Would You Miss Saturday Mail Delivery?
A proposal would end Saturday first-class mail delivery.
The Postal Service handles more than 44 percent of the world's mail volume — delivering more mail to more addresses and to a larger geographic area than any other postal administration in the world.
U.S. Postal Service
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The U.S. Postal Service is reportedly announcing on Wednesday that it will stop Saturday first-class mail delivery by Aug. 1, reported CBS News.
Mail personnel have delivered mail on Saturdays for 150 years, but the plan is to end regular mail service, while maintaining Saturday delivery for packages and express mail, said CBS News.
The move is the latest attempt by the cash-strapped federal department to save money. It has already cut employees and service, but still reportedly lost $16 billion last year.
What do you think about this idea? Would you miss Saturday mail service?
Joanna Matteson
8:31 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Not really, it's mostly junk mail anyway.
Karen Turcotte
8:31 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
No. All I receive on saturdays is flyer type junk mail.
KT
8:32 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
No - since most of the mail we get is junk mail or catalogs, it goes straight to the trash anyway.
Geraldine
8:40 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
I would miss delivery, if it is the first of the month as that is when the social security checks come.
Larry
1:04 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Checks are stopping and direct deposit is becoming the deliver method.
Les Masterson
1:59 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Larry, do you know when that is going into effect?
Tree Hugger
4:00 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Veterans' Benefits through the VA are direct deposit only, and have been as long as I've been receiving them (at least 6 years now).
Susan Petroni
6:00 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
According to seniors at the Framingham Senior Center - paper social security checks are to end in March 2013 - all will be direct deposited.
Susan Petroni
6:02 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Those who began receiving Social Security checks before May of 2011 have until March 1, 2013, to sign up for electronic payments, according to the US Treasury Department.
Those who don't sign up to have their Social Security checks direct-deposited by that date would receive their benefits through a "Direct Express card program."
Milford Senior Man
8:42 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Myself, I can live without my mail be delivered on Saturday. Five days a week is enough and the mailman deserves to have a weekend off from work.
Michael Soares
8:48 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
They should cut the workforce in half and just do odd numbered houses MWF and even numbered houses TTS, or some kind of alternating system. They shouldn't need congressional approval to do anything, since congress has proved they can't get anything done right
obamacare is useless
9:48 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
How about doing some reporting and explain why the problem exists?
The post office is in trouble because CONGRESS has mandated it pay now for FUTURE retiree health benefits, which counts for $11.1 billion of the USPS's losses. The health payments are a requirement imposed by Congress in 2006 that the post office set aside $55 billion in an account to cover future medical costs for retirees. The idea was to put $5.5 billion a year into the account for 10 years. That's $5.5 billion the post office doesn't have and why the post office needs to cut costs - see how your business would do if ObamaCare imposed that on you!!!
PREDATOR
10:04 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Don't have to, not when you are entitled.
UglyHat
10:15 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
If the USPS didn’t want to have to set aside costs for retiree health benefits, maybe they should not have agreed to provide health benefits to retirees. Most businesses would not be affected by that mandate because they don’t provide health care to retirees.
If you can’t afford something, don’t promise you’ll provide it.
hateliberals
10:36 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Congress mandated that they pay retirees health care costs. It wasn't a choice. Maybe you should write your congressman.
UglyHat
12:24 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Maybe I should. And if I do I will ask them to be sure the USPS doesn't use taxpayer dollars. It should be self-sustaining or it should be reduced until it can be. Reduction can take the form of reduced service days, increased delivery times, recduced pay and benefits. Ideally, all of the above.
It's too expensive, junk mail isn't that important and everything that is important is already digital or using private parcel companies.
Larry
1:06 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Congress hasn't made any other agency pre-fund post retirement medical benefits.
UglyHat
1:14 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
That's too bad, and probably part of our debt and deficit problem. We can't afford all the things we're promising and it is (or will be) a problem. Again, if we can't afford it, we shouldn't promise it.
Brenda Crawshaw
11:01 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Gee, I didn't get any mail yesterday so maybe they started early?
Lisa Phelps
12:54 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
I wouldn't miss Saturday mail in the least. So much of my mail is junk anyway.
GwenB
1:10 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
No, I think it would be a good thing. If it saves money, good thing.
Mark Criasia
1:10 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
I'm all for getting rid of Saturday dlivery. My fear is that they shift all the bulk junk mail to Monday. And let's face it, Monday is already depressing. Who wants to see all that junk mail when you get home from work?
Jason Bilsky
1:22 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
How about they make an effort to make the postal service a system people WANT to use? Having surly employees and a half-hour line to mail a package has driven away more customers than they can possibly replace.
PREDATOR
1:44 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
For the same reason the government chooses to go after law abiding gun owners rather than the criminals who use them to kill.....it is hard to do the right thing.
SoTired
11:03 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
I agree - I went to mail a package last Saturday. 6 people in line and they closed 1 of the 2 windows. Eventually someone came out and opened another window - there were probably 10 in line at that point. It took me about 25 minutes. There were 14 in line when I left. It was ridiculous.
Live and In Color
1:51 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
They should slowly sell off the mail delivery to Fed Ex or UPS, I'm sure it would be a bit more expensive, but a successful company will almost always be more efficient than the gov't.
Les Masterson
2:01 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Doesn't England have a private mail service? I might be mistaken, but I thought they privatized it. I'm sure there are positives and negatives to that!
Colleen M. Sullivan
3:35 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
YES, I'll miss mail on Saturday......
Tree Hugger
3:58 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Bills just ruin the weekend anyway.....
Live and In Color
4:16 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Don't know Les, but there's positive and negative to everything. I'd wager almost anything a private company could do better than the Fed in most avenue's since it's based on profit/loss.
Neighbor
7:11 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Markey says yesterday that if the post office stops Saturday delivery the welfare recipients will suffer most because they can't wait over the weekend to cash their checks. This is one person I will not be voting for!
PREDATOR
11:33 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Yep.....again it's too hard for government to simply mail those checks out a day sooner....rather lets continue to lose what.... 16B a year. But that aside....I am sure obamacare will be great.....just kidding.
Neighbor
11:59 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
I just think it is funny his first reason against it was to support people that don't pay to use the mail in the first place. And we wonder why it is in the red.
sabaville
12:29 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
No, I will not miss it. The weekends should be relaxing and your mailboxes shouldn't be loaded with junk mail on a Saturday. There is nothing relaxing about junk mail.
Gwen B
2:28 am on Sunday, February 10, 2013
Wouldn't miss it at all. In fact, I have a rule with myself that I never open mail on that comes in on Friday, unless it looks like a card, until The weekend is over. Bills and junk mail ruin ones weekend. A bill free weekend is a happy weekend!! If it saves money to limit delivery days, then do it, knock another day off if they need to save more.
Welfare recipients should go back to picking up their checks again, unless they are handicapped or elderly. Gets people out in the fresh air, moving around, good for the circulation. Very healthy! The First Lady should encourage it as part of her program to combat obesity and keep people healthy.