Postal Rate Increase

I just read this article on the postal rate increase that goes into effect Monday.

Pre-emptive disclaimer: I work for the post office.

This story points out that the post office does not receive taxpayer assistance.  Then it makes this comment about one of the ways the post office is trying to cut costs:

Postmaster General John Potter has asked Congress for permission to reduce mail delivery to five days-a-week.

First, somebody tell me why we have to ask Congress for anything, given that we don’t get any funding from them.

Second.  I don’t remember if I read this in a news story or an internal memo (if this part disappears later, you’ll have your answer), but the day of the week they want to do away with is Tuesday, which is typically the slowest day of the week for us.

Picture letter carriers getting Sunday and Tuesday off.  Now picture them coming on to work on Monday.  Hard to do, yes?

Now, whenever we raise our rates by two cents or so, there is inevitably talk of getting rid of our monopoly on first class mail.  (I haven’t seen anything yet this time, but if you look at the comments in the news story I linked to here, you’ll see a bunch of people calling for this exact thing, after reading the tragic tale of how we misdelivered one letter.)

So I’m going to pre-emptively take those people on, too.  I have given this idea a lot of thought, while on break, visiting with coworkers, or just daydreaming at my desk.

I simply don’t believe that UPS or Fedex can do it for less than a dollar.  For that matter, I don’t see how they could afford the start-up infrastructure.  I know they have an existing infrastructure, but they would need more.  More machines, more people, more trucks.  Lots more.  A quick check of Wikipedia indicates that we employ about twice as many people as UPS and three times as many as Fedex.

So imagine that the floodgates were opened, and these two companies started competing for first-class mail business.  Three companies would then employ enough drivers to go to every house every day.  Since the total mail volume would be about the same, how long do you suppose this arrangement would last?

Further suppose that UPS or Fedex wins the “postal war”.  How long do you suppose they would continue delivering to Podunk, Alaska?

Oh well.  Screw the Podunkians.  There aren’t very many of them, so who cares?

And to give you an idea of the magnitude of the mail, when postal workers went on strike years ago, the national guard was called in to handle the mail, but they couldn’t do it.  (I said, with a hint of pride.)

Anyway, feel free to whine about the postal rate increase in the comments.  Or tell the story of the really important postcard we lost just because we don’t like you.  Believe me, with 700 million pieces of mail each day, we don’t have time not to like you.

And if you want to find out how relatively exciting your job is, ask me what I do sometime.

Dissin’ the Post Office

It must have been a pretty slow news day in Modesto, CA. 

The headline reads, “Couple’s Tax Documents Certifiably Lost”, by Jeff Jardine.  Basically a couple had sent their tax stuff to their tricky accountant, and the package was instead delivered to the IRS in Fresno. 

Several things: 

1.  I love the mean, ‘unamused’ look the couple gave for the picture.  Perfect indignation for someone so very wronged. 

2.  Their tax documents, according to the story, are not lost, as the headline proclaims.  Their location is known. 

3.  I was awestruck by the coincidence that their tax documents were mistakenly delivered to the IRS.  Perhaps the mail clerk was merely clairvoyant, and expedited delivery to the final destination.  Or perhaps the couple in question accidentally put the IRS label on the envelope.  Choose for yourself which scenario is more likely. 

4.  I’m a postal employee, so perhaps my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt, but the US Postal Service processes about 700 million pieces of mail each day.  Why is it that when one gets lost (or misdirected), it is newsworthy?  All the people I know at the post office are hardworking and conscientious.  And sometimes make an error (most often resulting in delay rather than misdelivery). 

5.  The writer mentions at the end that the couple will send their copies either UPS or FedEx.  They’re willing to spend more money on a company that, in their eyes, has a less than 1/700 million chance of “losing” their package.  Dave and Ann Milhous, I salute your acumen. 

6.  This is.... aggressive: 

Nor has she gotten an explanation from the post office about how their information wound up in Fresno which, if my AAA road map isn't outdated, is still due south of Modesto. San Jose is due west. 

What kind of explanation would satisfy them?  Do they think that one of us, in the process of delivering it to the wrong destination, thought to scribble down the reason for doing so?  I have encountered many such people in my time, “demanding” an explanation, when there is no way of knowing.  However, I refer the reader to Number 2, above.

And Mr. Jardine's smart-alecki-ness seems unwarranted as well.  Does he think we sort the mail by the direction it's heading?

7.  While not the subject of my rant, I am amused that they think anyone at the IRS has the time to stop what they are doing at this time of year, and go sort through what must be a mountain of post looking for a package with a specific return address.  That borders on delusional.