RIP Saturday Mail, we hardly knew ye

[stevew]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9150KX20130206

The Postal Service plans to drop Saturday delivery of first-class mail beginning the first week of August, a move that the financially struggling agency said will save $2 billion annually.

The Postal Service is cutting costs aggressively as it grows increasingly frustrated that Congress is dragging its feet in authorizing a structural overhaul that could stabilize the agency.

The agency, which lost $16 billion last year, has blamed much of its recent troubles on a 2006 law that requires it to make massive payments into its future retirees' healthcare fund, as well as on reduced mail volumes as Americans increasingly turn to email and online communications rather than dropping a stamped letter in a postal box.

Some experts have previously estimated that the Postal Service could run out of cash by October.

However, ending Saturday mail delivery will not significantly stop the financial bleeding, and some critics said the move could backfire if customers become irritated by an erosion in service.

According to the plan, the mail agency will still deliver packages and prescription drugs six days a week and will not change post office operating hours. But it will not deliver direct mail or magazines.

The announcement comes just weeks after the USPS board of governors directed the agency to accelerate cost-cutting measures rather than wait "indefinitely" for legislation.

"The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America's changing mailing habits," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a statement.

The 237-year-old institution ran up against its legal borrowing limit last year and defaulted twice on required payments to the federal government.

Postal officials have said for years that the agency needed to cut back on delivery days, as well as close underused facilities and reduce its workforce.

Lawmakers spent more than a year on postal legislation, including proposals to eliminate Saturday delivery, but were unable to agree on a bill.

"The choice is either changes to some of the services or raise prices, and people don't want prices raised," Donahoe said at a press conference.

Officials previously contended they needed permission from Congress to make the changes, but now believe they may be able to take some actions without new legislation.

GREETING CARD FIRMS OBJECT

No law requires that the Postal Service deliver mail six days a week, but Congress has included a provision in legislation to fund the federal government each year that has prevented the USPS from reducing delivery service. The current funding measure expires in March, and would free the Postal Service to change its delivery schedule unless Congress prohibits it in the next spending resolution.

The Postal Service is already facing some resistance to making delivery schedule changes without permission from Congress.

"Today's announcement by Postmaster General Donahoe to eliminate six-day delivery is yet another death knell for the quality service provided by the U.S. Postal Service," said Jeanette Dwyer, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association.

Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives' Oversight Committee, said delivery frequency should be determined by legislation "rather than through arbitrary action by the Postal Service."

But Representative Darrell Issa of California and Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, both Republicans, called the change a common-sense move and noted President Barack Obama has supported allowing the Postal Service to move to five-day delivery.

Trade organizations that have a stake in Saturday mail deliveries such as the Greeting Card Association and National Association of Letter Carriers also expressed their disappointment.

George White, president of the Greeting Card Association, said the organization is concerned that this will drive down the number of greeting cards sent. More than 60 percent of greeting cards are delivered through the Postal Service, he said.

"Eliminating Saturday service is short-sighted and self-defeating. There are much better alternatives that will lead to a stronger Postal Service, without significantly and negatively impacting the citizen mailer," White said.

NALC president Fredric Rolando, said the plan was disastrous and would harm small businesses, rural communities, the elderly and the disabled. "We call for the immediate removal of the postmaster general, who has lost the confidence of the men and women who deliver for America every day," Rolando said via email.

Donahoe said the changes would allow the Postal Service to continue benefiting from the growing package delivery business as Americans order more products from websites such as eBay Inc and Amazon.com Inc.

Package deliveries were a bright spot in a bleak 2012 fiscal year, with package revenue rising 8.7 percent during the year.

[DanGarion]

One less day the mailman can fuck up my mail.

We have called to complain countless times in the 4 years we have owned our home. Various issues from them not picking up the mail to us not getting the grocery store ads that our neighbors are getting. The supervisor is completely incompetent.

[nilodor]

Mail gets delivered on saturdays? Crazy talk. It's even weird when I get a package from UPS or something on the weekends, I just assumed they were all monday - friday operations.

[molson]

I like that there's a "Greeting card association". They must have the most pleasant conventions ever.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

on the tony kornheiser podcast he made a good point. the usps has lifted a lot of people out of poverty. it's the rare job where a basic education can land you a decent paying stable job with a pension.

it's become dinosaur and a money pit but it has done a lot of good for a lot people

[stevew]

I don't get why rates continue to be unrealistic..they lost 16B on a service that people pay for. Also all of these rural zips should cost significantly more money to mail letters to. The carriers on these routes get significant reimbursement.

[DanGarion]

What they should have done a long time ago is up the rates for junk mail.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Don't be sucked in by the cries from the carriers union on this one ... as my not-all-that-long-ago retired USPS veteran dad confirmed for me tonight, virtually no regular carriers work on Saturday anyway, that's long since been relegated to their substitute carriers.

Meanwhile, having read the details, the savings here aren't going to amount to enough to be meaningful. It kills the facilities and transportation savings by doing it this way, you're talking about saving a few extra man hours a week per office at most. This is pretty much a joke.

[RainMaker]

This doesn't really seem to change much. Especially since they are doing parcel delivery on Saturdays still.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Don't be sucked in by the cries from the carriers union on this one ... as my not-all-that-long-ago retired USPS veteran dad confirmed for me tonight, virtually no regular carriers work on Saturday anyway, that's long since been relegated to their substitute carriers.

Meanwhile, having read the details, the savings here aren't going to amount to enough to be meaningful. It kills the facilities and transportation savings by doing it this way, you're talking about saving a few extra man hours a week per office at most. This is pretty much a joke.

Was your father a city carrier? My father is and has been for going on thirty years. He has been at several offices and they all ran the same schedule where you had Monday off one week, Tuesday the next ect. It culminates in a week where you work six days and then get Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon off the next two weeks. They call it theor long weekend around here. Must be a state difference thing?

[stevew]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

This doesn't really seem to change much. Especially since they are doing parcel delivery on Saturdays still.

That and the other 14bn they are coming up short. Like using a qtip on a heavy flow day.

[SteveMax58]

I guess I must be the only person surprised that it actually costs $2B to deliver mail for a single day.

Sounds like we should look into more electronic means to deliver messages & bills. Hmm....

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Was your father a city carrier? My father is and has been for going on thirty years. He has been at several offices and they all ran the same schedule where you had Monday off one week, Tuesday the next ect. It culminates in a week where you work six days and then get Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon off the next two weeks. They call it theor long weekend around here. Must be a state difference thing?

Nope, he was a clerk (technically "part time flex" in postal terms, which is of course anything but part-time).

But I've got roughly a dozen friends who are carriers (both city & rural), he's got another half dozen former/current carriers that are friends, and I've lived on a city route for the last 20 years or so (and can definitely tell whether the regular or the sub runs the route, the typical difference is about 2-3 hours later delivery whenever its the latter)

Across all of those groups, regular carriers take Saturday off about 80-90 percent of the time, and those with around 15 years experience or more take Mondays 1/3rd to half the time as well (since Monday is among the most hated work days of the week, along with whatever "circ day" turns out to be)

Indeed, it must be some sort of geographical thing, I don't recall ever hearing of a schedule like you described.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by SteveMax58

I guess I must be the only person surprised that it actually costs $2B to deliver mail for a single day.

Sounds like we should look into more electronic means to deliver messages & bills. Hmm....

You mean 52 days right? That's only $38.5 million a day... heh

[Desnudo]

I think i can get by with no pottery barn catalogs or car warranty extension notices.

[Young Drachma]

It will screw some people no doubt, but the current USPS model isn't working either. I'd be in favor of repealing legislation that prevents them from getting into other businesses that would enable them to be profitable.

[Desnudo]

And the legislation that prevents competitors from delivering first class mail.

Amazon mail anyone?