@greatmidwestcoin wrote:Your comment doesn't make any sense. Yes, as head, he is responsible. Slapstick about the USPS really isn't funny when people do not have the slightest clue as to what it takes to run it. Whereas I do. 35 years as a clerk, carrier, IT Mgr, TC Mgr, Postmaster to Finance Director. 99% of those commenting here couldn't handle 2 hours as a city carrier, guaranteed. That's why they have an 85% turnover. I have seen many try, from teachers to factory workers. They all caved. America has one of the greatest mail delivery services in the world. The fact remains nobody could do what they do, not even contractors. I have worked with many. Why do others fail? They do not care. The majority of Postal employees are dedicated to what they do and to the customers they serve. As a so-called eBay mentor, I would think you would hold your tongue better on political issues. Just my opinion.
Thank you for your comments. There is much truth in what you say. I do not have direct professional USPS experience but I know people who do. I also spent a very long career in the executive branch and am intimately familiar both with the general integrity of federal workers AND with the horrors of what passes for "administration" and "management" in the USG. (I take it most here are too young to remember the famous Herblock depiction of Defense Secy Caspar Weinberger with a $640 toilet seat around his neck (below).)
To my mind, USPS does an excellent job with the resources that it has, and it improves with each passing year. As with any massive bureaucracy, there is ample room for improvement. My local post office has not been painted or otherwise fixed up for at least 30 years; it took almost 6 months for the broken automatic door openers to get repaired. Yet a post office in a neighboring zip code -- where the average price of a home is in the $3 million range -- is immaculate and modern in every respect. Clearly, local politics are at play in some fashion.
If Congress and the White House regarded USPS the same way as they regard, say, CIA and NSA -- which they should, because the ability of a nation to efficiently and affordably communicate and exchange goods and services over long distances are in fact vital national security functions -- then things might be different.
For example, requiring postal employees to take a basic polygraph test every five years or so (as a deterrent, because such tests are not in and of themselves always reliable indicators of deception) and have a basic, Secret-level security clearance (which the USG can give to any US citizen with a valid drivers license following a credit check and a basic review of court records) would almost certainly improve things. These folks are handling sensitive materials every single day and we are placing great trust in them -- there should, in my opinion, be a higher level of employee review, assuming one does not already exist. A level of review that is commensurate with the important job that USPS workers are being asked to do.
