Polls: Americans Support Ending Saturday Mail Delivery

They reveal strong public sympathy for the USPS' fiscal troubles, says Postmaster General

Either they're very understanding, or they never much carried for getting (mostly junk)mail on weekends anyway.

Two polls being reported by Government Executive show that Americans are overwhelmingly supportive of the United States Postal Service's decision to ditch Saturday mail delivery. A CBS poll found that 71% of folks surveyed supported ending weekend service, while an even higher number of folks, 80%, surveyed by the USPS itself claimed the same.

"These survey results illustrate the strong public support for our new delivery schedule in communities across the country," said Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe in a statement. "The American public supports this new delivery schedule as a prudent, responsible and reasonable approach to address our urgent financial situation."

Via Government Executive.

Can you live without Saturday mail just fine?

[Hireman]

I don't think it's sympathy that Americans feel... It's wide wonder that the USPS can lose so much money for so long and just think of this now. Another shining example of the need to downsize government.

[aerobatty]

The American public still doesn't get that the USPS gets no tax money. NONE! When fuel costs go up, the USPS can't charge extra like UPS and FedEx can. And then there's those little matters of prepaying health benefits to cover retiree health benefits for the next 75 years in 10 years, and the $65,000,000,000 they overpaid into retirement "by accident" that, for some unknown reason, the government won't give back.

The USPS is not broke. It's being robbed. By the government. For corporate interests that want a piece of the cash cow.

Postal management claims that cancelling Saturday delivery will save $2 billion, which is a gross overestimate. That's chicken feed next to the 75 year requirement and the $65,000,000,000 the government owes the USPS.

This whole thing is nothing short of union busting.

[Hireman]

@aerobatty If the government owes $65bil to the USPS, then I guess that will change the definition of "gets no tax money." pretty quickly. Whether or not the USPS gets money from the government, or is self-sustaining, it doesn't matter. This is the same organization that instead of trying to streamline because of the increase in electronic communication, it tried to convince companies to send more junk mail, and to compete with more efficient private companies for express services. I'm not sure how trying to balance the budget by reducing services that weren't needed much anyway is union-busting.

[aerobatty]

@Hireman you misread. The government doesn't owe the USPS tax money. The government owes the USPS money that rightly belongs to it. The USPS, through gross and possibly deliberate accounting errors, overpaid $65,000,000,000 dollars into its pension funds. That money belongs to the USPS. That money was earned by the USPS and nobody seems to know where it went. Donohoe even mentioned it in one of our videotaped "pep talks" and stated outright that we were never going to see it.

Where do YOU suppose it went.

As for not streamlining, you don't have a clue. Would you like to buy one?

[DrFunkenstein]

The 2006 Postal Reform Act created this problem and it's working to force Americans to think the Postal Service should be privatized. I wonder how many other businesses could handle paying Employee Retiree Health Benefits 75 years in advance as demanded in the Postal Reform Act of 2006 that the Neocons slickered through Congress. I look forward to paying $20 per stamp from UPS and Fedex, of course I live in a rural area so I look forward to driving 20 miles to mail a letter. If they had not added this nearly $60 billion 10 year payment schedule to the USPS then they would not have ran a deficit any of the years since this monstrosity of legislature handcuffed them to losing money each year.

[Arumizy]

I can live without snail mail period, all my stuff is electronic as is.

[dances-weebles]

you remember that when you order something online or when it's time to send out christmas presents to your grandchildren.

[Arumizy]

@dances-weebles I neither order things online nor do i send out christmas presents. I think at the current moment the post office is worthless and has failed to keep up with the times.

[dances-weebles]

@Arumizy so... you're the one. i feel sorry for your extended family members, but maybe you'll feel differently when you either have grandchildren, or when your family shuffles you off to a rest home and 'forgets' to come and visit you.

[Fishbone345]

@dances-weebles when you order online you have the option to choose the fastest available service. If the USPS can't keep up with the privatized forms also available through online ordering should we as customers be punished?
They have the option to keep up the other companies available to online customers, if they can't do it them they cease to exist. That's the way of it.

[dances-weebles]

@Fishbone345 fish... actually ups is way slower than the post office in arriving here. not only that, but when it arrives it is switched over to the post office for delivery.

[NTBFW]

If the greedy rich would pay our fair share, the post office wouldn't be broke

[Tralee]

LOL - Right, make them pay $46 per stamp. Tee hee hee, I pay on line everything through my bank, just log in, request payment and they take care of the rest for free. No stamps needed. Besides, I'm sure it's Bush's fault.

[fistv]

I work dark to dark Monday thru Friday, handle issues remotely when they happen or users have problems. Saturday is my only 'at home' day with discretionary time. I would prefer to see it closed on say Wednesdays. I have a PO box at the post office and no rural delivery. If I can't pick up mail and packages at the post office on Saturdays that will seal it's fate in my book and I will use anything but the post office.

[DrFunkenstein]

Same thing around here, they don't deliver mail in my area and everyone gets their mail at the Post Office. Close Saturdays and what M-F day worker can get their mail? It's a strike at the working man.

[stepped_in_it]

@DrFunkenstein @fistv PO Boxes aren't 24/7 access in your respective post offices? My rural PO boxes are as they are separated from the "business" part of the office itself.

[fistv]

@stepped_in_it Nope, they close at 7pm and most of my packages require window service as they won't fit in the PO box. So there is actually a requirement for a face to face with a PO worker. The people window closes at 5pm.

[Tralee]

I don't think that no delivery on Saturday will affect the PO Box situation, the doors will still be open, at least as far as I can tell. You should still be able to visit your box on your day off. Another option, at least in my state, is get a PO Box at an UPS store. Don't know the cost of that or anything, but if there is a problem with Sat. access, it may be an option. Personally, any day of the week to be closed works for me. 99% of what I do is on line, all my bills are paid on line by my bank (no stamps to buy) and most of them come to me on line. Not much need for the post office most days except to give me a pile of stuff to throw directly into the recycle container.

[fistv]

@Tralee I agree, I write *maybe* 2 checks a year. Online is great.However when I order stuff I don't want it delivered and left outside even though I am in a rural area.

[MadAmerican]

Let me say this. I do not have any sympathy for the Postmaster General or the post office. They get better pay and benefits than the military, and if a post office loses money that postmaster still gets a bonus at the end of the year. The Postmaster General get's a bonus too even in the years they lose money, so why do they not just cut the bonuses and do their damn job like most Americans?

[dances-weebles]

they do their job very well... that's why they are paid. as far as being paid more than the military... that's because without the post office the military would be in the dark about most things.

[MadAmerican]

@dances-weebles Your moronic views and opinions continously make me ask myself how you ever made it this far in life.

[dances-weebles]

@MadAmerican thank you... that's so sweet of you to say.

[RedFloppyShoes]

I hate mail. No loss here. Mail and email are annoyances.

[dances-weebles]

so... your mother never sends you a birthday card because it'd 'annoy you'?

[Real4WheelDrv]

That's kind of extreme...mail AND email are annoyances. Do you pay your bills by barter? Cause if people will still go for that, I can put a LOT more of my SSI into savings :p

[RedFloppyShoes]

@dances-weebles yep.

[RedFloppyShoes]

@Real4WheelDrv I said they were annoying. I didn't say I didn't use them. There are a lot of things I don't like to do, but have to do. Because I have to do them, doesn't mean that I have to like it.

[Real4WheelDrv]

@RedFloppyShoes point taken, and wholeheartedly agreed with

[seedtick]

The only way the Postal Service can survive is by making and implementing smart policy and operating procedures. Considering the financial burden we the taxpayers are being asked to carry, it is only right that the Postal Service put more skin into the game. If that means less workers and loss of Saturday mail delivery, so be it.

[BelinKS]

It's a feasability problem. They don't have the money to continue Saturday mail delivery, of course were OK with it.9

[Grubby]

I think they should go to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday only. They bleed money, and it is our money. The only thing they deliver these days is junk mail anyway. Let them slowly go out of business, replaced by UPS and FedEx, two of many private firms that are much more efficient and timely.

[dances-weebles]

funny... my mother and/or sister sends me medications that aren't available where we live, and a couple of months ago my mother mailed to me the family bible for safe keeping. we order books from amazon and sometimes clothing from landsend and they come through the usps... not e-mail. nor do they come via ups or fedex as both of those companies costs are much higher and slower.

are those junk mail?

[Grubby]

@dances-weebles I get meds from FedEx, Amazon is almost always UPS, when someone chooses USPS I cringe a little. No tracking and usually much slower delivery. If they were a private enterprise they would be driven out of business by the much more efficient logistics firms.

[dances-weebles]

@Grubby i can't order meds through amazon or any other online company unless they are a national company. it's illegal to sell and send meds internationally via any delivery source. it has to be done privately. not only that, but to reach me, ups takes much longer and fed ex is non-existent here for private delivery. they only serve major corporations.

[Grubby]

@dances-weebles You do bring up a point about the Post Office is forced to go everywhere, which adds to their cost problems. I live in a small town, but close to a big one, so both FedEx and UPS deliver to my door and actually ring the doorbell, the post office delivers to the mailbox at the curb, and if it is too big for the mailbox I have to drive to get the package. So in my case the USPS is far inferior service.

[dances-weebles]

@Grubby anything coming to me through the mail has to be changed over to our national post office. since the two are related it makes the transfer very quick and efficient. if it comes through ups or fed-up it still has to be transferred to our national postal service... after it clears customs. then if it clears it goes into the mail and eventually comes to me. if it doesn't clear for whatever reason i have to go to the federal post office which is more than an hour and a half from here and have it gone through by a federal customs officer. if any contraband items such as medicine which cannot be sent internationally, it is found it is disposed of on the spot and it's possible that i may be facing a fine. if it does clear customs and is something is a taxable item, then customs fees are added, doubling the price of the item.

even within u.s. boundaries ups and fed-ex are much more expensive than the usps... and not nearly as reliable. not only that, but it is illegal for letters to be sent via ups. do you ever write to anybody or receive letters, birthday cards, christmas cards and etc?

[dances-weebles]

funny... ups next day mail from my sister took a week and a half to reach me. usps express mail took two days.

usps and fedex costs are exorbitant and they are less efficient.

[Your_Name_Here]

How about instead of ending Saturday mail delivery we correct all the stupid management decisions that have put the organization into such a dire situation? If consumers keep on giving in and accepting less and less then maybe we should outsource our mail to China or Mexico. Maybe we can let the welfare people deliver mail because they are just collecting case for doing nothing.

[DapperDave]

I'd like to see the ending of text deliveries on Saturdays...and Tuesdays...and Thursdays...and Wednesdays...and Fridays...and Mondays...and Sundays.

[Penn1699]

When I see one of them hiding in the back of our lot for three-four hours it ticks me off. He then returns to the post office down the street to end his day. It makes you wonder....

[Tralee]

You have a point, we have a long driveway with mailbox at the end, I always picked up the mail on my way home from picking up my child from school, usually around 4:00 or so, then the mail started coming later and later until now hubby stops and gets it when he gets home around 6:30. I called and asked why mail was coming so late and was told, and I swear this is the absolute truth, that now that he was qualified for OT - he would be coming later. Enough said.

[Tralee]

Definitely not a problem, most of my bills are e-bills and 99% of what I get on Sat. and most of the other days, is junk mail. Who needs a trip down to the mail box for that?

[harold_lloyd]

The USPS isn't quite the lifeline it used to be. You can't bitch about waste in government and then insist on forcing the USPS to lose billions every year. Except that plenty of people do.

[LGRepublican]

I can definitely live without Saturday mail. I think the most important point coming out of this is they're doing it as a means to SAVE MONEY which I'm all for. Perhaps a few government agencies could take a hint from the USPS and try doing the same thing.

[Vance1]

Our Government never does anything well!

[snowdrifter94]

Yes that is a start! Now take all the small towns centralies them and combind in sectioned areas! Like have a post office ever 50 miles! Delivery 25 mile area! In big city with 100000 to 400000 only have 3 post offices! Cities with 400000 to 800000 have 4 post offices! 800000 + have 6 post offices! All cities with less then 100000 only have one post office! Maybe this wii save them money and stay afloat and run like a private company!

[marine1]

Like everything else in goverment, there are abuses,waste and theft which management chooses to do nothing about. Put real managers in charge and watch things become efficient and waste stop.