mail? That’s the Obama administration’s plan, at least. Issued alongside their much more ballyhooed one on debt reduction, the White House has endorsed ending Saturday mail delivery nationwide. The U.S. Postal Service is in quite dire financial straits, owing to a more digital age of communication as well as issues with financial management. The Democratic position is to try to minimize layoffs, while Rep. Darrel Issa’s plan would allow the USPS to break contracts and cut jobs, but on one thing both sides agree — no more mail on Saturdays. Shares of eBay dropped nearly 6% on the news, as it could make life tougher on their smaller, independent sellers. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Sep 2011 15:25

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Politics: Postmaster General will seek to close 252 mail processing plants

  • 32,000 postal service jobs may be lost source
  • » Cost-cutting galore: Facing down a U.S. postal service that lost about $8.5 billion lat year, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has proposed some major closures, which will come at the price of the mail efficiency. With a plan to close 252 offices nationwide, the downsizing could mean that first-class mail could take up to a day longer. The postal service is, as a business model, deeply unusual — it’s also not a matter of argument, as it’s the rare government agency explicitly demanded by the Constitution. The hope that the postal service has the resiliency to both lower its size and speed of delivery, yet still compete with the private carriers strikes us as an unlikely premise.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Sep 2011 10:45

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U.S.: U.S. Postal Service looking more and more screwed by the day

  • bad The U.S. Postal Service could possibly miss a $5.5 billion payment set aside for retirees to help pay for future health care. It’s due Sept. 30.
  • worse That’s just the tip of the iceberg; they’re having long-term funding issues due to union contracts, restrictive laws, and the rise of e-mail.
  • worser The result is that, without Congress’ help, the Postal Service could run out of money by early next year — which could hurt the economy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Aug 2011 11:38

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U.S.: U.S. Postal Service: Desperate times call for desperate measures

  • $20
    billion     the amount of money the struggling U.S. Postal Service has lost in the past four years — including $8.5 billion last year alone
  • 120,000 workers number of employees the struggling postal service has proposed cutting to stave off their financial issues; did your e-mails do them in? source
  • » No more federal health care? If you’ve been following the U.S. Postal Service’s financial situation closely, you might know that part of the reason they’ve been struggling involves high pre-paid health care costs, an issue that cropped up due to a federal law forcing them to set aside a large amount of money for health care. This means that they can’t use any of the money to, you know, do anything else. Now the USPS says they’d be better off getting off the federal plan and doing private health care and pensions instead. They say it’s cheaper. Was that whole thing a ploy to get them further off the federal dime? They’re independent, you know.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Nov 2010 19:40

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U.S.: The U.S. Postal Service: We’re about to run out of money, guys

  • $8.5
    billion     the amount of money the Postal Service lost in its just-ended fiscal year, which is way too much
  • next
    year (!!!)     when the still-needed service will run out of money without an upswing or Congressional help (yikes) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

02 Mar 2010 09:43

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U.S.: The U.S. Postal Service sends a package labeled “drastic changes”

  • problem People are using the mail less to send letters due to e-mail, and more for stuff like packages and Netflix, causing volume to decline severely.
  • solution The U.S. Postal Service wants to hike fares (again), cut back delivery schedules, and – more importantly – cut service on Saturday. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Oct 2009 09:11

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World: The Royal Mail is makes a really good argument for e-mail

The postal service in the U.K. has widespread support for a strike. It’s bad enough that Amazon has a backup plan in case they do strike. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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