Are You Getting Two Raises A Year? The Post Office Is, So They Can Continue Doing This…

It’s so easy to mock the United States Postal Service – USPS.

It’s so easy, it’s like…

I’ve mocked USPS six times in this blog, and I never run out of inspiration.

Here comes #7.

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My husband and I like to get our taxes done as early as possible. “Get ‘em done and forget about it,” is our motto.

That won’t be possible this year, because we’re waiting for a tax document from a financial institution. I can’t access the document online because we closed the account last year.

In hopes of finding a workaround I called the company. Their recorded message advised that the tax documents were mailed on January 31, and “should be” delivered in “seven to 10 business days.”

Seven business days is more than a week. Ten business days is two weeks, unless there’s a holiday in there – then it’s longer.

So our tax document may not arrive via USPS for a week, or two weeks.

Or three weeks.

Or maybe three months.

Or maybe in 100 years, like this piece of mail in Belding, MI:

Regarding the hundred-year-delayed mail, according to a USPS employee:

“‘…there are a few things that could have happened here,’ said Mindy Ponover, who works for the Postal Service in Michigan.

“Her best guess is that the postcard got stuck behind a baseboard, a crack in the floor or a piece of machinery in an old post office that was recently renovated.”

“There’s a very good possibility of that,” said Ponover.

A higher-up USPS employee was quick to jump in and say:

“But ‘in most cases these incidents do not involve mail that had been lost in our network and later found,’ added Sara Martin, a USPS public relations representative.”

Or maybe our tax document will arrive – shredded – in one of those USPS pre-printed apology bags:

Seriously – can you name another organization that screws up so frequently, it has pre-printed apology bags?

Just imagine…

So – what was I referring to in this post’s title, about USPS getting two raises a year?

This:

“The price for first-class Forever stamps increased to 63 cents from 60 cents this week, a 5 percent price jump that stemmed from rising operating expenses and losses for the Postal Service.”

“Officials have said that customers can expect price increases twice a year at least through 2024.”

And it’s not just the cost of Forever stamps that’s increased:

“The new rates also include increases in the prices of one-ounce metered mail, to 60 cents from 57 cents, and domestic postcards, to 48 cents from 44 cents. Sending a one-ounce letter overseas is now $1.45, up from $1.40.”

And what do we get, in exchange for these increased rates?

More of this:

And this:

And this:

The New York Times article went on to say,

“‘As operating expenses continue to rise, these price adjustments provide the Postal Service with much needed revenue to achieve the financial stability sought by its Delivering for America 10-year plan,’ the Postal Service said, referring to its plan to become ‘self-sustaining and high performing.’

“The agency said in 2021 that it projected $160 billion in losses over the next 10 years that it hoped to mitigate.”

Three notes:

First: I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure “$160 billion in losses over the next 10 years” is not a good business model.

Second: Regarding the second paragraph and that USPS “hoped to mitigate…’’

Third: Regarding that “Delivering for America 10-year plan…”

I’ve never heard of it.

Have you?

Apparently USPS published the Delivering for America plan – all 60 pages of it –on March 23, 2021:

Here’s the front cover:

And on page 58, a message from everyone’s favorite millionaire/Trump crony, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy:

Here’s a recent USPS-related headline:

“A Minnesota congresswoman wants to know what’s causing days-long delays in mail delivery in the Twin Cities’ southern suburbs.

“Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig sent U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy a letter on Friday saying she was frustrated with reports that her constituents regularly go up to four days without mail, with some saying they haven’t gotten any mail since December 16, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.

Let’s see…

The Delivering for America plan was announced on March 23, 2021, coming up on two years ago. In his statement, DeJoy talked about “within three years” and “95 percent” mail delivery “on time.”

Yet some Minnesotans were regularly going “up to four days without mail.”

Maybe according to Louis DeJoy, four days without mail is the new “95 percent on time”?

I confess I did not read everything – or anything – between the Delivering for America front cover and Louie’s message, but I did open option #2, what USPS calls its “Plan at a Glance PDF.”

And in both documents I couldn’t help but notice the words “service excellence.”

It appears that it’s just now occurring to USPS that “service excellence” is something they ought to consider including in their goals.

Especially since USPS:

Raised its rates in July 2022 (first-class stamps rose from 58 to 60 cents).
Has now raised first-class stamps from 60 cents to 63 cents.
Will continue to do this “twice a year at least through 2024.”

And oh, by the way:

“‘The Postal Service expects that, in each subsequent year, it will implement price changes for all Market Dominant classes in January and July of such year,’ the Postal Regulatory Commission said in a report about rate schedules. It was not clear how much they would go up each year.”

There you go: For the foreseeable future, USPS gets two raises a year.

Whether USPS is providing “service excellence…”

Or more of this: