No, they are federally funded but independent. It's a rather odd setup. They can have profits and did for a very very long time until they couldn't compete with the other services.
By design. Fedex and UPS were surging as the USPS was letting them have so much of the package delivery and selling their services to both (and Amazon) for a fraction of what they were worth.
Every Year, the shipping companies announce rate changes. Fedex and UPS typically have a 5% increase. Well a year or 2 ago, USPS announced instead of a rate increase, they were going to cut rates on some parcel services making them competitive with Fedex and UPS.
Well Fedex and UPS blew a gasket, and went bitching and moaning to Politicians about it. So in response, under political pressure, the USPS raised their parcel rates.
So instead of USPS shipping a higher volume of products direct, profitably, their trucks are now full of money losing "last mile" parcels that they deliver for UPS, Fedex, and Amazon
I do believe a postal service is a fundamental aspect of a functional modern government so I have no problem with a publicly funded one, particularly to handle official letters and to reach areas that are not serviced by private carriers.
That being said, the USPS has been such a shitshow for years and it rewards incompetence. My family orders a ton of stuff and by far the most issues we've had have been with USPS whether they be delays or poorly handled letters and packages.
The Post Office is one of the few federal agencies explicitly created by the Constitution. Congress changed it to an quasi-private independent agency with the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.
Their are a bunch of fucked up laws that protect certain industries. Fedex is considered an airlines (it started as Peoples Express airlines) and receives massive tax breaks and incentives over UPS that is considered a freight company.
You local cable company that provides phone service, is considered an entertainment company, and is not subject to all the telecom taxes that traditional phone carriers are subject to (and that is true even if they both provide the same VOIP service).
There is a whole lot of bullshit in federal law, these are just a few examples I am aware of.
Profits vaporized the 2nd year into paying 5 billion to pre-fund entitlements.If not for a law saying the USPS had to pre-fund those funds, there would hardly be a red year on record.
Non-profit just means the profits go to huge salaries of leadership- it’s just accounting it has nothing to do with creating a service that brings in revenue. That’s why the Clinton foundation, a nonprofit, has made Killary and Rapin’ Bill Billionaires.
um, aren't they not supposed to ever have profits? Aren't they basically a non-profit of sorts?
No, they are federally funded but independent. It's a rather odd setup. They can have profits and did for a very very long time until they couldn't compete with the other services.
By design. Fedex and UPS were surging as the USPS was letting them have so much of the package delivery and selling their services to both (and Amazon) for a fraction of what they were worth.
Every Year, the shipping companies announce rate changes. Fedex and UPS typically have a 5% increase. Well a year or 2 ago, USPS announced instead of a rate increase, they were going to cut rates on some parcel services making them competitive with Fedex and UPS. Well Fedex and UPS blew a gasket, and went bitching and moaning to Politicians about it. So in response, under political pressure, the USPS raised their parcel rates. So instead of USPS shipping a higher volume of products direct, profitably, their trucks are now full of money losing "last mile" parcels that they deliver for UPS, Fedex, and Amazon
Note that 5% increase has been constant for 25 years.
Also weirdly protected by old-timey laws that shouldn't exist: the rail system
I do believe a postal service is a fundamental aspect of a functional modern government so I have no problem with a publicly funded one, particularly to handle official letters and to reach areas that are not serviced by private carriers.
That being said, the USPS has been such a shitshow for years and it rewards incompetence. My family orders a ton of stuff and by far the most issues we've had have been with USPS whether they be delays or poorly handled letters and packages.
DHL is Germany's version of the USPS, and they make a shit ton of money
The Post Office is one of the few federal agencies explicitly created by the Constitution. Congress changed it to an quasi-private independent agency with the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.
Supposedly there's a loophole with the 1970 legislation that still allows you to send letters at the 2 cent rate https://www.kimberlyshawgraphics.com/blog/my-2-cents/
YES!!! My friend did this a couple years ago and it worked great.
Their are a bunch of fucked up laws that protect certain industries. Fedex is considered an airlines (it started as Peoples Express airlines) and receives massive tax breaks and incentives over UPS that is considered a freight company.
You local cable company that provides phone service, is considered an entertainment company, and is not subject to all the telecom taxes that traditional phone carriers are subject to (and that is true even if they both provide the same VOIP service).
There is a whole lot of bullshit in federal law, these are just a few examples I am aware of.
It's hard to know what to do with entities like this. I mean, who will invest in the infrastructure if they can't reap the profits?
Most of their income goes to fund their pension program
No, we're self-funded and independent.
Profits vaporized the 2nd year into paying 5 billion to pre-fund entitlements.If not for a law saying the USPS had to pre-fund those funds, there would hardly be a red year on record.
how do you help in the fraud by backdating mail and not turn a profit?
Non-profit just means the profits go to huge salaries of leadership- it’s just accounting it has nothing to do with creating a service that brings in revenue. That’s why the Clinton foundation, a nonprofit, has made Killary and Rapin’ Bill Billionaires.
Yeah, its why like every polition gets their Non-profit organization into place.
Pretty sure OP meant non-profit in the literal sense, not the existential one you're describing
Trump sold rice to China, made peace in the Middle East and Korea. He made money where for ages, it was claimed to be unprofitable?
You would need a magick wand!
:o