U.S. may lose Saturday mail delivery..

[jkwest]

clicky

Massive deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery per week, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday.

Postmaster General John E. Potter asked lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week.

Faced with dwindling mail volume and rising costs, the post office was $2.8 billion in the red last year and, “if current trends continue, we could experience a net loss of $6 billion or more this fiscal year,” Potter said in testimony for a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

Total mail volume was 202 billion items last year, more than 9 billion less than the year before, the largest single volume drop in history.

And, despite annual rate increases, Potter said 2009 could be the first year since 1946 that the actual amount of money collected by the post office declines.

“It is possible that the cost of six-day delivery may simply prove to be unaffordable,” Potter said. “I reluctantly request that Congress remove the annual appropriation bill rider, first added in 1983, that requires the Postal Service to deliver mail six days each week.”

If the change is made, that doesn’t necessarily mean an end to Saturday mail delivery. Previous studies have looked at the possibility of skipping some other day, such as Tuesday.

“The ability to suspend delivery on the lightest delivery days, for example, could save dollars in both our delivery and our processing and distribution networks. I do not make this request lightly, but I am forced to consider every option given the severity of our challenge,” Potter said.

That doesn’t mean it would happen right away, he noted, adding that the agency is working to cut costs and any final decision on changing delivery would have to be made by the postal governing board.

If it did become necessary to go to five-day delivery, Potter said, “we would do this by suspending delivery on the lightest volume days.”

The Postal Service raised the issue of cutting back on days of service last fall in a study it issued. At that time the agency said the six-day rule should be eliminated, giving the post office, “the flexibility to meet future needs for delivery frequency.

A study done by George Mason University last year for the independent Postal Regulatory Commission estimated that going from six-day to five-day delivery would save the post office more than $1.9 billion annually, while a Postal Service study estimated the saving at $3.5 billion.

The next postal rate increase is scheduled for May, with the amount to be announced next month. Under current rules that would be limited to the amount of the increase in last year’s consumer price index, 3.8 percent. That would round to a 2-cent increase in the current 42-cent first class rate.

The agency could request a larger increase because of the special circumstances, but Potter believes that would be counterproductive by causing mail volume to fall even more.

[Forrestandjen07]

Some one beat you to it

[jkwest]

d'oh!! by 7 minutes...I didn't even click on it because I thought it was just about Netflix...oh well...

[Forrestandjen07]

Originally Posted by jkwest

d'oh!! by 7 minutes...I didn't even click on it because I thought it was just about Netflix...oh well...

yea Me2, but i figgured what the heck, what else is netflix up to now

turns out its just the mail company

[xtop]

i prefer the correct title, so i'll post here

but man..no saturday mail would suck. is cutting out one day really going to matter that much?

[Teabaggins]

you people need to learn how to read before posting. you guys have the attention span of a gnat

[Forrestandjen07]

Originally Posted by Teabaggins

you people need to learn how to read before posting. you guys have the attention span of a gnat

nah, we saw a title here refering more to the us postal service

rather as your title, seemed more geered twards netflix

[Septimus Prime]

Great. So now do not only banks barely open on the one day when most people can use their services, the post office is also on that stupid shit.

Here's an idea: Cut hours on weekdays and then open full-time on the weekend, when people actually have time to go there.

And, oh look, another rate increase. Fantastic.

[MountainBlu]

That's funny that others thought about Netflix when they saw this thread title. (Thats what I thought about too) Five days a week mail would screw up getting two movies a week for me.

[Teabaggins]

Originally Posted by Forrestandjen07

nah, we saw a title here refering more to the us postal service

rather as your title, seemed more geered twards netflix

I was referring to the fact that it might not even be saturday that is cut off.

jesus

[jkwest]

Originally Posted by Teabaggins

you people need to learn how to read before posting. you guys have the attention span of a gnat

sorry, hobbitboy...your title threw me off...

[jw]

Thats cool with me, but most people dont realize mail still moves even on Sunday. I have mailed things Friday and even Saturday to CA and they have arrived one Monday. Where they lose alot of money is most postal workers are unionized......Look at the Automakers, thats the problem with most big American companies. There are clerks that have been there for a long tenure almost making 6 figures, I see a problem with that to a degree, however kudos to the employee

[DetroitSportsFan]

The price we pay for postage is under the model of a six day schedule of delivery. So for only 5 days, the price of postage should go down, but we know it won't.

[Forrestandjen07]

Originally Posted by Teabaggins

I was referring to the fact that it might not even be saturday that is cut off.

jesus

But it never really officially stated that it wasnt a saturday either

jesus

[Teabaggins]

Originally Posted by Teabaggins

I was referring to the fact that it might not even be saturday that is cut off.

jesus

which means that the Op didn't even bother reading the entire piece before posting it..........

maybe too much blu-ray fries the brain

[Forrestandjen07]

Originally Posted by Teabaggins

which means that the Op didn't even bother reading the entire piece before posting it..........

maybe too much blu-ray fries the brain

You qouted, and responded to yourself?

[jkwest]

Originally Posted by Teabaggins

maybe too much blu-ray fries the brain

Originally Posted by Forrestandjen07

You qouted, and responded to yourself?

see...

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Forrestandjen07

You qouted, and responded to yourself?

The voices... he can't stop the voices....

[Teabaggins]

I figured I'd clarify and try to make it as simple as possible

[My_Two_Cents]

What's the big deal? Just add another line to the current "stimulus" bill and throw money at them. Problem solved.

Maybe it's time to consider privatizing US mail?