Posted on 07/20/2011 2:21:33 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Head of U.S. Postal Service says delivery could be scaled back to 3 days a week
By Maeve Coyle Topics Domestic Issues
With Internet usage rising and mail volume steadily falling, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe warned the U.S. Postal Service is going to have to make significant cutbacks that could mean no more Saturday service and eventually lead to mail delivery just three days a week.
The Postal Service's "cashflow crisis is at a critical level," Donahoe told USA Today in an interview published Wednesday. Donahoe said eliminating Saturday mail would save around $3.1 billion a year for the cash-strapped agency, projected to lose $8.3 billion this year.
"At some point, we'll have to move to three" days a week of mail delivery, possibly in 15 years, he told the newspaper.
The steady loss of revenue has prompted the Postal Service to evaluate possible cost-saving measures. Donahoe said the USPS is on track to miss a Sept. 30 payment of $5.5 billion to the U.S. Treasury that would allow the Uncle Sam to "pre-fund retired health benefits" of postal workers.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
80-85% of the USPS budget is retirement pensions.
The Government could balance itself at every level (Federal, State and Local) with a 401K plan with a modest (3-5%) employee (taxpayer) match.
Every time I post on FR about the Post Office, someone comes rushing in about how they or a family member is “non-union” and is upset.
The Unions are killing our economy to create a temporary, taxpayer funded upper middle class with unfunded liabilities doled out by the patty-cake games of politicians and unions over the years. See UAW, SEIU, CalPERS, Teamsters, Longshoremen...
It never f*ing ends with $100/hour payouts for $20/hour jobs by Fat Vinnie on a contruction site or a pitiful polyester tie-wearing jackass at the County offices (picture Dwight Schrute and Stanley of ‘The Office’).
In the end, let UPS and Fed Ex take over and use the infrastructure with non-union, realistic operations and watch it flourish.
F the Unions.
Yeah, yet another reason to use alternatives. They must have a death wish for that organization.
Bi-weekly, and raise the junk mail rates too.
You need to read some Charles Bukowski...the post office has been a last resort job for the down and out for a long time now...
Ofcourse! Just because they ain’t delivering don’t mean they aren’t sitting around the post office drawing wages. How the heck do you think holder’s people are going to ever catchup if they don’t get a little slack???
That wont work. That is not what UPS is designed to do. nor is that the field of Fed-Ex. If we get rid of the USPS totally, we're liable to be sorry if something happens to disrupt electronic communications. the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they made mail service a national responsibility.
Every letter carrier in my area is a middle-aged Asian man or woman, my guy retired at 55 to go surf and bike in Oregon. He was dressed more athletically than most (athletic shoes, sunglasses, shorts year-round) but he was almost jogging...the new Filipino guy gets here at 5-6 PM, before it was always before 10 AM.
Exactly.
What, and kill a jobs program for votes? /s
Kill it, stomp it, smunch it, and let UPS and FEDX do it!
“At some point, we’ll have to move to three” days a week of mail delivery, possibly in 15 years, he told the newspaper.”
They could, reduce staff, keep each employee on a five-days-a-week schedule; where some would work Mon to Fri, some Tue to Sat, and all routes would get 3 days-a-week delivery, with the exact 3 days varying between the routes; but so that at least if a route did not have Saturday delivery it would have Monday delivery. Why wait. Do it now.
Why the wait? Some union contracts won’t let them take that step yet??
About the only time I use the UPS is to mail tax payments.
UPS is not non-union. And unlike the USPS unions, UPS will go out on strike.
I wonder if Jefferson envisioned the fat, dumpy, sloppy, unmotivated lifetime-paid surly asspimples at my USPS office here in NorCal...paid for life with fat bennies?
Maybe it was in a letter to James Madison...but probably not.
It’s long been illegal to compete on daily service with the post office except in the case of emergency/expediated delivery.
It would have gone private long ago if not for the government bureaucracy.
Privatize it now. And I’ll bet private firms don’t eliminate 4 days a week delivery.
I suspect that even if Saturdays are eliminated by the post office, you’ll be able to pay EXTRA just as you can for Sunday delivery.
4 day weekend for postal employees, woo hoo.
I sold them their next generation HR/Payroll system. What was mind boggling was the number of unions - all of which were in court suing USPS for one reason or another. They needed a system that could segment the unions and backdate the rates, healthcare, pensions........on and on.
I live in Maine, and get my mail at a P.O. box at a local, larger-than-average post office. I also ship eBay items a few days per week.
I’m on a first name basis with all the postal workers and they are all friendly and helpful.
The USPS is obsolete and needs to be abolished.
Works for me. I only check my box about three times a week.
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