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U.S. Postal Service to end Saturday mail delivery in cost-cutting move

The subsidize bulk junk mail because it justifies labor levels--by that I mean it shows they are moving a certain volume of mail.

1. Rural delivery costs tons. Requiring a PO box outside of a certain radius would probably reap huge savings.
2. I saw something that was a good idea in California. A lot of their subdivisions have a central spot where all the mail is delivered and residents pick it up. Security is an issue but its certainly mroe efficient.
3. Street boxes at the least. Maggie was right, it wastes tons of time and effort by mailmen.

A bit off topic, but I read somewhere a good 10 years ago where there was a guy who subscribed to as much junk mail he could. What he did was used it to heat his home, loved it! :thumbup:
 
The subsidize bulk junk mail because it justifies labor levels--by that I mean it shows they are moving a certain volume of mail.

1. Rural delivery costs tons. Requiring a PO box outside of a certain radius would probably reap huge savings.
2. I saw something that was a good idea in California. A lot of their subdivisions have a central spot where all the mail is delivered and residents pick it up. Security is an issue but its certainly mroe efficient.
3. Street boxes at the least. Maggie was right, it wastes tons of time and effort by mailmen.

The mail to small rural towns in California, especially in hard to access areas, has been routinely delivered to centralized locations such as stores or small Mom and Pop run POs for years.
 
pretty much would only concern me when it comes to Netflix DVDs, but i'll probably drop DVD delivery sometime soon anyway. i only keep it now because it's fun to get something other than a bill or ****ing junk mail, but it's not enough fun to warrant the price.
 
The mail to small rural towns in California, especially in hard to access areas, has been routinely delivered to centralized locations such as stores or small Mom and Pop run POs for years.

Right. Im saying we should nationalize that standard.
 
UPS is a private company and may refuse service and does not have to service everyone. Unless you replace it with another public utility that everyone has access to, you must keep it.

Plus UPS could be bought out tomorrow and all it's assets cashed out.

No one can make a business stay in business. Which is why the constitutionally mandated US Post Office is called a service.... .
 
Plus UPS could be bought out tomorrow and all it's assets cashed out.

No one can make a business stay in business. Which is why the constitutionally mandated US Post Office is called a service.... .

Of course. I don't understand why some people continually demand that government behave like a business. It shouldn't. It should behave like a government. The USPS is not a business, it doesn't have to make money, it merely must be there and function.
 
I don't accept your conclusion. UPS trucks are all over the place. If they were allowed to compete with the post office, the post office would be out of business in six months. And I wouldn't be getting 95% junk mail at my house.

Do you really think that UPS is going to pick up mail at your house, deliver it anywhere in the country in a couple days, 5 days a week, for 46 cents each?
 
Of course. I don't understand why some people continually demand that government behave like a business. It shouldn't. It should behave like a government. The USPS is not a business, it doesn't have to make money, it merely must be there and function.

And you will never hear the same standards being proposed for that other big service...the Military.
 
Do you really think that UPS is going to pick up mail at your house, deliver it anywhere in the country in a couple days, 5 days a week, for 46 cents each?

It isn't doing that now!! Fiscal Year 2011 saw the post office default on its $11.1 billion pension obligations. Has had multi-billion-dollar losses for at least the past five years. In November 2012, they asked Congress for another $14 billion.
 
Do you really think that UPS is going to pick up mail at your house, deliver it anywhere in the country in a couple days, 5 days a week, for 46 cents each?

They would have to if they wanted to win over USPS customers. In fact, they would need to top that in some way. Competition is good for consumers.
 
It isn't doing that now!! Fiscal Year 2011 saw the post office default on its $11.1 billion pension obligations. Has had multi-billion-dollar losses for at least the past five years. In November 2012, they asked Congress for another $14 billion.

Because it was meant by the founders to be a SERVICE, which it was until the seventies, not that artificial construct called a private corporation. You can thank Nixon for it's current problems.
 
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It isn't doing that now!! Fiscal Year 2011 saw the post office default on its $11.1 billion pension obligations. Has had multi-billion-dollar losses for at least the past five years. In November 2012, they asked Congress for another $14 billion.

Meh, it's not a business. It shouldn't try to be run like one. It's public utility. It should be run like that.
 
Because it was meant by the founders to be a SERVICE, which it was until the lseventies, not that artificial construct called a private corporation. You can thank Nixon for it's current problems.

Why? Did Nixon tell the post office what they could charge for bulk mail? Did he set the union in place that's causing funding problems? Did he set a limit on First Class postage? The Pony Express: private enterprise competing with the post office and winning the game.
 
Meh, it's not a business. It shouldn't try to be run like one. It's public utility. It should be run like that.

My electric company is a public utility. It runs at a profit. My gas supplier is a public utility. Same thing. Difference? One is run by businessmen. The other is run by politicians.
 
My electric company is a public utility. It runs at a profit. My gas supplier is a public utility. Same thing. Difference? One is run by businessmen. The other is run by politicians.

Those are more government enforced local monopolies.
 
Whether I like it or not I knew this was coming.

The PS around here requires all new complexes have centralized mail boxes, but doing that for the standalone houses (say, at the end of the block) would be a gargantuan expense and a security nightmare. At least now, when thieves try to come up on my porch to steal the outgoing mail, it triggers my porch light.

But my question is: are they going to start picking the mail up every day again now that they're not delivering on Saturdays? As it stands now I find, if they don't have anything to deliver to me they don't bother to pickup either. Many times I've had to seek out a standalone mailbox to get something out on time. And there are some bills I can't pay online.

The other problem with this is that some people still get their checks in the mail. It's not always possible to do direct deposit. This is gonna suck hard for them because they're (I believe) most likely to be living from paycheck to paycheck. I suppose they should have a paycheck delivery class that like package delivery, does deliver on Saturdays.

Oh, and on the junk mail. The PS is structured like the old phone companies. With them the residential lines were largely a loss and the business lines supported the system. Regular mail doesn't pay the way, but the commercial mail, the junk, pays more and actually pays it's own way plus subsidizing the regular mail. Now that folks can refuse the junk (and more are taking advantage of that) and advertisers have discovered the internet, there's far less junk mail - hurting the PS bottom line even more.
 
My electric company is a public utility. It runs at a profit. My gas supplier is a public utility. Same thing. Difference? One is run by businessmen. The other is run by politicians.

One other difference, there is a Public Utilities Commission that sets the rules for them. Rate hikes and service changes must be approved by the local or state PUC and there is typically plenty of public input.
 
One other difference, there is a Public Utilities Commission that sets the rules for them. Rate hikes and service changes must be approved by the local or state PUC and there is typically plenty of public input.

Fine. No matter what the restriction, these public utilities run at a profit, trade on the stock exchange, and provide excellent service to their customers. And know what? They don't use a nickel of public money.
 
Those are more government enforced local monopolies.

And what does that have to do with a profit? What do you consider the USPS to be? You called it a public utility.
 
And what does that have to do with a profit? What do you consider the USPS to be? You called it a public utility.

It's a necessary service which must be guaranteed. It's not a business and it doesn't need to profit. The other forms of public utility we have are usually just forms of local monopoly granted by the government to the best donor. A true public utility need not profit as it is subsidized through taxes and thus its future is guaranteed.
 
Fine. No matter what the restriction, these public utilities run at a profit, trade on the stock exchange, and provide excellent service to their customers. And know what? They don't use a nickel of public money.

I agreed and I'm fine with that, as long as there is a strong PUC in place. Many of our state's local power companies went private when the feds took the Bonneville local rate away from us a few years back. I've seen no difference other than response time being a little slower on killer weather days and of course the price. But that last is due to the feds' action.
 
It isn't doing that now!! Fiscal Year 2011 saw the post office default on its $11.1 billion pension obligations. Has had multi-billion-dollar losses for at least the past five years. In November 2012, they asked Congress for another $14 billion.

Yes it is. It is not doing it profitably, but it is doing it. Note that just ending Saturday delivery is going to save it 2 billion, moving it much closer to the break even point. What do you think UPS would have to charge for similar service to first class mail?
 
They would have to if they wanted to win over USPS customers. In fact, they would need to top that in some way. Competition is good for consumers.

Ummm...UPS is in competition with USPS.
 
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