The only other thing killing the Post Office besides the Internet are companies like FEDEX. I have bought 3 books of stamps in the last 5 years only because rebates are not done on line and my wife loves sending Christmas cards. The government is spending an hugh amounts of money paying employees of a company that always seem to lose money. I get way to much trash mail that is filling our local land fill. Maybe the government should inot buying computers instead of another indirect bailout of the auto industry.

i think week- end, needs to end, save tax payer money time time time. it takes time to send your mail.house notes,car notes ,every body lives pay check to pay check these days.

@Ed: The USPS is a congressionally mandates corporation that only spends the money that it takes in in revenue. It receives no money from congress and no assistance from taxpayers outside of what we pay for mail and shipping services. I understand it's in vogue with some people right now to baselessly whine about the so-called ills of government being involved in anything that has to do with money and to complain endlessly about taxes, but it's not warranted.

Frankly, the reason the Post Office is dying is because people don't send mail anymore. Even direct mail and marketing companies don't send advertisements like they used to, as much as we all think we still get a ton of junk mail in our mailboxes. The same applies for companies like UPS and FedEx and DHL. DHL has shuttered US operations entirely, UPS's profits are through the floor, and FedEx got ahead of the curve and bought Kinkos back on 05 to keeps its figures afloat.

The sheer fact that the USPS doesn't see the volume it used to is it's problem, and like many industries, it saw constant growth for so long that it's having trouble adapting to a new economy and new environment where it's services are no longer needed in the volume they were. Frankly, this is the right thing for them to do - the same as with the auto industry, you rightsize yourself for the market you're in. You just try to do it as painlessly as possible.

if they would charge as mmuch for bulk (junk) mail then maybe they would either survive or save the land fills

When was the last time you were at a postoffice? Have you seen how inefficiently it is run. The employees move like snails! They all seem to have an attitude or don't care because their jobs are protected. You see many in the back doing little or nothing and the registers are undermaned in spite of the lines of customers being long! Try getting the USPS employees to put some effort into their jobs and the efficiencies might impact on the bottom line. It is easier and usually more convenient to go to a UPS store and have friendly and efficent employees move you quickly through their store!!!!! It's all in the attitude!!!!

If stamps go up two cents everybodys complains.The increase will make front page news.But when the electric compaines raise there rates up,and its cost you an extra hundred bucks a month nobody makes a big fuss over it.But when that stamp go up 2 cents,the complainers will be coming out of every crack and hole.

It's like everything else, the business model doesn't work anymore; it's broke. The USPS has to re-invent itself but I do not think the people who are running it are uncapable of revising the aging model. Just look at the auto industry.

Something to think about,look at all of the hacking that has been directed at America or what if a dirty bomb or an EMP was set off in NYC,so much is run by computers even a 1 month total crash would really wipe out the economy and everything else on the planet.Computers are machines not humans.I don't think China or N.Korea will be sending hit squads out for postal workers.We are fools to depend on machines,no matter how efficient,even Rome fell.

For years the PO operated in a haphazard manner while the then fledgling UPS concentrated on efficency, hard work and customer service. UPS grew from a modest beginning to the giant it is now by those means. Other private companies soon followed suit, but the PO continued to plod along. I don't think the government show be in competetion with the private sector anyway.

The last time I went to the post office they had one person working behind the counter. There was a long line and people were getting angry because they were obviously in a hurry to get out of there. Then another time they had three workers that moved like they were in slow motion. The worker I had to deal with had an attitude like it was a pain to have to wait on the people. She was not very helpful and told me to step out of the line while I had to fill out a piece of paper for a certified letter. Then I had to go back and stand in line again. Also, when mail is delivered to my home, it sometimes belongs to people living on another street. One time I even received a letter for another town. One week I had the neighbors mail next door delivered to me for two days. Then I found out they had my mail.

The reason why post offices are closing is because it is run so inefficiently! Actually, that is usually why the government keeps things open...but paying exorbitant salaries and ridiculous retirement is part and parcel (excuse the pun) of why this section of government is failing. Typically, walking into a post office or satellite office of the postal service, you are treated like a lesser person and the average Joe is just tired of it. PRIVATIZE is the way to go in our country...that is why UPS and FedEx are so successful. Capitalism is part of what makes this country great and to subjugate our nation to the government is outrageous and we the people need to put a stop to it.

Take the mail delivery to 3 days a week, Monday -Wednesday - Friday.
That's really all we need.

This is always going to be the end result when the government and the unions get together (pay exuberant wages and benefits for a simple task)so good riddance USPS and i guess if our machines (computers) do fail we can find someone to ride around on horseback to do the job, because by then fossil fuels will be running around ten dollars a gal.

I feel the USPS started going down hill was when it started hiring contract workers. These people do not seem to understand (although their checks are signed by the government) that they work for the people. They are paid by the people. They take zero pride in their work. They simply do not care.It is a shame. It makes me cringe when I think of it.It is a slap in the face to one of the greatest men who ever lived,Benjamin Franklin.
I have witnessed,from these contractees,mail being thrown from their vehicles as they drive down a rural route. I have received other peoples mail in my box so many times I cannot remember the number.It is simply,ridiculous.I remember when,either by postal rule or common courtesy,a mailman would not think of walking on someones lawn.These people have no respect for their fellow man,job or evidently(and most sadly)themselves.

I agree that at least part of the problem is the horrible attitude of postal workers and the arcane rules of the postal system. I don't think ending the postal service is a good plan but certainly working on customer service and ending idiot rules that also add to worker apathy would be something to consider

maybe if the post office provided better service, or stopped losing parcels, or stopped overcharging, or *on and on and on...

It stands to reason that if their are long waits that they should hire more people. Why are people bashing unions. The decline in unions is a threat to the living standards of all americans and an attack on postal workers is an attack on you.

it was a hot day of summer, i was in my lunch break and i had to go to the post office, it took me all my hour of lunch break doing line, while some of the front desk post office workers were eating ice cream and laughing at back of the office, thats why 677 offices must to be closed

The problem with the US Postal Service is that it's genesis was as a government institution conceived when mail was critical to communication. At one time it was critical to anyone doing business or not living under a rock.

Today is different. Mail is not as critical as it once was. I fear the USPS will never have the same customer-oriented focus that private companies find themselves compelled to provide. From UPS I hear more "what works best for you?". From the USPS I get more "them's the rules!". I fear they will never be able to shake their government institution-background.

The P.O.'s that I've dealt with are always efficiently run, and the workers helpful and respectul. Sometimes, depending upon the time of day and day of week, the lines are long; but that is the result of staffing decisions not the workers. The situation is probably different in big cities vs. the burbs where I am.

Yes, this is an obsolete methodology that needs to be massively downsized as rapidly as possilble.

Yes, pensions and benefits for govt workers now often outstrip civilian counterparts when they should share in the overall economy, plus and minus, along with the rest of us.

Privatize the Post Office. The world is way ahead of us in privatizing their post offices.

The post office does indeed have problems. I have been a city carrier for two years and things have declined steadily. But not all carriers and clerks have bad attitudes and take all day to clear a transaction.

We are horribly understaffed and there is a hiring freeze. We know that you don't like to stand in line for ten minutes to buy a stamp and that you don't like to see one clerk at the window while another is in the back "doing nothing". Clerks need their lunches too; they may be taking lunch when you see them sitting down. We are also entitled to two ten minute breaks during an eight hour day. Some clerks also work split shifts and may be killing time until their next shift starts.

We don't like to make delivery mistakes, but they do happen. Because of the staffing issue, I currently work six days a week, 45-56 hours a week, in as many as three offices a day. When your carrier is being over-worked, mistakes are even more likely. Even though mail volume is down, we still look at a lot of mail, several thousand pieces a day.

I will be a sub carrier for my whole career. I don't earn benefits, can be worked like a mule, and don't have any standing in the system. I don't like it, but I'm still going to give 110% to my job every day.

There has been a lot of talk about five day delivery. If that happens, I and thousands of others, will be out of work. We only have jobs because regular carriers need time off for doctor's appointments, kids' events, etc., the things we subs don't have time for. Even regulars get denied leave in some instances because of a lack of staff.

I love the customers on my routes and I always try to deliver quickly and correctly. Most carriers do, and we never misdeliver on purpose.

I'm not saying that every carrier or clerk is a great worker; some of them are just marking time until retirement, but most of us are hard workers doing the best we can in a very stressful situation.

We walk on your lawn because it's a shortcut. We are told by our postmasters to find shortcuts to save as much time as possible.

If you don't want the carrier on your lawn, give a written request to your postmaster.

I love USPS parcel delivery and priority mail. I've never had a package damaged as bad as FEDEX does. They have contract freight trucks that don't care about damages because FEDEX pays for it. I had one of those SOBs throw me 4 lcd monitors a client had ordered. even after i yelled at him about the first one.

About time. This is long overdue. The USPS is just a giant money dump anymore. Kind of like public transportation in the US like Bart and Amtrak here in California people refuse to use them

Everything invloving the government takes forever. I wait in line at the DMV for a hour and a half, I cannot get anyone on the phone at the IRS and everytime I go to the USPS the line is out the door. 30% of my paycheck goes for taxes and I get crap service in return. The government cannot keep up with the times, GET WITH IT PEOPLE. If the USPS is having such a hard time keeping up they need to switch it to the internet and start addressing some of the issues with EMail scams, and spam. Start being ahead opf the game instead of being behind. Im sick of the term "good enough for government work".