How do you feel about 5 day mail delivery?

[ziggy29]

Heck.... let's save a LOT of money... fire half the work force and have mail delivered twice a week... some places get Mon and Thur and others Tues and Friday.... just like garbage...

That wouldn't come close to eliminating half of the overall work the USPS does -- only in the areas of staffing the PO and the folks who actually deliver the mail would potentially be impacted that much.

If the volume of mail didn't change much, you'd just have just as much work that needed to be done in the transportation and sorting infrastructure. In other words, to use corporate buzzword bingo speak the "customer facing" stuff could be cut in half but the "back office" stuff would be barely impacted.

 

[winger]

Our mail forward service only sends our mail when we request it, which is about once a month. We won't even notice the change.

DW is craft-y, so we mail packages at least once a week. Always M-F.

 

[Sam]

That's relevant, because soon shipping movies around the country on pieces of plastic (instead off downloading them) will be as archaic as sending sheets of paper with writing on them.

Well said. I don't even care if USPS delivers mail only once a week. 95% of my USPS mail are junk anyway.

At least half of my meaningful mail now arrives to my email box.

 

[MichaelB]

I don't care but wonder how some businesses might be affected - businesses like NetFlix, for example. No shipping or receiving on Saturdays means subscribers may have to wait an extra day to get their movie.

With Roku saturday delivery is less of an issue for Netflix. In fact, eliminating a mailing / delivery day will be a real cost reducer – profit generator for them.

 

[REWahoo]

With Roku saturday delivery is less of an issue for Netflix. In fact, eliminating a mailing / delivery day will be a real cost reducer – profit generator for them.

You'd think that might be the case but not according to this: Delivering Movies in Slow Motion | The Big Money

 

[Nords]

I don't care but wonder how some businesses might be affected - businesses like NetFlix, for example. No shipping or receiving on Saturdays means subscribers may have to wait an extra day to get their movie.

That's relevant, because soon shipping movies around the country on pieces of plastic (instead off downloading them) will be as archaic as sending sheets of paper with writing on them.

I think a business model dependent on the USPS is doomed to fail, and it looks like Netflix is beginning to realize that too.

I think USPS could go to Tue & Thu deliveries without any significant disruption to my life. I think working families would adapt to it too. Let FedEx and UPS set the rates for those who can't use a fax or e-mail or wait a few extra days.

Or maybe we should rethink our utility services and pick up trash twice a day-- imagine going a whole week without being able to dispose of that stinky stuff! What are we, a third-world country?!?

Different subject. For those of you who go to the post office to buy stamps and mail letters, I have a question: why?

I order stamps online (costs a buck but saves the trip) and arrange mail-carrier pickup (free, but I need to think ahead a day or two). If a package is too big for my mailbox (or if I'm nervous about theft) then I go to the post office's automated kiosk, where the drawer is big enough to hold a small child. I only enter the post office once or twice a quarter, perhaps a half-dozen times per year, and I haven't actually transacted business with someone behind the USPS counter for over two years. If the automated kiosk was in a lobby (like an ATM or a library book drop) then I wouldn't even need to go into the post office.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Nords, I buy stamps at the grocery store, but our post offices took out the kiosks where you can mail your own packages without having to deal with a real person.

 

[Westernskies]

Here's an thought- segregate RESIDENTIAL and BUSINESS mail and provide service that fits a cost/benefit model? i.e RESIDENTIAL mail delivery three days a week and BUSINESS deliveries five days a week. Priority Mail (premium product) would still be delivered every day. UPS and FedEx can fill any missing service gaps- if people want something delivered in a specific time frame, there are services that will accomodate them.

 

[ziggy29]

If a package is too big for my mailbox (or if I'm nervous about theft) then I go to the post office's automated kiosk, where the drawer is big enough to hold a small child.

Yeah, well, our town is too small and probably too Luddite to get one of those technological thingies. I remember using them a lot in Houston, though.

 

[Rustic23]

Nords,
Our subdivision does not have garbage service. We have a dumpster area and you can put trash in anytime. Good thing is it is 'free' to residence. We have found we only go about once a week.

 

[scrinch]

If a package is too big for my mailbox (or if I'm nervous about theft) then I go to the post office's automated kiosk, where the drawer is big enough to hold a small child.

Yeah, but my kids are getting pretty big now. I guess I'd just have to use UPS.

 

[FIREd]

I don't care. More than 90% of what is receive is junk mail anyways. It's one more day per week off of shredder duty for me.

 

[freebird5825]

Twice a week delivery would be fine with me, being a very low volume snail mail recipient.
A consideration for less frequent deleivery is apartment buildings with those teeny tiny locked mailboxes for the tenants. Not much fits in there to begin with, so less frequent weekday delivery could be a problem. Walking mail carriers would definitely be affected (heavier loads and more trips back to their mail truck) also if weekday delivery was reduced.

 

[Westernskies]

Twice a week delivery would be fine with me, being a very low volume snail mail recipient.
A consideration for less frequent deleivery is apartment buildings with those teeny tiny locked mailboxes for the tenants. Not much fits in there to begin with, so less frequent weekday delivery could be a problem. Walking mail carriers would definitely be affected (heavier loads and more trips back to their mail truck) also if weekday delivery was reduced.

It's not just apartment buildings. In their infintite wisdom, the PO has gone to tiny little cluster boxes on all the new housing developments here in AZ. Everyone hates them, and complains about them, but in their mission to provide only the scantest hint of customer awareness, the PO continues to install them.

DW and I travel quite a bit; more than once we have had to go to the PO to pick up ....3 days...of accumulated mail; because it won't fit in our miniature mailbox. There, I got to listen to a lecture from a [-]sanctimonious pr*ck[/-] helpful PO employee about the requirement for me to pick up my mail every day... He couldn't grasp the concept of anyone traveling outside the zip code more than once a year and therefore unable to visit their convenient cluster box every day ... I asked him about getting us an bigger mailbox, since theirs barely holds a [-]unmarked brown envelope[/-] utility bill, let alone all the unsolicited bulk mail and junk mail that is filling valuable mailbox space that could be better utilized by important communications-annuity offers, AARP mass mailings, political fundraising letters, and free financial planning seminars. His response, although mumbled and incoherent, was terse and therefore presumed to be negative.

 

[kyounge1956]

I voted for "mostly junk mail and bills" but I also would like to see at least the lobby, with access to vending machines, open on weekends, even if the counter isn't. I used to have a post office box, and those were also accessible even during off hours, although I don't know if that's the case in every post office.

 

[BUM]

I'd be perfectly happy with one delivery a week.

Then I'd get all my junk mail on just one day - - easier to throw it out.

I'd be perfectly happy if they could work out a delivery schedule only on days when I check my mail.

 

[LOL!]

If the mail volume permits it, I see no reason not to go to every-other day for home delivery. Offices would still be open to sort the mail and service walk-in customers. Offices could be open alternate Saturdays as well. Labor costs could be significantly reduced.

One could have MWF or TTS delivery depending on location. Businesses could still have every day delivery.

As for cluster mailboxes, I like them. They are great way to eventually meet all your neighbors because everyone has to come out to the mailbox to pick up their mail.

 

[tryan]

The post office has lost the concept of supply and demand.

Demand for thier service has dropped so they increase the price of a stamp ... Soooo demand drops further .... so they increase the stamp cost .....

Somebody needs to go to ECON101 before the post office goes completely out of business. I foresee UPS and FEDX buying up the post offices for a dime on the dollar.

 

[ziggy29]

The post office has lost the concept of supply and demand.

Demand for thier service has dropped so they increase the price of a stamp ... Soooo demand drops further .... so they increase the stamp cost .....

Transit systems do this all the time: "Ridership is down and revenue is declining, so in the face of weaker demand we have no choice but to raise fares..."

In the real world, the answer would be either to *cut* fares to stimulate demand or to reduce the number of bus routes and bus drivers -- not raise fares and reduce demand even more...

 

[MichaelB]

IMHO the US postal service does an excellent job considering the circumstances.

Their basic services and territory covered are mandated by congress. Their prices are controlled by congress and subject to significant meddling. Their labor practices are subject to civil service regulations. They nonetheless provide world class service and have excellent price performance.

I haven’t done the math, but IIRC the cost of basic postage – where they have a monopoly – has risen less than those services for which they compete, such as express mail.

Mail delivery curtailment should focus on residential, which has a lower need, and minimize the disruption for business, which pays the bulk of mailing fees and subsidizes the excellent service for the rest of us. Perhaps 3 days per week for residential and daily for business.

 

[MikeD]

I vaguely remember learning in high school that the original post office service was twice a day a real long time ago. The expression "in the morning mail" must have come from somewhere. In the '70s I certainly would have liked that as my future wife and I were corresponding nearly daily in letter form. Sundays were unbearable. I lived in the country and would wait down the long driveway for the mailman every day. It all worked out, we've been married over 33 years so far. Now I send her emails on her Blackberry.

Mike D.

 

[easysurfer]

I vaguely remember learning in high school that the original post office service was twice a day a real long time ago. The expression "in the morning mail" must have come from somewhere. In the '70s I certainly would have liked that as my future wife and I were corresponding nearly daily in letter form. Sundays were unbearable. I lived in the country and would wait down the long driveway for the mailman every day. It all worked out, we've been married over 33 years so far. Now I send her emails on her Blackberry.

Mike D.

Guess nowadays, we take email for granted. To be able to fire off a "letter" to someone out of town and get a response back sometimes in minues. Before email, used to be, drop off a letter in mailbox, don't hear back in about a week.

 

[MichaelB]

You'd think that might be the case but not according to this: Delivering Movies in Slow Motion | The Big Money

Regarding Netflix, from day 1 they have been very clear that their business goal is video on demand and they see mail dvd delivery as a necessary interim business. They have pushed hard to get mailing costs down, so I suspect they probably would support reduced residential deliveries. Still, the info you link shows that it isn't cut and dry.

OTOH, credit card companies, large utilities and such that receive daily bill pays could lose money through delayed receipts.

 

[REWahoo]

I vaguely remember learning in high school that the original post office service was twice a day a real long time ago. The expression "in the morning mail" must have come from somewhere.

Whaddya mean "a real long time ago"? They stopped two a day home delivery in 1950.

 

[FUEGO]

Whaddya mean "a real long time ago"? They stopped two a day home delivery in 1950.

That's the definition of a real long time ago. My parents weren't even born then. Heck, wasn't tv still black and white back then?