Anyone have any information as to which post offices might be closing around the Elk County area?
I have heard New Albany in Wilson County has already closed.
I have always wondered (other than politics) what has kept Elk Falls, Niotaze, and Chautauqua open.
Quote from: W. Gray on August 04, 2009, 09:53:15 AM
Anyone have any information as to which post offices might be closing around the Elk County area?
I have heard New Albany in Wilson County has already closed.
I have always wondered (other than politics) what has kept Elk Falls, Niotaze, and Chautauqua open.
I have heard piedmont is supposed to close but not any specific date.
here is the site for the postal regulatory commission. the list can be found there.
http://www.prc.gov/prc-pages/default.aspx
Were you able to get in there? I could not.
I tried for two days with that web site prior to posting my original thread and nothing happens.
The Wichita Eagle mentions only Wichita sites slated for closing.
At one time the prc.gov site had a notice that it was down indefinitely for maintenance. I have a feeling they may be getting a lot of flack.
Steve mentioned Piedmont was a rumor to close. I guess I did not know there was a post office there but that would seem to be another one that might need closing.
The Post Office is supposed to be headed for a billions of dollars loss this year even though postal rates went up two cents.
Many, many people seem to be buying the forever stamps in quantity to stave off having to buy higher priced stamps. That means the post office will have to carry those letters in some future year without getting any revenue. Their deficit might just skyrocket with so many of those stamps out there.
I just tried it again and got in almost five minutes after it started firing up.
There are no small town KS post offices on the list.
Tried it - got a notice that file was damaged and could not be repaired.
I had no trouble getting on the website. All I seen were suburban post offices on the list.
It is almost as though it is a cheap way, politically, to close some operations while preserving the really small town service.
Yes it took me a little while to load the page and I did get an error message, but I clicked on the list and it came up anyway. Yes it does appear that small towns were spared. It looks like most closing were where there were mulitples in big cities or a big city near a small town. I am just glad howard and moline didn't lose their p.o.'s, it is a awful long way to drive for a much needed service. The little town in Fl where I live and the surrounding towns were also spared thank goodness.
I have always been fortunate to have excellent Rural Route mail services... where we live now and where I grew up. I haven't tried it with David yet (I don't mind having an excuse to go to chat with Carolyn in Howard), but at home we could just leave letters or packages in the box and some cash and the carrier would take care of getting us stamps or the correct postage. Same for when we're on vacation; when the mailbox is full, they either hold the mail or take it to the house and put it in the car or door.
And, as much as we hate junk mail, those companies are paying to mail those items and helps keep the PO's operating, too. I figure junk mail keeps 2 people employed... my mail carrier and my trash man! Ha!
Just saw that the PO is 4.7 billion in debt this year... expects to be 7 billion behind by Sep 1. Have asked the govt to step in. Maybe decrease mail delivery to 5 days a week.
The loss expected by the post office pales in comparison to the money that Congress is throwing around these days.
One would think, Congress would just furnish the chump change that the post office needs and forget about it.
Interesting isn't it. GOvenrment can't even run the postal service efficiently, and yet they want to control and run healthcare!
I'm told they won't close offices in towns that have schools so most of Elk County should be safe. As for going to 5 day delivery, the unions are against it and so am I. We lost a lot of business when we gave away the parcel business to UPS and FedEx. If we cut mail delivery one day a week (and I'm told that would be Saturday) then who's gonna step in and take that away and end up taking away the whole mail delivery system? I'm not in favor of 5 day delivery at all!
I say everyone start mailing letters, bills and birthday cards again, instead of relying so heavily on the internet. 44 cents is really cheap compared to how far you can send a first class letter and you can keep it as a memento. It's something people can cherish. Who cherishes emails and ecards?
Just my 2 cents....I would like to keep my job...Jennifer
Quote from: kshillbillys on August 05, 2009, 08:57:00 PM
I'm told they won't close offices in towns that have schools so most of Elk County should be safe. As for going to 5 day delivery, the unions are against it and so am I. We lost a lot of business when we gave away the parcel business to UPS and FedEx. If we cut mail delivery one day a week (and I'm told that would be Saturday) then who's gonna step in and take that away and end up taking away the whole mail delivery system? I'm not in favor of 5 day delivery at all!
I say everyone start mailing letters, bills and birthday cards again, instead of relying so heavily on the internet. 44 cents is really cheap compared to how far you can send a first class letter and you can keep it as a memento. It's something people can cherish. Who cherishes emails and ecards?
Just my 2 cents....I would like to keep my job...Jennifer
Well, i don't write letters never have, and I am sorry but i don't need to mail my bills anymore. I dont' have the hassel of fooling with envelopes, writing out the bill, writing a check, and sticking a stamp on it. Just automatically goes out.
Plus the constant postage increases aren't helping the postal services case. About the only thing i do use the Post office for is priority mail or ordering chickens and bees.
I'm with you Steve on not neeeding to mail my bills and waiting for a week for my mail to get to Severy. I'm sure no one bought an airplane so I could keep my job. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Jennifer; I have a reply, but I put it in an envelope and mailed it to you... (wink)
I do think the PO is a valuable service. Just like anything, the rates must go up to pay for the service. I don't think it's the fact of increasing rates that people aren't using it as much; automatic bill pay decreases landfill waste and saves paper. Here's an idea... the PO should start charging the phone company for every extra piece of paper they put in your bill... ads, etc. They tell you to save paper by doing auto pay, but then they throw in 2-3 extra pieces of paper in your bill! I love the one... "this page is intentionally left blank"... what? why?
Also, if some other private company takes away the mail service, who knows how much they'll charge to mail things! It's amazing to me how much UPS and FedEx charges for shipping. Some items/sizes are fine, but some are outrageous! Also, they don't cater to the small-towns, either. Yes, we have shipping points where you can take your packages to ship, but no one is there to help you pack it, weigh it, and tell you what the best way to ship is.
Maybe if they would respect the Constitution and allow the mailing of handguns that would help them out a bit. :D
Also kind of funny how they have a monopoly on delivery to mailboxes yet still can't make money. That's the government for you. ::)
Really, no guns? You can mail them through FedEx or UPS, can't you?
I've always wondered; isn't rural and home delivery free, but to get a PO box you have to pay? Seems kind of backwards to me.
Quote from: Tobina+1 on August 06, 2009, 12:13:10 PM
Really, no guns? You can mail them through FedEx or UPS, can't you?
I've always wondered; isn't rural and home delivery free, but to get a PO box you have to pay? Seems kind of backwards to me.
Well the delivery is paid for in stamps. Plus its required in that USPS is the only official service that the government is to use for government business with the citizen.
Besides if they decided to charge for home delivery, i would just eliminate that charge by declaring my only legal address which is General delivery. Its the only one i can take with me to wherever i go.
In Howard, if one lives within three-eighths of a mile from the post office the postal box in the post office is free.
The post mistress (is that good word?) puts a reminder in my mother's mail box once each year for her to come in and certify that she is still at her Howard address and thus eligible for the free postal box.
Outside the three-eighths mile circle, one pays for the box.
Quote from: Tobina+1 on August 06, 2009, 12:13:10 PM
Really, no guns? You can mail them through FedEx or UPS, can't you?
You can send rifles and shotguns through the USPS but no handguns (unless you have the federal firearms license (FFL)). You can send them through FedEx and UPS but only with FedEx's Priority Overnight service and UPS' Next Day Air. If you don't have an FFL, you can only ship to a person or business who has an FFL.
Thanks for the info on shipping guns, MT.
As for rural delivery, I'd be willing to pay a small fee to have my mail delivered out here, if it came to that. I pay to have my trash picked up, so why not. Those who weren't willing to pay, could have a free PO box in town and could spend the money to drive in whenever they wanted the mail. Most of my neighbors drive to town at least once a day, or every-other day, so a free PO box would work for them if they didn't want to pay.
Or here's another idea (maybe for the people who live more than X miles away from town)... the PO could set up centrally located rural boxes, kind of like they do for apartment complexes. That way the mailman wouldn't have to drive to EVERY house; just hit the rural box locations, and then people could drive to that location to get the mail, but not all the way to town.
You can't complain about EVERYTHING. If you want rural delivery service, then you have to understand that rates will go higher as gas prices go higher, living expenses go higher, and wages go higher. If you want to save rural delivery service, then you'll be willing to either pay higher rates, or deal with some other money-saving methods. If you don't want either, then pay bills online (and don't complain about high rural internet service!) ;)
And why did they quit charging for post office box rent when they keep raising postage because they need revenue. Am I the only one that gets something in my mailbox about once a month from the USPS wanting me to buy stamps on line?
I checked out the online ordering of stamps a few years ago and recall there was a fee or a charge of some type.
However, I order my stamps on a post office order form that goes in a post office envelope that I leave in my mail box with a check, the mail man picks up, and I get the stamps about three days later. There is no fee. The result is the same as walking into the post office and buying.
When I first started this several years ago, I had to put a stamp on the government envelope. However, now the post office pays the "postage" and pays the postage to deliver the stamps.
Our local post office is a rat race and I do not go in there unless I have to.
My beef with the USPS is with the mega-huge distribution centers in Kansas City, Denver, Atlanta, etc. Mail is simply not dispatched out of those places in the same, efficient and friendly way it leaves our small post offices.
When we mail out our newspapers each Wednesday, they are bagged, tagged, computer coded and patted with love. But if you live out of state, don't expect to receive your paper for at least 6 to 9 days. We do not understand that because we know those bags go straight to Independence and immediately to Wichita the same night. Other than one "misc. states" bundle, which has to be separated in Wichita and sent in separate directions, the bags go straight to sectional centers and post offices in the region of their destination. Again, I think they are worked quickly once they arrive there, so the slow-down obviously is in the bulk distribution centers.
If everybody worked the mail as it is worked in Howard, Moline, Longton, Piedmont, Elk Falls, Grenola, etc., our overall system of mailing would be enhanced 1000 percent.
I was trying to hold my tongue, but I think in larger cities, there is also a job requirement for the people who work in the PO to be mean and rude. I love our small town offices where people know you and are willing to take the time to help you out.
I have seen some of that but the biggest problem in our post office is too many customers and not enough service people.
We have seven postal counters and usually only one is manned even if twenty-five people are waiting. At one time they installed a "take a number" system but the last time I was there they had taken it out and it was everyone for themselves.
They have two automated counters in the lobby where one can ship packages.
Without dealing with a postal person, you can categorize, weigh, and then use a credit card to pay for the shipping, similar to the self check out in Walmart.
After you apply the postage you put the package through an opening and it goes down a ramp into the mailing room. Except on the weekends, there are lines there also.
One good thing about our post office is that it opens at 7:00am.
It is time for me to be heard. I like the postal service. I like getting cards and letters that I can set up and look at and remember. Letters that I can handle and read again. All these things have been handled by someone that I probably love and there is a bit of their essence with the missile. Can you say that about your e-mails, voice mail, text messages, twitter? Can the images sent e-mail compare with the photos you hold in your hand and look at again and again?
I don't know about David, but I can't complain about Charlie. If I receive a postage due letter, the letter is in my mail box along with a note of the amount due. It doesn't wait at the post office for me to pay the due postage. Same if I mail something without enough postage. It gets mailed, then I get a note about the postage due. Charlie never complains about bringing packages to my door, even though it takes more time. When I apologise for him having to do this, he just says that is what keeps him in business. I do send Daughter up to the post office to get stamps, but she enjoys doing it as the post mistress makes her feel that they are glad to see her. As long as I live here, I hope this is the last post office that is ever closed.
Thanks Wilma, that was very nice! I hope Carolyn reads this post!
From CNN:
The US Post Office lost $5.0b in its FY 2007.
The US Post Office lost $2.8b in its FY 2008.
The US Post Office just reported that it lost $3.8b in its FY 2009.
The FY 2009 loss of $3.8b came despite reduction of expenses by $6.0b and elimination of 49,000 jobs. (Leaving 712,000 employees)
The US Post Office will propose dropping Saturday deliveries beginning with FY 2010. That will save $3.5b but will not be enough to put the organization into the black.
I just asked Carolyn about this the other day, and she said she didn't see them dropping Saturday delivery service. She said that they'd have to re-do all the delivery scheduling, and the delivery guarantees wouldn't work on things like Priority, etc. Was this an official announcement?
US Postal Service Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett made the announcement in a conference call with "the media."
Apparently CNN is the only network carrying this item--and it is not readily handy on that web site this morning.
The bills applicable to the postal service for FY 2010 were passed by Congress last July, so any attempt to stop Saturday deliveries would have to be a new effort.
There appears to be no sentiment in Congress to do so.
And, this announcement could be an attempt by the postal service to warn Congress or to get Congress to cover some of its payroll expenses.