No Saturday Delivery for U.S.P.S.

It's official (-ish; there's a press conference slated for later this morning). The U.S.P.S. will cut Saturday Delivery of letters and mail starting in August. They anticipate saving about 2 billion dollars with this cut in service.

DON'T PANIC! Packages will still be delivered on Saturdays, and we still have our 5 days a week of mail. Plus, perhaps here's a reason to look forward to Mondays as my friend Chandra pointed out. This article at the Washington Post has a good run down on why the delivery cut back is warranted and also the ongoing fight between the U.S.P.S. and Congress. 

How about you, mail lovers? How are you feeling about this announcement? My sources seem to feel resigned about it and hope that it leads to improved service on the weekdays. What would you do to "save" the Post Office?

{Photo by RayBanBro66 on Flickr under CC license}

Comments

[rachel]

This makes me really sad. Mail is usually the highlight of my day! But, I guess if it helps the USPS in the long run, I can support it.

[Nicolle]

I think it's sad as well, but if it will help the USPS save money, then I support their decision.

Would love to know if there is a plan the USPS released that would help them get back on track. I know a lot of people who are dedicating themselves to writing letters again, and personally I would pretty much buy the entire inventory of stamps if I could.

[Katie]

I agree with previous comments - it's sad, but if this cost-cutting measure will save the USPS than we have to be happy about that. I just wish society, in general, would slow down and enjoy writing letters again!

[kimberly]

I'm agreeing with everyone above. I rarely get "good mail" on Saturdays anyway--it's almost always junk mail (I think my post office might be hoarding the good stuff sometimes!)

BUT, the one big think that make me sad:

On a holiday weekend, this means THREE WHOLE DAYS WITHOUT MAIL!

[Ciara Barsotti]

That is sad. =( But I think it will be a good thing over all, especially if it helps keep the USPS in business. And yes, it will be a good reason to look forward to Mondays. ;)

[Valerie]

Well, they've announced it, but it's possible that something could still change. Of course, that would require Congress to do something, so I'm not holding my breath.

A big part of USPS' financial woes is because Congress previously passed a bill requiring that the USPS pay 75 years' worth of employee pensions in advance. If they didn't have to do that, they'd actually have a $1.5 billion surplus right now.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/02/06/1547551/postal-service-saturday-delivery/

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/us/postal-service-plans-to-end-saturday-delivery.html

In related news, Hallmark is apparently lobbying to keep the Saturday delivery.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/hallmark-lobbyists-saturday-mail_n_2626844.html

But, of course, UPS and FedEx would be fine with Saturday delivery going away.

[ElseT]

It's sad but I totally understand. I would rather have mail on five days than none at all! And Saturdays is no big loss--even with packages--because our neighborhood postal carrier NEVER delivers packages on Sat.

[Rae]

I'm just worried that my girlfriend's job will disappear in August. She and the other substitute rural letter carriers rely on that day to guarantee their jobs. Without it, I don't know what will happen to her and five others in her office who hold the same position.

[JJalltheway]

I concur with Rae. I'm worried about how many positions will be cut.

I lived in two other countries that did not deliver on Saturdays and I have to say, I got used to it. In fact, I thought when I got back "wow, what a luxury"!

I was considering getting a PO Box and now that I know those will get mail on Saturdays I might do it.

Don't forget, the other thing they've been cutting for years are the blue neighborhood boxes!! Those are definitely a "use it or lose it" situation.

[amanda]

I kind of love it that Congress tried to ignore the problem (that's how they go away, right?) so the USPS was like, yeah, ok, here's what needs to happen with our budget. It's technically illegal. Civil disobedience! go USPS, nuts to inaction from Congress.
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/02/post-office-tired-begging-congress-attention?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

[Postage Stamp]

I have a P.O. Box anyway for the majority of my mail (some stuff gets delivered to my house). And my local post office will remain open on Saturdays. So I won't "feel" it as a big cut back. I still don't like change though...

[Valerie]

Here's a petition about this issue:

The post office isn't broke, it's being robbed. http://bit.ly/W1YLOk via @CREDOMobile

[Z]

I keep coming up with some weird ideas. Some commentary posters have mentioned having mail delivered twice on a 6 day week schedule in other areas of the world. (We did too, as well; my pop-in-law recalls this when he stopped home for lunch on a school day.) We could write to the people in charge of these areas and ask them how they manage. (I was going to propose writing Queen E. for advice.)

Beyond that, I keep wondering about other things that used to be delivered and got halted in the 1970's. Perhaps a side project co-op to bring back the milkman (or a bean/nut milk-man if need be) to bring in more cash.

[Pamela.]

I think this is very disturbing. We will have many occasions with no mail for three full days when there are the many Monday holidays. I always receive mail on Saturday. And after they cut Saturday they will probably try to cut back to the M-W-F schedule i keep hearing mentioned. Other countries have done it.
The way to save the Post Office is to use it and use it a lot. And to write a lot of letters to everyone and anyone in the government who can help do something about this. And we have plenty of money to spend of government excess and bombs but we can't keep our own postal service up and running?