USPS to cut Sat delivery starting August

[Doppel]

http://news.yahoo.com/postal-seeks-end-saturday-mail-delivery-132211069--sector.html?.b=

About time. I expect they will eventually drop more days, maybe Thursdays in a decade or so? So much mail is a waste of paper. They are doing a lot more package work but will increasingly compete with other carriers in that space.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Bummer but I can't blame them at all. Basically Netflix is the only thing I use the mail for nowadays.

 

[waggy]

Bummer but I can't blame them at all. Basically Netflix is the only thing I use the mail for nowadays.

pretty much.

bills and netflix. I get the bills and pay online.

hell even junkmail is far less then it used to be.

 

[Ausm]

pretty much.

bills and netflix. I get the bills and pay online.

hell even junkmail is far less then it used to be.

Go green with e-bills!

 

[HendrixFan]

The only reason they are struggling is that Congress asked them to prefund the next 70 years of USPS worker retirements. At a cost of $5B per year (of which they have been making full payments) they have little left over for modernizing and restructuring their operations. Without that ridiculous requirement the USPS would still be in the black and still be doing Saturday deliveries.

 

[Alex C]

The only reason they are struggling is that Congress asked them to prefund the next 70 years of USPS worker retirements. At a cost of $5B per year (of which they have been making full payments) they have little left over for modernizing and restructuring their operations. Without that ridiculous requirement the USPS would still be in the black and still be doing Saturday deliveries.

Yup.

Either way though, mail on Saturday isn't really essential.

 

[HendrixFan]

Yup.

Either way though, mail on Saturday isn't really essential.

Maybe. It does differentiate them from the competition and if they hadn't been pushed towards bankruptcy by Congress then they would be able to profitably deliver on Saturdays.

 

[waggy]

Go green with e-bills!

I have tried. My propane and garbage send bills monthly!

 

[Londo_Jowo]

It's about time. They could drop Wednesdays too.

The next thing they need to do is charge company's full price for junk mail/mailings.

 

[HendrixFan]

It's about time. They could drop Wednesdays too.

The next thing they need to do is charge company's full price for junk mail/mailings.

Junk mail already heavily subsidizes first class mail.

 

[NoStateofMind]

It's about time. They could drop Wednesdays too.

The next thing they need to do is charge company's full price for junk mail/mailings.

Move snail mail to 3 days a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. (heard on radio and makes sense to me). Not many things come in the mail that I care about and I'm sure thats an ever growing reality. USPS needs to get with the times.

 

[LegendKiller]

The only reason they are struggling is that Congress decided to raid the only profitable branch of the government by "prefunding" the next 70 years of USPS worker retirements. At a cost of $5B per year (of which they have been making full payments) they have little left over for modernizing and restructuring their operations. Without that ridiculous requirement the USPS would still be in the black and still be doing Saturday deliveries.

Fixed this for you.

 

[88keys]

It's a shame. All of the infrastructure that this country once built is now crumbling by the hand of the corporate bought politicians we have today.

 

[blankslate]

You can blame the poison pill passed in the might 2000 aughts which required the Postal Service to completely fund Pensions for up to the next 70 years or so in the space of a 10 years
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/five-things/the-u-s-postal-service/11433/

Operationally speaking, the USPS nets profits every year.

The financial problem it faces now comes from a 2006 Congressional mandate that requires the agency to “pre-pay” into a fund that covers health care costs for future retired employees. Under the mandate, the USPS is required to make an annual $5.5 billion payment over ten years, through 2016.

These “prepayments” are largely responsible for the USPS’s financial losses over the past four years and the threat of shutdown that looms ahead – take the retirement fund out of the equation, and the postal service would have actually netted $1 billion in profits over this period.

Of course the prepayments are not the only factor. Revenues have been declining over recent years for the post office however, when you look at a $5.5 billion payment per year over 10 years it's not hard to see how that is a major anchor dragging the USPS under.

 

[TheSiege]

I always had the opinion of creating a large facility or maybe more depending on the city size and giving every home a PO box. And certain people could apply for home delivery i.e. elderly or crippled or handicapped. And then you could go and check your mail at your convenience. It would reduce the cost of fuel and labor. The only initial cost would be larger facilities.

 

[NoStateofMind]

I always had the opinion of creating a large facility or maybe more depending on the city size and giving every home a PO box. And certain people could apply for home delivery i.e. elderly or crippled or handicapped. And then you could go and check your mail at your convenience. It would reduce the cost of fuel and labor. The only initial cost would be larger facilities.

Thats really not a bad idea at all for regular mail. Packages could become cumbersome though if its a city like NYC.

 

[Sonikku]

Obama strikes again.

 

[todpod]

It always amazed me that if you went to the post office to pick up your mail the charge you a box fee, but they will deliver it to your house for no charge, either paying a postal worker or around here a private carrier.

Then around here there are numerous little post offices serving very few people that employ a post master to sort mail for a half hour and not do much the rest of the day. The northern part of the county probably has maybe 2 or 3 thousand people and has at least 5 maybe six post offices

 

[michal1980]

Obama strikes again.

this has little to do with Obama.


But congress and Obama could fix a lot of usps problems if the stupidity disease didn't get ahold of all of them

 

[Ausm]

this has little to do with Obama.


But congress and Obama could fix a lot of usps problems if the stupidity disease didn't get ahold of all of them

Do you know why the USPS has slowly became insolvent?

 

[lakedude]

It always amazed me that if you went to the post office to pick up your mail the charge you a box fee, but they will deliver it to your house for no charge, either paying a postal worker or around here a private carrier.

Then around here there are numerous little post offices serving very few people that employ a post master to sort mail for a half hour and not do much the rest of the day. The northern part of the county probably has maybe 2 or 3 thousand people and has at least 5 maybe six post offices

True enough but have you ever seen what happens if they try to close a post office? People scream bloody murder and write their congresspersons.

Even though the Post Office has been separate from the government and does not rely on tax dollars they still have a ton of rules and laws to deal with. They don't have the freedom to just close under performing offices like a private business could.

This is partly because of "Universal Delivery" mandating that the USPS deliver pretty much everywhere to everybody even if they live in the middle of nowhere. Also I believe there are other rules like maybe if a Post Office is the only significant building in a little town it must stay open or some such (could be wrong on that one).

Does seem odd that you get charged to come pick mail up. UPS has a similar setup. They want money for some kind of club called " UPS My Choice Premium" that will let you pick up a package at their Retail UPS Store rather than have it delivered. Of course you can pick a package up at their Customer Center anyway after enough failed delivery attempts.

 

[todpod]

A few years ago with E-911 the counties local counties started to actually giving out real address like 123 west pine rd, instead of RD 3 Box 99, you should have saw the stink that caused with the people losing there identity

 

[dabuddha]

I always had the opinion of creating a large facility or maybe more depending on the city size and giving every home a PO box. And certain people could apply for home delivery i.e. elderly or crippled or handicapped. And then you could go and check your mail at your convenience. It would reduce the cost of fuel and labor. The only initial cost would be larger facilities.

Yeah I really want to wait for 4+ hours to pickup my mail. That sounds like the DMV but 1000 times worse lol

 

[Brainonska511]

True enough but have you ever seen what happens if they try to close a post office? People scream bloody murder and write their congresspersons. Even though the Post Office has been separate from the government and does not rely on tax dollars they still have a ton of rules and laws to deal with. They don't have the freedom to just close under performing offices like a private business could. This is partly because of "Universal Delivery" mandating that the USPS deliver pretty much everywhere to everybody even if they live in the middle of nowhere. Also I believe there are other rules like maybe if a Post Office is the only significant building in a little town it must stay open or some such (could be wrong on that one). Does seem odd that you get charged to come pick mail up. UPS has a similar setup. They want money for some kind of club called " UPS My Choice Premium" that will let you pick up a package at their Retail UPS Store rather than have it delivered. Of course you can pick a package up at their Customer Center anyway after enough failed delivery attempts.

True. But maybe we just want the USPS to make enough money through user-fees to mitigate its cost. It provides a valuable service to the people of this country. The value of a government service should not be based solely on how profitable it is. The problem is, Congress has crippled the USPS with its reforms and fails to take action that would allow the USPS to continue floating on its own (without tax dollars).

 

[TheSiege]

Yeah I really want to wait for 4+ hours to pickup my mail. That sounds like the DMV but 1000 times worse lol

It would be just like a PO box, you take your key an open your own box. There would be no postal employee involved at that point.