A What If Discussion About The Post Office

It pretty obvious that the USPS is just getting deeper in trouble. And they are now delivering priority mail to me on Sunday. If you could see where I live you would find that so incredible.
Not that anything discussed here would have any impact on PO decisions.
Just think of the cost saving to the PO if they were to deliver regular mail on two schedules. One route would receive Monday - Wednesday and Friday the other Tuesday Thursday and Saturday. They could still have overnight mail via special carrier. Is my thinking flawed or would that cut expenses by at least 1/3? Would it really bother any of us to get the flyers three days a week instead of six?

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I've had the same (MWF TTS) thought, with added 'refinements' about odd zip codes and even zip codes (more predictable for the customers, even if a bit clumsier for the USPS) and moving the letter carrier 'full-time' job to three 12-hour days (to accommodate the higher sorting volume).

(One wonders what the current NALC contract says about lengths of days, over time, etc.)

The biggest business/rational objection to this model is the 'last mile' traffic. The delivery business (eg Amazon et al) is moving to same-day and next-day, so I don't think that the USPS can offer 'last mile' service (such as the SurePost service w/ UPS) on an every-other-day basis.

OTOH, my local post office seems to have carriers out on separate parcel delivery routes every morning - long before the 'regular' gets here with my letters & flats - and, if that continues, then USPS can keep its share of the 'last mile' parcel delivery business (now 7 days per week) while moving the letters'n'flats to three days per week.

But the math is not simple, as the last-mile business might grow (as more shippers get more crazy about faster delivery times) or shrink (as Amazon builds-out its network, now up to 51 aircraft, a 'last mile' fleet of trucks in Los Angeles, deals with FHV services, etc).

What happens to the 7-day 'last mile' business impacts the usefulness of moving to 3-day postal delivery.

Q/ Does a separate parcel run every morning and a general letters/flats/parcels run in the afternoon mean that we're finally getting back what all of the really old people always wanted, eg, twice-per-day mail?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

There are other issues here ----strong union , overpaid management, comprehensive health plan and huge pensions .

I wouldn't blame the current pensions that are being paid out.
Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)
Postal workers who began before 1984 are eligible for the Civil Service Retirement System. Under CSRS, employees share in the cost of their future annuities, contributing 7 to 8 percent of their regular pay to the retirement system. However, they do not pay any Social Security retirement, as they are not eligible for Social Security benefits under CSRS. To determine how much post office retirement is under CSRS, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management looks at the highest salary earned during any three consecutive years of service. Based on years of service, a postal worker earns 1.5 to 3.5 percent of their "high-3" average salary for each year. The maximum allowable yearly annuity cannot be more than 80 percent of the high-3 average, which generally happens for those retiring after about 42 years of service.

Payments may be increased if the postal worker contributed to a voluntary account while employed or has any unused sick leave. Cost-of-living adjustments may be made to the annuity, resulting in higher payments. Payments decrease for contributions to survivor's benefits or a health benefit plan.

As an example of USPS retirement under CSRS, a postal worker with a high-3 average of around $60,000 and 20 years of service earns $1,824 a month without any deductions. That equals about $22,000 annually. A worker with the same salary and 40 years of service earns $3,837 monthly, or about $46,000 annually.

-or

Federal Employment Retirement System (FERS)
Any postal worker hired after 1984 takes USPS retirement under the Federal Employment Retirement System (FERS). FERS pays less than CSRS, but postal workers are eligible for Social Security and Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) payments. Postal workers pay into FERS and Social Security each pay period. Tax-deferred contributions to TSP are made by the USPS and the employee.

FERS also uses the high-3 average, paying 1 to 1.1 percent of the high-3 average salary for each year of service. Under FERS, a postal worker with a high-3 average of around $60,000 and 20 years of service earns $1,007 a month without any deductions. That equals about $12,000 annually. A worker with the same salary and 40 years of service earns $2,013 monthly, or about $24,000 annually. However, FERS employees also receive Social Security benefits and distribution of their TSP payments, so this number is actually higher.

A postal worker who was hired under the CSRS can transfer to FERS. The annuity is then calculated, using the years spent under each plan.

Last mile delivery and other changes require Congressional action. Good luck.

My prediction...young millennial politicians (i.e. New Green Deal) will conclude that delivering mail to every house, with its incredibly costly carbon footprint, should be made obsolete. They will eventually get the votes needed to change the laws and USPS will become a parcel-only delivery service. These folks have grown up with ubiquitous email and smart phones; for them delivering mail is similar to harnessing up a horse to go to town.
Don

Battlestamps - Pensions, healthcare and compensation are addressed in detail.

https://home.treasury.gov/system/fi...-04-2018.pdf

The problem with the Green Deal is the name. It conjures up images of Red Menace and Yellow Peril. Its just another colour. While there is obviously a carbon footprint for people who worry about such things (I don't), there is also the advantage to society in keeping people in gainful employment with enough spare cash to order stuff online or better still thru snail mail.

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Without debating the merits of The Green Deal, the actual resolution before Congress has been larded with nine other 'deals', so that Climate Change is now one of ten issues being addressed.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

rogdcm: Hard pass from those who are hell bent on destroying the USPS.

76 % of the Post Office budget is labor ....

Only Congress can destroy the USPS intentionally or not.

The SurePost contract required an Act of Congress?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

SurePost was not an agreement to limit or end services but rather the intent was to allow other entities to utilize the USPS for last mile delivery. I should have been clearer. Only Congress can limit functions and or requirements which they have codified. We all know how well that works.

To take that literally, we all do know how that works.

The legislative or executive branch authorizes a commission, and then everybody gets to shrug and say "I just accepted the recommendations of the commission".

From https://about.usps.com/publications...b100_034.htm :




We can quibble over whether/not things proceeded on a better/worse trajectory after that, but that is how these things get done ... even things far more politically explosive than first class mail: DoD closing military bases, for example.

Whether/not we'll get to see another attempt at postal reform - in our lifetime - is another matter.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Here is a taste of what happened in 2013 when the USPS announced five day mail delivery.

https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/artic...tive_setback