Post Office To Stop Delivering Mail On Saturday

The US Post office has decided to stop delivering mail on Saturdays. As we all know the USPS has been in dire straits financially and this move will save them approximately 2 Billion dollars annually. The change is set to take place this coming August and will not affect package delivery which will still take place six days per week.

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While losing business to the ever increasing use of e-mail and the internet in general, the USPS has actually seen a 14% increase in package delivery business, therefore Saturday package delivery will continue.

Personally I understand the cutbacks the USPS is having to make in order to stay in business. While most of us do the majority of our correspondence on the internet there are still many who depend on the USPS completely and I am glad they have found a way to stay open for them. I myself send packages via USPS on a regular basis (I adore their Flat Rate Shipping) and am very happy that package delivery will continue for Saturdays regardless.

reply to post by littled16


This actually will give most of the U.S. postal employees an entire weekend off work, just like the normal world. And it will give people another excuse not to pay their bills on time ("I didn't get it until Monday!") and many other benefits for a country that is much too busy and focused on making money via communications media.

Ben Franklin, who initiated the U.S. post office if I'm not mistaken, would probably approve of this, and would take his many mistresses to a ball game or a weekend trip to the farmlands.

Their biggest issue is that they are required to prefund retiree pensions. 100 percent. No other agency is required to do this and private businesses do not do this. They were profitable until 2006 when this was inacted. They are working to keep themselves viable with standard mail (junk mail). They have created incentives for companies to use a multi-pronged approach to advertising with print mail following other more modern forms of advertising such as the internet. These include printing 2D barcodes that can be scanned by cell phones and then direct you to a website. Also, studies show that people prefer to have a coupon in hand when shopping and print mail is a great way to reach them.

What many people do not know is that every time you give your information to a business or online website they are collecting information on you. This may include your age, sex, how many children you have, number of pets, etc... This info in then sold to marketing companies that target specific demographics to send mail to. It is BIG business.

reply to post by Aleister
Well I know that if I worked for the USPS I would completely appreciate the newfound weekends off. My great uncle was a post master for 40 years and missed many family events due to work, as with post offices in smaller towns do not have enough employees for the post master to be able to take Saturdays off. My cousin retired as post master in a much larger city and never had to work Saturdays to start with- except during the holiday season.

reply to post by joeandandi
I have noticed recently that a few companies websites that I used to be able to print coupons directly from have switched to where you have to request your coupons online and then they are sent via mail. This probably plays into the selling of your info so that partner companies can send you their "junk mail". That doesn't really bother me as it gives the grandbaby something else to play with.

I do think it was a mistake when they switched to the prefund retiree pensions. I'm sure the USPS didn't get much input into that as they have to do whatever "Uncle Sam" tells them to do and literally have to go through an act of congress to request anything, with those requests mostly being denied.

reply to post by littled16


I almost hate to say anything about it, especially after hearing that your great-uncle worked for the USPS. But my mailperson has never delivered a package. If I were standing on the front porch waiting for it every day, I'd still get one of those little notices saying it was undeliverable and I have to go pick it up. I don't think he even puts them in his delivery vehicle.

And then, when I do go to pick it up, they act as if it's the first time they've ever had to go in the back and look for an undelivered package. They usually go back there and rummage for 10 minutes or so--as if they're not sure where undeliverable packages are kept--and then come back up to the counter and punch the number into the computer as if double-checking it, and then go back into the storage room. They eventually emerge with the package looking as if it's been stomped on as some kind of punishment for having gotten snarled in the system.

Thing is: I like the Post Office Dept. They remind me of a more innocent time. I wouldn't want to live in a world without them. But they sure don't love me back....

reply to post by Ex_CT2
I do understand. I've had my own run ins with the post office a few times over the years myself. I had a problem with our mail being mixed up with another family's with the same last name on the same street which sounds like no big deal except that they live a couple of miles down the road and are on a completely different delivery route. I went directly to the postmaster and he started checking our mail (as well as the other family's mail) before it went out each day personally (proof in his handwriting on every single envelope for several months). Normally it wouldn't be a big deal, but the other family receiving our mail was an elderly couple who inadvertently paid a few of OUR bills by mistake. It was a mess that I had to jump through hoops to straighten out and make things right.

Originally posted by Ex_CT2
reply to post by littled16

 

I almost hate to say anything about it, especially after hearing that your great-uncle worked for the USPS. But my mailperson has never delivered a package. If I were standing on the front porch waiting for it every day, I'd still get one of those little notices saying it was undeliverable and I have to go pick it up. I don't think he even puts them in his delivery vehicle.

And then, when I do go to pick it up, they act as if it's the first time they've ever had to go in the back and look for an undelivered package. They usually go back there and rummage for 10 minutes or so--as if they're not sure where undeliverable packages are kept--and then come back up to the counter and punch the number into the computer as if double-checking it, and then go back into the storage room. They eventually emerge with the package looking as if it's been stomped on as some kind of punishment for having gotten snarled in the system.

Thing is: I like the Post Office Dept. They remind me of a more innocent time. I wouldn't want to live in a world without them. But they sure don't love me back....

edit on 2/6/2013 by Ex_CT2 because: (no reason given)

Thats what my previous mailman did.The ol pink sticky on the door. In my neighborhood.. its a historic neighborhood... they wont let us have mailboxes, so we have the old time metal thing attached to the house on the porch. I even have a nice large wrought iron ornate box below it beside the door for packages. He couldnt manage to put them in there either. He also is a nosey butthead asking what my packages are.. and when I got a med shipment from Canada for my daughter ( who is on immuno supressants due to a transplant) I met him at the truck and he handed it to me and smirked and asked if I wanted to share.WTF??

Needless tosay he is no longer a postman. He finally retired and I dont have to deal with him anymore.The new one is a dear and Id love to see the old guy get his Saturdays off! Here they have been floating this idea and several others as far as cutting days of delivery.Here, its not only the pension issue, but our gas is ALWAYS higher... here its 3.73 a gallon today... and in our local paper they were speaking about weekly costs in gas just to deliver in our town.