
Confessions of US Postal Worker: “We deliver Amazon packages until we drop dead” - skbly7
https://medium.com/s/powertrip/confessions-of-a-u-s-postal-worker-we-deliver-amazon-packages-until-we-drop-dead-a6e96f125126
======
Semiapies
The USPS has built an operation centered around delivering direct marketing
(snail mail spam) as its primary function, with other deliveries from bills to
packages as a very secondary one. Trying to transition from that to delivering
this many packages without increasing its workforce...well, it's an amazing
example of the pointy-headed boss approach that's the bane of both the private
and public sector. "We've finally gotten revenues ahead of expenses! ...What
do mean, there's too much work to do?"

~~~
metildaa
USPS has a mandate to deliver mail to the masses as a universal sevice, and
direct mail is one way to try to subsidize that mandate. When letter volume
was higher, the letter delivery business could be viable on its own.

USPS is in a legislative straitjacket when it comes to offering new and
competitive services to consumers and small businesses, nevermind the crazy
amounts they're bbeing required to contribute to their pension plan:
[http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2012/03/postal-
account...](http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2012/03/postal-
accountability-and-enhancement-act-of-2006-the-death-of-usps/)

~~~
Semiapies
If the USPS is doing well, it's hyped up as a miracle. If it's having
problems, its problems are hyped up as insurmountable.

------
londons_explore
If the conditions are too bad, leave...

The labor market is like any other, and is one of the most competitive markets
really. Being "loyal" and staying at the same company through hard times
really is doing yourself, the economy, and the company a disservice.

If USPS can't survive in those conditions, let them go bankrupt and let other
companies rise to fill their place, possibly bidding to get the same
government benefits USPS had.

~~~
democracy
Ever heard of labour rights?

~~~
londons_explore
Yes, but I fundamentally disagree with them.

They're a bandage for the labor market having a surpless of supply and
insufficient mobility.

Both of those the government could fix. Surpless of supply can be solved by
carefully regulating immigration and encouraging emmigration. Insufficient
mobility is harder to fix, but requiring employers to not employ the same
person for more than 200 days per year could force people to try out for other
jobs. If everyone had two jobs, they could scale up and down the number of
hours at each job to get the best pay/conditions. That's far better than
collective bargaining.

Long term employment contracts, and benefits based on tenure should be banned
too. That's just employers trying to reduce mobility.

I'd quite like to see daily labor auctions. Where the employer "bids" for how
much they're willing to pay today, and employees select where they'll go to
work (or stay home) based on today's bids. Christmas day would suddenly get
very expensive.

Some types of employment require specific knowledge or training. In those
cases, the employer shall have to provide a list of people who have said
training, and the list should have to be significantly larger than the number
of people working at that place on any given day to ensure the "training"
requirement doesn't prevent mobility.

~~~
adetrest
I hope what you're describing never makes it past your dystopian, or a movie
at best. What a terrible world you're describing.

------
wcarron
Crazy. What surprises me the most is the fact that the USPS receives no
federal funding. With a budget of even $5 Billion, the issues highlighted here
could be solved or drastically reduced.

~~~
jjeaff
And I suppose you also think that Social Security is completely self funding
as well?

The USPS has borrowed up to the max legal limit from the government.
(currently somewhere upwards of $15b in debt.) The government has to
continually increase that debt limit to keep it from folding.

They also enjoy a government imposed monopoly on delivering mail to mailboxes,
pay no taxes, vehicle license fees, parking fines, nor market rate interest on
their debt load.

It's not that amazing. Borrowing from the government with no end in sight is
the same thing as "getting money from the government."

~~~
wcarron
Umm, not sure what social security has to do with this? Nor do I understand
the condescension in your tone.

However, > pay no taxes, vehicle license fees, parking fines

These all make perfect sense to me. How __else__ do you expect mail to be
delivered even moderately efficiently?

> government monopoly

Only on first-class mail, first of all. Second of all, if you read tfa you'd
realize that a mandate for maintaining a government-run post office is
literally in the damn constitution. Are you also upset that there are
government monopolies on the judiciary and declaring war?

edit: formatting

~~~
jjeaff
I was merely pointing out that they do in fact receive federal funding. The
comparison to social security was because SS uses the same wordplay to claim
it is self funded as well. But in actuality, federal tax money is keeping both
programs alive.

And it's not just first class mail that has a monopoly. It's all/any mail that
is placed in a residential mailbox.

>Are you also upset that there are government monopolies on the judiciary and
declaring war?

Huh? Those make complete sense to be government monopolies. It doesn't make
much sense that the federal government can bar a private company from placing
a letter or small package in my mailbox, that I paid for and installed at my
own expense.

------
morsch
_The world’s largest e-commerce company said third-quarter operating income
will surge to as much as $2.4 billion, compared with the average analyst
estimate of $1.28 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Second-
quarter profit came in at a record $2.53 billion, or $5.07 per share, more
than double analysts’ forecasts. The shares rose 4.1 percent in extended
trading._

------
skbly7
There is an interesting take on this matter in "Patriotic Act" show by "Hassan
Minhaj" (episode 3):

[https://www.netflix.com/watch/80990674](https://www.netflix.com/watch/80990674)

------
cvaidya1986
This is just sad. Humans were meant to create and dream.

~~~
craftyguy
Humans, like other animals, are probably meant to just spread our genetic
material all over our species gene pool.

~~~
cvaidya1986
The creative and powerful ones do the genetic material spreading too.

------
donbright
Feel like sending an email to Jeff Bezos that just says ????

