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Originally posted by Ogie:

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Originally posted by 229DAK:

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It was never intended to be self sustaining. How do you send a piece of mail to Alaska or even on the other side of the country for the price of a stamp? Is the military self sustaining?

How do you compare the post office to the military? The post office takes in money for services. The military? Not hardly.

The military takes in huge amounts of taxpayer money, something the Post Offices does not do.

According to Google, the USPS brings in $80.5 Billion in revenue, and has about $90 Billion in expenses. Which by my math leaves the taxpayer on the hook for $9.5 Billion, which seems like a pretty huge amount of taxpayer money to me (although still significantly less than the roughly $900 Billion we spent on the military in 2025).

I like my local PO. They provide good service and have been very helpful in mitigating any issues that come up. Our delivery folks are reliable and I can count on less than one hand the number of times in the past 20 years that we've gotten the neighbor's mail or they've gotten ours. The biggest problem I have with the service I receive from the USPS isn't local. It's their shitty distribution system. Stuff gets to Indianapolis and just languishes for days. They actually had a congressional delegation go there to investigate the problems a few months back it was so bad. I know nothing about mail handling and sorting, and I'm sure the volume of mail that goes through there is staggering, but clearly they're doing something wrong. I'm currently waiting on a package that's been stuck there since Thursday.

One thing I find very inefficient is that in our area every little town has its own post office, but the actual delivery services are handled by just one or two of the bigger ones. The others are basically just a counter where they'll take your outgoing mail or sell you stamps or money orders, and they have PO Boxes. IMO they could probably reduce costs significantly by closing down these little branches and consolidating the resources around the bigger branches that are actually delivering the mail. In our county alone I know of five or six of these places, yet at worst in would be a 20 minute drive to the main post office at the county seat if you absolutely had to go there for something. It would be less convenient when you had to mail a package or something like that, but that's not a daily thing for most people in the same way that mail delivery is. It would piss off the people who had PO boxes, I'm sure, but what percentage of the population is that? And they could still get one at the main branch if they really wanted/needed it. If this is the norm nationwide right now, it might not be that hard to trim the fat and get the USPS to break even while retaining the more important services that they provide.

Amazon is really screwing up this year. I have Prime and stuff I order is quoting delivery times several days out. I live near multiple distribution centers and nearly everything is delivered by Amazon drivers. Usually it's fast, within quoted time or early.

Now I am seeing all kinds of tracking errors. Packages showing out for delivery two days in a row but not getting delivered, moving back and forth between Amazon locations. Then they change the tracking history showing it was not out for delivery and just bouncing around different Amazon locations.

I have some USPS and FeEx deliveries are scheduled today, and ironically they will probably be on time.

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According to Google, the USPS brings in $80.5 Billion in revenue, and has about $90 Billion in expenses. Which by my math leaves the taxpayer on the hook for $9.5 Billion,

In 2024 it is estimated that the USPS delivered 6.9 billion packages for Amazon. Sounds to me like Amazon need to be paying about $1.50 more per package.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:

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According to Google, the USPS brings in $80.5 Billion in revenue, and has about $90 Billion in expenses. Which by my math leaves the taxpayer on the hook for $9.5 Billion,

In 2024 it is estimated that the USPS delivered 6.9 billion packages for Amazon. Sounds to me like Amazon need to be paying about $1.50 more per package.

As I said earlier, ban bulk junk mail and only provide first class and package services. That will cut way down on crap that people usually throw away, and for the most part is no longer relevant because most things can be electronic now.

I'm sure USPS has to bid competitively against UPS and FedEx for the contract with Amazon. But yeah, they should be able to break even...

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Originally posted by a1abdj:

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According to Google, the USPS brings in $80.5 Billion in revenue, and has about $90 Billion in expenses. Which by my math leaves the taxpayer on the hook for $9.5 Billion,

In 2024 it is estimated that the USPS delivered 6.9 billion packages for Amazon. Sounds to me like Amazon need to be paying about $1.50 more per package.

Yeah.... if they were doing this to break even, I could understand it.

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I'm sure USPS has to bid competitively against UPS and FedEx for the contract with Amazon. But yeah, they should be able to break even...

But in order to "win" this contract, they are going further in the hole, and using the trucks and other resources that taxpayers subsidize.

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Originally posted by chellim1:

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Originally posted by egregore:
^^^ Amazon doesn't pay USPS?

Yes, of course they do. But on favorable terms to Amazon. They wouldn't use the USPS unless it was cheaper for them to do so.

My point is, that if the USPS wants to be a contract delivery service for private companies, it ought not receive any taxpayer subsidies.

If the USPS is privatized (and no longer subsidized by taxpayers), then they can do whatever they want.

That's how business works. A business hires someone or another business that's the cheapest and still gets the job done satisfactorily. If USPS lost Amazon, they would need a heck of a lot more money from taxpayers!

I agree though that USPS needs some DOGE style intervention.

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As I said earlier, ban bulk junk mail

Amazon is junk mail.

Amazon needs to quit using the USPS. I'm watching an order from Amazon. It started out in Iowa, thru Aurora Colorado, and now Salt Lake. The USPS is fucked up beyond repair. Is it all the DEI hires?

News blurb on MSN dot com says Amazon ends USPS partnership...

Link

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Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
News blurb on MSN dot com says Amazon ends USPS partnership...

Link

'Bout damn time! Now if the USPS would cancel itself and let somebody competent deliver the mail, that would be awesome!!! I have had to reorder a particular credit card twice now because the postal idiots cannot seem to get it into MY mailbox. No idea who has them, but they haven't been brought to me. This has been going on for nearly 2 months now!

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Originally posted by bronicabill:

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Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
News blurb on MSN dot com says Amazon ends USPS partnership...

Link

'Bout damn time! Now if the USPS would cancel itself and let somebody competent deliver the mail, that would be awesome!!! I have had to reorder a particular credit card twice now because the postal idiots cannot seem to get it into MY mailbox. No idea who has them, but they haven't been brought to me. This has been going on for nearly 2 months now!

Jeez.....you're full of bad luck.

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Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
News blurb on MSN dot com says Amazon ends USPS partnership...

Link

Amazon isn't everywhere--at least not yet. UPS is in the process of downsizing from also losing volume from Amazon. Perhaps FedEx Ground and Express could step up to carry Amazon in those areas Amazon doesn't cover. But in any case, it'll take time to transition from UPS/USPS to fully in-house delivery.

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Originally posted by coloradohunter44:
The USPS is fucked up beyond repair. Is it all the DEI hires?

Well that just happens to be their strength. Just look at 30268.

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Originally posted by bronicabill:

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Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
News blurb on MSN dot com says Amazon ends USPS partnership...

Link

'Bout damn time! Now if the USPS would cancel itself and let somebody competent deliver the mail, that would be awesome!!! I have had to reorder a particular credit card twice now because the postal idiots cannot seem to get it into MY mailbox. No idea who has them, but they haven't been brought to me. This has been going on for nearly 2 months now!

I have made my frustration clear, carriers cannot even get mail in the right box. My packages coming through them are notoriously late, sitting in a hub for a few days before moving. My local PO regularly gets mail stolen (checks) out of their drop boxes. It is obviously an employee that they cannot seem to catch.

Like all other waste, we pay for their incompetency with our tax dollars.