The Postal Regulatory Commission Looking for Public Comment on 5-Day Service

How do you feel about 5 day mail service? The Postal Regulatory Commission is looking for feedback from the public about the elimination of Saturday mail service:

“The Commission is the watchdog agency that determines if the Postal Service meets its Universal Service Obligation to the nation. Our process will provide multiple opportunities for the public to be heard and for all the facts to be considered before the Commission issues its Advisory Opinion,” said Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway. “The ball is in our court now. There will be no final decision until the record is complete.”

If you're interested in voicing your opinion you can post a comment online, or submit your opinion for the public record.

I was surprised to learn that 5-day mail service was proposed many times before, and seriously considered in 1977 and 1980.

In related news, PRC Chairman Ruth Goldway explains the role of the PRC and the process behind changing the mail service in this C-Span video:

What do you think? Should the USPS switch to 5 day mail service?

Comments

[Crow550]

If I have a choice no.

In fact open Sunday too. :-P

[Patchoulifan]

As we've seen here, when a request for opinions is asked, there are no shortages of them. So the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission is asking nearly 309 million people their opinions of stopping Saturday mail service. That ought to be a cluster!

The Postal Service lost 3.8 BILLION dollars last year. They have to do something. People, including Netflix customers will suffer some degree of inconvenience, but like the security checks at airports, we'll just have to live with it.

Kinda like the way I live without seeing new movies from Netflix for 2-3 months... But hey, they skipped down my queue this week and sent me all the 6 year old West Wing discs I could handle.....

[Nalez]

Sending public comment to the USPS is kind of like voting. You can say what you want to say, but in the end, the people with the real power have already made the decision.

[Noah]

I submitted my letter and opinion. Can't hurt to do so!

[Hiedi]

The post office has to do something to save money. They know that taking away a day of service-it could be any day of the week they take away-but they have to do something.

Netflix won't be the only one to suffer here. Everyone from business to the average Joe is going to suffer by the USPS taking away a day of service.

[Rob Hood]

The post office will still be open on Saturdays. They just won't deliver. It may be inconvenient, but we could still drop off DVD's at the post office on Saturdays.

[Sally]

I submitted my opinion, which is that I won't really mind if Saturday delivery is dropped. If it happens, hopefully Netflix will take it as pressure to expand their streaming catalog.

[Discostu]

People should keep in mind the economies of scale. While the USPS deficit looks huge when you divide by the number of items they deliver in a year it works out to just over 2 cents an item. They really aren't losing that much money once you consider the volume. There are better cuts to make, like the highly redundant quantities of post offices (hands up who knows of post offices less than 2 miles apart), their extremely expensive pensions, and they still use a lot of antique fuel inefficient jeeps.

But our modern age of government seems addicted to making sure cuts reduce basic services to the citizens (like all those teacher firings), rather than improving efficiency.

[MrHoward]

I commented. If they cut Saturday delivery, think of all the 3 day government holiday weekends where we'd have no mail Thursday through Monday. That's a major setback for individuals and businesses, especially with the spread of internet sales.

[CJ]

Yes! I have better things to do on weekends than deal with mail. Mail is part of my weekday routine...

[Steve]

Just raise the rates instead,
or get more fuel efficient delivery vehicles. There are so many other solutions to this problem.

[Hbi2k]

I'm down with cutting a delivery day, but why Saturday? Seems like having the two days a week that you don't deliver be right next to each other is a bad move. Cut Wednesday or Thursday instead.

[Edward R Murrow]

I'd be interested to know how many people want to maintain the current USPS schedule AND want their taxes cut at the same time.

[Anon]

Commented and let them know I was for 7-day delivery and was willing to take a tax hike to pay for it.

[Eddie]

I go without Saturday mail on one condition, no federal holiday for postal worker!

[Josh]

I just took action on this issue and thought you might want to also.

Support 6-Day Mail Delivery: Cosponsor H RES 173

American Postal Workers Union - Congressional Information Center: (H RES 173)

http://capwiz.com/apwu/utr/2/?a=14765211&i=98499893&c=

[Edward R Murrow]

Perhaps I missed it while reading the text of H RES 173, but how is this being paid for? Or will we be paying for this like we usually do - borrowing from the government of China?

[Jack Johnson]

Did you know that the mail used to be delivered two times a day? And now they want to cut it back further. The answer is simple, lay off a few workers, jack the cost of mailing everything everything up $.02 and the budget is balanced. Or lay all the workers off and quit paying them union wages. I think only the TSA at the airport has lazier workers. Every time I go in my post office it seems like the dregs of humanity are working behind the counter and they can be extremely stupid.

[Jim Linke]

My comment sent to PRC

The USPS is still the cheapest way to send movies and other data. It would cost me about $20.00 more per month to upgrade my DSL service to near DVD quality, but only $10.00 to add two more movies at a time to my Netflix account. This is as many movies as I can possibly watch. But to keep fresh movies available on the weekend we need Saturday delivery. There is room here for a few cent rate increase to cover the cost.

I am also self employed and usually receive my payments by mail. Since faster payment is important to me receiving payments on Saturday is a good thing.

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[Norm]

I see no valid argument for continuing Saturday mail delivery. Individuals can do without and most businesses are closed on Saturday.

I think think this is just a start. If it works, eliminate mail delivery on Tuesday and Thursday.

And how about pricing post cards and media mail the same as first class since delivery costs are not cheaper.