USPS going down

[Walkoff Balk]

USPS slowing first-class package delivery to lower costs (yahoo.com)

Technology is supposed to result in faster service.

[Walkoff Balk]

USPS says it wants to raise postage rates — again (msn.com)

They want to make it an even 60 cents.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: USPS going down

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tip...BnbcA0#image=5

The bottom line is that the mail delivery will take longer. It still is a good deal.
P.S Save the Manoa Post Office.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: USPS going down

https://www.khon2.com/local-news/haw...-bite-attacks/

You can just throw the mail like one newspapa on the homeowner's lawn if they don't have their dog on a lease. I can just pick em up.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: USPS going down

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/...p-to-58-cents/

Still a good deal.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: USPS going down

It seems odd that a few people are calling for the USPS to be profitable. We don't expect the FCC, the DOD, the FDA, or any other government department to be profitable. Our expectation is productivity rather than profitability, because they're a service, one that we pay for with our taxes. Congressional oversight of postal rates has been crippling the USPS for years... it seems ludicrous to expect to have an item hand delivered hundreds or thousands of miles away for less than fifty cents. How could profitability possibly be expected?

it used to be able to make great profits but has purposely been corrupted to limit it and steal those funds and technical properties.

[Robbos]

Re: USPS going down

It seems odd that a few people are calling for the USPS to be profitable. We don't expect the FCC, the DOD, the FDA, or any other government department to be profitable. Our expectation is productivity rather than profitability, because they're a service, one that we pay for with our taxes. Congressional oversight of postal rates has been crippling the USPS for years... it seems ludicrous to expect to have an item hand delivered hundreds or thousands of miles away for less than fifty cents. How could profitability possibly be expected?

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: USPS going down

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mark...2Xm?li=BBnb7Kw

Warning: Don't send fruits or meats through the mail.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: USPS going down

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...O5w?li=BBnbfcL

We better take warnings seriously.

[TuNnL]

Re: USPS going down

Your scenerio implies that the diabetic will not have enough forethought to order in advance of running out.

No, it doesn’t, actually. It simply implies that 91-year-olds are a little more forgetful than the rest of us. Okay, a lot more.

Use a calendar? Have a sticky-note on their coffee mug? Enlist a friend or family to help with a reminder?

Obviously you are new to this, so let me give you a little hint. Go to Longs Drugs and see what percentage of customers are picking up their Atorvastatin less than two days before they will be completely out of meds. My educated guess: more than 95%!

Now realize that a large amount of seniors are ordering their Losartan by mail, not by force of habit, but because they are too frail to walk to Walgreens or recently learned it’s cheaper to buy Crestor by mail then to pick it up at Mina Pharmacy (every penny counts when you are on a fixed income). You are talking about hundreds, if not thousands of kupuna who have no clue how this process works and/or are shocked that for the first time in their life, they have to “pay in advance.” Confused and disoriented is putting it mildly.

I think the "Duh" factor here is actually your assumption that patients and pharmacies are a bunch of dummies who cannot figure out how to work out a reasonable mailing schedule.

I don’t think intelligence has a thing to do with it. That is YOU assuming that human beings are the ones “working things out.” In this day and age, all this stuff is handled by computers. In fact it was YOU who brought up the concept of “automated delivery.” Computers can’t predict when a newbie mailman is going to put Latanoprost in a mailbox in 90-degree weather (thus rendering it unusable) instead of hand-delivering it to a patient’s doorstep. At that point, does it matter that it was delivered seven days early?

Think about it.

[Amati]

Re: USPS going down

If that “automated” ship date happens to fall on a Friday, Saturday delivery will be needed — particularly for diabetic medications which must be shipped with a cold-pack which obviously means it can’t “sit” at the U.S. Post Office over the weekend. Duh, Amati!

OK, I"ll bite. Your scenerio implies that the diabetic will not have enough forethought to order in advance of running out. Yes, that could be a problem, but then again, maybe they just need to think ahead a day or so further in advance? Use a calendar? Have a sticky-note on their coffee mug? Enlist a friend or family to help with a reminder?
As for the pharmacy knowing that there is no Saturday delivery, yet sending out a medication that will sit in a Post Office over the weekend, I think they'll be able to figure out the appropriate mailing timeline.
I think the "Duh" factor here is actually your assumption that patients and pharmacies are a bunch of dummies who cannot figure out how to work out a reasonable mailing schedule.

However, I do have a "Duh" factor for myself that I will readily admit to. I've got to remember to sign in so that my "ignore list" feature is functioning! Remembering that will definitely affect my further responses on this thread.

[TuNnL]

Re: USPS going down

As for things like medications, many (if not all) mail order pharmacies put repeat drugs on an auto-refill schedule, so that they are sent out ahead of time (so the patient does not run out). Mine schedules 7 days in advance. Meaning, for a 30 day supply, they sent out a fefill order on the 23rd day of each cycle. It would not matter if they cancelled Saturday deliveries, things don't arrive on that 30th day, they come in a few days in advance.

Unfortunately, mail order pharmacies legally cannot “put repeat drugs on an auto-refill schedule” without express permission from their customers. Having worked in the industry, I can tell you by and large most patients out there prefer not to opt in to automated delivery. This is for a variety of reasons such as their doctor altering the strength of their medication over time, seniors who forget to take their medication thus building a stockpile of unused meds, and the prospect of not knowing when their credit card will be charged, as “automatic” programs also tend to require “automatic” payments — in advance.

Regardless of all of this, it simply doesn’t matter if their medication is scheduled to get a patient’s home well before he or she runs out. If that “automated” ship date happens to fall on a Friday, Saturday delivery will be needed — particularly for diabetic medications which must be shipped with a cold-pack which obviously means it can’t “sit” at the U.S. Post Office over the weekend. Duh, Amati!

[Amati]

Re: USPS going down

Name two. Why can't things scheduled for Saturday delivery be delivered on Friday instead?

Yes, that seems workable. As for things like medications, many (if not all) mail order pharmacies put repeat drugs on an auto-refill schedule, so that they are sent out ahead of time (so the patient does not run out). Mine schedules 7 days in advance. Meaning, for a 30 day supply, they sent out a fefill order on the 23rd day of each cycle. It would not matter if they cancelled Saturday deliveries, things don't arrive on that 30th day, they come in a few days in advance.

[GregLee]

Re: USPS going down

There are some critical items that must be delivered on Saturday.

Name two. Why can't things scheduled for Saturday delivery be delivered on Friday instead?

[TuNnL]

Re: USPS going down

To me, USPS needs more drastic changes than these. All they are going to do is end the delivery of first class and bulk items. If POs will remain open and Priority Mail still delivered on Saturdays, will they really save that much money?

I'd rather see them stop all Sat delivery, stay closed on Sat, and outsource weekend deliveries to FedEx and UPS.

The problem with this solution is that many (and when I say many, we are talking millions) of our seniors get their medication by U.S. Mail. Are we going to ask millions on a fixed income who can barely afford to pay their co-pays and drug plan premiums to now fork over the cost of FedEx, simply because their medicine was mailed on Friday, and therefore could only be delivered by FedEx/UPS the following day?

There are some critical items that must be delivered on Saturday. That is why completely eliminating Saturday delivery, while saving USPS money, would unfairly increase the cost to other companies and individuals who simply don’t have the means to pay those costs. We can’t let them go without their meds just because of that.