Sunday, February 01, 2009

The Poor PO

Dale posts thoughts on the U.S. Postal Service that literally made a good friend's head spin this morning;)

I loved it because it's nothing I've not told my friend before. The PO has failed to adapt, and its public image problems are of its own making. In fact, the USPS presents yet another fine example of the government's inability to manage anything out of a wet-paper-bag.

But hey. Let's give them the banks. And healthcare.

My thoughts are posted at Dale's. Call me old-fashioned, but I think there will always be a niche/place for the USPS as a civil service. It serves a unifying purpose. But the way things are going, I would not be surprised (and really have no strong objection) if the PO eventually cuts back to M/W/F delivery.

The times they are a-changing.
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4 comments:

Brenda Bowers said...

I agree there is no reason for 6 day a week delivery of junk mail which is about all the USPS handles anymore.

Well, I have to take that back because I use USPS Priority Mail to mail my items from my eBay store (PriscillasLetsPretend.com) a shop of dresses and handmade dress-up play gowns and some other little things like dolls and music boxes. I use USPS Priority because I get the mailing boxes free. They also pick up at my door so I am saved the trip to a very busy PO on Battleground. Everyone, including me, thought that UPS was cheaper but when I checked the services I found UPS to be more expensive and you have to pay from $3 up for the boxes. BB

2/01/2009 03:14:00 PM
Dave36 said...

"The PO has failed to adapt, and its public image problems are of its own making."

25 years ago barely 80% of mail was delivered on time. Now thanks mostly to automation about 96% is delivered on time. This in spite of everything customers do to delay the mail (handwriting addresses, hidden or too small mailboxes, mail slots, dogs out, not shoveling, not notifiying correspondents 4-6 weeks before moving, etc., etc.)

2/01/2009 10:49:00 PM
Dr. Mary Johnson said...

But Dave, the customer is always right - even when they're dead wrong. At least that's been the theory in medicine.

I personally think the PO could do with a little more of the human touch and less automation.

From the outside looking in (but with a fairly good point-of-view over the last 7-8 years), weed out the top-heavy management, and treat the crafts fairly, but firmly. The unions could use a reality check and over-haul at the top as well. Manage resources and time/labor in a more cost-efficient manor.

Just my humble opinion.

2/01/2009 11:17:00 PM
Ticker said...

The PO's problem lies in the layers of management, most of whom have never spent a day on the street delivering mail, nor even a few hours of casing mail. That's what the carriers did in house some years ago to sort the mail in sequential order for delivery on the route. Now it is done on route, but don't get caught sorting mail while driving or walking or you will receive a reprimand by one who has never experienced the joy of route delivery much less sorted mail. No the machine doesn't sort your mail in sequential order for delivery. You are lucky if it is sorted correctly by zip code much less street.
Like any good government agency it feels it must have lots of chiefs to control the indians and that requires chiefs to check on the sub chiefs, to check on sub-sub chiefs.
Then those who are really high up such as the Postmaster general gets real nice perks for moving his family two blocks or so from their old location at taxpayer cost that ran into double digit thousands plus new furniture for the office. Haven't figured out why he needed new office furniture when it was his household they were moving, but anyhow that's the way things for for those big chiefs. He also now has a chauffer to pick him up and deliver him to his office even though he only moved two block further from this old address. According to the PO he moved into a different ZIP code and computers can't understand two block since a different zip code could be 30 miles difference.

When the PO rids itself of the useless layers of management starting at the top and slicing down and down and down to the local PO and there removing all the layers with the exception of one per section then they will continue to have problems.
Secondly rid the PO of the UNION since they create many of the delays in sorting , shipping and delivery. No matter how many are standing around doing nothing , if it is not in their union job description they will not do it.
Carriers are basically forced to join the union or face grief , double routes . They pay dues and get little to nothing in return and certainly no protection from the layer upon layer of management. In one facility that I am familiar with, the union steward was shacking up with one of the management team. Piss off the management and watch how many double loops you had to do and don't dare complain to the Union .

Carriers are bailing on a regular basis because they can not and will not put up with the so called management who have never handled a piece of mail other than perhaps one that fell on the floor( and that's doubtful) or what is delivered to their door by the "serfs" they control.

My carrier has her time in this June and she is gone way before she had planned on retiring.She also credits the union with her decision as well. Useless as she says and I don't need to elaborate as to useless as what. I can then expect mail at least 2 hours late and have either the neighbors mail on the right or on the left delivered to my box and lord knows where my mails has gone. Last time, a block down.
Shut it down and privatize it and you can watch production and productivity in delivery increase dramatically. Be sure not to unionize or the mess will be back to where it was. Late delivery or no delivery and cost ineffective.

2/02/2009 05:37:00 PM

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