Saturday Mail Delivery May End Soon!

Their expenses have been going through the roof, like everyone else's, but their volume and therefore their revenue has been dropping. I think you'll still be able to do your shipping on Saturdays because the post offices will still be open the same times they are now, it's just the house to house delivery that will be curtailed. Annie

I'm sorry you had to deal with such poor service from the post office. The problem is, besides management pushing carriers to be faster and faster and the heck with service they've also been hiring a lot of temporary employees who don't get the proper training and don't get much pay and get no benefits and they know going in they're only there for a short time. In other words, they really don't CARE if they give you your paycheck or not. Sad to say, but unfortunately it's true. Annie

Well, its a shame that they go in on such bad terms. However, regarding being a temp, Ive been a temp for jobs many times and I still did the best I could cause I was representing the company I was employed with. When people apply for the p.o., they have a general idea of what theyre getting into. As far as the training goes, its a carrier job. How hard can it be to read a darn address? I know a lot of houses/bldgs dont have addresses on them which makes the job more challenging among other factors like weather conditions, but I cant imagine the training would be that extensive to where they dont get the concept. Even lack of training shouldnt be much of a factor, but then again, Im on the outside. Also, how do you explain the possibility of deliberately not delivering certain mail? Thats a crime. If they simply dont care, then they shouldnt work there, but then again, we ARE talking about the government AND people in general who hate their jobs. The p.o. doesnt have the best customer service for sure, but what they do have, I believe, is a guaranteed job for life for the most part where its almost impossible to get fired, so thats a huge benefit, esp considering more and more jobs are being lost with every breathe we take it seems (not referring to temps, but they too, are given a good temp opportunity and easier open door for later on since they gained some experience). What Im surprised about, is how you mentioned no benefits. Dont all government workers (except temps) get good health coverage?

Almost forgot. Wanted to thank you for explaining mail delivery problems. I had no idea they were under that kind of pressure, so how can they do their job effectively. I cannot tell you just how often Ive had problems with delivery, but you being a former employee, I guess I dont have to lol. It just got so bad for a while that I had to put A FEW traces on my account just to see what was going on, why I wasnt receiving all my mail, but that of course was a waste of time as they never found any problems (of course not...not the beloved post office). Also, I think the postman took it upon himself to chose what mail to deliver to me and what to send back. Me and my boyfriend both, never got some mail and it was usually paychecks and we had our names on the box and everything, put in a forwarding address when applicable, so no excuses for non delivery, but it still happened. Thats why we're looking into p.o. boxes to assure proper mail delivery.

I don't like the idea of teleporting people so much as teleporting things. The Jetson idea is cool but they say that in reality they will have to break down all the atoms and put them back together on the other end. I'd risk it with things but with people you could wind up with a toe where your nose should be or worse. Issn't there some kind of WWII urban legend about this called The Philadelphia Experiment? LOL

I think the postal service really missed the boat on the parcel delivery. It would seem like that should have gone up considerably but I think a lot of people have gone with their competitors like UPS and FedEx. Anyway, whenever cutting back on six day delivery had been mentioned in the past there was no talk of changing the hours or days when the post office is open. Each office makes their own hours and they're given a budget under which to work so maybe they'll even increase window hours to accomodate the public better. I've had dreams of being able to teleport myself like the Jetsons! Just think if there were no traffic jams, no gas expenses or any kind of fare for travel, we could just get into a chamber and zap ourselves wherever we wanted to go...lol! Annie

I did not think mail delivery vehicles used gas. This is was I was able to find: U.S. Postal Service is always looking for more efficient, and environmentally friendly, ways to deliver mail. About 43,000 of the agency's vehicles are fuel modified and are either electric hybrids, run on natural gas or hydrogen. http://www.ocala.com/article/20081101/NEWS/811010998 I think it is a way to reduce the number of employees more than gas usuage that is their reson to reduce service..

I know I don't use the mail much at all these days. I pay just about all my bills either online or over the phone and I haven't written a letter to mail for years. I hardly send any Christmas cards any more and only a few birthday cards. From an economic standpoint it really makes sense for the postal service. Even when gas prices are relatively low, I imagine it would be hundreds of millions saved nationwide each week to drop a delivery day. There are a lot of gas-guzzling mail trucks out there going a lot of miles with nothing but starts and stops every few hards all day. Annie

That's something...I guess. *sigh*

To be honest, unless things have changed drastically since I left, the carriers won't be treated any better or worse because of this. Those in postal management are trained to be a$$holes and have their common sense and their compassion surgically removed. Annie

You're absolutely right about them not living up to their own standards. A little over a decade ago they started automating everything, with a machine putting the letter mail into carrier sequence. The idea was to save the carriers time in the office and give them more time on the street. Unfortunately, the machine doesn't work for crap and the carriers end up bringing a bunch of mis-sorted mail back every day. With the mail that was sorted by the machine, carriers also had to change their way of carrying, and now have to carry three or four bundles at once which isn't easy at all. After they started using the machines they inspected all the routes and eliminated some in every office and added on to the remaining routes. The routes were all set up and timed according to the lightest day there was but on heavier days it's not supposed to take any longer to deliver the mail. When it does take longer the carrier gets reprimanded for it. Annie

The guy who delivers the mail where I live also delivers sermons and Gospel. He has his iPod turned up so loud that everyone else hears it, so he must be near-deaf. People who watch him think they're watching a joke, since he moves so slowly, he can't be serious. I don't think he cares if he's reprimanded! It's no surprise that, sometimes, the mail arrives at 8 PM or later!

I think they're probably struggling all over the world. I pay all my bills online or over the phone, only mailing something on very rare occasions. Annie

They haven't said anything abut the hours and days the post offices will be open. It's possible that won't change. It's just that there won't be door to door delivery six days anymore if it's approved. Annie

I think you're the first person to be really upset about this. I think they ARE looking at the big picture because it costs them billions to deliver six days a week. I think you'll still be able to mail something and it will go out even if mail isn't delivered that day. Annie

Hey, I want to protest! I never got that day off when I worked there...lol! You're absolutely right about the obscure holidays they get off, though. I always said I'd rather work those days instead of dealing with the MESS we had the day after a holiday! There is no delivery on those legal holidays like Veterans Day, MLK Day, etc. and the windows are closed by mail is still processed and collections are made so it means a double day's worth of mail, mostly JUNK (It feels so good to call it that! We weren't "allowed" to when I worked there!). Annie

No matter how you try to fancy it up, it's still junk. LOL

They'll probably modify the days when checks are sent out for those who get checks in the mail. Annie

You're right, it won't mean the price will go back down. Nothing goes down, except for gas goes up and down a bit but that's about it. Annie

Yes, I read that too after I posted this. They've been saying that for years whenever the idea of a five day week was brought up but it seems unlikely they'd end up choosing Tuesday or any other weekday because of complaints they'd likely get from businesses. Tuesday is the lightest day now but if a day were eliminated that would likely change. As it is Tuesday is the lightest day because of so many businesses being closed on Saturday. Annie

Well that would suck terribly for the carriers have off sunday work monday have off tuesday ewww sucky work week

Making the days shorter wouldn't work because there will still be the same amount of mail and the name number of houses to which to deliver. To shorten the days they'd have to shorten the routes, add more and hire more carriers. It wouldn't mean no mail would be touched for two days since it will still be sorted seven days in the large distribution centers as it is now. Maybe they will go with the weekday being eliminated but I was thinking along lines of businesses such as banks, legal offices, government offices, utility companies and places like that that aren't open on Saturday. It will probably take awhile for it all to go into effect, if it does. Who knows, Congress may not approve it. Annie

Like I always said, those of us who do the actual work could run the place much better than management because we actually know how to do the job and we have some common sense! I know Tuesday has been mentioned as the day to give up but I'd heard in the past that that may be a ploy. Businesses will get all up in arms over that so when they instead give up Saturday delivery there wouldn't be much of an uproar. However, it would seem like giving up Sat. would make sense so that's a good enough reason why they won't do it...lol! My "retirement" was forced and I'm currently awaiting a disability claim to be approved. Annie

That's why I believe it will be Saturday that they cut out no matter what they're saying now about it maybe being Tuesday. It was explained to us years ago when there had been some talk about it that they know there would be an uproar over cutting back to 5 days so they'd start out saying it may be a weekday and Tuesday always comes up because it's the lightest mail day of the week. However, it's only the lightest day of the week because there IS mail on Saturday when many other businesses are closed. Anyway, they figure they'll throw Tuesday out there and see what the reaction is then they'll announce that Saturdays will be cut out and everyone will be relieved it's not a weekday which will have the biggest effect on businesses, which is what they cater to the most since they spend the most on postage. It's all a mind game! Annie

Maybe I was wrong initially with my thinking that the outcry would be greater if they stopped delivery on a weekday rather than Saturday. Anyway, there is a possibility to dropped day won't be Saturday so maybe you'll be OK. Myself, I really don't care at all but if I were still a carrier I'd be hoping for Saturday off! I used to long for the days when I could be a "normal" person with weekends off...lol! Annie

I seriously doubt we'll ever see the price of postage go down. Annie

"Is it the policy now of the postal service just not to deliver routes say if someone calls in sick? that's what we were thinking." Not hardly! If there isn't a sub available someone will be brought in on their day off. No routes ever go undelivered. Annie

I would guess even if there's no delivery one day a week (other than Sunday) the post office would still be open at least part of the day to pick up packages, buy stamps, etc. It's the delivery that costs the most money. Annie