Comments on: How Makers, Hackers, and Entrepreneurs Can Save the U.S. Postal Service http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/ DIY projects, how-tos, and inspiration from geeks, makers, and hackers Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:09:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: None of the above http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-1284973 Tue, 28 May 2013 13:58:27 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-1284973 Just FYI the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act was co-sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans. My guess is you believe it is a vast right wing conspiracy but one of the Democrat co-sponsors was none other than Henry Waxman. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407

The LA Times has a good article on the financial woes this bill enacted on the USPS and it pins most of the blame on the act’s “pre-funding the health benefits of future retirees 50 years in advance at a rate of about $5.6 billion a year.” As the story states the Unions most certainly went along with this plan http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-postal-service-20130528,0,3071142.story

As for ideas to save the post office it’s doubtful any of the ones mentioned above will suffice and would be symbolic at best.

The best idea to solve this issue is to read up more on this issue and contact your congressman/woman to repeal the act. It

]]> By: lattn http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-1078075 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:33:40 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-1078075 The Post Office was established as a service where income from sales would equal costs. As a service it was never intended to make a profit. The reason for the “losses” is a law passed in 2006 by Congress that mandated that the Post Office fund 75 years of retiree health benefits in 10. On the other hand banks and Wall St.were bailed out by taxpayer where the Post Office functioned quite well until the 5.5 Billion a year was to be paid to the treasury which if the law is kept in place will continue to claim these payments which have nothing to do with mail service as a “loss” when the Post Office is unable to meet over and above the cost of processing and delivering mail.
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-chx0j3_8IU
To view link, highlight,-right click left click on link

]]> By: Paula Martin http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-1077937 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:01:22 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-1077937 Right you are. Here is the real reason the US Post Office is flounderinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ybkkiH2Ho

]]> By: Mikey Sklar http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-867926 Sun, 10 Feb 2013 15:49:35 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-867926 A few thoughts from a maker who is totally dependent on USPS.

Volume customers are special….It’s time for the post office to
consider the usual silver/gold/platinum kind of program for people
doing a lot of shipments. The post office is the only system I can
think of that has no incentive programs for customers that spend
tens of thousands dollars a year with them. Look at how airlines
work with frequent flyer miles or credit card companies offer a
percentage back. Even UPS and FedEx have business account deals.

It’s ridiculous that the international tracking is so unaffordable.
First-Class International and Priority Mail have minimal if any
tracking beyond the US. The price to get into express international
mail is so high that few makers would ever use that service. Makers
need protection through tracking on the shipmets so international
customers are not demanding refunds when things take too long to
arrive.

More penalties for using the Post Office in person. Right now there
is a small fee for going to the post office and buying postage in
person. That fee could be much larger based on how long the transaction
takes. Eg. Filling out a international first-class mail slip to
prague takes can take a lot of postal employee time assisting a
customer. Let the uninformed customer pay for that time and be
pointed towards ways of printing labels on-line.

USPS should have a all platform postal printing system. The USPS
website does allow some forms of postage to be printed, but it does
not include the new Parcel Select and has never offered first-class
international. USPS also has a horrible windows only app that can
print the first-class international. Why not have one site that
does it all? Since I’m primarly a mac user I have to keep a account
with stamps.com to print parcel select and first-class international.

Let’s just outlaw the junkmail. Nobody wants it and companies have
plenty of other ways to broadcast their buy more stuff signal.

It is easy for mail geeks who ship daily to envision a thriving
USPS in the next few years. When individual households are spending
thousands of dollars a year on domestic and international postage
how can mail volumes continue to shrink? It might just be that the
micro businesses manufactoring or reselling goods can produce the
volumes needed for the post office to do well.

]]> By: Carol http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-864493 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:02:27 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-864493 The USPS should market to US businesses that international customers prefer USPS mailed packages. Couriered packages get hit by border brokerage fees that USPS packages do not. UPS is particularly noxious to the point that I will not order from US companies that only ship UPS.

]]> By: Christopher Perez http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-863505 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 03:44:03 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-863505 i remember when you could make copies at the post office more services would be great but that might lead to longer lines.

]]> By: Doug Johnson http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-863483 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 03:32:14 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-863483 I have to admit that I don’t have a problem with no Saturday delivery. I have contended for a long time that they should move to every other day delivery. One batch of people would get Monday-Wed-Friday, another Tues-Thur-Saturday. And no, I don’t think it would save half, but in the neighborhood of 25-30%.
You could pay extra for daily pickup and drop off…or make business districts daily and residential every other.
But the fact is that the kind of stuff that you send through the mail, one day either way isn’t going to make a huge difference to…oh….anybody.

]]> By: phil http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-502881 Wed, 16 May 2012 23:08:44 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-502881 The Post Office is a not for profit institution. It is a service same as police, fire, etc. No profit-no profit sharing.

]]> By: Tacoma http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-502068 Wed, 16 May 2012 17:09:31 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-502068 Would a profit sharing plan work? If unions recieved a percentage as well as employees, maybe productivity would increase with the refusal to defend any lazy dead weight.

]]> By: mike jakopance http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service/#comment-500226 Wed, 16 May 2012 02:49:51 +0000 http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/soapbox-how-makers-hackers-and-entrepreneurs-can-save-the-us-postal-service.html#comment-500226 Ralph the biggest problem with the po is dead weight such as your self, 200000 emploees gone gone since 2000 and increase in eas positions of 46 percent. We need more clerks and carriers in most parts of the country not less i know you sit at your computer screen all day and try to make carriers work harder, more deliveries in less time. Run Forrest run should be all sups. motto becus thats what you want.. Put down the clip board and actually earn your money for once.

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