How long can the USPS stay in business?

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So,

I read through facebook that an acquaintance of mine from New York had gotten a job as a letter carrier for the USPS. I sent him a nice note, and wished him good luck with his new job.

Then, I got to thinking how much different New York is from Texas, where I live now. When I lived in New York, mail was delivered to every house by a uniformed letter carrier. Every house has a mail box on the house. In New York, there were official mail trucks driving all over the place, fleets of them.

This was about 3 years ago by the way. So, I have since then moved to Texas, and things are completely different. I have not seen one USPS mail truck in my area, suburban Austin in the two years that I have lived here.

There are no mail carriers, there are contractors dressed in t shirts, and jeans, who drive their own private vehicles. My USPS mail is delivered to a locked mailbox at the corner of my street, with a bank of other boxes.

I do not live in a rural area really, it is the suburbs.

I wished the guy who got the mailman job good luck but I wonder how good of a gig that really is for him? Are most states just using contractors to deliver mail, or do people still have official letter carriers?

I know that the USPS is losing a ton of money.

So, earlier today I needed to send some documents to a lawyer in New York. I go to a USPS store in a rural town, a few miles from my house. Place is jammed at 10:30am. 1 cashier is open. People are grumbling in line, and babies are crying.

I spend 50 minutes waiting in line to mail one bundle of legal documents.

Seems to be the case at every post office I go to...
 
I`ve lived in four different cities in Texas. All four had regular mailmen who drove the big white mail trucks. Only places I see the mailmen driving their own cars (with a US Mail magnet banner on them) are in the country.
 
The USPS hasn't turned a profit in over 40 years. The massive losses the USPS post each and every year are subsidized by the taxpayer. In other words, they ain't going out of business anytime soon.
 
Sorry, this always turns into a political topic. Already starting to. Read up on the USPS in the news. Plenty on it.
 
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