Would you even notice if you only started receiving postal mail only 5 days a week? If you did notice would you care? I know personally I do all of my communication either via email or phone. In addition all of my bills are either delivered electronically or I check them online before I get an actual paper bill anyway. Top that off with the fact that I do all my banking and bill paying online and the loss of one day a week of postal mail doesn’t bother me at all. The majority of all my postal mail is junk mail anyway, so this would just mean one less day I need to throw stuff out.
Where is all this coming from you ask? Well according the Chicago Tribune “the Postal Service had a $384 million loss in the October-December period.” They site the recession as one reason that mail volume has been down so drastically in comparison to years past and state that the “post office lost $2.8 billion last fiscal year and if current trends continue the loss could be much greater this year.” One of the brilliant ideas they have to help increase the money flow is a rate increase on stamps:
A rate increase is scheduled to take effect in May, but the amount has not yet been announced. Because rates are tied to inflation a 2-cent increase in the 42-cent first-class price is likely. Officials could seek a higher rate, citing the extraordinary economic conditions, but they are concerned that could lead to even greater declines in business.
In other words, if you do send out a good amount of postal mail, you may want to stock up on those Forever Stamps. Personally I only tend to send out postal mail around the holidays, but I may even grab a couple of these stamps as they will clearly save money in the long run.
Other ways the Post Office is cutting costs, according to Postmaster General John Potter is by “reducing work hours, and asking Congress to ease requirements for advance funding of retiree benefits and to allow mail to be delivered five days a week instead of six.”
I am sure the 5 day a week mail delivery would upset some, but personally I don’t even receive mail everyday, and like I said, when I do it’s typically junk. As for advanced funding of retiree benefits, shouldn’t that be being handled via 401k’s or some other managed investments of some kind?
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