USPS New Rates Ouch

[NormanBuntz]

Originally Posted by Yah-Tah-Hey

A quasi- government entity that should be turned over to a private contractor...

Name the private or public company that would deliver mail to the hinterlands of Nebraska. Better yet to remote areas of Alaska by boat, seaplane or snowmobile the way the Postal Service does. There are none.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by Zee09

People moan and groan about shipping. So do I, but from the other side. This new rate increase is painful 1 ounce to Canada doubled- Cost me $8 to send one seal because it's height is 3/4 inch tall ( Not including my mailer etc.-Just USPS cost) Of course the good USPS folks kick back seals that are 5/8" tall on the cheaper rate. A bunch of nonsense. The customer thinks its a $1. proposition. The old cost looks cheap now Foreign trade on the small scale is doomed

They got hit with a lawsuit up here for gouging Canadians for brokerage charges on shipments into Canada and had to pay out as a result of the settlement. I got a letter in the mail telling me I qualified because I have a UPS account and show packaged received during that time where I had to pay brokerage charges and a cheque shortly thereafter for $21 roughly. Anyway, I bet you they are absorbing that into the rate increases.

 

[hatt]

The USPS will just be in the junk mail biz soon.

 

[StevieC]

Sorry I read it as UPS not USPS and I can no longer delete my comment...

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted by hatt

The USPS will just be in the junk mail biz soon.

Not really, junk mail biz will soon be reduced as we are getting junk mail from online and mobile devices. USPS will be relied on as small item delivery service and compete with UPS / FedEx / Amazon / OnTrac, etc. They already have a network to deliver small items to every mail box, they have much lower cost than the other guys for some padded envelope items. The problem as mentioned, is they are by law required to deliver everywhere in the US for the fixed price (1st class) in a finite time. UPS / FedEx don't have to. Just close the rural office every other day, deliver every other day, eliminate 3 days guarantee (in 2019 if you need it fast you should pay for it). USPS will be fine with these changes. We survived the federal shutdown fine, we can do post office every other day fine too.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by NormanBuntz

Originally Posted by dbias

Costs are covering USPS pensions to be fully funded for employees that are not even born yet. stupid requirement that gives UPS and FedEx an advantage in some respects

This is true and it makes up the large bulk of the annual operating deficit of the Postal Service. However, most people on the street see USPS pensions as freebies to postal workers who work 25 or 30 years. Far from true. Average postal workers contribute more than $100,000 to their pension plans over their careers. Another misconception: federal retirees get free healthcare. Wrong. Retirees pay 40% of their annual health insurance premiums.

I know a guy who retired after 10 years. His pension is so small that he has to pay for his health insurance after accounting for the pension amount. The guy that does the pension told him he was the only guy who had to pay instead of getting a check. I guess most people don't retire after 10 years .

Originally Posted by BigD1

The price we pay for subsidizing Amazon deliveries.

Amazon isn't subsidized, it's those foreign shipments from China, the post office lost $300 million on those, but now that they pulled out of the pact, that may change. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/fo...rom-the-chinese-on-postal-rates/424113/9

 

[anndel]

USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes are waaay cheaper than FedEx or UPS Ground from the mainland to Hawaii. When ordering stuff from the mainland, I always select USPS an it usually arrives here in 3 business days. Not 7-10 with the others via ground.

 

[dbias]

Originally Posted by anndel

USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes are waaay cheaper than FedEx or UPS Ground from the mainland to Hawaii. When ordering stuff from the mainland, I always select USPS an it usually arrives here in 3 business days. Not 7-10 with the others via ground.

Sending anything to Hawaii by ground is extremely difficult lol

 

[SevenBizzos]

Originally Posted by dbias

Originally Posted by anndel

USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes are waaay cheaper than FedEx or UPS Ground from the mainland to Hawaii. When ordering stuff from the mainland, I always select USPS an it usually arrives here in 3 business days. Not 7-10 with the others via ground.

Sending anything to Hawaii by ground is extremely difficult lol

Yeah, it's easier just to drive it there yourself.

 

[Zee09]

After a week in use it is absolutely brutal. Those little few ounce parcels that ship around the world more than doubled. From my perspective and I've been doing this over 40 years is that the small global trade will be history. The only thing viable is 20 and 40 foot containers. The little guy has been pushed out of it. And for these small under a pound parcels the other carriers are absolutely no competition whatsoever-none Of course our subsidizing of these China rates should be looked at too. They can send you 6 LED bulbs for a $1. if I sent that to China it would easily be $30

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted by Zee09

...Of course our subsidizing of these China rates should be looked at too. They can send you 6 LED bulbs for a $1. if I sent that to China it would easily be $30

Can you say ePacket?

 

[BearZDefect]

Originally Posted by Zee09

... They can send you 6 LED bulbs for a $1. if I sent that to China it would easily be $30

Yes, this one baffles me too!

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by BearZDefect

Originally Posted by Zee09

... They can send you 6 LED bulbs for a $1. if I sent that to China it would easily be $30

Yes, this one baffles me too!

The post office was part of some international postal union which set prices for trade between countries. China somehow was considered a developing nation and therefore got cheap rates to send packages to the US. Not the other way around. The postal service has lost over 300 million a year delivering packages from China to the US. Enjoy it while it lasts, those prices will probably go up soon.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted by hatt

The USPS will just be in the junk mail biz soon.

Yep. 99% of mail is junk. 1% is bills that I can pay online like my property taxes.

 

[Gasbuggy]

I love USPS. I got them to ship an entire Jag XKE door to England for 1/3 to 1/4 of what UPS, DHL, or FedEx wanted.