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Uphams Corner, Grove Hall and Readville could lose post offices
By adamg on Tue, 07/26/2011 - 5:30pm
Readville Post Office: Small, but no easy walk to the next post office.
The US Postal Service has released its list of Massachusetts post offices it's thinking of shutting down to save money.
In addition to those locations, the postal service is thinking of ditching post offices in Inman Square, East Arlington, East Dedham and a whole bunch in Newton, as part of an effort to close 3,700 post offices across the country.
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Comments
Oh no - I just came from
Oh no - I just came from Readville, and I use East Dedham as well.
East Arlington, Arlington Heights, *and* West Medford?
If they close all three, that's going to seriously overburden the one remaining post office in that area (Arlington Center)
It's not like Lexington is
It's not like Lexington is that far away from Arlington Heights. Nor is Belmont far from Arlington or East Arlington.
College campus post offices on the chopping block again
The list includes MIT, Babson College, Boston College, Tufts University, and Harvard Business School (called 'Soldiers Field' on the list). Didn't we go through the same thing a few years ago, and they decided not to close any of these?
The village solution seems like a good idea
I understand one solution is to put more kiosks or such in stores which actually seems like a good idea.
They did close BU. This
They did close BU.
This wouldnt be an issue if congress (cough GOP) let the post office run itself like a business.
Giving some shack in Alaska home delivery 6 times a week makes no sense.
Cut rural delivery to 4 times weekly, and we'll be golden. And restrict how far from the post office the truck will drive. Let the shacks pick up their mail at a convenient central location.
Makes no sense that an urban postal worker can deliver mail to 50 people in one stop (apartment) but it takes 3 hours of driving to hit 50 mail boxes in the country.
God forbid the Post Office
God forbid the Post Office run like a business. It's NOT a business. It's a public service. And in many ways a shack in Alaska is much MORE mail dependent than other places and needs that delivery far more.
its tough
The way the world works is gonna change like this and its sad, but you do make a good point that faraway places without high speed internet are more reliant on postal services and will be the ones that suffer the most. I don't have an answer, it may be that those who choose the solitary life may need to accept fewer days of delivery.
That's the whole point of USPS
Makes no sense? Huh?? That's the whole point of the USPS, to mail stuff wherever people are. Yes, people live in other places than the city. Get over it.
Actually, rural delivery is
Actually, rural delivery is fairly cheap, because they're paying one or two guys to sort the mail and deliver it over a huge area. It makes more sense to remove post offices in high density areas because that way it can shift the burden of delivery to the central hub offices instead of little outposts dotted all over a city.
While the postal system does need reform (I'd personally like to see Presorted Standard rates be jacked sky-high: the majority of postal deliveries are unfortunately printed spam), it helps to understand how it works.
a couple of things
I read an article somewhere.. I forget where, but it said if the USPS was run like UPS or FedEx. In short sight, it appears to be a good idea, however, it isn't.
The main reason is cost of mailing something. Can you mail a letter via UPS and FedEx "first class" (meaning for a 3-5 day delivery) for under a buck? Nope. A first class letter via UPS or FedEx would cost almost 12 dollars!!
Lets not even talk about packages. The USPS has some of the best rates for mailing packages. Where else can you mail a box at a flat rate regardless of weight for 14.95? Does FedEx or UPS offer such a service? Nope, not even close. You could argue some of those "2nd day air" boxes that are flat rate could be compared. But they have weight and size limits.
What about special services such as "media mail"? (mailing books, CDs, tapes, and other media). You can mail CDs from here to San Francisco for about a buck. It'll take 2 weeks, but its only a buck. FedEx and UPS do not even come close.
The reason is, the USPS is heavily subsidized and has been for many many years. If it were to be run like a business, it would be the end of 'first class' mail, and mailing things for pennies.
Of course someone could argue that subsidizing is the reason why the USPS is in the shape its in.. but I digress.
You can't mail a letter via a
You can't mail a letter via a private service for cheaper because the law actually mandates that they must charge 2 times what the post office charges, or a minimum of $3. The contents also have to be extremely urgent, and the postal inspectors have actually busted companies that were using UPS and Fed Ex to send documents that were deemed to not be urgent enough.
A friend of mine is a letter carrier, and it isn't uncommon for the post office to pay him 2 hours of overtime (around $60) to make a special run to deliver one priority mail envelope that the sender paid under $5 to have delivered. How long can any organization expect to survive, operating like that?
Why UPS and FedEx are profitable
Hint: it has to do with the fact that they don't deliver everywhere. In fact, FedEx doesn't go anywhere much out of the major city or population areas.
So, if you live in the Northeast BOSWASH corridor, it really seems like they go everywhere. The reality is that IF you have to send something to rural America, the Post Office WILL be there for you ... UPS might go there ... FedEx? Forget it.
This is the case with all "privatize" deals - they only work in urbanized areas. Nobody will bid on contracts for rural areas or stay in the rural areas if they try it once because they can't make a profit.
Not subsidized
The US Postal Service is NOT heavily subsidized. It has been financially self-sufficient since the Postal Reorganization Act became law in the early 1970's.
However, within the USPS they have internally subsidized the higher cost of rural delivery by charging more than they otherwise might for urban delivery, junk mail, packages, etc. With the rise of email and other internet services, those more lucrative services are not being used as much, hence the postal service's current financial difficulties.