Posted on 12/05/2011 4:39:32 AM PST by tobyhill
The U.S. Postal Service on Monday will announce a cost-savings proposal that would no longer deliver first-class mail on the next day.
The financially troubled agency will present to its overseers a proposal to change its national standard for first-class mail to two-to-five days from one-to-three, according to interviews with several mail industry officials who received a presentation by the agency this week.
"This isn't a change we're happy about," said Art Sackler, executive director of the National Postal Policy Council, a trade group for large mailers. "But if they don't cut somewhere and substantially, they're going to run out of cash next summer. It's one of the lesser evils."
Right now, customers on average receive mail the day after it was mailed, according the postal service. That may still happen, but a lot less frequently under the proposed rules, say the insiders who were briefed on the proposal.
The proposed rules are not a surprise. The postal service asked for public comment in September on "eliminating the expectation of overnight service" for first class mail. But it could have a major impact on customers, especially those who still use the mail to pay their bills.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Here's a thought for you ~ let's say Texas had its own postal service, as did Rhode Island.
Just think on that for a while.
Sounds ok to me.
Door delivery is abolished, and even curbside delivery will be abolished in urban locations where we can install kiosks. If you want delivery you will pay a fee for that ~ just like in France.
All those little rural post offices (almost all ~ 28,000 of them anyway) will be abolished and we'll trace out an optimized network called the Preferential Mail Network. That should leave us with about 105 mail processing centers exclusive of a "standard mail" network.
USPS is currently cutting 250 mail processing centers ~ which is why service will decline. You have to eliminate your most costly, least efficient centers ~ not just those that satisfy untested considerations regarding network travel opportunities. Once you whack the cost out of the system you improve service times within the NEW NETWORKS.
Let's say you want early delivery ~ because your business depends on the mail ~ and with service time reductions you really suffer.
I'd put you on a special route that delivers everything that's worked up by 8 AM to YOU FIRST for a fee. Figure 10 to 15 customers per route who might well benefit from that service, a quite profitable early delivery option is quite feasible. Barcode Sorting Systems allow for this BTW. No reason to not do it.
There are some other things to be done, but I think you get the gist of it ~
I doubt a local circular delivery service acting on its own could beat my price ~ which, in any case, is already true.
That turned the airlines into bus systems.
They don't land everywhere BTW.
The courts and Congress did ages ago with the Private Express Statutes.
Here’s a thought for you ~ let’s say Texas had its own postal service, as did Rhode Island.
Just think on that for a while.
The Founders certainly thought there was ~ they set it up. I didn’t set it up.
I ordered an ipad from Amazon.com and it was shipped by USPS for $6.95 and arrived in perfect condition in my cluster mail box. Works for me.
Eliminate all services except first class mail, and maybe whatever rate the junk mail gets sent. Tell UPS and FedEx we're handing over all our overnight customers to you, so you damned well better find a way to serve rural customers at a decent rate.
Make mail delivery once a week. If you want it slow and cheap, send it by the Post Office. Otherwise, use a private firm.
Your thoughts?
What you're talking about is UNIVERSAL SERVICE as required by law. It's backed by 50 US Senators ~ not likely that's going to change any time soon.
First Class mail cannot, at any price, justify the current Postal Establishment. You'd get down to weekly delivery. There are a whole lot of US Congresscritters who'd be PO'd like you wouldn't believe.
The USPS is simply the latest manifestation of the demiurge located in the heart and bowels of every politician to COMMUNICATE WITH THE PEEPS.
We can only do that which is legally and politically possible. That's why eliminating Door Delivery is possible ~ the people getting it today are mostly "THE RICH" and those who live in slums!
Neither group is very popular so it's time to go after the good stuff they get that is denied to others.
I see Kiosks in the future of both the richest and poorest Americans~!
That's probably why the Postal Rate Commission has not allowed USPS to count those costs as a basis for rate making.
Basically you have a Mexican standoff between The US SENATE and THE PRC. The House really isn't in this one ~ Goober doesn't have a clue.
“You’d get down to weekly delivery”
Which is exactly what I propose.
Once a week delivery won’t happen. Congress is in the way.
I’ve always hated that blatant lie. Jim Henson Productions could pay the full boat of the budget to produce Sesame Street and should.
They are benefiting from government sponsorship when they earn millions upon millions.
Did you bother to calculate into your “savings” the cost to all taxpayers to subsidize your packages?
The USPS doesn’t make money so the taxpayers pick up the difference.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.