I have a friend who works for the USPS and I talk often to my mailman as well.

The physical spam mail comprises the vast majority of what they are asked to deliver. Of the rest, most is automated business correspondence (bills and the like). Actual person-to-person letters are almost nonexistent these days; who needs 'em, with email available?

Maybe the USPS needs to reconfigure for the modern era. Instead of supplying a post office box address, why not supply an email box address instead? Instead of a fleet of trucks, have a truckload of data centers. That way they could continue to fulfill their Constitutional mandate without being the guys trying to sell buggy whips in 1955.

I had a relative who worked for the Department of the Interior.
When he retired at 69, he was covered by medicare and a program called Mail Handlers. I assume that some federal workers not associated with the post office have their medical benefits tied into this program also.

... FWIW the fed system changed from pension to 401k in 1985. It's been 24 years since new hires had access to a traditional pension.


(USPS is totally different than the rest of the feds)

Come on KD, everyone knows about this. I've been hearing about it for years.

Good thing the retiring baby boomers have saved up all that money, lest their carefree days on the Kona Coast or World crusises might be in doubt.

/sarcasm off

That's one thing that stupid Dennis Hopper got right in those stupid suck-in-the-bagholder commercials was right about:

"Somehow I don't see you playing shuffle board in you retirement".

Technically, that's a true statement.

Defined benefit pension plans should have been outlawed a long time ago unless they were fully funded and invested in something extremely conservative like Treasuries.

Adonaiinfidel wrote..

I can welcome anyone to hire on as a TE{temporary employee}for $20+ an hour next week,any week,with union rights for FREE if you so desire to not pay union dues and cowboy or cowgirl the **** UP and show me just how lazy I am.

Is this for real, or are you pulling our legs? $20/hr for what is essentially menial labor with elementary-level pattern-recognition ability (you have to ensure mail goes to the right box) in this economy? I suppose imminent fear of catastrophic heart-failure prevents the average couch-potato from rushing out to apply, but $20/hr is well over double what the burger joints pay temps, so I'm going to have to call you that one.

Bezzle wrote..

Is this for real, or are you pulling our legs? $20/hr for what is essentially menial labor with elementary-level pattern-recognition ability (you have to ensure mail goes to the right box) in this economy? I suppose imminent fear of catastrophic heart-failure prevents the average couch-potato from rushing out to apply, but $20/hr is well over double what the burger joints pay temps, so I'm going to have to call you that one.

Here is a link: http://postalwork.net/pay_scales.htm

Looks like close to $20 per hour for me!

Granted, they do offer lower paying jobs, but those jobs appear to be working inside.

The mail carriers who must weather the outside are paid more!

Hehehe..., promises, promises, promises, which could never have been kept.

Bezzle,

I've completely blown out 2 disc's and had my right shoulder fully rebuilt, all from 3 decades of walkin' it out and carryin' that mailbag.
Our last trainee, last week, lasted 1 day and quit ( called in and said he was sick). Haven't heard from him since.
This is beyond suckie, and it doesn't have to be.
Try driving to find a restroom that's not 'occupado', then being called on the carpet to explain why you went overtime by a couple of minutes. EVERY ****ING DAY!

Weezie,

My scanner has died twice in the last 2 days. We have no replacements. Our station manager won't see to it that we get replacement Motorola batteries.

The reason for 'door to door' is that UPS and FDX have 2 way comms in their scanners/clipboard. We always try to get by with Soviet era technology-cheaper.

BTW, this pension(actually health insurance) money is for folks who aren't anywhere near retirement,
and may not even stay long enough to retire. It's a General Fund gimmick to hide out of control federal spending.

I've written about this before. Here goes:
If a person works for the US Military,GSA,Forestry Service,Dept. of Interior,
the Federal Gov't.,etc, but retires from the USPS, the entire retirement is charged to the USPS.
DOD spends no money for the 4 ,8,or 12 year stint. Ditto the other agencies.
This becomes a stamp tax on every US citizen.

Burt, if you think delivering letters is tough, try picking fruit in an orchard when it's 95F/75dp, and the mosquitoes surround you in a cloud. Imagine hauling ,your bag up and down a ladder, and you have to be careful not to bruise the junk-mail. 90% of your co-workers are illegals or convicts on the lam. You're envious of the wiry Mexicans who motor non-stop filling seven pallet-crates while you're sweating like a horse to manage four in your shift. It sucks when the foreman hands them twice as much crisp, green day-labor CASH at the end of the day, and you have no excuses.

Elsewise, I know a pro rock-concert light-hanger who shinnies up scaffolds in cowboy boots without a harness hauling 75lbs worth of lamps each trip and he's been doing it for thirty years. He's well-paid because he does in ten minutes what union schmucks in cranes and forklifts would take an hour to do, or wouldn't do at all because they're sniveling about safety. He works only non-US gig now because he can't work here anymore due to regulations.

(I stipulate to you that USPS bosses are *******s and make for a really unpleasant work environment back from the delivery runs.)

"Noticed the amount of junkmail has been going progressively down the last 4 months"


Why are they still delivering on Saturday? If income declines they should be cutting expenses.

Just look at the latest USPS commercial, where business people are gathered for a presentation and advice, from all places being the USPS.

> FREE Priority Mail Boxes - Just call and we will deliver/ship
> ONE PRICE - If it fits, it ships - Weight? Who gives a damn about weight?
> FREE pickup - Even if you have only ONE box - Vehicles? Fuel? Salaries? So what!

And these jokers wonder why their darling USPS is always broke and having to raise rates?

USPS: The Paradigm of American Business!

WTF is this?

Quote:

90% of your co-workers are illegals or convicts on the lam.

Sorry,you can't be a convict{for long} or an illegal alien and hold a federal career appointment,and you have to pay taxes.
And then there's that time frame

Quote:

Rain, scorching shine,sleet ,snow, and VERY dark of night,6 days a week.

What crop has a year round harvest opportunity?


And this..

Quote:

Elsewise, I know a pro rock-concert light-hanger who shinnies up scaffolds in cowboy boots without a harness hauling 75lbs worth of lamps each trip and he's been doing it for thirty years. He's well-paid because he does in ten minutes what union schmucks in cranes and forklifts would take an hour to do, or wouldn't do at all because they're sniveling about safety. He works only non-US gig now because he can't work here anymore due to regulations.

Maybe that has something to do with OSHA safety standards and/or federal tax/labor laws,,,,,ya think?
Fall off that ladder 1 time under load and guess who picks up the tab for the rest of his life.

Are you sure your friends do all these menial tasks 10/12 hours a day,6 days a week 20/30 years running?

Got any comparisons in context? As in,do you know anyone legal enough to be employed enough to think they have health care or a pension?

And what part of ..

Quote:

cowgirl the **** UP

do you not understand?

Face it son.Convicts & illegal aliens can't hold the nation together.
Their bull**** signature is far more detrimental to society than anyone else s carbon signature. Try and find some new friends.

WTF do you do 10/12 hours a day, 6 days a week?

Adonaiinfidel

Understand where you are coming from.

I believe one has to walk in your shoes first.

Quote:

Quote:

I know a pro rock-concert light-hanger who shinnies up scaffolds in cowboy boots without a harness hauling 75lbs worth of lamps each trip and he's been doing it for thirty years. He's well-paid because he does in ten minutes what union schmucks in cranes and forklifts would take an hour to do, or wouldn't do at all because they're sniveling about safety. He works only non-US gig now because he can't work here anymore due to regulations.

Maybe that has something to do with OSHA safety standards and/or federal tax/labor laws,,,,,ya think?
Fall off that ladder 1 time under load and guess who picks up the tab for the rest of his life.

HE does. But Americans no longer plan for that sort of thing. They're permanently in hock up to their eyeballs, and expect the state to bail them out when they get hurt.

You ever watch the show "Deadliest Catch"? If you're even the slightest bit stupid, there's sixteen different ways to kill yourself every five minutes. The captain of a crab boat was asked about safety, and he said, "Son, my job is to get you home RICH. {i]Your[/i] job is to get yourself home safe."

Gen, it is not in the letter, but how mcuh of the problem do you think is due to the decline in the stock market? More to the point, as pension funds all over find themselves in a crises, how many managers are allocating more and more to the stock marrrket as their only shot at getting healthy? Is this one more reason why TPTB will not allow and cannot afford another decline?

Those demeaning the letter carrier job as easy are ignorant. Most new hires don't last 2 weeks.
We had a retired UPS driver join on as a relief carrier and he quit after 2 days. He, by the way, topped out at UPS at 70k a year versus 56k for a letter carrier. My route averages 3600 pieces of mail a day over a
900 stop business route. I got 6 hours to get around. In these times if I have an accident I'll be let go despite a clean record for the last 15 years.

How much of the pension problem (at UPS and elsewhere) goes away if there is a booming stock market? Any thoughts on how much of the current rally has been due to hopelessly underfunded pension plans allocating more money into the stock market as their only shot at meeting their obligations?

Andrew: Stop repeating yourself, 15 minutes apart.

Manu06,

Anything involving actual physical labor seems to have a high amount of quitters after the first or second day... I've hired people who demanded money at the end of the day and never came back working on my little side of the mountain here.

Most of the postal guys and gals here are in such great shape and MAKE it look SO easy even though many of the houses and mailboxes are up tons of stairs and mountain sides with no parking... All walking, up and down steep grades. They probably need $20 an hour for the food they burn up... It's been like 95 degrees on the verge of raining off and on for days. I rarely see then sweat... they must have an ice vest pack under the uniforms. I would.

But, one old guy who rotates, always wears a bandanna to keep the sweat from pouring on his face and wear two knee braces - ouch!

As far as free pick up... unless you are in the middle of no where and rarely get mail, it seems easy for them. Around here, they get a print out saying where the package is and they find it during a regular mail stop.

I don't think anyone claimed that the job was physically easy, its just not particularly skilled labor.

I delivered newspapers for many years as pre-teen/teen, which is essentially the same job. (Harder in some ways, since a full load of 150 papers is far heavier than a mail sack, I had to deliver to the doors, delivery was 7 days a week, and I was responsible for collections)

"I don't think anyone claimed that the job was physically easy, its just not particularly skilled labor."

No one claims you have to a specialized degree. My point is no one complains that the UPS guy is overpaid but postal employees are. It's not the type of work we do in 8 hours, it is amount of work and conditions we work under the justify our pay. Those conditions include harassment by Postal Inspectors
and the OIG who have to answer to no one.

If the postal workers posting here don't like the working conditions, then why didn't you ever try to find another job?

"Any thoughts on how much of the current rally has been due to hopelessly underfunded pension plans allocating more money into the stock market as their only shot at meeting their obligations?"

-------

I only track my pension fund which has been shifting away from equities for years. It is now about 80% "fixed income" which I take to be US Treasuries and 20% equities.

Back in the "old days" ie the 1950s you would have never found "equities" in a pension fund because they were way to "risky" for something like pensions.

Back to the future?