If It Prints, It Ships: 3D Printing and the Postal Service [pdf]

Re:If It Prints, It Ships: 3D Printing and the Postal Servi... by ww520 on Friday July 25, 2014 @12:18AM (#8083735)

USPS can be quite profitable if they can set the price of their products. They can't. Congress sets the price. They are mandated to run at break-even. They lose money when Congress reacts too slowly to market condition to set new price.

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Re:If It Prints, It Ships: 3D Printing and the Postal Servi... by erichurkman on Friday July 25, 2014 @12:33AM (#8083773)

They constantly lose money. By the time they convince Congress to up the postal rate, inflation and market conditions have already exceeded the rate increase. All they can do is lessen their losses.

They can't add new products without Congress. They are also looking at money services, like basic check cashing, to help the 10+ million US households without regular access to a bank. It could be a great help to many impoverished Americans and, at the same time, boost USPS profits – but it relies on Congress to act. One or two Senators with heavy contributions from check cashing companies could derail, stall, or kill the effort – a net loss to society.

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Re:If It Prints, It Ships: 3D Printing and the Postal Servi... by Shivetya on Friday July 25, 2014 @05:55AM (#8084405)

USPS can be profitable if they can make changes without Congress's approval and without having arbitration rules that prevent them from considering their ability to pay the bills.

So if you can eliminate Congress, throw out their arbitration rules, they might be able to make the structural and functional changes they need to succeed. This does mean closing offices, distribution centers, and having a pension and retirement system they can afford to offer. Which by the way is what is facing most government employee pensions as many are unfunded and have ludicrous payouts

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