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Will We Have 5 Days of Mail Delivery?

By: Joanne | August 18, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

postal carrier The issue is still on the table, you know. The Postal Service is pursuing the idea of cutting back to a 5-day mail delivery schedule in order to save money.

In spite of a postal rate increase earlier this year and the reduction of overhead costs, the Postal Service is projecting a 7 billion dollar loss this fiscal year. It appears that the problem is simply a drop in mail volume. We’re using commercial services to deliver packages, paying our bills online, sending e-mails and e-vites to our friends and family instead of the old snail mail. This change in our communication habits is having a big impact at the post office.

Personally, the idea of no mail delivery on Saturday doesn’t much bother me. My mail consists mainly of catalogs I don’t want, junk mail and an occasional bill. It’s rare to find a card or letter in the mailbox anymore, so I really don’t think I will miss Saturday mail delivery, if it's eliminated. Maybe I’m missing something and Saturday mail delivery is more important than I think. I wonder though. In the modern era, is 6-day mail delivery still a necessity, or is it a comforting holdover from our past?

If you’ve got a strong opinion on the matter, I encourage you to contact your representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate to let them know how important it is to you.

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Comments (19):

Posted by a step further on August 18, 2009 at 11:15 AM EDT

Why not cut back to 3 days per week. monday, wednesday, and friday but have the office open daily for people who want to pick it up themselves. ignore federal holidays (usually mondays) and deliver anyway.

the postal service needs to be ready for a paradigm shift. the world is moving forward and postal mail, while still necessary, is soon going to be considered a premium service for only those things that must be done postally. This is an era of electronic communication and payments, of instant gratification.

best of luck to everyone!

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Posted by Gov Gab fan on August 18, 2009 at 11:32 AM EDT

Hi, Joanne. I'm with you--cutting Saturday delivery seems like a sensible, cost-saving thing to do.

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Posted by Tim Hawkins on August 18, 2009 at 12:53 PM EDT

I noted your comment that you get a lot of junk mail. I've completely
stopped mine years ago. It took almost a year, but in the end I no longer have to stop by the recycle bin to toss 3/4's of my mail. My mailman says I'm pretty much the only one in a town of 12,000 that's done this to perfection.

I'm proud to reduce the number of trees that are felled just for paper, reduced the energy it took to cut them down, process them into paper, print, deliver them to my door step, and the energy to recycle them. And, it didn't cost me a dime! People get all excited when they buy a Prius; "I'm saving the earth!", but that is an expense of $22,000 to $28,000 -- and in this economy why not do something to save the environment that's FREE?

Just type "Stopping junk mail" into Google and start sending free emails (no paper, no envelopes, no stamps, no trips to the Post Office, no extra energy required at all) to those companies that send you junk mail. It's free and easy; though it does take just a little patience.

Could you do a article on this?

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Posted by been watching this develop on August 18, 2009 at 02:00 PM EDT

There is strong resistance to eliminating Saturday mail deliver becasue on weekends with a monday holiday there would be 3 days in a row with no mail, and that could be hard on businesses waiting for their money. I had read earlier about proposals to drop a Tuesday or Wednesday so as to have shorter but more frequent periods of undelivered mail.

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Posted by Joanne on August 18, 2009 at 02:08 PM EDT

Hi Tim - I'm going to give your suggestion a try and see how it works. If I'm successful, I'll share the story. I did a post a little over a year ago about opting out of the catalog mailing lists (http://blog.usa.gov/roller/govgab/entry/opt_out_of_catalog_mailing?comment=view) and had decent success, but still there's too much junk mail. I agree with you - it's a terrible waste of resources. Wish me luck!

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Posted by ml on August 18, 2009 at 03:13 PM EDT

I don't mind cutting back to 5 days of mail service, but I prefer the other suggestion of dropping Tuesday delivery. I believe USPS did a study and found that Tuesday actually has the lowest delivery. I do still get mail and would prefer it if the two days with no mail weren't back-to-back. Scaling back to 3 days might be a good idea for the future, but probably not the best thing for the economy right now. It would need to be a gradual process because we don't really need an influx of newly unemployed postal workers in this economy.

Also, if you are receiving unwanted catalogs go to www.catalogchoice.org. They are a non-profit that is working with merchants to reduce unwanted catalog distribution.

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Posted by Wendy on August 18, 2009 at 07:26 PM EDT

Some people, like my Mom, don't have a computer and rely solely on the US postal service to pay their bills and get their social security. Cutting back to 5 days could negatively impact people like her. Me, I do EVERYTHING electronically.

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Posted by Unknown on August 18, 2009 at 07:32 PM EDT

I don't mind a cutback in delivery, however, I think having the Post Office closed on Saturday would be a mistake. Saturdays are the only day people who work 9-5 jobs can go and mail packages. If the Post Office has to close as well and not just cease delivery service, then maybe it should close on another day of the week or it should have extended evening hours one night per week.

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Posted by Sold Out Activist on August 18, 2009 at 07:45 PM EDT

I say deliver mail only on Monday. Unless the item is certified (such as any legitimate bill) or sent overnight. Everything else can wait a few days. That would eliminate billions of dollars from the overhead.

Not to mention reduce greenhouse emissions, fossil fuel usage, and some of the bloat Obama talks against.

Netflix and Gamefly might not like it if they don't certify their mailings (Why wouldn't they, though? Evidence of arrival should be very important to them), but Redbox is already eating away at their market shares. So that's really a moot point.

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Posted by USPS supporter on August 18, 2009 at 09:54 PM EDT

I want the USPS to continue 6-day delivery for both business AND personal reasons. As an independent business owner, I work 7 days a week and often go to the post office on Saturday mornings to mail something or other.
And, on a personal note, who doesn't like getting their Netflix on Saturday???
Please help us save the USPS! The USPS is a vital national resource.
(okay, my enthusiasm is starting to look like a shill's or something. i'm not, honest. i just like the usps and can't afford FedEx or UPS.)

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Posted by Gone Postal? on August 19, 2009 at 08:40 AM EDT

So, let me get this straight. The Government is losing money because they can't compete with the private industry which does it profitably? I'm sure this won't be the case with the public health care option.

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Posted by Joanne on August 19, 2009 at 09:23 AM EDT

It's certainly true that the post office has competitors that are profitable, but they'll charge you $7 dollars or more to mail an envelope. I'm no postal service cheerleader, but when you pay attention to what's going on, they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. The public would complain to high heaven if the postal charged rates like that. Could you imagine how people would react if it cost them $7 to mail their electric bill?

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Posted by Sarah on August 19, 2009 at 05:41 PM EDT

Would be good if they turn the week ends to paying service (I mean with higher rate), would be more logical.

Cheers,

http://2improveeyesight.info

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Posted by Jessica on August 20, 2009 at 10:29 AM EDT

Actually, the USPS does not receive government money for day-to-day operations - it is a self-sustaining entity much like the state departments of natural resources who get all their money from hunting licenses etc. This is clearly shown in that their website is .com (for commercial) instead of .gov (for government). So please leave healthcare out of this. The point is, there is higher perceived value in private mail delivery because is looks and feels like a premium service. AND there is actual value in the private mail delivery system mostly because the USPS has such a problem with overnight delivery. If they can't adapt, then they will ultimately fail, unless the public says we need the original government-affiliated version of mail delivery.

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Posted by John Stevens on August 20, 2009 at 03:52 PM EDT

I think the post office is doing a great job. You really can't complain.

www.clickbankreview.org

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Posted by Gone Postal? on August 21, 2009 at 01:07 PM EDT

Don't get me wrong, I think the postal workers do a great job. What I'm getting at is that $7billion will come from somewhere. USPS, Amtrak, and now GM, Chrylser, and healthcare. Nothing is free...or even 44 cents.

I would just like to see the Government try and do better at less, rather than overextending into everything. Seems like everyday they get their hands into something new they really don't need to.

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Posted by Greg Wight on August 23, 2009 at 03:31 AM EDT

My "two cants".
I think that the USPS should bring back a different, higher denomination, stamp that can be used for six day delivery. For those that want to receive mail on Saturdays. This could be used by a special rate agreed to by anyone who receives checks periodically in the mail. They would have to op-tin with the businesses to take a percentage out of the check or funding, so that the businesses mailing the checks would use the higher rate.
This would guarantee delivery six days a week, and give the USPS more revenue. Kind of like the old "airmail" stamp system.

http://www.raief.com

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Posted by whiteinkstudio.com on August 24, 2009 at 01:38 AM EDT

Why not raise the rate on marketing offers that are designed to look like letters from the IRS or letters from my mortgage company. Raise the rate on anything that is printed on newprint or is addressed to occupant or shopper.

I won't miss the Saturday delivery of any of those things.

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Posted by maillady58 on September 15, 2009 at 06:26 PM EDT

As a rural mail carrier, I am in favor of five-day delivery. After a national rural mail count in February and March, every route in my post office was re-evaluated and carriers' pay cut. In addition, most carriers must now work six days a week, with only Sunday off.

We have too many delivery supervisors (most of their time is spent sitting at their desks in the middle of the workroom floor). We have a maintenance man who does about two hours of work a week during the forty hours he is clocked in. Our facility was filthy until recently, when a temporary custodian was hired.

We could save money by eliminating at least supervisor (who is a mail carrier when he's not "supervising"). Our maintenance man would not be missed. That's $100,000 in savings already just in our post office!

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