Hey? Is this dear carp hurry I'm good dark? I want to start by asking you if you could tell me about your first ever memory of the postal service, when I was growing up and rule they began. I of course the They were not a video games in Algeria and everything we were in the balls and by us in the summer is one. We would be home from school. You know we would be out. They may augur carrier that came through You know we were always right, they're, the same gimme, a little piece of candy replaced, bubble, gum, or something that we cannot do now. Malta, new aim, I got to know him. I was all real good yeah then, as I grew up saying,

same guy I'll, throw my Fain years. He van labour papers glows What am I and in what was his name Marlon Vernon as a job? He was what I knew the bay, the postal Thus, the rule carriers and a lot of areas- they are the picture of the postal service right in a place like where you grew up. That is the postal service, one man. That was pretty much what I knew grow once a year and then, when I went to technical school decided that wording and what I wanted to do told God Post Office as it looks blogger light, though you watch I'll, do and tell him about. It ended up on the rout that my parents laid down when I was growing up

as a boy. Don't ever do that house night and I fell in love with it wants are starting. I wonder if you can tell me about a typical day on your route in Advance North Carolina. I live in advance. I work out of Moscow and now as go into my office. This morning. I gather my mail gather my packages, I go to the street with it and start morale and we know the last mile for some of our competitors. Because I am an Earl America and when you say last smile, when you mean we're asked.

To go to every house every day in the United States constitution. Yes, they private companies, Walmart Sinner Amazon's and, of course, you PS and better eggs. They bring their parcels. To us to deliver what we call the last mile. So even though we think of those companies is doing their own delivery from wherever a package originates to a person's home

You're saying that in many cases it's the United Postal Services, you who ends up literally taking at the last couple of miles to the destination. Yes, I feel I got something about people don't quite understand. Oh yes, now realize right. Guy asked me at church. They said it was following this package by one of our competitive delivery. Companies was following it to each one of their herds in their facilities and then all of a sudden said is that post office without for delivery that Post office, they said, then the my old man brings us tomorrow. But what's the deal- and I said well, we we care the last mile fairer,

look I'm pennies to get it out there for it. If you weren't there, what would happen does baggage wherewith ago? The private companies would have to deliver myths Post office one there and if the salon ways away from town out in rule. America is not profitable for to go too. Since the pandemic started. I have to imagine. There have been significant, just for your routine write em in how is delivering them out different now. Well, now, of course, we know baby social distancing. Post offices supply and my ass, the gloves or Worse, Ghana, pipes. Dick Sunday is right. The door Bell a hundred permit here. They do not worry about me tat. Norway or that me were about their normal,

current alot, more essential needs. I think we're always essential, but now we're folks not being able to get out or getting out. We ve stepped up, especially the ones that have underline health issues, knows a lot of essential needs there that were meeting now, and I sense that from a lot of them in the past few weeks, I would depart from the report and I would step out an and call my name and say there. We appreciate it and that night, There is a lot and what's your sense of how the postal service is doing in this moment where horror,

rain, and here it's not good- that it ah crippled us to a degree, but I just I hope that the they can contain on is the number one loved entity. The government- and I just don't understand how we could not be there for the Americans is from the New York Times unworkable borrow. This is a daily. Today, America most beloved government agency has never in more vital and yet, as thanks and of companies receive federal bail out the United

states postal service finds itself at the back of the line. My colleague Nick vandals on why that is it's Wednesday. May twenty seventh Nick tell me about the history of the Eu S postal Service, the postal service, traces, its roots back basically as far as farther than the country itself in the seventeen seventy Ben, Franklin. Everybody's favorite, founding father, was actually appointed to be the first postmaster general of the New United States, also businesses transacted through some forty seven thousand, both languages, contract stations and branches

body two thousand you as community and over the years it becomes what the founding fathers wanted it to be, then, which is something that could connect the kind Ray, allow Americans to correspond with each other to business with each other in a basically bring these disparate colonies in communities together. Legos. Tail business on the world. Today, the United States Post Office devoted exclusively to the service of its owners. The american public it has grown into faced with the most trusted government service, this kind of ubiquitous and beloved face of the federal government.

That is massive in its own right today, postal employees must cope with an ever increasing avalanche of mail which, in the past decade, has quadrupled in volume to big, complex business that employs over six hundred thousand people. Now, if it was a private company, it'd be easily on the fortune five hundred list. No. Ninety percent of the income derived from the sale of stamped the Post office is also the largest savings bank in the country and the largest agency for the transfer of money. It takes more than one and a half billion dollars annually, and so, while the postal service was not set to be a kind of money making engine for the government, it did for much of its modern life, whether break even or make modest profits based on the sale of position, So when does that all start to change this

learning in their early to mid two thousand. There is relatively quick succession of major changes in the kind of environment for the postal service, some of which are foreseen, and some of which are not that began to dramatically a road, its finances. The first room, useless. Change that we are all familiar with in consumer habits, in the way that people communicate and spend money, and that's just you: ve got mail. The advent of the kind of like every day world wide web you can know glimpse the future, with nothing more than a modem, a full blown the few dollars a month and then there's a male email IRA. That's really need a cousin has a pen now Sweden and they write back and forth and transmits right away and doesn't cost anything yeah. You can even talk with people.

All over the world on Chaplin's. These things directly replace a lot of the postal services bottom line in personal correspondence, billing business solicitations and things That answer, you start, you know in kind of the. For years, the new millennium and the trend picks up to see I decline in overall male volume has to be an order, and then, a few years into this trend, Congress makes another consequential decision. This legislation mandates transparency in the services finances costs in operations, creating modern system. A re regulation establishes fair competition rules and a powerful new regulator to oversee operations. I urge my colleagues to adopt the postal services financing itself itself, sustainable, a Congress Congresses on the horizon, an issue with this

very large, relatively well paid federal workforce in retirement age was in favour, say I those oppose. No. The bill is past and without objection, emotional reconsidered laid upon the table and it decides that the postal service ought to set aside money in advance to find the healthcare If it's of all that's retirees, this is in actuality, billions of dollars a year on top of its normal operating costs at the postal service needs to start setting aside basically, and that proposition it's a lot of sense in the world where the postal services

a business model always in the black, bringing in revenue. What they can foresee is the financial crisis. The? U S postal service says it will be insolvent next month and wants to lay off one hundred twenty thousand people by the end of September. The postal service will be on the brink of defaulting on all its employ pension obligations, unable to viral any more money and only have enough ass to cover one week of operations to businesses are spending less money on female individuals. Are spending less money in the postal service saddled with this new obligation to fund its retirees

health care well into the future and battling a recession that any business was struggling with at that time finds itself very quickly. Moving further and further into the Red Ass, a postal service adapting to guess economy right now, surely won't be easy cynic. I have to imagine If that financial crisis hurts the postal service that this one that's now under way has just clobbered them. I'm in the agency never really fully recovered or regained its footing and hear basically the whole You know that the whole world in the economy, you know shuts down overnight and there's a precipitous decline. Five percent at first ten percent fifteen twenty thirty percent of overall male volume well to it, may seem like you're getting more packages. Than ever and that the postal service in your mail man, is the one person that keeps coming to your building

in your door in theirs is kind of a greater awareness about it, and package volume is up overall, which herself of set some losses but for the postal service in a where they really make their money and its helpful to think about the mail you get at home are the kind of solicitations the bills, the flyers, the things that form the bulk of that stack. If you bring letters into your house from the mailbox right and that's what has contracted at an alarming rate and those losses have not, at least to this point, been able to be offset, and so Nepal The service begins to put together projections that say of these trends continue. We should be looking at a volume in male declined by half by the middle of the summer, and so what we ve seen in the last few weeks is the postal service come. To Congress, basically hat in hand and say, look if you don't come

Bayliss outlined. Have you can't help us get a infusion of billions and billions of dollars? We could be at a cash by the fall in that will threatened service and threaten the very viability of this thing. That American seem to be more cognizant of and more reliant on than they have been in a really long time.

order it back. We all shop, I mind a lot and finding promo code. That work is uneasy unless you use honey. The free browser extension that scans the internet for the best promo codes and automatically adds its your card just add. Honey shop, like normal click, apply, coupons and watch the prices drop, its one hundred percent free and installs in just a few seconds plus its now part of the pay pal family, get honey for free adjoin, honey, dot, com, Sash day that's join honey, dot com slashed daily. So I have to imagine that this pretty beloved institution is at the front of the line for anyone

Bela at a moment when congresses handing out money to a lot of businesses across country, that's a fair assumption. And so we saw in March when congresses racing to put together the cares act. Its big, two trillion: dollar relief till the time prop up the economy, Democrats and Republicans get kind of a handshake deal too. Ended thirteen billion dollars in direct funding that will help keep operating through the summer in the fall and hopefully, whether the worst of the crisis. But in the Middle EAST I states negotiations, the White House comes and out of trillions of dollars of spending points to the United States Postal Service and says: we're not going to support a bail out we're not interested in included, then this bill and you better. I put it in our way because we don't want to have a problem, and why is that? While

When the White House they allow the postal service through an actual starts with the Washington post. The newspaper that the present feels has covered him to critically to unfair way. He perceived was kind of one of its biggest enemies in Washington. That paper happens to be owned by Jeff Basis, the founder and chief. Negative of Amazon and Amazon, as we know, is heavily reliant on the United States postal Service to deliver many of its package's all across the country. The details of its contracts are kept private button. The postal service does quite a bit of business with them. What's the Amazon down the budget? When you take a look at the post office and this as much as anything else is what has informed trumps view of the postal services and post office, is losing billions of dollars and the taxpayers of paying for that money because it delivers

I can choose for Amazon at a very below cost, and that's that fact is of the opinion that Amazon is basically ripping off the post. Arrests and Amazon has the money to pay the fair rate at the Post office, which would be much more than that thing right now that it's getting is packages delivered far too cheaply and that basis is being enriched off of you know. This government service Amazon is gonna, have to pay much more money to the post office is no doubt about that, and so he's basically put down a line in the sand and said unless the postal service agrees to jack up prices for- hundred or even five hundred percent on Amazon packages?

That's quite a lot of money. I'm not gonna give assent, I'm not gonna Bell amount. I won't give him alone and I can do anything for them because their being such suckers, whilst the president has specifically linked his reluctance to assist the postal service financially with his frustrations with Amazon and Jeff basis. Absolutely. There is, though, a second thing going on here, and this is kind of this Other interests is, may be better represented by Steve Merchant who's, the treasury secretary. So what malnutrition and some of these others want- are basically to change the postal service in ways that will cut its costs, that will increase its prices and carve shrink its footprint bolts so that it can meet its own financial obligations and start to address this. The debt that attract up, but also in ways that will allow its private competitors like Fedex in New PS. Take

a little bit more of an upper hand in the market, and then they would say that this is about competition and that the postal service has been given some unfair monopolies in certain areas, or you know, has been allowed to keep it it's too low in a way that harm these private businesses and needs to be changed in a way that will make the whole field more competitive this is all in the White House his mind when Congress comes with a few weeks ago and says we want this money to bail out the ailing, also service and all the sudden, they realise that their presented with a real new opportunity to put a mark on the postal service in this moment of flight. That could affect you, wait a lot of both what President Trump and what malnutrition and his allies wanna see.

And how? How could this be an opportunity for the? Why has so many chin recognises that the postal service is in a bad way that it has a real financial need and if, instead of giving it a no strings attached bail out the Treasury Department instead gets authority to give it alone, then he has treachery secretary could essentially dictate terms changes that the postal service would have to adopt if it wants to get this loan money from the Treasury department, and so it gives him significant new level. Urge to try and put in place some of these long held ambitions that he has for the postal service? Most explicitly this question of rates minutiae once more not only rate increases but increases where Amazon would centrally have to pay more, but he wants to be able to look at those contracts,

ex himself and make sure that they are meeting, I suppose his standard for without a look like Nick. Is it possible that that's exactly what the postal service should be doing? I mean a my for the fact that Amazon, for example, is the countries was profitable business. It could probably stand today higher rates and would that be better for the postal service? It's a very good question and that's very possible at a time when the volume of packages, because of the pandemic is increasing significance at the processors, and this could be an area to really close some of the revenue gap. But there's a couple things to keep in mind. One there's a big difference between you: no more

this changes and and re evaluating a contract to increase prices, maybe ten or fifteen percent. I don't know and what President trumpets talking about, which is of wholesale increase of four five fold, so that if a package today cost eight bucks to ship, it's gonna be thirty. Two books are higher and that kind of thing you know independent business analyse, will quickly tell you is conall ludicrous, like it just won't work and would probably backfire the postal service, because Amazon could easily find a way to deliver that package cheaper, adjust its too drastic and increase all at once.

The thing to keep in mind that the president's comment, often obscure, is that these contracts with companies like Amazon, while they are secretive, while we, the public, have seen them they are certified to be profitable enough. They are making the postal service money. So the idea that the postal service is just being totally ripped off by Amazon isn't exactly right, either Nick. How does this approach from the White House sit with congressional republicans? Who fashionably represent a lot of Americans who liked the postal service So this is the biggest question for the postal service right now, because if you have the White House on one side and Democrats on the other, it's really congressional republicans that could tip The outcome here, one way or another and they seem to be Split in their own way, traditionally Republicans particularly those that represent rural states or district

places like me, nor Alaska or just congressional districts. They are outside of big cities. All over the country had been big supporters of the postal service, because their constituents are heavily reliant on it, and so you know they have generally been on the side of giving the postal service what it asked for mean take the case of Dan Sullivan, who is a republican senator from the State of Alaska, very rural state, heavily reliant on the postal service, whose up for re election, this fall So then was not too long ago. Actually, at the White House, the postal service is a joke. When President Trump went off on a reef against the postal service and about how they were being ripped off by Amazon, the Post office. They raise the price package by approximately four times: it'd be a whole new ball game. He stood there silently watching it and then hearing the view of the press and of his party

if they don't raise the price, I'm not signing anything a short time later. Speaking with constituents back in Alaska Town Hall, I am concerned about the post office and, what's going on with the post office, and I fear basically expressed the view that many republicans have other states might be like always like hey this drive there. Well, you guys all know why we came to drive their could so many of our community. Don't you know roadshow. So I recognise how important the postal services to my state and I'm not gonna. Let anything happen to it. That would jeopardize the ability the mail to reach out with you. We are defenders of all of these programs because you can't be treated differently just because you're, an American and you live in a village,

without a road. On the other hand, you know there are Republicans in Congress that I think are sympathetic to that point of view, but feel like in the postal service has been losing money for quite a long time that its business motto wasn't working even before the pandemic. And that, if they're going to be giving them a bunch of money, if they're going to be asking taxpayers that don't normally from the postal service to be chipping in billions of dollars, they want to see some changes from. It may be changes that look like what the White House wants. The way. So where does this all leave the post office neck? I mean the winners in saying take this loan cells at the Post office is not thrilled about the conditions that would be attached to it. I suppose it could just not take the money or maybe you could wait and see whether the election changes the composition of Congress,

or even the White House, I think all of those things are possible, but another interesting thing has happened as this whole dynamic has pointed out, which is that there have been some pretty significant personnel changes at the top of the postal service as an as is his prerogative named in recent weeks, a new postmaster general, not somebody that comes from within the agency, It is a republican donor who comes from private business during the pandemic during the pandemic, who is believed to be much more sympathetic to the present views and tick term in urgent views, and so there is a possibility that the So service could ultimately decide either that they take the wound, or maybe financial conditions improve enough that they dont need to table on, but they still make some of the kind of changes that the White House is asking for regarding

Whether or not democrats want them to take home or their own workforce wants them to take them. It may well be that what the president has finally succeeded in doing is is put, kind of like minded or sympathetic leadership team in places and that's what it takes an if the portions of his doesn't take this money. How much longer can it operate as it currently does? So, obviously, in the conduct of the pandemic, a lot of things were subject to change, but by the postal services own projections it could run into serious cash flow problems Early as September, this fall and without a major infusion either in the form of bail out from here. Risk were alone coming from the trade

department. It would struggle to meet its obligations and put even during the mail in Jeopardy Nick. Thank you very much. Thank you, Michael dear. Why do you think it is that the federal government is offering financial assistance to many private companies across the- U S, economy and not to the postal service. What do you think that the rationale is no are reared someplace about us not charging enough for some of the package business, but the postal service is not a poor profit private company

like some of the others, the founding fathers I don't like ever met for it to be there. What I read. The post office surviving, I hope that it survives and a uniform,

but every American Reserve or dark. We really appreciate you spend time on the sand. I wish you the best of luck on your roots and good health. Certain operational, the talking you like you very much for our producers, will be right back. This path cast is supported by Disney Television studios which produces award winning and culture defining programming for all platforms, including little fires everywhere homeland pose this is US modern family Jimmy came alive how to get away with murder blackish the politician and so much more Disney television studios comprises Twentieth Century Fox Television, ABC Studios and Fox twenty one, television Studios Television Academy members species to check out details Award Stockholm now to watch over fifty Emmi eligible series for consideration in

categories. Here's what else you need to know the disease can jump up at any time. We will. We cannot make assumptions that, just because the disease is on the way down, now that it's uh it's going to going down and we're going to get a number of months to get ready for a second whittling. The World Health organization is warning that, even before A second wave of infections may arrive in the fall. There could be sort of infections in the coming weeks. As measures to contain the virus are lifted in places like the? U S, the w e child described such a surge. As a second peak, we may get a second peak in this way. This happens during condemnation of the past certainly happened on the fundamental point in nineteen in the spanish flu

We we got a second peak, not necessarily a second wave and encouraged countries to take what ever public health steps are necessary to avoid That's it for the daily unworkable, borrow, see them on. Hi, I'm Kristen minds are, and I'm the co of innovation uncovered a new podcast, the world changing in real time, often in ways we don't notice an can't protect innovation and covered explores the breakthroughs that our driving our culture. Now from how we play to what we consume to how we can act more about the ideas that are reshaping our reality in extraordinary way is innovation,

uncovered is upon cast from invest, go cute. You too, and t brand at the New York Times listened today in basque or distributors. Ink