Millions of Americans would no longer get mail delivered to their door but would go to communal or curbside boxes instead, under a proposed law.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform debated Wednesday a bill to direct the U.S. Postal Service to convert 1.5 million addresses annually — 15 million over the next decade — to the less costly, but also less convenient delivery method.
“I think it’s a lousy idea,” said Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts. He was joined by some other lawmakers in saying it wouldn’t work in urban areas where there’s no place on city streets to put banks of so-called “cluster boxes” that have compartments for multiple homes. Under the proposal, waivers could be given to people with disabilities who have difficulty leaving their homes, and people who still want door delivery could pay extra for it — something Lynch derided as “a delivery tax.”
The measure falls far short of comprehensive reform most officials agree is needed to solve the postal service’s financial problems. Republican committee chairman Darrell Issa of California acknowledged that at the outset but said it “provides an interim opportunity to achieve some significant cost savings.”
Converting to communal or curbside delivery would save $2 billion annually, Issa said, quoting from estimates that door delivery costs $380 annually per address compared to $240 for curbside and $170 for centralized methods. He said less than 1 percent of all addresses nationwide would undergo a delivery change annually and that communal boxes offer a safe, locked location for packages, doing away with the need for carriers to leave packages on porches and subject to theft and bad weather.
The Postal Service reported a $1.9 billion loss for the first three months this year despite continued cost-cutting, a 2.3 percent rise in operating revenue and increased employee productivity. Package business has risen but the service struggles with inflationary cost increases and continued decline in first-class mail as people move to the Internet for letter writing and bill paying.
Postal officials have asked repeatedly for comprehensive legislation giving them more control over personnel and benefit costs and more flexibility in pricing and products. Though various legislative proposals have been advanced, Congress has not been able to agree on a bill with broad changes.
(AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
5 Responses
They have also discontinued door to door ice deliveries. How will people ever keep their food from spoiling in the summer. And why aren’t they investigating on how hard it is to get one’s tpewriter repaired? And have you ever tried to find a blacksmith in Boro Park for shod your horse?
Hopefully, if this is passed, it will be the final nail in the coffin of this outdated, financially bloated, and mismanaged “service”.
Isn’t it about time that the USPS be dissolved with all responsibilities and most jobs divided up evenly between Fed Ex and UPS? The USPS has lost billions quarter after quarter. If Congress steps in, it will just be more tax dollars pumped into a failing entity. DO I MAKE SENSE HERE?
One concern with the outdoor lock boxes (there’s one in my neighborhood by a commercial property) not mentioned in the article is that the boxes can only hold so much mail. Once they’re full, the post office returns the mail that doesn’t fit to the sender.
So, if a person doesn’t pick up their mail for a while (in snow blizzards, I’m unlikely to venture down the block and back again with a load of mail or if someone’s down with the flu, etc), that could be a real hassle.
Is only the USPS having revenue problems or do other countries fare the same? Because if it is only us, we must be doing something wrong and somehow get it fixed. I still use the postal service and would hate to see it go. How else will I be able to send all those birthday cards to my children and grandchildren?