[diskman]

Debt may do what rain, heat, gloom can’t
Postal service considers cutting one day of mail delivery due to deficit

[Muncle]

On the one hand, I am really frustrated by the managerial and economic incompetence of a quasi government agency. When you think of government health care, remember the post office.

On the other hand, at this stage in my life, I receive no mail that couldn't easily wait for Monday delivery. I mean, I really don't care when I get all those invites to free brunches, lunches, or dinners from Madoff Financial Counseling or Geithner Tax Planning.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by Muncle

..,,,,,,,,,,,On the other hand, at this stage in my life, I receive no mail that couldn't easily wait for Monday delivery. I mean, I really don't care when I get all those invites to free brunches, lunches, or dinners from Madoff Financial Counseling or Geithner Tax Planning.

Ah, yes, Munc, all that mail, from all those financial counseling types, and they always want to buy you dinner first.

Boomer

[SteveFromNY]

Like buggy whips, paper mail will eventually disappear altogether. It may only come one day a month at some time.
I wonder how much fault lies in the economy for the decline in the number of pieces of mail vs. electronic substitutes.
You can get and pay your bills online, don't need to mail things that can be scanned and emailed, etc, etc. The only positive impact from the internet on the PO would be shopping, where the items purchased get mailed. But there, there is stiff competition with PS and FedEx to name just two. We et almost nothing but junk mail in hte mailbox these days.

[Russ_Boston]

I really think I could get mail just once a week and be fine with it. Almost everything that i actually need is delivered electronically. My paychecks are deposited without any paper, my bills are all deducted automatically when due etc. 99% of everything I get from the USPS is not even opened by me and send directly to the circular file!

I don't see the big deal if they do shut down on Saturday.

[zcaveman]

I need my mail delivery!! I need to get my Blockbuster DVDs so I have something to watch instead of the drivel on TV, Like others, I pay my bills on-line or use direct deposit. but I need my Blockbuster DVDs. And I need to get them back so I can got more.

[maybesomeday]

The little problem with cutting the number of deliveries of mail is where to put it while it's waiting to be delivered. It would either have to be stored in bigger facilities or picked up less often (stored at the source). Would we need a whole new fleet of larger trucks? etc. etc.

[zcaveman]

Other than my DVD (see above) most of my mail is junk mail and can be tossed at the mail depot.

If they started charging the "bulk mail" and "catalog" senders double, there would be little mail to hold.

[Villages Kahuna]

When the Postmaster General testified today he said that the day that would be dropped is likely to be Wednesday.

One thing is for sure...if they skip Wednesday there won't be near enough room in my little Villages mail box for all the catalogs that will pile up over two days. I just can't imagine how all those catalog companies caught up with as after we moved from up north. It took awhile, but they did find us!

[Muncle]

When I first heard about dropping a delivery day, I'm sure the news guy said Saturday. I initially thought in preferable to sub a day like Wed to spread the non-deliveries out a bit. Then I considered the impact that snail mail still has on businesses. I expect a lot of them would suffer a tad if they were denied mail service on a normal working day.

[k2at]

My understanding is that they will not be open on Tuesdays. It appears the day closed has not been decided yet.

[Becky]

Is Saturday delivery considered overtime for couriers? Just curious.

Becky

[Russ_Boston]

I guess i see the point about business delivery (and Netflix!) but even at my business I think we could do with every other day and do the work over two days until the next mail.

I'd be ok with a big increase in first class mail from a personal POV since I send hardly any but with business already struggling I guess that would hurt even more.

[SteveZ]

When I look at the mail I receive, 50% goes into the trash bin immediately, another 25% goes from the mailbox to the shredder without being opened, and the last 25% is actually viewed, but less than half of that has any true value.

Gee, to miss out another day each week on knowing that I've been pre-qualified for another credit card, or an investment counselor is willling to feed me on the hope I'll turn over what's left of the family nest-egg for his speculation, or there are more coupons for driveway treatments and carpet cleaning available to me - how can I possibly live without it all......

[rshoffer]

Don't fret.... this is a perfect example where private industry will fill the void with better and more efficient service.