Local Post Office Cuts Hours, Raises Prices
Stopping at my local United States Post Office on the way to work this morning, I noted a sign on the front door that starting this week they are cutting back their hours by a full hour on the weekdays, from 8:00-5:30 to 9-5:30.
Am I the only one puzzled that the price of stamps keeps going up while service gets poorer, packages are delivered slower and hours of operation are lessened?
It’s true that postal rates for a one ounce letter have been fairly consistent since 1970, going up about one cent per year. However, it now costs nearly half a dollar ($.41) to mail a bill.
If you mail an average of 10 bills a month, that’s $4.10/month x 12 = $49.20! That’s $50 a year just to mail bills. Thank God you can buy stamps from a machine these days.
With rising prices and the hours of operation now cut back to when I’m at work and would have to take time off to mail a package, Internet bill pay and e-cards look better all the time.
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I haven’t used a stamp to pay a bill in years. I also try to do electronic billing as much as possible to cut down on mail. I can only think of one regular bill off the top of my head that I receive in the mail monthly: my Minneapolis water and trash removal bill. I still pay it online though.
And IMHO, the price is following inflation pretty well:
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/j/jensena/sfp/us/rec_in.htm
(Graph at url is inflation percentage not overall increase so compare the high points of the graph to the rate of increase on the postage price)
-Aaron
I still pay my rent by mail. I think that’s the only check that I write, too. I also just went through my various bills and made sure that I specified paperless billing for the ones that offered it.
I also spent an hour not too long ago in Eden Prairie trying to find a place to get a letter out ASAP. Finally got to the post office and realized nothing leaves Eden Prairie until 5:30 p.m. Unlike Minneapolis where there are multiple pickups per day in practically every location.
In response to why stamps keep going up in price.
I’ll take a stab at it even though it’s just an uneducated guess.
First off, email and the internet have cut severly into USPS profits.
A good friend of mine is a carrier. It is, of course, a union job. He makes pretty good money, but he also works his butt off. Six days a week carrying a 40+ pound shoulder bag. A good amount of his paycheck comes from overtime and double time which is heavily taxed. Of course paying people lots of overtime and double time is a pretty inefficient business practice in the long run.
Bulk mailing like flyers and such (read: junk mail) get a discount on rates so carriers carry more weight for less. The cost needs to be bourne somehow, so they raise the price of stamps.
Personally, it’s possible that the USPS will go the way of Amtrak. Huge government subsidies to provide a service that less and less people use.
In response to why stamps keep going up in price.
I’ll take a stab at it even though it’s just an uneducated guess.
First off, email and the internet have cut severly into USPS profits.
A good friend of mine is a carrier. It is, of course, a union job. He makes pretty good money, but he also works his butt off. Six days a week carrying a 40+ pound shoulder bag. A good amount of his paycheck comes from overtime and double time which is heavily taxed. Of course paying people lots of overtime and double time is a pretty inefficient business practice in the long run.
Bulk mailing like flyers and such (read: junk mail) get a discount on rates so carriers carry more weight for less. The cost needs to be bourne somehow, so they raise the price of stamps.
Personally, it’s possible that the USPS will go the way of Amtrak. Huge government subsidies to provide a service that less and less people use.
I’d be willing to pay more for stamps if it meant I got less junk mail.