General Question

urbanlegend24's avatar

How long will the US Postal Service be around?

Asked by urbanlegend24 (12 points ) December 20th, 2010

Recently, the United States Postal Service has been running huge deficits in the billions because the rise of email has led to the decline of regular mail. They’ve been borrowing lots of money from the government in order to cover their debts but their line of credit is almost used up. With the new atmosphere of budget cutting, it is unlikely that they will be able to get any more credit. Do you think that the USPS will one day go completely bankrupt and cease to exist, or will it be bailed out because it is “too big to fail”?

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7 Answers

MyNewtBoobs's avatar

The USPS isn’t a private company that the government has to bail out, it is the government. It can’t go bankrupt alone – same as the DMV and the public libraries. They can’t borrow money from the government, rather, money is allocated for the USPS.
Do you perhaps have a source for all of this so I know what you’re talking about more?

troubleinharlem's avatar

Even if they’re going bankrupt, someone has to deliver those packages and such for people during the holidays.

john65pennington's avatar

My memory has completely failed me, but it seems like i remember that there is a Federal Law that states that there will always be a U.S. Postal Service. also, i believe the USPS is self-sufficient and not directly associated with the U.S. Government. if i am wrong, pls forgive.

One incident that has amazed me is that sending a fax is an official document. like your doctor faxes a prescription to your pharmacy.

Some things cannot be faxed. yes, we will always have a USPS, unless the law is changed.

Coloma's avatar

It is doubtful this would occur.

There are plenty of remote and rural areas, including my own, where rural routes are sub-contracted out to independant carriers that bid on a contract.

I worked a rural delivery mail route some years ago and I loved it, gave me a new appreciation for our mail carriers.

Plenty of us that do not live mainstream and, the mail MUST go through!

tedd's avatar

The USPS acts independently of the federal government, and for most of its existence was able to mostly operate off its own income from things like stamps and shipping costs. Of the last 10 years or so they’ve had issues competing with the likes of UPS and e-mail. As such they have had to be allocated money by the federal government to continue operating. But they will NEVER go away. What will likely happen is you will see them downsize and cut retirement benefits. OR, if they’re smart, they’ll run an advertising campaign that points out that they’re usually cheaper than Fedex and UPS…. and have higher delivery rates (aka they lose packages/letters less often).

But more than likely the downsizing one.

Nullo's avatar

Indefinitely. Its existence is required by the Constitution, unless I am mistaken.

perspicacious's avatar

It’s not going anywhere.

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