The United States Post Office can trace it's roots back to 1775 when Benjamin Franklin was appointed Postmaster General by the Second Continental Congress. It is one of the few agencies expressly authorized by the United States Constitution.
The cabinet level office was formed in 1792 from Franklin's operation and was transformed into it's most recent form back in 1971 under the Postal Reorganization Act.
On December 5, 2011, the USPS announced it would close down more than half of their mail processing areas, eliminate 28,000 jobs, and stop the overnight delivery of first class mail. On December 13th, they announced they would hold off closing their 252 mail processing centers until mid May 2012.
At issue is the loss of revenue by the USPS and the rising costs. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) (HR 6407) forces the USPS to fund, in advance, 75 years' worth of future health care benefit payments to retirees within a ten year time span. This was enacted in December 2006 and is a requirement that no other government organization is subject to.
Add this to the rising costs for salaries and the huge decline of first-class mail, and we have an institution that is slowly disappearing.
With our ever increasing use of electronic mail and the rising costs, it is becoming seriously uncertain as to how the USPS system can maintain it's current level of service.
In 2011 the USPS announced it's intention of setting up village like post offices in grocery stores and the like and close down 3,700 small post offices around the country. This would create a substantial savings and really wouldn't be too hard to deal with. The closing of half of the mail processing centers, on the other hand, might inconvenience everyone more than they can imagine. This will create a slow down of all mail delivery and completely eliminate the next day delivery for first class mail.
Recently, on December 7th, I shipped a package to a customer in North Carolina. This was going parcel post because it was much less expensive that priority mail due to the weight. I live in Iowa and the expected delivery date, according to the USPS website, was December 13th. That's good, right?
I received a query from my customer, asking if I had shipped the item on December 18th. I checked the tracking number and this is what I found. The package had been sent December 7th and sent to the sort facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and remained there until December 16th when it departed that facility. The next mention was it was being processed by a sort facility in Charlotte, NC on December 20th, which is today. The expected delivery date still shows December 13th, 2011. Perhaps Iowa's sort facility was already closed! (Really, this doesn't happen often!!)
My whole point in writing about this situation is:
1) please be patient with your seller as they may be experiencing difficulties beyond their control through the mail system and
2) think about supporting your USPS system!! It's not going to hurt sending someone a handwritten letter once in awhile and buying some stamps to mail it and it might even bring joy to someone that day!!
Our postal system has served us long and faithfully. Yes, they have not made some of the wisest decisions, and yes, they are in the hole but imagine this . . . . . no more mail, no more newspapers, magazines, no more Christmas cards to save, birthday cards, get well cards!!
There are some changes that need to be made and they are working through them. I, for one, support USPS and no, I don't have ANY relatives or friends who work there. I just know that this is an institution that we would be lost without.
Please support the USPS.
Thank you!
We ship USPS and if you would like to browse through our store and purchase an item or two, we would be delighted!! I believe the majority of sellers here at
OLA.com ship USPS and support their services.
Merry Christmas!!
