No More Saturday Mail...Unless It's a Package

[BadTrainDriver]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/postal-service-to-cut-saturday-mail-to-trim-costs/

[C-bus]

I'd be ok with 1/week.

[shittygsxr]

the postmaster has been asking for years to drop service to 5 days a week. So congress fucking around has wasted even more billions that we dont have

[C-bus]

Crap, bills, and birthday cards. Unfund that union drain.

[Pokey]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/postal-service-to-cut-saturday-mail-to-trim-costs/

What are your thoughts on that?

[Bad324]

I'm in agreeance that 2-3 days a week is all that is needed

[ohiomike]

Its about time to put a tourniquet on and stop the bleeding. The USPS has been gushing money out for years while providing crap service. There's a good reason why they call it 'snail mail'. But we're probably the only country in the world with such a system that, basically, still works.

Our PO here in town will not take a credit card unless its signed on the back, even though I wrote on the space -ask for ID. So they will take one that is signed, but never ask for ID. Its policies like this that make it a losing proposition, profits wise.

[Casper]

About time.

[TopLeft]

Not sure if I recall correctly, but isn't the required pre funding of retiree's health benefits the main issue?

[TopLeft]

I won't miss Saturday delivery in the least if fact, deliver 4 times a week and if I really want the remaining day, have me pick it up.

[4DAIVI PAI2K5]

I love USPS. It's all I use.

[swingset]

They piss money away on stupidity, idiotic and ever-changing regulations, needless gimmicks and wasteful services....and this is on top of the unworkable pension and benefit structure.

This will not fix their problems, but at least it's a start.

[YSR_Racer_99]

This will be interesting.

It seems that a "day off" (like a Monday holiday) really throws off the carriers. We have curbside delivery, and the carrier flies through here like a tasmanian devil on a NORMAL day/ week. When there is a holiday early in the week, the next day has her typically running 2-3 hours later than she normally does.

One day less wil really backlog things for them on Monday.

I'd hate to be a carrier. Under any circumstances.

They need to get out from under Congressional control, which they've been asking for for years.

Fedex and UPS have great tracking of their millions of packages, but just try to track something via USPS.

Government screws up all that it touches, and the USPS is a prime example. Inefficiency in action.

[crb]

They piss money away on stupidity, idiotic and ever-changing regulations, needless gimmicks and wasteful services....and this is on top of the unworkable pension and benefit structure.

^^^^^^

Mail contractors get paid loaded and empty always seemed odd. Clerks are over paid. I don't remember tge website but I looked up what the postal employees make and my jaw dropped. I will try to find the site. No Saturday delivery is no big deal. I guess I will get more junk mail on Mondays.

php.app.com/fed_employees11/search.php

$50k+++ for a small town custoner service clerk vs $8-10hr for bank tellers. Hmmmm

Edited February 6, 2013 by crb

[TopLeft]

With regards to junk mail: I was given this idea years ago. Open up unsolicited junk mail, and if it has a prepaid envelop I stuff EVERYTHING back in and drop in mailbox. USPS gets to charge again (I believe), reduces my clutter and the sender gets the honor of getting something they didn't ask for.

[crb]

With regards to junk mail: I was given this idea years ago. Open up unsolicited junk mail, and if it has a prepaid envelop I stuff EVERYTHING back in and drop in mailbox. USPS gets to charge again (I believe), reduces my clutter and the sender gets the honor of getting something they didn't ask for.

I do the same! I put return to sender on all the political crap mail I got too.

[TopLeft]

I do the same! I put return to sender on all the political crap mail I got too.

Going to start that too! Thanks!

[Helmutt]

With regards to junk mail: I was given this idea years ago. Open up unsolicited junk mail, and if it has a prepaid envelop I stuff EVERYTHING back in and drop in mailbox. USPS gets to charge again (I believe), reduces my clutter and the sender gets the honor of getting something they didn't ask for.

I do the same! I put return to sender on all the political crap mail I got too.

I've done this for years with junk mail now and then, but find it more fun to send someone else's junk to a different sender......that way they have something new to check out when they open it up as well as more income for the USPS. Couple weeks ago, a window company got free info about giving blood

[snot]

about time.... it will cut some jobs though.

[redkow97]

about time.... it will cut some jobs though.

yeah, but it's not like it has been a secret that the post office has been struggling for the last decade.

Anyone affected has been on notice that this change or one substantially similar was coming.

This is capitalism at work, and I completely support it. It's an unskilled labor force that is compensated VERY reasonably.

pay scale for letter carriers starts at $34k (my first job was $28k) and goes up to $57k - for walking and putting shit into a box... High school education. No student loans. It's not a bad living if you get started right out of high school.

http://www.nalc.org/depart/cau/pdf/wages/paychart0113.pdf

[madcat6183]

Yeah my friends parents retired from the USPS after 30. Dude is only like 55 and BANK rolls now on his pension.

It's a crock of crap, sorry, they are overpaid end of story. Heck they even get little cool cars like pocket rockets in my area, and thats GROVEPORT, our subdivisions are lots of about 50-75 feet total frontage, yet they have a little car. Come on.....

[Gump]

The Retirement packages are a bit ridiculous. Goes for teachers as well, getting raises while retired.

This will change the days checks get mailed out.

[redkow97]

The Retirement packages are a bit ridiculous. Goes for teachers as well, getting raises while retired.

This will change the days checks get mailed out.

Who gets paid with a live check?

Advertising is the only legitimate use of regular mail.

[JackFlash]

the postmaster has been asking for years to drop service to 5 days a week. So congress fucking around has wasted even more billions that we dont have

Crap, bills, and birthday cards. Unfund that union drain.

Actually, the Post Office doesn't use tax dollars to operate, they claim.

There is more than one union and none of them are worth a crap for the employees, locally. Everyone hates them but fears not having them, due to management and supervision's tactics of totally disregarding the labor contracts when they can get by with it.

Its about time to put a tourniquet on and stop the bleeding. The USPS has been gushing money out for years while providing crap service. There's a good reason why they call it 'snail mail'. But we're probably the only country in the world with such a system that, basically, still works.

Our PO here in town will not take a credit card unless its signed on the back, even though I wrote on the space -ask for ID. So they will take one that is signed, but never ask for ID. Its policies like this that make it a losing proposition, profits wise.

It's not that they really give a crap. It's more like they have had problems with credit card companies when they have accepted cards not signed, that may have been stolen from mailboxes, or that since they handle the delivery of these cards to credit card customers, it would be a legal conflict of interest issue if they couldn't demonstrate that they were actually possessed by a customer before they were used for postal services. The signature of the customer would be adequate to show that they were actually delivered to the customer's address and not stolen by a postal employee when the item was in the mail stream.

Not sure if I recall correctly, but isn't the required pre funding of retiree's health benefits the main issue?

$5 Billion dollars a year. No other business has to do that. Blame Congress. It really cripples their ability to stay afloat.

I won't miss Saturday delivery in the least if fact, deliver 4 times a week and if I really want the remaining day, have me pick it up.

I'm thinking that one day, on the corner of your city block, there may be ganged mailboxes that you will go to, to pick up your mail, instead of receiving it at home. That's how it is at apartment complexes. It speeds up delivery and reduces the number of carriers needed. The "+4" number they added to your 5 digit zip code some years ago identifies a corner (a fourth) of your "city block". That how I understand it. Your "+4" number would identify your delivery box.

They piss money away on stupidity, idiotic and ever-changing regulations, needless gimmicks and wasteful services....and this is on top of the unworkable pension and benefit structure.

This will not fix their problems, but at least it's a start.

Got any details on that?

This will be interesting.

It seems that a "day off" (like a Monday holiday) really throws off the carriers. We have curbside delivery, and the carrier flies through here like a tasmainian devil on a NORMAL day/ week. When there is a holiday early in the week, the next day has her typically running 2-3 hours later than she normally does.

One day less will really backlog things for them on Monday.

I'd hate to be a carrier. Under any circumstances.

They need to get out from under Congressional control, which they've been asking for for years.

Fedex and UPS have great tracking of their millions of packages, but just try to track something via USPS.

Government screws up all that it touches, and the USPS is a prime example. Inefficiency in action.

^^^^^^

Mail contractors get paid loaded and empty always seemed odd. Clerks are over paid. I don't remember the website but I looked up what the postal employees make and my jaw dropped. I will try to find the site. No Saturday delivery is no big deal. I guess I will get more junk mail on Mondays.

php.app.com/fed_employees11/search.php

$50k+++ for a small town customer service clerk vs $8-10hr for bank tellers. Hmmmm

They worked their way up through the years to that pay level that the union claims to have negotiated.

With regards to junk mail: I was given this idea years ago. Open up unsolicited junk mail, and if it has a prepaid envelop I stuff EVERYTHING back in and drop in mailbox. USPS gets to charge again (I believe), reduces my clutter and the sender gets the honor of getting something they didn't ask for.

I do the same! I put return to sender on all the political crap mail I got too.

Regarding undeliverable Standard Rate (used to be 3rd class) mail, it all goes into the recycle bin. Outer post offices sends it all to Columbus for recycling, which they get paid for by the company picking it up. They also recycle pop cans, plastic drink bottles, and shrink wrap. It's a big deal with them. They make a lot of operating money for recycling.

about time.... it will cut some jobs though.

Luckily, there has been no need for layoffs. They offer "early outs" for those close to retirement and sweeten the pot by offering an insulting cash bonus amount (payable over two years) for those who will leave. It benefits those that were planning on leaving the most. Many are not replaced and others are asked to do more. It knocks those at the top of the pay scale off. New hires come in at a much lower cost and are on a different pay program than existing employees, to lower expenses.

Here's something you don't think about: Fuel Costs. I picked this up on some website:

A one-cent movement in fuel prices increases national costs for the post office by $8 million annually, or $667,000 a month, according to Greg Frey, a Postal Service spokesman. So if prices rose $1.50 per gallon, from, say, $3.50 to $5, fuel costs for the post office would increase by $100 million per month. A sustained period at $10 a gallon for gas would add billions in fuel costs. Frey says another risk also would be inevitable: "During the recent recession, the USPS experienced significant declines in mail volume and revenue. Should the U.S. economy slip significantly again due to spikes in fuel prices, it would certainly again adversely impact our revenue and cost base."

Mail volume is affected very much by the economy. Businesses don't want to waste money on postage by sending out ads if there is little chance of sales.

And how much have fuel prices raised since Chairman "O" has been in office?

.

[conn-e-rot]

Really??? You guys are complaining that letter carriers are over paid??? Are you really that jealous?