Feb 11, 2013 4 min read

Attempting to address all of the woes of the U.S. Postal Service would require a lot of column inches, so I will limit myself to these observations:

The USPS starts the fiscal year with the onus of a $5.5 billion payment for health benefits for future employees, which means that the agency starts the year in the red. This money is a political football for Congress and is an unfair burden to carry. No other agency of the U.S. government is required to do this. And while everyone reads that the Internet is killing mail volume, what is not mentioned is that those same people using the Internet are ordering a multitude of products, a substantial amount of which are delivered by the Postal Service. So while letter volume is down, the package service is booming. Oh, and about UPS and FeDex, as a former carrier, I can tell you with certainty that every day a brown UPS truck and a FedEx truck pull up to the loading dock of the Washington Post Office and unload parcels that these companies cannot or will not deliver. The Postal Service contracts to deliver these parcels, the “last mile.”

Also, comparing mail service in other countries to our own is very misleading. The idea of universal service is unique; other countries charge way more for mailing letters and parcels with longer delivery times.

Lastly, UPS and FedEx are not equipped, nor do they want, to take over the job that the Post Office does. Engage private enterprise and if you think 46 cents to mail a letter is expensive, wait until you try to mail that same letter to that relative who lives in Hawaii or some other distant locale. Anyone interested should take a look at an article in this month’s Esquire magazine and decide for themselves if they really want to live without the Postal Service.

David Jones

Washington

The editorial in Sunday’s paper about the postal service, while presenting some correct information, does not tell the whole story.

Here is some additional information: Two years ago, the Postal Service realized they had overpaid the retirees’ health fund by $75 million. When they asked for the money back, they were told it was already spent. The refunding of the plan is paid through the year 2075. Congress can pass a bill in a month to restrict your Second Amendment rights, but will not repeal the 2006 law mandating the USPS to pay $11 billion per year to the fund. Wonder if the money is really there?

There are more than 100,000 rural routes in the country. Rural carriers are paid on an evaluated system. Our mail is counted at least one time per year and the end result, which is based on volume, is how our salary is determined for the next 12 months. During the last count in September, my route dropped in volume and it cost me $3,285.

If Saturday delivery is stopped, 110,000 people will lose their jobs. These are some of the facts as I know them. Call your congressman and tell them to give the money back, repeal the law, save jobs and help restore an American institution back to black instead of red.

Terri Nimpfer

McDonald

Maybe when the U.S. Postal Service, this “old reliable,” disappears, people will no longer take its duties and services for granted like an inconsiderate and self-centered spouse whose eyes always glaze and graze toward greener pastures.

The problem with being so dependent on high tech, as instantaneously convenient as it is, is it’s completely dependent on basic resources of another kind and many assume it will always be there. Reality has its own ways of getting your attention, doesn’t it? Rolling blackouts, brownouts or other things like these completely shut down almost all tech-based communications.

When the power goes out, when resources run dry or high-tech communications are otherwise deterred, do you have a horse with saddle bags ready to go?

N.A.C. Sheppick

Charleroi

I miss Paul Harvey and was glad to hear his voice again in a commercial during the Super Bowl. The message was truly moving and was a stroke of genius on the part of Chrysler Corp.

I miss commentators of his caliber bringing us inspirational messages devoid of class warfare or political divisiveness.

Also missing in our society is a sense of accountibility. Too many are looking for a government that will provide for them rather then instilling in them the work ethic that Paul Harvey’s farmer inspired.

Gerald Segelstrom

West Alexander

This is in response to a letter by Richard Barrie that appeared in the Observer-Reporter on Feb. 5; there are many good books but only one Holy Bible. The correct statement is, “the love of money is the root of all evil.”

John G. Tregembo

Daisytown