No More Saturday Mail ?

[Cheeva]

For all the acquisition addicts, ebay maniacs in here, our shipping habits may change.,here s a article you might wanna read about possibly no more Saturday mail.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/postal-service-cut-saturday-mail-trim-costs-18417518

 

[joshgambit]

AFAIK, it's just First Class mail. Packages will still be delivered? P.O. Boxes are unaffected, also?

 

[Obiwan]

I don't care if they deliver letters/bills only 1 day a week......so long as we keep getting our shaving toys.

 

[Mick]

Our local post office has been closed on Saturdays for years now. Hope they keep it open as their lease is up this year. It's nice to have a post office within walking distance and not have to drive miles to one.

They should do away with bulk rate postage. I know that I toss every bulk rate mailing that comes into my post office box right into the trash can in the post office so they are subsidizing bulk mailings to me, then having to pay to carry it away to the land fill because I don't want it. I am sure that well over 90% of bulk rate mail goes directly to the trash without ever being looked at.

 

[mheusler]

Only the government could keep raising the price on something and have the service offered, actually decrease. Imagine if Apple tried to sell a worse Ipad 5 for $1000. Samsung would put them out of business, but when you control a monopoly (and only the government can have a true monopoly), you can screw the consumer as often and as hard as you like......In short, I guess it's a good thing that I live near Pasteur's for when I get the Saturday urge to splurge.

 

[maxman]

You guys got mail on Saturday?
We don't. Never in my lifetime can I remember getting mail on Saturday.
That would be sweet!
We barely even get it during the week.

 

[Fatboy]

We barely even get it during the week.

Yea we like kinda off the beaten path, so it's anyone's guess if our carrier is in the mood to swing down my direction on any given day.

 

[Dusty1]

I'm surprised that they aim to cut the mail delivery by 1/6th over the entire United States and only save 2 billion dollars.

 

[Kentos]

I'm surprised that they aim to cut the mail delivery by 1/6th over the entire United States and only save 2 billion dollars.

Well they aren't cutting 1/6 of the workforce, but 2 billion is still a lot despite our crazy deficit.

 

[mheusler]

Well they aren't cutting 1/6 of the workforce, but 2 billion is still a lot despite our crazy deficit.

Yeah, but unfortunately, $2 billion isn't even a drop in the bucket. Since 2007, are National Debt has risen an average of $3.87 billion.....A DAY........There's no real savings here for the good of our country.

 

[jazzman]

The USPS receives no tax dollars for operating expenses.

 

[puros_bran]

In the grand scheme of things budget wise its the wife saying the laundry is closed on saturday.. it will save $2 per year

 

[Phog Allen]

While the service may not technically take tax payer dollars it many times acts just like a government agency. Big, slow, plodding, and resistant to any change. Does anyone remember when the service's take on email was that all emails should be taxed(recurring theme with government when they don't know what to do about something) to offset any loss of revenue the service may have incurred. It never went anywhere but the refusal to accept the digital age was staggering. Instead of jumping in full bore and offering gen-u-wine gub'ment email addresses and other innovative things they did the typical bureaucratic thing. They tried to smack it down. The issues with the postal service are really about policy, not politics. The constitution speaks to the service directly and we have to accept that at times it will COST not make money. Fact of life. I still say that under a half dollar to deliver a first class letter across the nation is a good bargain but the service is also going to have to agree to revamp the entire thing or they are going to be broke and laid off. The constitution speaks to the service itself but it does not say it could not be subcontracted out. It will be interesting to see how it works out. I do think sooner or later you will have to pay a fee for home delivery of mail. It may not be right or popular but I think it is coming. If it stanches the rising costs of parcels it may be worth the trade off. As mentioned with eBay and other etailing being a dominant force there has to be a good opportunity to capture that market by default. I hope it works out well for everyone. Saturday delivery? I like it if something is coming I ordered. Otherwise Monday is good enough.

Cheers, Todd

 

[mheusler]

While the service may not technically take tax payer dollars it many times acts just like a government agency. Big, slow, plodding, and resistant to any change. Does anyone remember when the service's take on email was that all emails should be taxed(recurring theme with government when they don't know what to do about something) to offset any loss of revenue the service may have incurred. It never went anywhere but the refusal to accept the digital age was staggering. Instead of jumping in full bore and offering gen-u-wine gub'ment email addresses and other innovative things they did the typical bureaucratic thing. They tried to smack it down. The issues with the postal service are really about policy, not politics. The constitution speaks to the service directly and we have to accept that at times it will COST not make money. Fact of life. I still say that under a half dollar to deliver a first class letter across the nation is a good bargain but the service is also going to have to agree to revamp the entire thing or they are going to be broke and laid off. The constitution speaks to the service itself but it does not say it could not be subcontracted out. It will be interesting to see how it works out. I do think sooner or later you will have to pay a fee for home delivery of mail. It may not be right or popular but I think it is coming. If it stanches the rising costs of parcels it may be worth the trade off. As mentioned with eBay and other etailing being a dominant force there has to be a good opportunity to capture that market by default. I hope it works out well for everyone. Saturday delivery? I like it if something is coming I ordered. Otherwise Monday is good enough.

Cheers, Todd

Here, here.

 

[ras120]

I do think sooner or later you will have to pay a fee for home delivery of mail.

You already do. It's called postage.

I know everybody is reading the entire article, right? Specifically, this paragraph:

But change is not the biggest factor in the agency's predicament — Congress is. The majority of the service's red ink comes from a 2006 law forcing it to pay about $5.5 billion a year into future retiree health benefits, something no other agency does. Without that payment — $11.1 billion in a two-year installment last year — and related labor expenses, the mail agency sustained an operating loss of $2.4 billion for the past fiscal year, lower than the previous year.

 

[Kentos]

Yeah, but unfortunately, $2 billion isn't even a drop in the bucket. Since 2007, are National Debt has risen an average of $3.87 billion.....A DAY........There's no real savings here for the good of our country.

Darn, 3.87 a day?

 

[DC_MPA]

Yup it's dumb, no first class letters but dang it, we will have them deliver parcels. Seriously?! No money will be saved with that logic. Big surprise from our ignorant government!

 

[tubaguy]

This is coming from a carrier's perspective, but not representative in any way of the USPS.
I think cutting Satuday from the USPS is a horrid idea. The reason behind this, is that not only are they cutting the service, which would have an effect on my job, but they would have to completely redesign the service they have. I know for one part of the carriers (I'm on the Rural side; the City side is different) the USPS would have to figure out a COMPLETELY different way of figuring out how long a route takes.
The proposed idea is just about as dumb as it can get. They will have the carriers sorting out their mail, have the office open, and deliver Priority packages on Saturday; the only cut is that first class and below won't be delivered. Really? I hope that someone wakes up and realizes what a bad idea it is before causing the issues.
I think there's a fix that basically EVERYBODY can agree on; change postal retirement to a 401K. Retirement is where the USPS is losing TONS of money.
Turtle, with all respect, I agree that the bulk business mail can be annoying, but it REALLY helps keep the mail service afloat. There is A LOT of it to make up for any loss the USPS has had. What would maybe be good to do, is make it where you can pay a service fee to not receive these mailings, maybe.
Another issue is that congress won't let the USPS modernize. There are a lot of cool things that some European mail services do, that the USPS doesn't.
Just my few cents...

 

[Phog Allen]

You already do. It's called postage.

I know everybody is reading the entire article, right? Specifically, this paragraph:

But change is not the biggest factor in the agency's predicament — Congress is. The majority of the service's red ink comes from a 2006 law forcing it to pay about $5.5 billion a year into future retiree health benefits, something no other agency does. Without that payment — $11.1 billion in a two-year installment last year — and related labor expenses, the mail agency sustained an operating loss of $2.4 billion for the past fiscal year, lower than the previous year.

Postage? I never thought of that. Okay, let say it this way. I think you will pay an additional fee for the service. Right or wrong I think it is coming.

Cheers, Todd

 

[oc_in_fw]

In 2008, USPS was forced to pre-fund 75 years of pension, costing them $5 billion a year. No private industry has ever been forced to such a thing before or since.