Postal Service details Saturday delivery cuts

[uniquebaseballcards]

Always a popular topic here...here's an update.

Cutting Saturday mail deliveries would save the U.S. Postal Service $3.3 billion in its first year and about $5.1 billion annually by 2020 and would mean eliminating the equivalent of 49,000 full- and part-time jobs, officials said Monday as they prepared to file their plans with postal regulators.

Letter carriers would stop delivering mail to American homes and businesses and would not pick up mail from blue collection boxes on Saturdays, officials said. Post offices would stay open on Saturdays and mail would be delivered to post office boxes. Mail accepted at post offices on Saturday would be processed on Monday. Express mail and remittance mail services also would continue seven days a week.

Saturday delivery cuts probably would not occur until March 2011 at the earliest. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fe...tal_service_details_saturda.html?hpid=topnews

 

[Erich]

I am fine with it AS LONG as they stop jacking up the price of mailing something.

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

I am fine with it AS LONG as they stop jacking up the price of mailing something.

They lose money every year...their prices should be a lot higher than they are currently.

 

[Erich]

I am fine with it AS LONG as they stop jacking up the price of mailing something.

They lose money every year...their prices should be a lot higher than they are currently.

That is my point. If they stop the bleeding called Saturday delivery maybe they can stop raising prices every year.

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

I am fine with it AS LONG as they stop jacking up the price of mailing something.

They lose money every year...their prices should be a lot higher than they are currently.

That is my point. If they stop the bleeding called Saturday delivery maybe they can stop raising prices every year.

The "bleeding" will only be bandaged by cutting Saturday delivery. The entire concept and pricing structure of the post office is a huge bleeder. Rates will still have to go up.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Yes, cutting Saturday delivery will not solve all of the USPS' woes. The article goes on to say:

Emphasizing "five days of delivery, six days of service," Postmaster General John E. Potter said Saturday cuts are one of the greatest potential savings for the mail agency as it faces declining mail volumes and a $238 billion cumulative deficit by 2020.

I am fine with it AS LONG as they stop jacking up the price of mailing something.

They lose money every year...their prices should be a lot higher than they are currently.

That is my point. If they stop the bleeding called Saturday delivery maybe they can stop raising prices every year.

The "bleeding" will only be bandaged by cutting Saturday delivery. The entire concept and pricing structure of the post office is a huge bleeder. Rates will still have to go up.

 

[kuggy2]

do not fool yourself.... prices are still going to go up.....we are just going to lose jobs and the public will lose the saturday delivery

 

[RL24]

This is what happens when the gov't tries to run a business. Just wait until you see what they will do with our health insurance.

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

This is what happens when the gov't tries to run a business. Just wait until you see what they will do with our health insurance.

Of course, you are well aware that the government run Post Office is part of the Constitution correct. And it hasn't received Federal Tax dollars for decades.

The post office and health care are completely unrelated.

 

[leatherman]

The worst part about this for me is that I use USPS Express Mail for my Saturday deliveries because it is so much cheaper than anyone else. If I want to send a leather sample to a customer who wants it overnight to arrive on Saturday, it costs me $18.30 to use USPS Express Mail, but over $40 to use either UPS or FedEx.

d

 

[masonphillip]

This is what happens when the gov't tries to run a business. Just wait until you see what they will do with our health insurance.

Of course, you are well aware that the government run Post Office is part of the Constitution correct. And it hasn't received Federal Tax dollars for decades.

The post office and health care are completely unrelated.

You are right about the Post Office being in the constitution but as far as them being completely unrelated...

The Post Office operates under lots and lots of government regulation...as it pertains to how it pays its workforce, services it can offer etc...without the flexibility to make changes as the economy/world changes the post office has fallen behind and now offers an out of date service, to a degree.

The Health Care industry is going to trend that same way with the recent bill...what it can and can't do will be more and more regulated and it will be harder for any flexibility to happen. So I think there are some parallels.

The worst part about this for me is that I use USPS Express Mail for my Saturday deliveries because it is so much cheaper than anyone else. If I want to send a leather sample to a customer who wants it overnight to arrive on Saturday, it costs me $18.30 to use USPS Express Mail, but over $40 to use either UPS or FedEx.

d

I believe they lose money on their express mail service and have done this just to try and undercut UPS and Fedex's business (which hasn't been successful either), so that's why its so cheap...its a losing proposition for them that you can benefit from

 

[shephech]

Wish we had Saturday mail in Canada... I am not sure when we stopped with Saturday mail service...

Shep :ugeek:

EDIT: it's ok though... just makes for a bigger mailday come Monday

 

[Johan Santana 57]

The worst part about this for me is that I use USPS Express Mail for my Saturday deliveries because it is so much cheaper than anyone else. If I want to send a leather sample to a customer who wants it overnight to arrive on Saturday, it costs me $18.30 to use USPS Express Mail, but over $40 to use either UPS or FedEx.

d

I think it said Express mail is OK, so you should be fine.

Tom

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

You are right about the Post Office being in the constitution but as far as them being completely unrelated...

The Post Office operates under lots and lots of government regulation...as it pertains to how it pays its workforce, services it can offer etc...without the flexibility to make changes as the economy/world changes the post office has fallen behind and now offers an out of date service, to a degree.

The Health Care industry is going to trend that same way with the recent bill...what it can and can't do will be more and...

Let's not forget the straight business of it all.

The entire concept and pricing of the Post Office is a money loser, health care is not. It's a dead industry, with virtually no growth potential...health care is not.

Any speculation that the health care industry will trend this way is simply speculation and nothing more. It holds no more water that speculating that death will be cured by Obama.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

+1 USPS is supposed to go to places where private mail carriers could never afford to go in order to ensure people all around the country could always have postal service.

Let's not forget the straight business of it all.

The entire concept and pricing of the Post Office is a money loser, health care is not. It's a dead industry, with virtually no growth potential...health care is not.

Any speculation that the health care industry will trend this way is simply speculation and nothing more. It holds no more water that speculating that death will be cured by Obama.

 

[leatherman]

The worst part about this for me is that I use USPS Express Mail for my Saturday deliveries because it is so much cheaper than anyone else. If I want to send a leather sample to a customer who wants it overnight to arrive on Saturday, it costs me $18.30 to use USPS Express Mail, but over $40 to use either UPS or FedEx.

d

I think it said Express mail is OK, so you should be fine.

Tom

You're right in that the article says the service will continue, however I seriously doubt they would continue Saturday service without the substantial "Saturday Delivery" surcharge that UPS and FedEx charge.

db

 

[masonphillip]

You are right about the Post Office being in the constitution but as far as them being completely unrelated...

The Post Office operates under lots and lots of government regulation...as it pertains to how it pays its workforce, services it can offer etc...without the flexibility to make changes as the economy/world changes the post office has fallen behind and now offers an out of date service, to a degree.

The Health Care industry is going to trend that same way with the recent bill...what it can and can't do will be more and...

Let's not forget the straight business of it all.

The entire concept and pricing of the Post Office is a money loser, health care is not. It's a dead industry, with virtually no growth potential...health care is not.

Any speculation that the health care industry will trend this way is simply speculation and nothing more. It holds no more water that speculating that death will be cured by Obama.

Speculation that the healthcare industry will become more heavily regulated and less flexible? I don't think that's speculation unless they aren't going to implement what was just signed into law.

No doubt that the post office's mandates, like delivering mail everywhere (not just profitable areas) hurt it some but I still maintain it wouldn't be bleeding like it is did it not operate under so many mandates with so much oversight. The other thing that has really killed the post office is the huge retiree expenses they have, similar to the auto industry.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Sundays suck because theres no mail. now weekends as a whole will suck

 

[f2tornado]

Sundays suck because theres no mail. now weekends as a whole will suck

Good excuse to get a PO box. Not only does the post office save money by cutting Saturday service but they are likely to generate additional income by filling plenty of POB vacancies for folks still wanting Saturday mail.

One would think the post office would be increasing rates to avoid such severe losses. When ESPN wants more money from my cable provider my bill goes up pretty damn quick. It shouldn't be that hard to tack on a few cents for a stamp. Gas station owners know how to make price adjustments pretty damn fast. The USPS is a fine example of federal bureaucracy run amok. It does provide a very cheap essential service but adapts at a tortoise pace.

Yes, there are some health care parallels. When USPS runs out of money they raise rates and cut service (Sat delivery). When the government runs out of money to subsidize insurance plans then covered services will be reduced or people will do without the plan do to increasing expense. When Medicare payments do not adequately reimburse doctors for services rendered then doctors stop taking additional Medicare patients. Insurance is only as good as the provider willing to accept it as payment. The doc will always take cash. I wish my employer would just pay me the extra $6k a year instead of paying for my policy so I could buy a high deductible policy for a third the price and toss the rest into savings. I'm not sure this will even be allowable with the new law without paying a "fine". Insurance was meant for big ticket items and not a door ding on a car or a random doctor visit. This is a major driver in cost. I'm not 100% opposed to the health care reform package but am not happy it essentially limits my options rather than expanding them. It does nothing to facilitate interstate competition and very little to expand the pool of doctors needed to take on 30M patients, many of whom are probably not in the best shape to begin with.

 

[mwheeler27]

The post office and health care are completely unrelated.

WHAT??? :shock:

They are both either run by the government now, or will be soon. They are both very much related in that context. To say they are "completely unrelated" is simply not true.