U.S. Post Office may cut one day of mail delivery per week
 

WASHINGTON -- Massive deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday, in asking lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week.

If the change happens, that doesn't necessarily mean an end to Saturday mail delivery. Previous post office studies have looked at the possibility of skipping some other day when mail flow is light, such as Tuesday.

Faced with dwindling mail volume and rising costs, the post office was $2.8 billion in the red last year. "If current trends continue, we could experience a net loss of $6 billion or more this fiscal year," Potter said in testimony for a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.

Total mail volume was 202 billion items last year, over 9 billion less than the year before, the largest single volume drop in history.

And, despite annual rate increases, Potter said 2009 could be the first year since 1946 that the actual amount of money collected by the post office declines.

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2...t_one_day.html

I swear there are days where our postman already takes the day off. I've been saying that for a couple of years now.

My mom works for the post office and they've been batting this idea around for awhile now. I'm surprised they didn't do it when fuel prices were higher.

It might as well not come on Tuesdays anyway.

saturday whould be a better day to cut i would think

For us, Wednesdays are coupon and flyer days. Goes straight to the recycle bin.

Eh...I don't see this as a big deal. If it saves some money, go for it.

I don't think this would be a huge deal.

Just don't raise the price of stamps again.

I think the postal service is planning to raise rates in May.

Meh. I'll happily give up one day a week of mail delivery if it keeps postage rates down.

It seems like cutting Tuesdays would be more difficult for businesses, many of which aren't open on Saturday to receive mail anyway. I'm definitely glad I bought "forever" stamps even long before the last increase. I used to go through a book of stamps every two months paying bills but there are NO bills that I pay through the postal service anymore.

I heard a Post Office employee on talk radio saying that if they canceled a day, they would need more people at the actual post office because of all the excess mail. While that would be more jobs, it might be cheaper than all the gas.

I do understand mail back up though....when I was in school I worked at the campus post office. We were always backed up on Monday's because we were closed Sunday!

Ditto!

So much for my *Forever Stamps*

That's the point of your "forever stamps". They are still good, even after the rates go up.

What about Netflix? And stuff bought online? I don't about you, but we are all anxious for the mail.

And if they cut Saturday does that mean they'll stop doing pickups on Saturdays too?

The only issue I can see, for me, is at work. I work in a law office, and a lot of that stuff is time-sensitive. It's not going to be a huge deal for me, but it's going to mean more work for our secretaries, because we're going to need them to get stuff out a day or two earlier.

Personally though, I don't think it will make a whole lot of difference.

What I was thinking was that, instead of getting stuff out a day or two earlier, most people will probably overnight it via FedEx, thereby costing the post office even more business!

Or people will develop better time management skills.

Oh, OK, duh

I dunno, I'll just miss seeing the "mail lady" on the weekends. She comes up to the farm in a truck and I can generally tell what time it is by the time that she arrives.

yeah, but we can't have people take personal responsibility, otherwise they would be active.

Saturday delivery would be cut. They've been talking about it for decades...not just a few years.

In doing some research, I found out the PO used to delivery twice a day...back in the 1930s or so...I don't even get that much mail! However, this was back when many people didn't even have a telephone. Lots more mail. Actual hand-written letters!

Considering I only check my mailbox twice a week, I'm ok with this. I've always thought that they should have gotten rid of Saturday delivery (with the exception of express/overnight packages) a long time ago.

How about if instead of doing away with delivery one day a week, they make junk mailers pay premium rates and reserve the lower rates for tax-exempt organizations? :cool:

My post office is cutting back a half hour in the morning and an hour at night. I just saw it posted this afternoon.

I like this idea. In fact, I'm almost at the point of paying the junk mailers to NOT send me any mail!