Amazon Opposes Plan To End Saturday USPS Mail Delivery

[Matt Collins]

"Online retailer giant Amazon.com has come out against a US Postal Service proposal to end Saturday service (http://techflash.com/seattle/2010/06/amazon_opposes_plan_end_to_saturday_us_mail_delive ry.html), part of efforts to address the USPS budget deficit. 'Amazon's customers have come to appreciate and expect Saturday delivery,' explained Amazon VP Paul Misener. 'If the five-day delivery proposal is not withdrawn,' he added, 'we ask that Congress ensure that Saturday delivery be maintained.' In the past, Amazon has argued that it should not have to help support public services (http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2990) in states in which it has no physical presence." The article adds, "Interestingly, online DVD service Netflix is backing the plan (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-23/netflix-backs-u-s-postal-service-saturday-delivery-cut.html) to end Saturday mail delivery, arguing that a 'well functioning' Postal Service is more important than 'maintaining current delivery frequency.'"


SOURCE:
http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/06/25/1248200/Amazon-Opposes-Plan-To-End-Saturday-Mail-Delivery

[Icymudpuppy]

Why can't Amazon use UPS or FEDEX for Saturday delivery? They have Saturday delivery.

[0zzy]

Why can't Amazon use UPS or FEDEX for Saturday delivery? They have Saturday delivery.

they do :). and sunday delivery too!

Amazon just doesn't want to lose money on the USPSubsidized market.

[Fox McCloud]

I'm betting Netflix, too, will come out swinging in favor of keeping Saturday delivery of mail.

In any event, we used to have 7-day delivery of mail , but you can thank a number of pastors for getting that one shot down....I'd love to see 7-day make a return...but, I doubt it'll ever happen.

[WaltM]

who the HELL would be for it?

Workers get less work, Americans get less mail, merchants get less business.

ONLY USPS on the employer level may see it as a reduction of cost (or some workers see it as a reduction of work assuming they're paid the same).

[angelatc]

I don't really care. I can live without getting mail on Saturday. The post office is so bleeping insane that I wish they'd just fold.

I have lived in about 10 different cities. Right now, I live in a fairly rural part of Michigan. Because of that, I am entitled to some free postal services that city folks have to pay for. The thing is, I live closer to a post office now than I ever did in any other city.

But the post office that is closest to me isn't my post office - oh, no. In fact, there are 3 post offices closer to me that "mine." So, when I get certified mail...if I'm not home, I have to drive past 3 post offices to get mine.

UPS and FedEx are both cheaper on heavy packages. I use them when I can.

[Matt Collins]

I'm betting Netflix, too, will come out swinging in favor of keeping Saturday delivery of mail.
Negative, read the comments at the link in the OP.

NetFlix will save almost 17% if the USPS cans Saturday delivery.

[specsaregood]

who the HELL would be for it?
Workers get less work, Americans get less mail, merchants get less business.


I'm for it, 90% of the mail I get is crap that gets thrown in the recycle bin immediately anyways. Hell, change it to 1 day a week and I'll be fine.

[Kregisen]

who the HELL would be for it?



The idea is cost-cutting. They're losing money so they're cutting costs and slimming down to try to turn a profit...if you're USPS and you only get 10 letters a day 7 days a week, but have the ability to mail 50 a day, obviously you aren't gonna use all 7 days.

[tremendoustie]

"Online retailer giant Amazon.com has come out against a US Postal Service proposal to end Saturday service (http://techflash.com/seattle/2010/06/amazon_opposes_plan_end_to_saturday_us_mail_delive ry.html), part of efforts to address the USPS budget deficit. 'Amazon's customers have come to appreciate and expect Saturday delivery,' explained Amazon VP Paul Misener. 'If the five-day delivery proposal is not withdrawn,' he added, 'we ask that Congress ensure that Saturday delivery be maintained.' In the past, Amazon has argued that it should not have to help support public services (http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2990) in states in which it has no physical presence." The article adds, "Interestingly, online DVD service Netflix is backing the plan (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-23/netflix-backs-u-s-postal-service-saturday-delivery-cut.html) to end Saturday mail delivery, arguing that a 'well functioning' Postal Service is more important than 'maintaining current delivery frequency.'"


SOURCE:
http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/06/25/1248200/Amazon-Opposes-Plan-To-End-Saturday-Mail-Delivery (http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/06/25/1248200/Amazon-Opposes-Plan-To-End-Saturday-Mail-Delivery)

I think Amazon should start using UPS.

[MN Patriot]

they do :). and sunday delivery too!

Amazon just doesn't want to lose money on the USPSubsidized market.

The USPS isn't subsidized. About the only thing close to a subsidy is having a monopoly on first class mail. (Why aren't liberals screaming about that monopoly?)
The USPS is supposed to break even and not make a profit, or lose money either. Despite the popularity to bash the post office, it is the most trusted government agency, and is still a bargain considering a letter costs 44 cents to deliver across country.

It should have been privatized years ago. The market would figure out how to deliver mail, like UPS and FedEx have figured out how to deliver packages. Probably would be overall more efficient if billions of pieces of junk mail weren't sent to people who don't want it.

The other big part of the post office is free mail for Congress. Franked mail. They will NEVER let that go.

[Razmear]

I'd think they would save more money by stopping Wednesday delivery instead of Saturday deliveries. Saturday is a good day for getting mail as most folks are home and you can time your shipment to arrive on a Saturday if you want.

[james1906]

I don't really care. I can live without getting mail on Saturday. The post office is so bleeping insane that I wish they'd just fold.

I have lived in about 10 different cities. Right now, I live in a fairly rural part of Michigan. Because of that, I am entitled to some free postal services that city folks have to pay for. The thing is, I live closer to a post office now than I ever did in any other city.

But the post office that is closest to me isn't my post office - oh, no. In fact, there are 3 post offices closer to me that "mine." So, when I get certified mail...if I'm not home, I have to drive past 3 post offices to get mine.

UPS and FedEx are both cheaper on heavy packages. I use them when I can.

Same here. The post office that all the certified mail goes to is further away and is not open on Saturdays, as opposed to the one down the street.

[Flash]

The USPS isn't subsidized.


See here:


One other point, before we begin our brainstormed list. There are some people who might argue that the USPS is an example of a government service that actually does work. That is not exactly true. The U.S. apparently has the cheapest stamps for any non-subsidized country. The USPS is not directly subsidized via tax revenue. They actually have to be self-supporting in some sense. In the print version of the Rochester local article, the reporter says, “USPS is regulated by the federal government but isn’t subsidized with tax money.” But digging a little deeper provides the truth: the USPS is subsidized.

One need only refer to the 2004 annual report to get some illustrative numbers. Subsidies were $36 million for the previous Fiscal Year. Something like $3034 million – the book value of all real estate, equipment and other assets at the time – was “transferred” was transferred from the “old” Post Office Department to the new USPS corporation. That sounds suspiciously like a taxpayer's investment in the USPS.
Furthermore, the USPS doesn’t have to pay workers' pensions. It doesn't have to pay taxes, especially property taxes. These are all things that the private companies like FedEx, UPS, and DHL do have to pay, and they are still kicking the Post Office's butt in the only realm where the USPS is not protected by fiat. Clearly the USPS benefits from numerous government subsidies, no matter how they are carried on the books.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/alston/alston21.html

[Fox McCloud]

Negative, read the comments at the link in the OP.

NetFlix will save almost 17% if the USPS cans Saturday delivery.

they might save 17% monetarily, but they could end up losing more than 17% from loss of customer satisfaction.

ie: if they save 17% by Saturday delivery being canned, but lose around 15% of their revenue because of loss of customer satisfaction, then they'll come out swinging against the canning of it.

it all depends on what their customers want. I know I would certainly be unhappy if I couldn't get my movies on a Saturday.


I did some digging, and my initial comment was wrong--Apparently netflix believes they won't lose 15% of their revenue from this, and they'll gain from it, in the end: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-23/netflix-backs-u-s-postal-service-saturday-delivery-cut.html

if the cut/ban goes through, I will certainly hope that my netflix subscription fee will go down, otherwise, I'm definitely getting less value for the service I'm currently receiving.

[cindy25]

books are given a special rate by the USPS, far below UPS rates

[WaltM]

books are given a special rate by the USPS, far below UPS rates

yep.

does anybody know if USPS is fully funded by service charges, or how much of their budget is tax funded?

[akforme]

They've raised prices a lot in the past 5 years. I use them quite a bit and to send my most popular item the price has gone from 10 to 16 in that time.

I think it's more an effeminacy thing and the unions. I have a friend of a friend who's dumber than a box of rocks who works for them, and they can't get rid of him. They had to make a position for him as load attendant where he does noting but open and close the loading doors. He actually gets two 15 minute breaks too.

[squarepusher]

Negative, read the comments at the link in the OP.

NetFlix will save almost 17% if the USPS cans Saturday delivery.

yes, netflix will save money.

amazon customers will get their products 2 days late in some cases

so I can see why each one has their respective positions.

[WaltM]

yes, netflix will save money.

amazon customers will get their products 2 days late in some cases

so I can see why each one has their respective positions.

if netflix wanted to save money, they can chose to not send them on one day of the week. hell, they can send them as unfrequent as they want, depending on how much they cna get away with it.