USPS to end Saturday mail

[Deberg_1990]

RIP....



http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...to-trim-costs/




The U.S. Postal Service plans to announce Wednesday that it will end Saturday mail delivery, in one of the most significant steps taken to date to cut costs at the struggling agency.

A source familiar with the decision confirmed the plan to Fox News.

Under the proposal, the Postal Service will continue to deliver packages six days a week. The plan, which is aimed at saving about $2 billion, would start to take effect in August.

The move accentuates one of the agency's strong points -- package delivery has increased by 14 percent since 2010, officials say, while the delivery of letters and other mail has declined with the increasing use of email and other Internet use.

Under the new plan, mail would still be delivered to post office boxes on Saturdays. Post offices now open on Saturdays would remain open on Saturdays.

Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages -- and it repeatedly but unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to approve the move. Though an independent agency, the service gets no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control.

It was not immediately clear how the service could eliminate Saturday mail without congressional approval.

But the agency clearly thinks it has a majority of the American public on its side regarding the change.

Material prepared for the Wednesday press conference by Patrick R. Donahoe, postmaster general and CEO, says Postal Service market research and other research has indicated that nearly 7 in 10 Americans support the switch to five-day delivery as a way for the Postal Service to reduce costs

[JASONSAUTO]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

If your post didn't say "posted via mobile device" I might have thought you were the oldest person on Earth. Checks? No way you're real. You actually write a check, put it in an envelope, pay for a stamp, and mail it? Even my grandparents stopped doing that.

That is exactly what I do.
Posted via Mobile Device

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

That is exactly what I do.
Posted via Mobile Device

Why?

[JASONSAUTO]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

Why?

I like to do it that way.

I don't even manage my accounts on line. No auto pay. I like to be the only person with access to my money
Posted via Mobile Device

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

I like to do it that way.

I don't even manage my accounts on line. No auto pay. I like to be the only person with access to my money
Posted via Mobile Device

Um, by being the only one with the control of payment parameters you would be the only person with access to your money

[HonestChieffan]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

I like to do it that way.

I don't even manage my accounts on line. No auto pay. I like to be the only person with access to my money
Posted via Mobile Device

Dont feel like the Lone Ranger. No Online Banking, still write checks, and dont do PayPal or Ebay

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Mi_chief_fan

I can't even imagine the crazy ideas that must be going on in your head.

[ClevelandBronco]

We could probably make do with twice a week delivery. The USPS isn't an essential daily service in the digital age.

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

I like to do it that way.

I don't even manage my accounts on line. No auto pay. I like to be the only person with access to my money
Posted via Mobile Device

I know what you mean. That's why I still commute on a horse. So many things can go wrong with one of them fancy automobiles.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

I know what you mean. That's why I still commute on a horse. So many things can go wrong with one of them fancy automobiles.

He probably knows it as a "horseless carriage."

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

We could probably make do with twice a week delivery. The USPS isn't an essential daily service in the digital age.

Mail carriers would probably be able to do about 10 houses at a time, before going back to the truck, from all the junk mail.

[Pants]

This is why the USPS is broke:

I sold an item on Amazon a month ago and had to ship to the middle of nowhere in Ohio. UPS charge = $18.96. USPS charge = $4. How much money did the post office lose on that?

[RubberSponge]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

We could probably make do with twice a week delivery. The USPS isn't an essential daily service in the digital age.

[Guru]

Originally Posted by Bwana

Hey, if it makes you feel any better, that area is under about 7 feet of snow right now.

you bastard. Got room for a family of 6 to spend a week with ya?

[chiefzilla1501]

this is anothet one of those debates where we pit the private sector vs the public sector. But don't understand how both sectors rely on each other.

Not every small business has capital to build sophisticated online systems. Many rely on postal mail to get or send checks and to send bills and letters. Gutting postal mail hurts small business and favors big business with capital to invest in high tech systems.

Secondly... From a junk mail standpoint its interesting to hear people call it that. Just so you know, junk mail is a cheap way for businesses to promote themselves. You take away postal mail, and you cripple businesses by taking away a promotional challenge. And yes, contrary to popular belief, many companies do in fact get great results from mail marketing. And no, email lessens the need for mail marketing but it definitely does not replace it. Here are advantages to both.

So... Again. I agree the we need to make the postal service more efficient. But let's not over dramatize how unimportant it is.

[luv]

It's a matter of Congress (not sure what it would be called...a bill, a decree (lol), I don't think it's law) that the mail is delivered six days per week. It would be a work of Congress to change it to five. If they're actually going to do something, why don't they considered the petitions made by the NALC to recalculate how much prepayment goes into the employee benefit program. The numbers are based on 2006 employment, which is much higher than it is now. Why don't they accept the offer of employees paying for 3% more of their health insurance (sounds small but would be huge overall)? The Postmaster General is trying to create a loophole in the six day delivery by saying that packages will still be delivered on Saturdays, thus something is being delivered six days per week.

I asked my dad how this would affect him and the post office in general. He's retiring 2/28/14. He's eligible to retire in October, but he likes delivering through the holidays. Anyway, he said they would probably offer to pay him to retire early. There are a few thorns he would have to deal with due to retiring before October, but he would do it if it meant saving someone with less seniority's job. What? Saving a job? Yeah, he predicts about 50,000 jobs will be lost nationwide due to this. So, which are you going to bitch about now, the unemployment rate or people applying for unemployment benefits?

On a personal note. I work in the legal field. It's going to suck ass to not have Saturday delivery. Not that anyone is in the office to receive the mail on Saturday, but it's nice to put something in the mail before leaving Friday knowing it will get picked up Saturday, thus cutting two days off the time it will take to get there (if I would have to wait until Monday to mail it).