Bye Bye Saturday Mail Delivery

[Conrad]

Some of you are saying 3 days a week would be plenty, but I really think at least 5 days a week is important. Just think about it for a moment how incredible of a resource the postal service is. You can send something almost anywhere in the world (except to North Korea and maybe a few other random places) and it will be delivered in a timely fashion. It is good for Netflix (yes I know, eventually all of that will be done over the internet), and other things, but also for sending packages. Every so often there are other random things that I need to send or be sent. I would really be disappointed if service was cut to less than five days a week.

 

[Edd]

I'd like to have less mail in my life. 99% of the contents are items I did not ask for or want. I actually send something out less than half a dozen times a year.

 

[dmc]

I don't send many letters...
But I do receive my mail from my financial dealings(investments, banking, mortgage, etc) which needs to happen.
As I don't trust email for that kind of stuff because of internet security..

Also Christmas cards... Letters from friends internationally.. Catalogs that I actually want... News letters...

 

[AdironRider]

D, you think those things wouldnt be available to you without the post office? I realize this hits pretty close to home for you as well so thats gotta be tough, but this isnt the end of the world either.

In 2013 I think you should reconsider your stance on checking bank statements online.

 

[ctenidae]

They would need more people shipping with USPS to have more packages to deliver. Your solution supposes they can't generate enough revenue because they have a labor allocation problem. I don't see the logic in supposing that freeing up labor to deliver packages will generate more revenue by default. On the flip side, if there is less junk mail to process, they might have less work for all employees to do but then they can't lay them off either due to unions and productivity and revenues would decrease.

The problem I think, overall, is that discussions about USPS always gravitate towards "how do we fix USPS" or "how can we make it sustainable" etc. When the better question is "what purpose does USPS currently serve? What needs are or are not being met?" Etc. Let's get right down to the root of the issue. Solutions need to be based in the USPS of tomorrow, not trying to band aide the USPS of two hundred years ago.

Okay, you're having a more serious discussion than I was. Freeing up resources from low-margin work allows y ou to focus those efforts on higher margin (ie package delivery) work. USPS's biggest probelm is costs. Putting the pension funding issue aside for the moment, it takes 3 bulk mail items to make the revenue of one regularway letter. Presumably it costs just as much to sort and deliver bulk mail (aside from efficiencies in reading addresses adn the like). Your costs on a piece of bulk mail are the same as for regular, so they should cut that business out.

Of course, they can't because they can't lay off employees, and the bulk business probably at least covers some of the cost of the additional workforce they wouldn't need otherwise. So the question isn't really how do we fix USPS, but should be how do we enable USPS to fix itself? There is certainly a roll for the service- whether a 3rd competitor for package delivery or for regular delivery of letters and cards. Granted, a lot of content is delivered digitally now, but the ability to get something from your house to anywhere in the US relatively quickly and quite cheaply has a place even in teh face of digital changes.

So, how to make USPS able to fix itself? It has to be able to rationalize its own business, its services, costs, labor force, and operations. That means getting out from under COngress, and giving it the ability to deal with Unions and determine its own fate.

It also means stopping the pension pre-payment nonsense. The trouble is, that program is entirely a way for Congress to collect revenue and fund other programs. How about we get Congress to tighten its own belt and better rationalize its spending?

None of that can happen, though. If the USPS can lay off workers and change its service as needed, then thousands fo workers, I mean voters, could lose their jobs. If USPS didn't have to prefund its pension, Congress would have to either cut spending or raise the money somewhere else- neither of which is a popular option.

In the end, I guess we have 2 options- either shoot it ourselves, or cut it free to sink or swim on its own. Unfortunately, we'll probably just keep a company that is #109 on the Forbes 500 list (yes, really) captive, and slowly suck it dry.

 

[dmc]

D, you think those things wouldnt be available to you without the post office? I realize this hits pretty close to home for you as well so thats gotta be tough, but this isnt the end of the world either.

In 2013 I think you should reconsider your stance on checking bank statements online.

Dude.. I totally get my balances online... But there are some types of communication that I DO NOT DO over the internet..
And I don't think sending those types of communication with UPS or FedEx is the answer... I'd rather walk down the street and get it from my PO box..

Allowing USPS to compete with FedEx and UPS is the answer and releasing the USPS for having to pre-fund retirement at the level Congress forced them to do will help that...

I personally encourage my girl to quit the USPS everyday - but only because her real estate business is kicking ass...

 

[dmc]

In the end, I guess we have 2 options- either shoot it ourselves, or cut it free to sink or swim on its own. Unfortunately, we'll probably just keep a company that is #109 on the Forbes 500 list (yes, really) captive, and slowly suck it dry.

Cut it lose... Like we'd do with any other company...
Release them from the pre-fund.. Let them try to succeed and compete...

 

[AdironRider]

I agree, they need to be set free to compete on the open market. I think they would actually be quite successful. The prefunding retirement is bogus and needs to go away.

But otherwise, it seems that your argument is kind of like being "set in your ways" a bit no? I get that everyone has preferences, I still get hard checks to deposit at the bank myself for my pay, but on the other hand I dont think this is going to be of any real hindrance to your day to day life.

What types of communication are you talking about? In my line of work in financial accounting, we trust literally everything to the internet. Of course there are security measures in place, but those are relatively cheap. And were talking info for a billion dollar plus company here. SEC transmissions ,etc. If its a trust thing your going to have to get used to it, because almost all financial companies are going paperless.

 

[dmc]

There is correspondence that I prefer to have over mail..
Some of it business some personal..

I've been a data security professional in past jobs.. So I get it... and use my banks online all the time.
But.. there's just some things I don't like to do over the phone or online...
Mostly it has to do with a company engaging over the phone and asking for passwords or account #'s - legitimately BUT I still don't like doing it.. Many times I'm someplace where I may not trust the connection I'm on OR in a place where I can't spell out passwords and stuff.. I say - just send me a letter and I react when I see it...

It may seem irrational but it's the way i feel

 

[AdironRider]

I dont see it as irrational. Like I said Im one of the few who still insist on paper paychecks and not direct deposit....

Otherwise, for better or worse, I think paperless is going to be the future and were all going to have to adjust.

 

[bigbog]

People will vote for anything in this country based on quarterly profits...not on progress.
If $6billion is what gets the most scrutiny....we've got problems in River City... In addition to paperless...hi-speed rail, that thing that state representatives made fun of back in the 80s...sure seems like a good mode of transportation that could solve many problems....employment(rural to city...then back home @6pm) and city to rural mail delivery. Maybe instead of going to war every decade over some perceived threat...we ought to try...we went from chimps in a rocket to landing on the moon in less than a decade.... We have people crying over losing their $100k salaries from DOD layoffs, well put em' to work doing something beneficial. Pretty bizarre that we still build corporate wealth over going to war.
$.01

 

[AdironRider]

What?

How is taking away Saturday delivery class warfare? It affects everyone equally. Nevermind urban areas vote overwhelmingly Liberal.

 

[dmc]

What?

How is taking away Saturday delivery class warfare? It affects everyone equally. Nevermind urban areas vote overwhelmingly Liberal.

Again - Saturday aside...

It may be the case that poorer rural people rely more on mail delivery or having someplace close to get their mail.
Closing PO's will affect some people negatively....

If everyone had internet then I could agree with some of this.. But - making everyone have internet is kinda like adding a tax on the poor..

 

[dmc]

By the Numbers
66 billion — revenue in 2011, in dollars
167.9 billion — number of mail pieces processed in 2011
554 million — average number of mail pieces processed each day
23 million — average number of mail pieces processed each hour
384,000 — average number of mail pieces processed each minute
6,400 — average number of mail pieces processed each second
40 — percent of the world’s mail volume handled by the Postal Service
1.9 billion — dollar amount paid every two weeks in salaries and benefits
546,000 — number of career employees
31,509 — number of Postal Service-managed retail offices
34 million — number of work hours reduced equals 19,000 full-time employees
213,881 — number of vehicles — the largest civilian fleet in the world
1.2 billion — number of miles driven each year by letter carriers and truck drivers
39.9 million — number of address changes processed in 2011
35.5 — percent of retail revenue from alternative access channels in 2011
1.2 million — number of people who visited usps.com each day
62 million — number of inquiries handled by Postal Service Contact Center in 2011
236 million — dollar amount of online stamp and retail sales at usps.com in 2011
467 million — total revenue, in dollars, from Click-N-Ship label purchases in 2011
5.6 million — number of passport applications accepted in 2011
116 million — number of money orders issued in 2011
543 million — amount in revenue from 2,500 Automated Postal Centers
71,000 — number of stores, banks and ATMs that sell postage stamps
636,530 — number of new delivery points added to the network in 2011
0 — tax dollars received for operating the Postal Service

http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/welcome.htm#H1

 

[AdironRider]

Everyone pretty much has available internet, and if they so choose, it wont cost them any more to do so, whether that means giving up the land line and that bill to substitute with the internet and free long distance, or what have you.

Everyone has to have car insurance as well, I dont hear complaints. This isnt class warfare, this is an antiquated system falling to the wayside. There are a myriad of other options that prevent any hardship from this happening.

You cant argue they need to be self sufficient, but on the other hand argue it is in effect a form of "charity" for rural communities. One side has to give.

 

[dmc]

Some people can't afford cars let alone insurance...
I read somewhere that 30% of households in the US do not have internet..
We can't expect them to lay out the $$...

When internet is free and safe - and everyone knows how to use it then we've truly moved on from the "antiquated system"..

Until then we can't expect people to bear a burden just because some better off people don't like the USPS.. Or politicians that are for closing it because or special interest groups from UPS and FedEx are pushing for privatization...

I'm the guy that always has compassion for the less fortunate..
Things are not easy for many people... We don't need to make things worse for them..

Let's look to the future but not hurt our own...

 

[AdironRider]

Alright, I hear you, but you are making some rather large sweeping generalizations there that I dont think were going to agree on. I can respect different opinions.

 

[dmc]

Until we can start really looking into this and separate the special interest from reality... Generalizations is all I have to work on..

I'm open to debate..
always...

 

[Geoff]

Alright, I hear you, but you are making some rather large sweeping generalizations there that I dont think were going to agree on. I can respect different opinions.

I'm mostly with DMC on this one.

The US Mail might not be essential for me other than to get Netflix DVDs. For the poor who don't have bank accounts & credit cards, internet connectivity, and an automobile, the US Mail is their lifeline. I have no problem with killing Saturday delivery but you need services like COD and money orders for the less fortunate.

 

[AdironRider]

You dont need the post office for money orders.

Again, you cant have it both ways. Is it a charity or business that needs to turn a profit?