Secret Squirrel Suggests How To Save The US Post Office

Secret Squirrel has seen the headlines, the writting in and on the media,such that the USPS, the U.S. Postal Service, is one the very verge, on the brink or, bankruptcy, indeed the headlines read..........

"Postal chief to testify on Capitol Hill as USPS could face default

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe will insist a retiree health benefits fund be rescaled, a spokeswoman says.

The hearing is called "U.S. Postal Service In Crisis: Proposals to Prevent a Postal Shutdown"

The U.S. Postal Service might miss a September 30 payment to a retiree fund
Officials vow no interruption in payroll, mail or payments to suppliers
Spokeswoman: "We've overpaid into our retirement funds" after a 2006   reform  act."

Well things are interesting, the USPS is operating under the direction of The Congress, and can only act and make changes if Congress, in it's long winded and elephantine speedy sessions, legislates it so, approves it, passes the necessary bills.The United States Postal Service (also known as USPS, the Post Office or U.S. Mail) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution.The USPS traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, where Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general. The cabinet-level Post Office Department was created in 1792 from Franklin's operation and transformed into its current form in 1971 under the Postal Reorganization Act.
The USPS cannot act like a private company and adapt to changes in the market with great rapidity,rather it acts with the elephantine lumberings,encumbered by the government, the Congress specifically. Th USPS started with and by Ben Franklin, one of the many great doings of the be speckled balding lad,that and in between had time to attends meetings in England of The Naughty Hell Fire Club(they did have one girl member you know).In either case the USPS evolved and changed, but in recent times, it has changed for the worse, and so too has and did it's regulation.
There have been cuts in the labor force, presently down by 260,000 for a high of 900,000.But problems arise in funding the mail system, a system which relies on
Congress to set things, like the price of postage stamps, parcel delivery costs.In short the USPS, is at,near,or going under,bankruptcy,short of being saved by Congress coming up with the required funds, as the USPS is incapable of generating such funds as it is at present.

Curious it all is, that President Obama, and other Presidents, have mentioned to other nations,America's USPS being a government run and regulated entity, that, what with their problems in the Post Office, THEY should privatize their similarly government owned Postal Systems, those two major ones being, specifically, Great Britain, and Canada. Interesting, though that they are not quite as badly off as is the USPS US government run entity. BUT they have viable solutions to their
problems and implement them. Noticeably both Canada and Great Britain,in their solutions to things,

They made staffing cuts (some have suggested a further 120,000 job cuts to the US one),
They have shut down extremely expensive to run,keep, and maintain,low level, or redundant post offices,those specifically government owned,run operated.

They have farmed out mini post offices to such places as pharmacies(chemists), and other locations, even yet heavily traveled groceries in their wisdom, in efforts to increase utility and availability to their public.The USA could do the same.

They have removed,or are in the process of removing, Saturday mail deliveries,(indeed worse to worse, one could consider a MWF system, deliveries of mail on Monday,Wednesday, and Friday).

They have reduced postal processing plants, and enlarged existing ones to a more centralized,efficient,stream lined, lower cost structure.
They have added and increased post offices as retail outlets for certain commodities,generating increased revenues.

They have increased the costs of their stamps, as in cost to deliver mail, first class and otherwise.Indeed the USA  could increase such stamps to 25% above the present sale level, and still not be at their level of stamp/mail delivery/handling
cost. This is also true of parcel postage costs as well,in broad spectrum over the entire system.
Yes, the USPS is a good deal compared with theirs, but then theirs are not quite facing the problem that the USPS faces, that of the real threat of obvious bankruptcy.In short, they figured out how to stream line,render cost effective,their postal systems. The USPS must go down the same road. It is also evident their manners of operation are different, they are much more run in the model of a business, than is the US lumbering elephantine system of evident mismanagement starting with a weak minded and slow US Congress as it's actual head.The USA must adapt and change the actual day to day running of the post office, and actually model it after that of Canada and Great Britain,for as imperfect as theirs are, theirs are in much better shape than a USPS run by Congress, quite obviously.It has problems all the way down the line.
Let's look at the facts and figures......

The USPS employs over 574,000 workers(presently) and over 218,000 vehicles, and if it were a civilian company, it would be the second-largest employer in the United States after Wal-Mart, and the operator of the largest vehicle fleet in the
world.The USPS operates the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world, with an estimated 218,684 vehicles, the majority of which are the easily identified Chevrolet/Grumman LLV (Long-Life Vehicle), and the newer Ford/Utilimaster FFV (Flex-Fuel Vehicle), originally also referred to as the "CRV" (Carrier Route Vehicle). In an interview on NPR, a USPS official stated that for every penny increase in the national average price of gasoline, the USPS spends an extra $8 million per year to
fuel its fleet.The number of gallons of fuel used in 2009 was 444 million, at a cost of US$1.1 billion.
Strangely enough, it appears that the USPS pays federal gasoline tax,18.4 cents per gallon,but should the Federal government exempt the USPS vehicles from such tax, that would a a relief expense to the USPS.

 The USPS is obligated to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price and quality. The USPS has exclusive access to letter boxes marked "U.S. Mail" and personal letterboxes in the United States, but still competes against private
package delivery services, such as UPS and FedEx.

Domestic US first-class mail costs 44¢ for envelopes (29¢ for post cards)

Canada domestic .59(inc postcards) 1.03 to USA, international 1.75......obviously the US can and should increase postal rates for letters to say 25% to match Canadian levels,that in the very least. Parcel rates are approximatily half of the
Canadian rates.......The U.S.P.S.  has never taken any tax payer money .  All   revenue is self generated.
The USPS obviously, being on the brink of bankruptcy, is NOT being properly run, the proper steps are not being taken to make it properly run.

One can only make suggestions as to how to save the post office. Obama and other Presidents have suggested to other nations with struggling Post Office systems, system STILL YET running far better than America's that THEY should privatize their Post Office systems. Well, if that was and is such a good idea, and not the creative suggestions I have made above, then perhaps, yes, President Obama, should take the step and take his own advice to those with Post Offices in far better financial conditions than his, then,ipso facto, President Obama should follow his own advice, for the good of America and the USPS and  should PRIVATIZE THE USPS?