

USPS to Cut Saturday Mail - nightbrawler
http://news.yahoo.com/postal-cut-saturday-mail-trim-costs-121746412.html;_ylt=A2KJ3Cd6VxJRwmwAmErQtDMD

======
rohansingh
The sad thing is that the USPS is not all that bad off financially. Rather,
Congress is requiring them to make completely unrealistic pension payments
decades in advance, for employees who may or may not exist yet.

No other organization could operate under such a burden, and no other federal
agency faces such a requirement. It makes one wonder if the requirement is in
place as an attempt to kill the USPS and privatize mail delivery entirely.

~~~
jellicle
Since the people responsible for the requirement have said explicitly that
it's an attempt to kill the USPS and privatize mail entirely, you don't really
have to wonder.

Congressman Issa, who is leading this charge, sees the USPS as a giant union
that needs breaking, regardless of the damage to the United States from losing
what is currently the world's fastest and cheapest postal system.

~~~
rohansingh
I really don't understand this sort of thinking. Sure, it's a large union, but
if it is providing benefits for employees while enabling an efficient postal
system that delivers to everyone — even those who live in places that private
services may consider unprofitable to deliver to — then what's the problem?

~~~
newbie12
UPS and FedEx also have complete nationwide delivery that includes
unprofitable places. In fact, both private delivery companies come to my rural
doorstep while the USPS won't deliver to my home at all.

~~~
Anechoic
_In fact, both private delivery companies come to my rural doorstep while the
USPS won't deliver to my home at all._

Where is this? I ship a lot of packages and have experienced this opposite,
I've never seen the situation you describe.

------
unwind
It's interesting that a country such as the US which, in my view from the
outside, seems to generally oppose far-reaching public services, still has a
postal service that delivers mail and packages on Saturdays.

I'm from Sweden, which I guess falls somewhere close to the opposite end of
the spectrum in many people's eyes, and we've _never_ had that, in my lifetime
at least. :)

~~~
rdouble
Establishment of a postal service is actually in the US Constitution.

~~~
sageikosa
I'm thinking of applying for a Letter of Marques, since it is in the
Constitution.

------
smackfu
Best part of the article:

"Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a
five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages — and it repeatedly but
unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to approve the move. ... It was not
immediately clear how the service could eliminate Saturday mail without
congressional approval."

~~~
eli
Yes. The US Congress makes for a terrible boss. You can't price your own goods
and if you have a great year you don't get to reinvest the profits.

------
melling
I get an error a out being able to view on "my mobile device." Yahoo needs to
move a little quicker on mobile.

~~~
jevinskie
And they flat out refuse to give you an option to see the "desktop" version.
Not going to bother, sadly.

------
jstalin
End the government-mandated monopoly on mail -- let the market take care of
the issue. Probably 50% of the mail I get is stuff I don't even want in the
first place.

In fact, it's a criminal act to deliver mail without paying the USPS:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Express_Statutes>

<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1693>

~~~
eli
My understanding is that multiple competing private postal services has not
played out well in countries that have tried it. (For example,
[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n09/james-meek/in-the-sorting-
offic...](http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n09/james-meek/in-the-sorting-office))

And presumably the same number of companies would want to send you junk mail
regardless of who owns the post office...

------
Raphael
Does this mean I'll get 5/6 of the junk mail? Or will it be redistributed
between the other 5 days?

~~~
jack-r-abbit
I am just going to assume that every bit of mail that would have been
delivered on Saturday will just sit somewhere all weekend and be delivered on
Monday. I doubt there will be any actual redistribution... just a heavier
Monday mail bundle.

------
BudVVeezer
If you have to get congressional approval anyway, why not attempt to fix the
underlying problem by not requiring all employee pensions to be funded _up
front_? IIRC, that's the crux of their financial woes because it ties up
billions in a move that no other industry is required to make.

~~~
newbie12
It is retiree health care that has to be pre-funded, through 2016. The USPS
was operating that benefit program as pay-as-you-go, which was creating a huge
unfunded liability for taxpayers.

[http://www.cnbc.com/id/45018432/The_Truth_About_The_Post_Off...](http://www.cnbc.com/id/45018432/The_Truth_About_The_Post_Office039s_Financial_Mess)

~~~
jellicle
No. The USPS has to prefund the next 75 years' worth of estimated healthcare
expenses. If they estimate that someone will need healthcare in the year 2088,
they have to put money aside for it today.

That bullshit requirement which no other company or institution in the world
labors under is creating an artificial cashflow crisis at the USPS.

------
rpledge
I think Canada Post should switch to 3 day delivery for residential addresses.
Given the push to electronic bills and payments (many companies charge extra
if you opt for a paper bill) 90% of whats in my mailbox is junk mail. Improved
parcel service would be nice however, online shopping should be increasing
interest in that product.

------
ry0ohki
The mail used to be delivered several times PER DAY. Saturday delivery is a
relic of that bygone era. I probably only need to receive postal mail once a
week. Maybe three times a week during holiday season. Saturday won't be missed
here.

~~~
wglb
Interesting.

When was it delivered more than once a day? Everywhere, or in limited areas?

~~~
ry0ohki
Maybe just in cities, this was the late 1800s, when postcards were essentially
email.

------
bradleyland
I wonder if Netflix DVDs are considered packages or mail? Saturday delivery
worked really well for Netflix. If we dropped our Netflix disk at the main
Post Office by Thursday @ 2PM, we could expect a disk on Saturday.

~~~
stephengoodwin
Many think Netflix is receiving special treatment from USPS:
[http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/03/the-cost-difference-
in...](http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/03/the-cost-difference-in-mailing-
netflx-vs-gamefly-all-of-gameflys-profits/)

------
TrisMcC
The plan is to cut Saturday letter delivery but keep package delivery intact.

------
dmm
If self-driving google robots were delivering mail it could be delivered
continuously.

------
robomartin
Well, 75% to 90% of my daily mail is unsolicited junk. I estimate that we
throw out five to seven pounds of junk mail per week. If this is typical of
most households this is a remarkable amount of stuff that is being thrown out
on a daily basis.

Our of memory, the majority of the legitimate mail we get is from government
agencies (bills, voting packets, etc.), a couple of catalogs and companies who
haven't gone 100% online yet.

We switched to online banking and online bill payments a long, long time ago.
Nearly every package delivery we receive is via FedEx or UPS.

You have to wonder, if the USPS was not allowed to deliver bulk junk mail,
what would their financials look like?

According to this US census, there are over 132 million housing units (homes
and apartments) in the US.

<http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html>

If each of these homes is throwing out just TWO pounds of junk mail every week
--just TWO POUNDS, not five like we do-- that represents TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY
FOUR MILLION POUNDS of garbage per week and over FOURTEEN BILLION POUNDS
(14,256,000,000) of garbage per year!

I am NOT a crazy environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination, but, I'm
sorry, but that's just-about criminal. That is a disgusting amount of trash
moved by the USPS for no reason whatsoever.

The problem doesn't end there. Besides environmental impact, think of all the
fuel and waste by-products consumed by moving and having to deal with fourteen
billion pounds of trash. Think of the USPS delivery pipeline, trucks, vans,
airplanes and unnecessary people. Think of the additional capacity requirement
in local trash pickup trucks and the fuel they burn. And think of the excess
power, people, area and fuel required to process and recycle this trash.

Based just on the the above I'd say that, yes, the USPS either needs to go
away or seriously shrink down and stop this nonsense.

~~~
hotbot2
Ha. Say hello to the "1.3 trillion mailing industry" cited in the CNBC
interview. Not to mention "8-9 million prvate sector jobs".

If you do some research on the history of the US mail, specifically air mail,
you might find some interesting details. Is it possible that "junk mail" was
used as the justification for air mail service? What role does junk mail play
in the economics of the mail system?

The CNBC interview also says the US moves "40% of the world's mail". I wonder
how much of the world's junk mail the US is responsible for? Vis-a-vis other
countries, does the US produce more junk in proportion to legitimate mail?
Does junk mail drive the US mail system?

~~~
robomartin
It's an interesting reality isn't it?

Nearly 600,000 employees who retire at age 50 and draw salaries and benefits
for the rest of their lives. Yeah, that's a formula for success. Guess who's
going to be paying that bill.

Also, 250,000 vehicles according to Wikipedia.

------
marknutter
One less day I won't receive kindling. Good riddance.

------
largesse
I'd like to find the best way to "opt out" of the postal system.

When I go out of town and put hold on my mail, they never work. The postal
worker just delivers until the box is full and then returns the letters. Of
course, the box is full because of junk mail (which you can't opt out of). I'd
consider a post office box, but it is inconvenient, plus I'd have to change my
address with everyone who sends me legitimate mail - you know, the things that
you still can't handle electronically like W2s, etc.

I've heard that there are services which can have your mail forwarded to, who
scan it and send it to you electronically, but I'd be concerned about identity
theft.

It's just a broken system and there's no way to opt out.

~~~
eli
Sounds like you have a problem with your local post office, not the concept of
a postal service. I've successfully had my mail held before. If you can switch
to a door slot instead of a mailbox, I think that also might solve your
problem.

~~~
walls
Yea, try putting a mail slot on your door in an apartment complex, or one of
the many neighborhoods which now use 'central' mail boxes.

