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Wow. I never thought I'd see the day. When I first moved south I wanted a steady goverment Job. I worked Construction for 17 yrs and was sick of working steady and then dealing with  months and months of layoffs.  My father in law was a postal worker and had great benifits and retirement. I tried like hell but it was immpossible to get a route.  I guess things happen for a reason.

So I went into corrections and eventually law enforcment. I never thought I'd see the day that the US Postal service would we cutting back. I'm guessing that Emails and texts are hurting stamps, and UPS and Fed Ex is taking another big piece of the pie.

I know Ma bell is on the verge of being obsolete in the next decade. (Landline phones) Is too much technology a good thing? Are we moving too much too fast?

 

I'd be okay if they limited local delivery to 4 times a week, so long as they kept the major channels open for 7 days.

Here's all i ever get via USPS:

1. Bills
2. Spam
3. Coupons
4. More Spam
5. Even More Spam

I'm not going to miss the Saturday delivery.

I think it's more of a hindrance to Ebay and Netflix....Right now I have to make sure that Netflix receives the movies I send back on Friday, so I can get movies Saturday,otherwise I have to wait till Monday...Kind of leaving Sunday nights with no movie option...

I typically just pile my mail up for a week, and then read/open/pay bills for a week all at once.  If they dropped mail delivery to once a week it would be fine by me.  

^^ Netflix is a hindrance now, but that will be less of an issue each day, and digital distribution takes more of a hold.

I'm to the point now, where almost half of the stuff I watch is streaming through the TV, rather than on a disc mailed to the house.  The selection is limited, but as it grows, you probably won't even notice.

I never check my mail. It's all junk. I haven't mailed a letter or anything in ages. I probably won't even notice it's gone.

Hijack Sorry
I watch Lot's of streaming, but it's not Blu ray quality,and the the addition of movies to netflix is sort of random...A strange example was the movie "Year one"  When it was on my disc mailing list it popped up as soon to be available on Watch instantly date....I dropped it to the last movie on my list, and watched it when it came became watch instantly....Yet it's not shown up on any of my " new to watch instantly" (probably because it sucked) Alot of series discs,7 of 10 episodes are watch instantly,3 are disc only....

Yeah, let's consider what is actually being mailed:

Bills - now most are electronic, and a one day lull in delivery won't bother anyone.

Spam - who cares

Actual packages - This will suck to wait an extra day when you're waiting to receive something, but I don' think that this is a very high percentage of the mail, plus if it's urgent, there are private alternatives, like UPS and FedEx.

Letters - Does anyone write these anymore?  The only thing I get like this is the occasional card in the mail, sent only as a gesture, and not something where a 1 day lag matters.  ...also invitations, I suppose.

Checks - Businesses still get checks in the mail, but I don't think that will matter.

Netflix - Pretty much its own category -- This may hurt the most, but like I said earlier, the digital distribution model eases this problem daily.

Magazines, Catalogs - With the internet providing up to the second news, magazines are no longer a timely media source.  For that reason, late delivery doesn't matter.

UPS and Fedex don't deliever on Sat unless you pay oodles extra.


shouldn't matter at all most business don't get mail on Sat now as it is cause they are closed.


most magizines are mailed with a timing delivery of Tues or Wed, not Sat.

Is stopping mail on Saturday, does that mean stopping the entire chain on Saturday, or just the local delivery.

Because if you stop the entire chain on Saturday, that will slow mail on every day, not just Saturday.

from the article....


so i am guessing the chain will remain as is. 

the chain doesn't even completely shut down on Sunday, cross country trucks keep rolling on the highway and train keep rolling and very little mail enters the system on Saturday as business don't send ads, bills, magaizines etc on that day.

Not doing home delivery on wed or thursday would be much better.

My insurance won't pay for certain medications that I take unless I order them from their mail order service.   My mom is in the same boat with different insurance.  I don't have a problem with not getting mail on Saturday, per se, so long as it did not slow up the entire system.

So, if it's only the local service, why not cut down to 4 days a week?  As long as the planes and trucks are still moving, I think we'd be OK.

Five days actually makes a lot of sense. 

Businesses want to be able to send and receive on all business days. 

Postal employees typically have a route they work 5 days a week.  Plus there is one employee (sub) who work 5 different routes on 5 different days.  Basically this will get rid of the subs and have all the delivery guys (except for filling in for vacations and sick days) having one route they work 5 days a week.  What are you going to do with the employees on the 5th day.  Or are you figuring on making them 32 hour a week employees? 

Many of their best customers have things timed to come out on a specific day or m-f.  Magaizines, ads, newspapers such as the wall street journal.   

Going from 6 to 5 is gonna get resistance.....going from 6 to 4 would get even more resistance. 

This has been a talking point for some time. I wish they would go ahead and do it. I have not heard anyone complain and most people say it would make sense.

I'm not promoting going to 4 days.  I'm just saying that they could cut it down even more and it wouldn't bother me.

I read an article several months back which said they were considering dropping either Saturday or Tuesday, since those days had the lightest delivery (for whatever reason). I guess they opted for Saturday.

Saturday make more sense from an employee perspective.  I bet they get more sick calls and vacation requests for Sat than any other day, as folks want to go to family get togethers, weddings, and all the other normal weekend stuff. 

How about the Thousands of employees who are going to get laid off? Does anyone here think about anyone else but themselves? Technology is downsizing so many jobs nowadays.  Its troublesome to me.

The last time I walked into my local post office there looked to be several there that should have been ready for a mandatory retirement anyway.

Hey.....anyway you look at it , thats Thousands of more people that will now be getting unemployment from the goverment instead of providing a service. Thousands who will cease to put money back into the system. the United States Postal service , the greatest country on earth who sends billions of aid here and there , can't even provide a simple service anymore. More and more Jobs being eliminated and very few being created. just take a second from thinking how it effects you and look at the big picture. its troublesome.

Telegraph operators got laid off.  The guys working at the buggy whip factory were downsized.  The wagon wheel repairshop has been shut down.  The pony express division of the post office no longer exists.  The inkwell salesman can't make any sales.

While the issue of unemployment as a national issue is a problem.  I don't see the point in continuing to retain an unnecessary costly service solely as a make work project.   

I agree with Hoodie.  I think it's healthier to let outdated positions die and put that money towards retraining or interim support.  At least you're not band-aiding the problem.

The fact is that snail mail is much less important to the lives of citizens than it was 15 years ago.  But I feel that the industry hasn't caught up.

I think Hoodie makes a great point,I see it this way....

I see part of the problemof the postal service being,Postal workers are like union auto workers that build cars.The people in the jobs tend to be lifers,and make Too much money for menial type work...My Aunt,Liifer Postal worker, Dumber than a box of hair.Made made way too much for what she did, and continually made more,and more doing the same thing....

Hoodie does make a good point. (did I just say that?  :P) But those telegraph operators and buggy Whip people had new Jobs and far less competition awaiting them.  The last great depression saw this countries greatest growth after each World war. American Industries thrived.  Do you really see that type of American industry in the future? Jobs are being downsized or shipped overseas. Those buggy whip makers and Telegraph operators paid the local Doctor with a fat pig and a fresh baked apple pie.  The world is not as simple anymore.   People need 401k's, medical and dental insurance. This keeps up we will be a 3rd world country.

I have none of these....

 :-[      Not judging , but please Do yourself a favor then and start planning...........unless your rich or plan on winning the Lotto

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/CreateaPlan/CreateaPlanDyn.aspx?cp-documentid=22657583

unless your rich or plan on winning the Lotto.   :|