Snow, Rain, Heat Or Gloom Couldn't Do What The Internet Did

Snow, Rain, Heat Or Gloom Couldn't Do What The Internet Did

And that is kill the post office. For the longest time the motto of neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays those couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds of delivering junk mail and adverts to your mail box. But in an age of the internet and instant communication, it looks like no one gives a shit about the post office anymore. Especially since they're so close to filing for bankruptcy .

The other day the united states postal service laid out their plan to cut the cost of their budget shortfall and avoid bankruptcy. The solution? Well 200 mail-processing facilities across the country, it'll do away with the next-day air delivery of first class mail and will get rid of 30,000 jobs. The goal? It hopes that it will save about $3 billion in these actions.

The U.S. Postal Service on Monday announced a $2.1 billion cost savings proposal that would result in the end of next-day service for regular mail and the loss of about 28,000 postal worker jobs.

The financially troubled agency officially proposed the change to its regulator, changing its national standard for regular first-class mail -- mail that requires a 44-cent stamp for the first ounce -- to two to five days from the current one to three.

The measure is tied to a plan to slash hundreds of mail processing facilities, which would mean that 28,000 postal workers could be out of a job by the end of next year.

Officials say the move is necessary to preserve the future of the U.S. Postal Service, which is on the brink of insolvency. The changes are being proposed to address an estimated 47% drop in regular mail expected over the next 10 years.

Regular first-class mail tends to pay most of the U.S. Postal Service's bills, according to Postal Service Network Operations Vice President David Williams.

"We can't sit back and wait for another 6 to 10 years to make these changes," Postmaster Patrick Donahoe said.

While it seems that the number of first class mail letters and postcards sent out is declining, Millions of Americans still rely on the Postal System to get movies, medicine and bills. Which with all this means it's going to take an extra day or two to get to the destination.

So if Video killed the radio star, does that mean that the internet killed the post office route? I mean, we do, instead of spending the cost of a stamp and some letterhead, just send that e-mail to the family member now. That much is true as well with the whole notion that less bills being sent out with people going paper-less and paying bills online means that less postage is paid for.

On the flip side, with more global connectivity, it does mean that people are connecting with others from far distances and with Ebay, the rate of how many packages are being sent out has got to be much higher than before the days of the internet. Wouldn't you think? Amazon has to ship those packages through someone for it to get to you in a moderate amount of time.

I would imagine that the amount that Netflix is sending alone still makes up a great amount of what people are paying for in terms of postage. But I suppose they can't cover it all. Ironically enough, I wonder what people will do with their netflix subscription when they can't get the same awesome turn around on dvd's going back to the hub. Long term, this could cause some major suffering to companies who depend on that quick service and low price.

And after writing all of this I would feel a little bad for the postal workers if it wasn't for one thing. That they all don't deserve any fucking job that they have anyway. I was there the other day to pick up a package that they wouldn't deliver to me. I say wouldn't in a loose sense. You see, I was at home when a little slip came in through the mail slot of the door telling me to pick up my package by the 5th. This was on December 1st.

The notice also informed me that on December 5th will be the last day as it will be sent back after that. I was fucking puzzled. Not only was a home and with a simple knock on the door would this unneeded trip to the post office have happened, but I Never got any notice prior to that about a package at the local branch. And yet this was my final notice to go and pick it up. What... The... FUCK.

And even with all that, if you think that FedEX will be the easy choice now, you have to be careful since Fedex is going to be raising their prices come January 2nd.

FedEx Ground will raise rates for its U.S. package and home delivery services an effective 4.9 percent Jan. 2, matching a previously announced rate hike at FedEx Express and the increases announced by UPS.

The average rate will rise 5.9 percent but a 1 percent reduction in the company’s fuel surcharge will bring the net average rate increase down to 4.9 percent, matching the rate hike planned by UPS.

FedEx Express in October said it would increase package rates an average of 5.9 percent in the U.S., including imports and exports, while reducing its fuel surcharge. The ground package and air freight rate hikes in the U.S. show FedEx’s confidence that it can sustain higher pricing and growth despite a slow growing economy.

Just goes to show you that in 2012, everything is going to be raised. I suppose it's only fitting since they want to cash in as much as they can before the world ends..