Postal service may stop Saturday service, private couriers more efficient!!

[socialize_me]

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2009/01/26/daily39.html


Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night is supposed to keep postal workers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. But, the large budget deficit facing the U.S. Postal Service just might.

Postmaster General John Potter told lawmakers on Wednesday that his agency may be forced to reduce mail delivery by one day a week.

In testimony for a congressional panel, Potter asked for an end to the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week.

A big part of the problem is a decline in mail volume as customers use e-mail for personal and business correspondence, and private courier services overtake the post office’s overnight delivery.

In 2008, the U.S. Postal Service delivered 202 billion envelopes and parcels, a drop of more than 9 billion items from the year before. That helped create a deficit of about $2.8 billion – and that could more than double for the current fiscal year, Potter told a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.

"It is possible that the cost of six-day delivery may simply prove to be unaffordable," he said.

Potter told legislators that skipping delivery on the lightest-volume days could cut processing, distribution and delivery costs. Savings estimates range from $2 billion to $3.5 billion.

:cool: Kinda sucks and tells you that things are bad when the USPS has to cease Saturday service for the first time in who knows how long...

[Matt Collins]

Maybe they'll sever the ties between the USPS and the federal government (might take a Constitutional amendment) and therefore force competition in the paper delivery business.

[phill4paul]

Who'da thunk that private business's would have better business models.

It is a government subsidized monopoly for the sole reason of allowing politicians, credit card companies, insurance agencies etc. to endlessly spam Americans with propaganda at the public's expense. I mean come on, why do they have the special bulk rate for these organizations. How many Americans actually use this service except for sending a Hallmark? They could drop to zero deliveries for all I care.

[SamuraisWisdom]

Actually back in the day there were a couple of postal services that competed with the federal one. Eventually, the feds outlawed the private businesses as they were doing better than theirs lol go figure. :rolleyes:

[ryanduff]

The only thing that moves through USPS fast is commercial junk mail. Thats all they deliver. If you send anything first class, or even priority mail, its bottom of the pile. I've had things sent priority mail (2-3 day) and take 4 days... from a town 2 hours away. I've had letters sent from my relatives an hour away, postmarked and sent 3 days before they get here. This shouldn't be happening.

90% of the mail I get is junk, bulk mail. They're basically keeping the USPS in business. If credit card companies and mail order companies stopped sending mail, the USPS would go out of business really fast. They need to go back to their priorities and if that meant getting mail delivery every other day, so be it. I don't get that much stuff anyway.

I use UPS for any package I send. I've had issues with FedEX and DHL just ceased all Domestic (US) delivery. There aren't many options. UPS has its issues, but overall, they're better than FedEX and way better than UPS. There are things I've sent cheaper via UPS ground to somewhere in a 1 day zone and it's gotten there faster than the USPS can deliver priority mail at a higher rate... no wonder nobody uses them!

[tnvoter]

Japan just recently privatized their mail for free market reasons. :)

[Ex Post Facto]

I look forward to most of the government shutting down.