No more Saturday mail

[nutz]

Originally Posted by Gilligan

Growing up in very rural farm country 50 some years ago, I remember when almost EVERY post office was simply a little side room off the community general or hardware store, run 100% by proprietors of said stores. In return, they received some base pay and some rent money every month.

Yea, but didn't that place just get benefits from the rural electrification act?

USPS- government or not? Doesn't really matter, according to their numbers, they only need to generate $28384.47 per employee to break even.

[K_Jo (Premo)]

Dammit! I get some of my best mail on Saturdays.

[Gilligan (Premo)]

Originally Posted by nutz

Yea, but didn't that place just get benefits from the rural electrification act?

.

Not much after that, yes. Why you ask?

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

Originally Posted by migtig

Actually, this really will save money. Locations won't be open (no overhead costs - electric, oil, water, etc). Vehicles won't be running (maintenance, gas, oil, etc.) And no employees will be collecting overtime.

My SIL works in a school district out of state. They have a "CWS" type of schedule and that one day every two weeks when buses aren't running and the schools aren't open, saves a heck of a lot of money. It was amazing the amount of money they found in their public coffers after the policy was inititated. It also made the students and the teachers much happier.

Well, the USPS is a Federal entity. Why they don't also work on a CWS schedule is a wonder.

[GWguy]

No Saturday delivery doesn't bother me in the least. Half the time I'm so busy on Sat that I forget to look in the box to pick up my mail, don't remember until Sun or Mon anyway. Like was said, most of it is junk that gets tossed in the recycle before it even comes in the house.

[MMDad]

Originally Posted by tommyjo

Yeah...that is a realistic and fair comparison.

Completely different business models...completely different employee cost/benefit models.

Right, they have to make money to stay in business, while USPS doesn't. They have to provide customer service, USPS doesn't. They are not a junk mail delivery service, while that seems to be the only purpose of USPS.

And if you think that their employee benefit package makes it legitimate to be a massive money loser, then you must be a liberal.

[Gilligan (Premo)]

Originally Posted by tommyjo

Completely different business models...completely different employee cost/benefit models.

No chit Cherlock. And one model is successful, providing returns for their investors, and the other an epic failure, sucking up tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars to cover losses.

[bresamil]

Originally Posted by MarieB

I don't know why they didn't do this years ago, and I'm not sure why they don't partner with private shops for Saturday walk in service. I've lived a few places where there were post office services inside small, local gift shops, etc

Why not add self service kiosks to the busiest locations or Saturday and sunday service?

I received something in the mail a week or two ago stating that some local business would be an official USPS hub.....I think I threw it away....

Did any of you Mechanicsville folks keep it?

[MMDad]

This would be like a restaurant that is struggling due to poor quality food and service deciding to cut the hours they are open. Makes no business sense. Fix the problem, don't shoot yourself in the foot.

Cutting delivery days means that shippers/senders will have to figure that into their determination of which service to pick. Could cost them business.

I'd say about 90% of the mail I get is junk. So why does everyone send their junk via USPS? Because USPS charges less for junk mail than it does for legitimate mail.

Here's a thought - charge the same rate for junk mail as first class mail. That will reduce the junk - advertisers will have to target their audience instead of saturating. This will reduce the workload of the carriers and sorters so they won't need as many. Less junk = less weight = lower transportation costs.

USPS became a fixture by delivering mail we wanted to get. Rather than returning to what was succesful, they'd rather become a delivery service for crap.

I don't go to Bon Buffet because even if crap food is cheap it's still crap. I'm willing to pay more for postage if I get a quality product.

[Gilligan (Premo)]

Originally Posted by MMDad

That will reduce the junk - advertisers will have to target their audience instead of saturating. This will reduce the workload of the carriers and sorters so they won't need as many. Less junk = less weight = lower transportation costs.
.

I'm quite sure I've read several articles in the last year or so that talked about a) that junk mail had become a key and critical source of revenue for USPS and b) USPS putting out advertising soley aimed at increasing the junk mail volume.

That is the unfortunate reality of the situation.