since when are electric cars "expensive cap costs with no benefits?"

as i said, this application is ideal in every way for electrification. much better then consumer cars which have a much larger variety of tasks assigned for them. i would expect that the first group to move to electrification is fleet cars, specifically fleet cars with nearly fixed routes and loads.

did you really think this through?

did anyone mention the way for the USPS to make money, sell them to FedEx.

Privatize it. Agreed.

I'm ok with a small deficit but i'd like to see salary schedules.

I don't see privatizing as an answer. Consider how much of our money we give to Comcast and Verizon and if anything it seems we should turn both services over to the gov't as well.

Reforms in the Royal Mail (UK) have been designed to get it ready for privatisation. Among other things - increase cost of first and second class letters, concentrate on the parcel business (particularly e-commerce deliveries), get pension liabilities under control (I think they have moved all new employees to defined contributions) and efficiency measures to cut costs (multiple redundancy agreements and bargains with unions etc).

I think with the limits that the USPS has, they do a good job......they CAN NOT make a profit, if they do it gets rolled into the general fund. The loss they have had is attributed to a change that Congress shoved down their throats on the pension funding.

They COULD change the pension for new hires and have a tiered retirement.....happens in other governement jobs.....

The newautomated kiosks are nice, the supplied flat rate boxes and envelopes is very helpful, online payment options, free pick up, home delivery of supplies......I ship close to 100% of sales with USPS. Tracking is now available for 1st class mail if you use the window or the kiosk.

They have a long way to go.....auto insurance like UPS of $100 would be nice.....but I assume that they would just increase costs across the board. The surcharge of 75-100% to Canada is a PITA.....as is the cross border PayPal increase......

I agree completely, but the original question did not have any clauses in it regarding legality or fairness. Maybe I should have used green text.

This is an interesting discussion, one I find particularly compelling because the service provided is so ubiquitous to us that it bears looking at once in a while. The service is also very cheap. I don't spend even a fraction of my income on postage, packages, letters or bulk mailings.

A tank of gas a year? Maybe? I bet I spent 5 times more on internet service to take advantage of "free" online bill paying services.

The vast amount of mail my business sends out is what I like to call "affirmation" mail, paper copies of direct deposits, 401K's, etc. Even the stuff I like, magazines and periodicals, fliers, are available in other, more efficient media.

All redundant but it is essential to virtually all our customers and employees. To me.

So, why save the USPS beyond the fact that it is a bargain, really? Simple. Rural, disadvantaged users. They may not see the FEDEX truck much, but the mail hits their mailbox six days a week, with stuff that matters and then takes their mail out to folks that matter to them.

It works, inefficiently, but it works. I would like to see the business plan that accounts for the rural user, ten miles up a bad road that gets serviced regardless.