

The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse  - petethomas
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_23/b4231060885070.htm

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tokenadult
The fascinating part of this article is the international policy comparisons:
"Indeed, many other countries have figured out profitable ways to run a postal
service. The U.S. could learn a lot from them."

And of course the economic problems of the organization are related to some
familiar causes: "The USPS has historically placed the interests of its unions
first. That hasn't changed."

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Neon2012
Thankfully it seems like Donahoe, the Post Master General, understands that in
order to fix part of the problem the USPS needs to move post offices into
convenience stores and supermarkets where they can be staffed by non-union
employees. Anyone who can operate a cash register could handle most consumer
packages as well as an expensive postal service desk agent.

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beagle3
The USPS has been running balanced for years until recently, which I find very
impressive.

Judging by the amount of junk mail I find in my mailbox, they are charging too
little.

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Neon2012
The USPS is most likely charging a reasonable price to sustain current junk
mail delivery rates. A price increase may cause more businesses to simply
advertise online. Without any data, I would assume that the demand for the
postal service by junk mailers is extremely elastic these days.

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ck2
Part of their problem is costs.

How do they have to pay $5.5 Billion for retiree health-care?

I've read that there is a problem with people retiring early there and then
getting hired back by friends as contractors.

