U.S. Postal Service considers eliminating Tuesday delivery. Note to check writers: time to adjust or automate.
With the economic downturn leading to dwindling volume and revenue, the U.S. Postal Service is looking for ways to trim the fat. That fat could be Tuesday:
Massive deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery per week, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday. Postmaster General John E. Potter asked lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week’¦
If the change is made, that doesn’t necessarily mean an end to Saturday mail delivery. Previous studies have looked at the possibility of skipping some other day, such as Tuesday’¦ A study done by George Mason University last year for the independent Postal Regulatory Commission estimated that going from six-day to five-day delivery would save the post office more than $1.9 billion annually, while a Postal Service study estimated the saving at $3.5 billion.
Another news outlet reported the postal chief saying:
USPS is ‘œa vital economic engine in our national economy,’ Potter said, noting that USPS is the country’s second-largest employer and the mail affects both jobs and commerce.
So here’s my question? What are we all sending through the mail anyway? It better not be bills.
Potter explained here that the post office’s problem is twofold:
‘œA revolution in the way people communicate has structurally changed the way America uses the mail,’ with a shift from first-class letters to the Internet for personal communications, billings, payments, statements and business correspondence.
To some extent that was made up for my growth in standard mail ‘” largely advertising ‘” but the economic meltdown has resulted in a drop there also.
Great. The answer to keeping the USPS solvent is more junk mail.
One New Yorker offered this alternative:
Anyone who has had the displeasure of visiting a USPS facility in NYC knows what a nightmare many of the postal clerks are. The arrogance of too many postal clerks and carelessness of their carriers account for loss of revenue. Many business and residences throughout the City of New York prefer other mail carriers, and for good reason. Rather than cut a day from mail delivery, USPS should enforce accountability amongst their staff. Since old habits die hard, that alone would increase USPS revenue.
I can’t say I’ve ever mailed anything from New York City and quite frankly, the postal employees in Newport Beach are rather friendly’¦ but hey, the sun shines here and beachcombers are never in a hurry to buy stamps.
A couple of commenters on Yelp chimed in on the meaning of no Tuesday delivery:
1. Now I can sort of understand going to a 5-day week if you mean cutting out Saturday deliveries… but according to the radio they want to eliminate TUESDAYS! Hello? Tuesday is a regular work day for most of us! And what’s the point in having the letter carriers work from Wed-Sat, off Sunday, work on Monday, then take off Tuesday… I can just imagine what that would do for baby-sitting arrangements among other difficulties.
2. That would fuck with my Netflix! I already hate Sundays because I can’t get any movies on that day. So I vote no.
Leave it to Yelp. They both have a point. Now to my point of this post’¦ are any of you still writing checks to pay bills? What will one fewer days of delivery mean to you? Will you have to factor in this if you play the float when paying bills? And jeez, if you are still writing and mail checks, isn’t it about time you automate to online bill pay?
The boys over at Joe.My.God. had a mouthful to say. Anyone want to start a similar conversation here? I would love your thoughts on this topic’¦
Logo credit: USPS.com.
Yes – I still write and mail checks. It’s how I have to pay the rent (small management company), one of my credit cards actually charges (!) for me to use electronic billing (I wouldn’t still have the card if it wasn’t my oldest line of credit), and two of the three utility companies get paid via check.
However, cutting out Tuesday wouldn’t have a major effect on me and paying bills – I usually pay them ahead of time anyway.
Also – why Tuesday? Seems like such an odd choice.
Tuesday is so random. I would understand if the mail carriers were big fans of House, but House is on Mondays now. Plus, shouldn’t they be done delivering mail by 7:00 PM anyway?
I use checks to pay rent, so I guess we’ll have to factor that into when we mail our check. I send a lot of postcards and letters, too, but it doesn’t really matter when those are delivered.
I agree with the Yelp writers – cut out Saturdays. Don’t fuck with my Netflix delivery.
I would bet you they picked Tuesday since they already have so many Monday holidays. Not as random as you’d think.
With them taking off Tuesdays instead of Saturdays, you never have to go two days in a row without Netflix (although weeks with those Monday holidays would be just as bad.)
So, as a consumer, I vote for Wednesdays or Thursdays off.
As a postal worker, I’m pretty sure I’d rather have Saturdays off, like most of my friends and family. On the other hand, having a weekday off can be very handy for going to places that rarely open and for avoiding crowds.
The only checks I write is to the IRS and my landlord and that is because I hate both of those….. Further, I do not trust either of them having my banking information. Again, both for obvious reasons.
Everything else I do via the internet including shopping and when I do that I do not use USPS. Once in a while, I forget to double check my shipping preferences and package comes through USPS, and each time all hell breaks loose.
USPS, Brooklyn, New York, Sheepshead Bay, Amersfort steals your parcel post packages. Too many times in the past 3 years, I have had to file complaints with the Postmaster General. One three occasions, the tape on the boxes were stretched open wide enough to see the contents.
Further, since my mail arrives between 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., USPS can go to hell in a handbasket.
I swear, this decision sounds so far-fetched and ridiculous that I thought it might have been an Onion article for a minute! What next? They won’t deliver during the winter season?
You’d think this company would look towards maybe being more competitive and able to offer stellar customer satisfaction. They might cut costs in the short-term, but they will surely shoot themselves in the foot for the long-term. Some of their bigger, corporate customers will walk away once they hear ‘sorry sir/ma’am, we don’t deliver on Tuesdays’.
If they’re looking for somewhere to trim the fat, they need to look just that little bit harder…
DivaJean: Good point. I had forgotten about their Monday holidays… so you’re right that it seems less random now!
Lila: That’s funny and almost as far-fetched as this “real” Onion headline: U.S. Postal Service Destroyed By Four Reckless Teens In Car!
My mail doesn’t come until after 5 (so any outgoing mail won’t go out of town until the next day,) plus when it’s snowing they won’t deliver even if the roads are clear. In the past two years I’ve had countless bills go missing, packages lost, mail carriers who won’t deliver on Saturday then come on Sunday!!?? Sure I’m in a small town but the service stinks! I want the government in control of it again. Seemed to work better. Plus I want 7 days a week delivery and more local carriers so I can get my mail at a normal time.