An End to Postal Deliveries at Your Customer's Front Door?

by: JoyfulA

Aren't fishing licenses sold by the state?

by: Bloggo

Darrell Issa continues his misinformation campaign in order to privatize the Postal Service.

http://www.savethepostoffice.com/bailout-bs-darrell-is
sa’s-misinformation-campaign-about-postal-retirement-funds

by: Marie

Idiot.  They are all idiots.  The postal service could save far more than that if CONGRESS wasn't forcing them to fund retirement benefits 75 years, YES SEVENTY FIVE YEARS in advance.  So many of the retires haven't even been born yet.  Seems to me this is the place to start.  

by: bitbybit

''The legislation will begin to standardize how mail is received around the nation by phasing out the expensive ''to the door'' delivery of mail, which only a quarter of addresses receive today, in favor of curbside and secure clusterbox delivery''

Like to know how they came up with this quarter of addresses figure. An ebay type survey perhaps?

I can see this curbside or clusterf.., I mean clusterbox being implemented as soon as all the roads and sidewalks are paved and the handicapped, disabled have access to the boxes with ramps or provide transportation to the boxes. Issa is obviously in la-la land thinking everyone lives in a community plan or apartment building complex.  

by: FREDDY

Nothing but problems. Leave your packages on the curb??  INR will be an everyday thing. Del confirmation to an outside curb location?? Get real.  Congress is not only the problem for the USPS but everything they touch or can imagine.
Why can't we the people vote on matters such as this. Why does congress get to vote on pay raises for themselves. Along with anything else that lines the fat pockets.  Totally wrong and screwed up.

by: Ming the Merciless

Darrell Issa is one of those extreme far right Tea Party Republicans that are destroying this country.

Google/Bingchim and find just what a despicable human being he really is.

by: elpereles

I don't understand. The USPS is trying to focus in Package Service and some wannabe in the Congress is moving the other way.  

by: JoyfulA

There are a lot of clusterboxes around here. Each of the mail delivery boxes is locked, and there's a bigger box at the bottom. A package is delivered into that bottom box, and the key to it is left in the addressee's mailbox.

It works decently in a townhouse type of area, at least as well as clusters of individual mailboxes. But they're ugly.

by: comet

There really ARE days when I feel like I live in Lake Woebegone---

When the subject of mail delivery comes up I certainly DO feel this way.

We live in a rural area where cows outnumber people by a good margin.  Many elderly people here cannot just jaunt off to the Post Office--and certainly many of them are NOT paying their bills "On Line".  For many of them making a jaunt to the end of the road could be miles away (to one of those communal mail condos)  and involve deep snow and extreme cold--we have had -40 here at times--and if you are waiting for the mail or concious of it sitting there in the box---they may very well venture out when they really should be home and warm.

While I personally am not "against" all of the mail condos I do see where this can be an issue for many.  The Rural Route drivers are already very UNDERPAID--they are certainly NOT reaping any of the increases the PO has mandated---and if they shorten the routes I can see either lay-offs or shorter even less well paid routes.  (Bear in mind these carriers do NOT get those "Fully funded 75 years into the future retirement and health benefits"--they pay for their OWN cars to deliver mail;  they really are out there in all weathers and routinely (here at least) hit deer;  rig up "snow plow blades" on the front of their cars from planks and other recycled items;  if they have a handicapped person on their route that has made the proper arrangements they must get out of the car and deliver to the house----things a lot of people never think of.  

What happens to that handicapped persons mail if they CAN'T get to the communal box or the PO?   The PO hours now are already not in line with the real world--our PO is CLOSED for an HOUR and a HALF in the middle of the day---opens past the time when most have to be to work--and closes at 4 PM.   Real world hours?   I don't think so!

I have to agree with MARIE---the Congress and these Reps need to get a grip and a clue and re-think HOW the PO could work BETTER to suit todays needs.  Where is Ben Franklin when you NEED him???

Oh and around here and in neighboring States fishing licences and hunting licenses are PAID to the State--but are SOLD thru stores and Town Clerks offices.  And for some of these (just as an FYI)  disabled persons can get licenses FREE.  

by: PowerSeller2007

I am not sure how a lot of congressmen got elected in this country.  Why sell fishing licenses?  If USPS sell and deliver beer, cigarrete and tobacco, it could get rich and buyout ebay, Amazon and Google in no time. (Sarcasm)

by: Ric

Mr Issa issa moron plain and simple.

Ending front door delivery will not reduce USPS costs nearly as much as it will reduce the volume of mail processed by USPS. The resulting decline in volume will put the final nails in the coffin of the USPS and it will be a major victory for UPS & FEDEX.

Mr Issa obviously wants to destroy the USPS and have private carriers take over.

This is a disservice to America by a politician who seems hell bent on destroying the country from within. During the next election, I will be sure to vote against every incumbent on the ballot as it is obvious we need drastic overhaul in government.

by: vikingtom

Our lazy,union-supported mail carrier is so lazy that she leaves Priority Mail in one of the larger package boxes-without notification to us. She deserves cut hours and a reprimand. She cares only to get off of work ASAP---Too many years of Government Welfare...

by: Bloggo

Priority Mail does not come with some sort of special delivery notice. Don't be lazy, go check your mailbox.

by: whosaidwhat

Ina, I love your site but your title headline is very misleading if not almost a complete falsehood.  Packages would continue to be delivered on your doorstep unless you receive clusterbox nearby.  This proposal is about doing away with letter carriers who walk door to door not preventing USPS drivers who place mail in street mailboxes from placing a package on your doorstep. You make it seem like the USPS is abandoning the door and only UPS & Fed-Ex will deliver at the door. Like I mention below, they (USPS) would continue Saturday package delivery but not letters. Issa has compromised as well in 1.)Issa’s proposal would also do away with the fixed annual $5.5 billion payment that USPS is required to make to pre-fund its future retiree health-care costs.  2.)Issa is still intent on ending Saturday letter (but not package) delivery. His draft proposal would also do away with the USPS’s no-layoffs policy.  Ming the Merciless, you lost my respect.  How is he extreme?

by: bitbybit

If curbside is anything like newspaper delivery then we will be lucky to get any mail at all. My paper is just tossed pretty much anywhere and hopefully makes it even onto the driveway. By the way there are no curbs on my street.

by: blaumann2

Cluster boxes often get buried in snow. No one seems to have the responsibility to keep them clear.

by: Ming the Merciless

@whosaidwhat

If you don't know who Darrel Issa is or anything about his behavior and background, you obviously don't keep up with current events and you've lost MY respect.

From Wikipedia, FWIW:

On his 17th birthday, Issa dropped out of high school and enlisted for three years in the Army.[9][14] He became an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician, trained to defuse bombs. He said his unit provided security for President Richard Nixon, sweeping stadiums for bombs prior to games in the 1971 World Series.[15] A May 1998 investigation by Lance Williams of the San Francisco Examiner said Nixon had not attended any of that year's World Series games. His unit did perform security sweeps for the World Series. The investigation said that after the World Series Issa was transferred to a supply depot after receiving poor ratings. According to Issa, the Examiner reporter misunderstood an anecdote he had related.[9] A fellow soldier, Jay Bergey, said that Issa stole his Dodge Charger in 1971, and that "I confronted Issa...I got in his face and threatened to kill him, and magically my car reappeared the next day, abandoned on the turnpike." No charges were ever filed. Issa has denied any theft.[9]
After receiving a hardship discharge in 1972, because his father had a heart attack, Issa earned a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.[9] Twice that year, he was arrested. In the first incident he was indicted by a grand jury for an alleged theft of a Maserati, but prosecutors dropped the charge.[16] In the second incident, he was stopped for driving the wrong way on a one-way street, and a police officer noticed a firearm in his glove compartment. Issa was charged with carrying a concealed weapon. He pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of an unregistered firearm, and was sentenced to six months' probation and a small fine.[9][16] Issa has said he believes the record has since been expunged.[9]


Shortly before his discharge, Issa was again indicted for grand theft auto, but Issa insisted he was innocent and by August, 1980, the prosecution dropped the case.[9]

ssa soon turned Steal Stopper around, to the point that it was supplying Ford with thousands of car alarms and negotiating a similar deal with Toyota. But early in the morning of September 7, 1982, the offices and factory of Quantum and Steal Stopper in the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights caught fire. The fire took three hours to put out. The buildings and almost all inventory within were destroyed. An investigation of the cause of the fire noted "suspicious burn patterns" with fires starting in two places aided by an accelerant such as gasoline.[9] Adkins said that Issa appeared to prepare for a fire by increasing the fire insurance policy 462% three weeks previously, and by removing computer equipment holding accounting and customer information. Adkins said that he thinks Issa set the fire on purpose. The insurance company was suspicious of arson and paid only about one-tenth the insured amount.[19]

There's plenty of revealing information about this guy on search engines once you get passed the fluff that's been manipulated to appear on the few pages.

by: Digmen1

Why not just close the UPS and the USPS (stupdi names) and use couriers.

The way they keep putting up prices when they are losing letters and need parcels is farcical and killing online sales.

by: mightylucky

I think that the USPS has ask the question: how is it that FedEx and UPS can deliver larger weight packages cheaper that the USPS when the mail person goes to the same house or business EVERYDAY to delivery their mail?
The answer, for me at least, is for the USPS to LOWER their package rates by offering VOLUME discounts to small and large businesses. Just like FedEx and UPS does. USPS already has the people, routes and trucks. All they need is the PACKAGES to deliver. I personally don't care who delivers the package. What I do care about is the price!!

by: whosaidwhat

@Ming the Merciless, I saw his wikipedia information more than 5 months ago and actually quoted some information from it while researching his USPS proposal on businessweek.com on their comment section before posting here earlier.  I thought I asked ''how he was extreme'' as in you saying ''extreme far right Tea Party Republicans that are destroying this country''.  Just because you quoted a Wikipedia bio that I don't contradict doesn't mean he is guilty of any major wrongdoing.  So he fibbed on the World Series/Nixon statement.  Maybe the ''unit'' had before provided security for Nixon at the World Series and he did so at the WS when Nixon was not there.  Boy, so Issa may of played a prank on stealing the Charger but did he threaten the life of someone over it like the owner of car did.  Were there charges.  Maybe someone threaten his business or him and he took neccesary precautions by moving acct & customer info and had increased the insurance policy because of it.  Insurance company paid 1/10 of claim.  The thing is that the business was successful at the time with Ford & Toyota and seemed to be growing already and after the fire it still took off.  Usually it's the suffering business that do these arson scams to collect money, not a successful one.  Also who's to say Adkins who lost business and remained an employee wasn't involved in the plot as payback toward Issa. or someone that had it out for him.    Oh and did I see that although Issa was demoted to lower position that later on General Wesley Clark promoted him with high honors and creditability.  Unless, you (Ming) have true facts of all the circumstances behind the whole story along with documented conviction of a real crime besides a improper weapon charge he had at a early age you should step back instead of accusing someone as being a horrorable person.  This guy served his country and turned around a company that he believed in and made it successful.  

1.) No answer to my question.  2.) Not researching the subject matter at hand or at least making relevant comment about it instead of just attacking a person and not his compromised position on postal reform.  

Believe me, I am very informed, unfortunately at one time I thought the same about you.  

Back to the article:  I don't see how this affects small sellers.  If they have a street mailbox and a large package arrives it will go to the customers front door still unless it's a signature confirmation.  If a person who has a mailbox on house gets a clusterbox it will be close by and actually be more secure possibly.  Also, being that USPS wants to focus on package delivery, maybe all packages will be delivered to door as well.   Saturday package delivery will still exist and possibly Sunday too.  Now I understand that older people may have a problem getting their mail at a clusterbox.  But I'm sure a service could be made up where a bonded/insured person could have a business where they collect mail for special needs persons and charge a dollar to deliver mail from their clusterbox to their door and p/u outgoing mail.  Or neighbors could pick it up for them as well.  Seems to me that people are worried about the consequences of lay offs or not having their regular mail at their door.  I really don't see how this affects small sellers?  Any thoughts?