The New York Times posted a series of letters to the editor today offering suggestions as to how to solve the Postal Service’s financial crisis. The Postal Service wants to close some branches and end Saturday service, ideas that most members of Congress are reluctant to support.
One reader, Jonathan Gyory of Winchester, Mass., suggested an intriguing solution:
Rather than eliminate Saturday delivery, why not bite the bullet and reduce mail delivery to three days a week? Half of the postal routes would receive mail on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the other half on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Each letter carrier would be responsible for two routes instead of one, coinciding with the expected 50 percent rate of attrition forecast for postal workers over the next 10 years.
Mail carriers would complain that this arrangement would saddle them with twice as much junk mail, and they would be right. The answer is to end the bulk-rate subsidy currently provided to deliver supermarket circulars, clothing catalogs and credit card offers. This would save trees and fuel, and reduce the burden on our landfills.”
What say you, readers? Does this idea have merit? What parts of Gyory’s suggestion do you agree or disagree with? The Postal Service needs to make changes, so where do you think they should cut?
2 Comments
I f the union really cared about the memborship they would realize that the only way this great institution can prosper is to cut that 1 day of delivery the mail will just get delivered in 5 days save on fuel ,manpower and hey with the green inititive less polution from our mail trucks. I believe the postal service should offer another series of buyouts to CSRS employees a 5yr age 5 yr service buyout so that CSRS employees will take a buyout without penalty of 2% yr before age 55 and for a Fers employees A 25g buyout It take 12 years to reach full pay in the postal service new employees earn far less they are younger can work harder more productive . The union would like the newer employees to think a 5 day work week would result in their being laidoff if this isnt done we will all lose our jobs and the American people cannot stand for such a great loss of employment and i dont think the Obama administration would like it either ,THE ONLY DRAWBACK TO THIS PLAN IS THAT THE UNION WILL LOSE MEMBERSHIP WELL HECK WE ALL HAVE TO SACRIFICE! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK FOR NJ FRANK HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON
Sincerley JOHN A COHEN BR 38 NJ
You can tell this person has never delivered mail. It’s hard enough keeping up with one route must less two routes. The routes in my office average between 500 to 700 families per rural route. They average 8.5 to 9.5 hrs per day per route. There is no way this would work. You would have to make the routes smaller. This would require additional workers. Increasing labor cost and overtime. Many carriers would not be able to get all their mail and packages in their vehicles. They need to consolidate small offices, reduce the 1 to 8 management to worker ratio and get rid of management bonuses. This is the same rhetoric GM has been spewing for years. Ford dealt with unions and became more efficient. This mess started with the same group of people who passed the 2006 Postal reform law mandating us to prefund our future retirement fund (which nobody else does). Are they that short-sighted? This is the first step by the republican party trying to privatize the post office. Nixon caused a strike, Reagan fired labor friendly management replaced him with airline exec, PRC, Board of Gov, PM General all Bush Appointees.