TELL US: No Mail Delivery on Saturday? Does That Matter to You?
To save money, the US Postal Service is seeking to end mail delivery of letters on Saturday. Do you support this idea?
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The financially-troubled US Postal Service announced Wednesday that in order to save $2 billion annually, it would seek to end the traditional delivery of the Saturday mail beginning in August.
Packages would still be delivered. Mail addressed to PO Boxes will still be delivered on Saturdays. Post Offices currently open on Saturdays will remain open on Saturdays. But advertisements, bills and birthday cards destined for street addresses would be held until Monday.
The reasons are continued economic struggles and the increasing use of the Internet for communications and bill paying by consumers. The U.S. Postal Service is also the only federal agency required to pre-fund health benefits for retirees, and the costs are escalating quickly.
At the Middletown Post Office on Route 35, the news took Katherine Valdez of Middletown by surprise. "I look forward to my Saturday mail," said Valdez, as she packed up a box for her sister in Queens, NY. "I think it will have a big impact, but we're going to have to see. "
What do you think?
LGA
9:23 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
This just cost the loss of 5 full time jobs at my company. Saturday and Monday are our biggest mail days. I have employees that work on Saturdays that process and open our mail ( we are a medical billing company) Without Saturday mail, there is no need for these positions. Even with double the volume on Mondays, my staff is more then able to handle the volume without adding positions. That means 5 full time employes will now be reduced to part time. Tuesday and Wednesdays are our lowest volume days. If the USPS wants to save money, they should stop the waste. The decorative mailers, the passport covers, 100s of different stamp designs, xmas items and all the other juck they "sell" that no one buys. That stuff all costs money to design, manafacture & ship, and no one ever buys it. The Matawan post office was still selling 2009 xmas stuff at a discount. Run it like a business or let a private company take it over.
Geekworking
11:07 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Watch out what you wish for. If they ran it like a business all of the prices would instantly double or triple and you still would not get Saturday service.
Just look at current market competitive carriers like UPS & FedEx. Their prices average 2-3 times more than the USPS and Saturday delivery will run you an extra $15.
commonman
9:35 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Why would I miss 1 day of junk in my mailbox they should go to 3 days a week. Its time this country moved foward and leverges the technology avaiable to us and phase out these obsolete institutions that are a drain on our tax dollars
commonman
9:39 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
LGA sounds like it will be more efficent for your company which is the goal of any company unless ur a GOVT agency which wants to bleed the taxpayers to death
LGA
12:39 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
It may be more efficient, but unlike most employers i try to keep my employees off unemployment and keep jobs here in NJ. Most of competitors outsource these types of jobs to India. I pay my people decently, give them health benefits and such. If i can take 5 people with minimum skills and give then a full time job with benefits just to process my incoming mail then I'm able to sleep knowing I'm helping. Despite a 12% increase employment taxes, 24% increase in Health Insurance and increases in other areas, i have never laid off an employee or denied any one insurance. With no mail on Saturday, I will not have anything for these people to do on Saturdays, they will loose their full time hours. We process almost 8000 pieces of mail on Saturdays alone. By Monday morning the mail is opened, sorted, scanned and ready for deposit Monday morning. Most Insurance companies run checks Thursday or Friday and I get them on Saturday and Monday. if the postal service ran more efficiently, they wouldn't have to cut back on services.
I was in the post office this morning, and they are out of $.01 stamps. Knowing there was a price increase of $.01, you would think they would have plenty of stamps on hand. Inefficient + bureaucratic + outdated = USPS
commonman
9:44 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Its like having a toll collector when the technology is there for electronic collections at a fraction of the cost. I do agree its not easy for the people who lose thir jobs I myself am in a similar situation but it the interest of what is best for us as a society as a whole its the right thing to do
ckent
1:20 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Maybe the USPS could save some dough with better mail carriers. I always see them parked at their homes for long periods of time. Makes me wonder why I don't get my mail until 5:30pm. And I'll bet these guys are racking up their overtime too. Just a thought.
marylou
1:50 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Most employers allow their employees to take meal breaks,coffee breaks,and to use the bathroom.Several years ago,1 of his neighbor's reported my husband's delivery man for having the company truck in his driveway for about an hr. a few days per week around 12PM.Guess why.
bd
5:32 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
the fact that this marylou/babaloo has an anecdotal story for EVERY single topic/thread makes me believe not a single one of them.....................
Publius
2:33 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
This is just a math problem. If expenses are higher than income, you've got to start cutting expenses. It's that simple. The other choice is the one the current resident of the White House prefers - raising taxes.
commonman
7:03 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Who even uses the post office anymore I haven't been in 5 years if ur under 65 and still mail things ur a maniac it's the year 2013. Not 1913 what could u possibly need the USPS for that email or fed ex can't do it's insane and the cost to pay someone to deliver 2lbs of paper everyday that I throw straight in the garbage is crazy ibdontbeven look at it everything electronic now
LGA
1:02 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
Businesses use it all the time. Most insurance companies do not accept electronic claims or pay their vendors via ACH. Only the big companies like Aetna, BCBS and United use electronic claims. NJM, Allstate, GEICO and the like make you submit paper claims.