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For or against stopping Saturday mail delivery?
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Totally against, I need that extra day of hope that my online purchases(that use USPS) will make it.
ReplyDeleteI don't really care. I wish there was a way to privatize mail delivery and get rid of the USPS.
ReplyDeleteAll I get in the mail are bills and bad news. As long as the post office is open for people w/ PO boxes to get their mail, I don't see a problem with it.
ReplyDeleteLol! Same here. I can start enjoying my entire weekends now. :-)
DeleteI'm indifferent since I hardly ever mail things and most of my packages come FedEx or UPS.
ReplyDeleteIf I still watched Netflix via DVD, I'd have a huge problem with it :)
ReplyDeleteBut, nah.
Against as it seems all the good "junk mail" (i.e. Williams-Sonoma, Restoration Hardware, & Crate & Barrel catalogs) always come in Saturday's mail, and it's the only day I really have to sit down and actually read them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a friend of mine's husband is a postal worker and I'd hate to see his job in jeopardy.
Ambivalent. But does it result in a pay cut for mail carriers? If so, I would feel bad. If not, I don't care one way or the other about mail on a Saturday. All I get is ads anyway. How can I opt out of that stupid penny saver?!
ReplyDeleteI guess I hadn't heard about this. I know there's a postage increase, and now they want to stop Saturday delivery? What's the reasoning behind it? Can anyone fill me in?
ReplyDeleteI once apologized to my mail carrier for all the crap catalogs I get that I just get rid of right away. He said he didn't mind because they keep him in a job.
I don't get the hate for the USPS. People like making fun of them and complaining about them, but tell me one other company that will send a letter anywhere in the country for less than 50 cents. Not only di they provide reasonably priced services for the masses, but it is part of the constitution. Karen, I usually agree with what you have to say, but the notion of getting rid of the postal service entirely is something I wholeheartedly disagree with.
ReplyDeleteI live in Canada and we never even HAD Saturday mail delivery to begin with!
ReplyDeletedont worry @ lotta! I heard they will still deliver packages on Sat, just not regular mail :)
ReplyDelete@lalaland, really???? So why are they possibly stopping the mail delivery? I thought it was an effort to cut back jobs.
DeleteAgainst. IN THIS ECONOMY (half kidding) I'm not comfortable with USPS so publicly downsizing.
ReplyDelete"Rain,sleet,snow" and all that stuff, it's an institution!
What's next, outsourcing? Will I be getting calls from a different country reading my birthday cards to me over the phone?
(Wow, I like my new cough medicine. It assists me in making little to no sense)
Ablake, yes. Walmart wants to have mail kiosks within their facilities. Hope you saw FSP's new pic:)
DeleteAll I know is that the USPS loses quite a bit of our mail - they routinely lose bills, checks to our business and even with certified, registered mail don't bother coming to the door if they don't feel like it (a direct quote from a mail carrier who didn't come to the door with a $3600 check sent certified & registered) I caught her as she turned around in our cul-de-sac and those were her exact words). So I'm not too sympathetic to the USPS.
ReplyDelete@SusanB, sounds like you have a lazy mailman. You should report her for not doing her job properly. My mailman goes up the stairs to our front door (everyone on or block has them too) without complaining and is quite lovely. I can't fathom having someone else in his place.
Delete@Susan, we used to have a mailperson who half assed it too. I'd report her to the postmaster at your local post office.
DeleteI agree with Lola, Susan. File a complaint. I bet you can do it online. I've only had really great carriers who genuinely enjoy and care about their jobs. My husband worked for USPS while in college and my small business is dependent on them. I think there's bad apples in every profession but as far as govt jobs go, USPS has a low rate of corruption.
DeleteI feel bad for whoever isn't getting the work hours they need.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I'm tired of my mail coming completely mangled or not at all.
I am all for stopping Saturday mail service. There is very little benefit to requiring all of those workers to be around on the weekend to process things they could do during the week.
ReplyDeleteOur post office is probably getting shut down here, too. I am pretty happy about that, since it means we can get mail service to our house. We hardly ever use the post office, anyway.
@LottaColada - I've complained several times to the branch manager and all I get is "She's usually so good - I don't understand." We even wrote the Congressional postal service commission - to Henry Waxman who was (don't know if still is) chairman) and a Florida congressman on the committee. Didn't get the courtesy of a response from either. We've switched as much of our business as possible to e-mail or FedEx. I get as many of our bills e-mailed as possible since the post office "lost" our Florida Power & Light bill a few months ago. I realize something like the USPS is a necessity but they need to do something about the horrible service.
ReplyDelete@Amber...
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell, the USPS is a self sufficient entity (meaning it funds itself and doesn't use tax dollars). About 10ish? years ago, the Republican led Congress passed legislation that the changed the way the USPS funds its pension program by requiring it to "pre" fund it to the year 2040 or something. As you might imagine, that requires billions in up front funding which has quickly drained the surplus they had. Until now, they have been able to juggle things, cut hours, furlough people, etc. but they are getting ready to default on a huge required payment.
Un told this law was passed, the USPS was one of the few government entities that operated in the black. One of the theories behind why the Congress passed these laws is because they want to bleed the USPS into oblivion so that the private sector can take over. The private sector will never turn a profit, though, delivering to every out of the way address in this country.
There is some talk that since the USPS is part of a constitutional mandate that the post master general has no right to change service and that if they end up bankrupt the government will have to find another way to fund it.
And yes, package delivery will continue since it is one of the most profitable sectors of their business.
*not all of these dates and figures may be accurate as I'm coasting on my sometimes sketchy memory.
The USPS is in bad financial shape because of a manufactured crisis. In 2006 Congress passed a law, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA ) which "stipulates that the USPS is to make payments of $5.4 - $5.8 billion into the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund each year, from 2007 to 2016 in order to prefund 75 years of estimated costs." This sort of nonsense is unheard of in any other company, public or private. It is fully intended to bankrupt the USPS.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have found the USPS to be generally terrific in terms of service, especially in light of the abritrary onerous mandates they are under, and I will miss Saturday service.
I don't really care, my bills will still come. :-(
ReplyDeleteFor it, they need to do something or there will be no mail service soon.
ReplyDeleteAnd all that junk mail everyone is complaining about, that is pretty much what is keeping the USPS going right now.
First class mail is at on all time low. Between email, e-vites, online bill pay, people just don't used the mail like they used to. So while revenue is dropping expenses keep rising, gas, health care, pensions.
Something needs to give before we no longer have a USPS.
I love my mail guys at work and home.
ReplyDeleteNormally have a great experience, the only time it can get tricky, well more misleading is when I ship overseas. If you send a package overseas it says 6-10 days, which is misleading. Because it is 6-10 days to that country and then however long it takes the country to deliver it.
So if I have a work package that I need there timely I do Fed Ex or UPS.
But if you look at the website it says delivery time 6-10 days. But really it can take weeks.
But then again it is way cheaper than Fed Ex or UPS. What costs me 200.00 for the USPS would be 1000 for the other 2.
Totally against. Big business is trying to kill the USPS. First it was the law passed in 2006 forcing the USPS to overpay their pension fund to the tune of $75 billion in advance (a classic poison pill). They're also banned from competing against private companies for obvious fits, like internet services, banking, etc. And now this cutting of Saturday delivery--its single market advantage over the for-profit competitors--which helps clear the way for FedEx to increase its market share. I'm pretty sure people won't realize what they've lost until they can no longer send a letter for fifty cents once FedEx takes over and starts charging $10 or $15. This great American tradition, started by Benjamin Franklin, deserves to be strengthened and maintained, not strangled.
ReplyDelete@Susan - your mailcarrier reminds me of the one in Funny Farm!
ReplyDelete@Lola & Frivolity - thank you :)
I'm on the fence.
ReplyDeleteWhy not raise the price of commercial delivery to subsidize residential delivery? I still get a crap ton of paper spam.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate all the advise, but we have filed complaints. They just don't give a damn. Another example - we had a package of legal papers to send out of state. I took them to the post office, they weighed, etc the package, put the postage on themselves - a month later we got the package back - it was refused for insufficient postage. Sorry - I just can't care about the post office any more.
ReplyDelete@Susan, wow that really stinks. I understand your frustration considering you filed a complaint and still end up with the same story.
DeleteWe don't have it here anyhow.
ReplyDelete@Lola and @frivolity you said it before I could, and well. I disdain the call to privatize the USPS because all that means is "turn it into a profit-making machine to line someone's pockets." (Thinking of the whole "military contractor" aspect.) The whole pre-fund pensions for workers who have not even been BORN yet (when this is not required of any other agency) is a clearly an attempt to weaken the USPS in order to make it easier to dismantle then privatize (and pick like a vulture on its bones). GRAR! :)
ReplyDelete(Random observation: why isn't the existence of the governmental postal service protected by the Postal Clause in the Constitution?)
I'd kind of like it to keep coming on Saturday, but I'm not stressed about it.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to mention - good luck to all CDaNers who live in the areas where that storm is supposed to hit tomorrow! Looks like a monster!
ReplyDeleteMail delivery on Saturday doesn't really matter to me. Politics aside, cutting back on the days of mail delivery is no different than companies going to a 4 day work week. It's a financial thing. How many of us actually get stuff worth getting in the mail anyway? Bills, paychecks, etc, can all be done electronically. Netflix, however, does come through the mail, and on Saturdays. It could be a long winter next year if I don't get the calendar figured out better!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, I am totally on the fence. I just don't care.
@Cathy, I have to go to a meeting, but I'll respond in a bit!
ReplyDelete@SusanB--ugh. Sounds like your post office is rife with incompetence. I'm sorry there isn't better recourse for you. :(
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind them stopping delivery, however I hope they actually keep the office open on Saturdays. Sometimes, I need to mail or pick up something from the p.o. direct & Saturday is the most convenient day.
ReplyDeleteFor getting Congress off its ass and giving the USPS the room to be run properly:
ReplyDeleteCongress — not email — destroyed the Postal Service
http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/congress_not_email_destroyed_the_postal_service/
I could care less. I don't get anything in the mail anyway. I go out to my mailbox about once a week and throw away all the junk mail that's been crammed into the box, letters wadded up to make room for the advertising fliers.
ReplyDeleteI've had the bad mail carriers too. A few years back I had one that was fond of sending my mail back without delivering it. This wouldn't bother me if it were the catalogs and advertisements, but it was things like my absentee ballot, notices from the Social Security Administration (which turned out to be a nightmare - because the letter was returned, they decided they didn't have my proper address and were going to stop benefits - even though they were paid directly into my bank account and not mailed - and their computers couldn't seem to recognize my new address since it was my old address). You can complain but they just don't care.
For, and think they should cut it further to every other day saving even more money. Electronic mail has pretty much replaced snail mail anyways. Packages should still be delivered Monday - Saturday however.
ReplyDeleteI love getting mail any day but really whatever has to be has to be.
ReplyDeleteI could do with delivery one day a week. All of my bills are online, which I then pay online. The only things in my mailbox are the previous tenant's mail, some news circulars, and junk.
ReplyDelete@Cathy, since my meeting was postponed, I have time to respond now.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to backtrack a little on my previous statement now that I've read some comments and did a little research; in my experience, companies like FedEx and UPS are much more reliable than the USPS. I think that it's because the USPS deals with such a larger amount of mail that things fall through the cracks.
In general, I think that more competition between companies helps the consumers. The idea of USPS competing with UPS and FedEx is interesting to me--who wins?
I don't know that privatizing would actually work--in most respects, the USPS runs very well and I don't know how other companies could manage everyday delivery to the entire US. Most of my feelings were based on the fact that I'm just annoyed by the USPS whenever I have to use them.
It would be nice if the USPS would bar code and track their stuff, like FedEx and UPS. That makes a HUGE difference to me. I'll pay the extra money to have it traceable. USPS doesn't do that.
ReplyDelete@Silly girl, my post office always offers a tracking number for a fee. What is going on with these stories.... I must have the good post office that no one thinks exists. I can't believe so many people have issues with USPS.
DeleteIf it is true the Post Office has to pre pay until 2016, then it is 4 years away from HUGE profits, no? All they gotta due is weather the storm.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the post office is still open on Saturday, I don't mind not having Saturday delivery. I think this has been a long time coming and I'd always heard the USPS has been on the brink of bankrupcty for awhile now.
ReplyDeleteI actually just learned what Lola and Frivolity mentioned whilst standing in line at the post office one day. For the most part, I haven't had issues with them. I have heard horror stories, like SusanB's. I started giving our postal carrier a small "gift" around the holidays a few years ago and I notice that I get better service from them than the UPS/FedEx carriers (who are often to lazy to climb the steps to our covered porch and opt to leave the packages out in the rain).
@Silly Girl - I ship things quite a bit using USPS and they do offer traceability. Just like UPS/FedEx, you get a tracking number where you can see when it is delivered. I do it all the time w/ my eBay shipments.
They promise to still deliver packages just not 1st class...but I am against the cuts..
ReplyDeletedont care as long as my shit arrive on time. Ja feel
ReplyDeleteAgainst. What I am for is Congress repealing the 2006 law they passed specifically for the purpose of destroying the previously thriving USPS so that we would be forced to have privatization of the mail.
ReplyDeleteCutting Saturday delivery makes a lot of sense. Currently, they need 6 people to cover 5 delivery routes. 5 people cover 5 days of the regular routes. The 6th person picks up the 6th day of each of the 5 routes. Cut the 6th person, move the other 5 delivery people to a M-F schedule, and you can reduce delivery staff by 16% without a major impact to most people.
ReplyDeleteWith the current pre-funding pension problem, they need to do this.
I'm so old, I remember when we used to have TWO mail deliveries every day. As to the cutting out the Saturday delivery, I can't even remember the last time I got something delivered on Saturday, so I'm all for it if it will stop the postage increases very year.
ReplyDeleteI had an injury a few years ago and was homebound for most of 3 yrs --and I lived and died by the mail--we have local grocery delivery--but everything else I needed I did by mail. I appreciate the USPS and if it makes them more viable--then it is ok to not deliver Saturday. I wish the would make it so if they don't deliver, you could go to the PO on Sat am and pick something up if you were expecting it. Our post office is open Saturday mornings and if I knew a packaged had arrived--I would not mind running over and picking it up.
ReplyDeleteAgainst. The world doesn't stop on Saturday so why should the mail. There have been several times where I was waiting on a package or check so I could pay bills, put gas in my car, or eat and would just be shit out of luck until Monday.
ReplyDeleteTexas shuts down almost everything on Sunday, don't take Saturday away from us as well.
Yeah, we get mail five days a week in Canada and it's no big thing. We did used to have Saturday delivery, years and years ago. You'll adjust. *L*
ReplyDeleteAny company that sponsored Lance Armstrong with $10 million of tax payer money should have one day cut as punishment for that alone.
ReplyDeleteAny company that sponsored Lance Armstrong with $10 million of tax payer money should have one day cut as punishment for that alone.
ReplyDeleteAny company that sponsored Lance Armstrong with $10 million of tax payer money should have one day cut as punishment for that alone.
ReplyDeleteI've had my mail delivered to a POB for years so I'm unaffected by the announcement. I still send letters via snail mail, though, so it'd be nice if they kept the service available somehow.
ReplyDeleteAgainst, simply because it's Congress who created this problem by making the Post Office prefund it's pension for 75 years, in one decade. And, Congress won't let them do other things that would allow them to be more competitive with UPS and Fed Ex (thanks to a huge lobbying effort by, guess who?). I also think this is an effort to sell off land owned by the Post Office for commercial development.
ReplyDelete@Lotta, other than that bump in the road, which I have to say was immediately fixed, I've always had great service as well.
ReplyDelete@ABlake
ReplyDeleteI like your idea! I want someone from India to call me and read my bday card. Some generic Hallmark bs.
I don't care, but my mother LOVES to watch for the mail person.
Erik nailed it . Against.
ReplyDeleteAs always I'm late to the party.. My question.. If they are still going to do Saturday delivery of packages then don't they have to 'staff' drivers anyway? How will they know that a certain route in a certain city will/will not get a package picked up and delivered? Which I assume then requires staffing at distribution centers. I guess I'm trying to figure out where (read:which jobs impacted) the actual 'cut' takes place.
ReplyDeleteYOU GET MAIL ON SATURDAYS?!?! lol! We don't at all!! (Toronto)
ReplyDeleteThe USPS is at least as good as ups and fed ex, definitely cheaper. It's about breaking the largest union employer in the country.
ReplyDelete