US Postmaster General John Potter says the massive deficits facing the post office could force the agency to cut out one day of mail delivery per week- most likely Saturday delivery.
In testimony for a congressional panel Wednesday, Potter asked for an end to the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week.
Faced with dwindling mail volume and rising costs, the post office was $2.8 billion in the red last year.
The Postal Service isn’t looking to immediately drop Saturday delivery; it will likely study the issue first. And it could take a lesser action, such as temporarily suspending Saturday delivery during periods of low mail volume.
A 1980 report found that ending Saturday delivery would save about $1 billion annually. That’s about $2.5 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars, and experts say that estimate still might be low because of today’s higher fuel costs and the larger delivery network.
(Dov Gordon – YWN / AP)
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13 Responses
then i could stop rushing out right after shabbos to check the mail
That’s exackly what we want. We don’t want the post office to work on shabbos. And we don’t have to look at what we got in the mail on the holest day of the week.
It’s a pretty good idea. It’s not so important, since it’s not a work day. In Canada there isn’t any mail service on the weekend, and everyone seems to manage just fine.
Most USPS mail is junk and/or unsolicited. Important mail arrives via FedEx.
No wonder they are losing $.
Also they allready cut back by not having doorstep delivery in all new construction houses/developments…
It means that 0n Mondays there will be more mail than fits in our little mailboxes in the older apartment buildings,so that it will take longer for them to deliver on Mondays.
less of a tayva to check the mail on shabbos
BS”D
And less of a chance of having a check come in on Shabbos and having it stolen when you cannot go out to get the mail.
Great idea.
The bills and shnor letters will come only 5 days a week.
I wouldn’t mind if they deliver mail once a week.
Al tivi’einu…lo liyidey nissayon.
Boruch Hashem.
Anon 3:40 pm: Important mail arrives electronically.
To all you ppl who are do glad that you won’t have mail on shabbos, know this: they are talking about discontinuing TUESDAY’S mail, as it is traditionally a “slow mail day”, not shabbos.
And to #3, Canada’s postal service is horrible!! (I know, I used to live there). Why would we want to emulate that? Toronto also only has trash pick ups once every two weeks if I am not mistaken, They are hijacked by the libs! And then they have that green bin/pach shmitah where you need to separate your chicken scraps, dirty diapers and all other compost material. Blegh!!
to “think straight”:
what’s so bad about the postal syatem in Canada? I have lived here all my life and think it works just fine.
It’s true we only get garbage pickup every other week; that’s because we all recycle whatever we can so it doesn’t go into landfill. (would you want a dump near YOUR home? neither does anyone else). As for the green bins (Nothing to do with Shmitta, by the way), all the organic “smelly” stuff goes into them, and the city turns it into compost for the parks. It’s picked up every week. this may all seem a little overwhelming, but one gets used to it very quickly.
smh1: Maybe it is because you have lived there all your life that you don’t know what you are missing…
In Brooklyn, where I grew up, we had garbage taken once a week (perhaps twice; I am not sure anymore). Mail comes EVERY DAY except for Sunday, and is pretty reliable across the USA.
(The shmittah bin was a joke, of course.) The hassle it causes is no joke! And what about the maximum 5 bage you are allowed to put out for garbage??? After that it costs approx CAN$2 per bag!!
Glad I live in Lakewood now…
That’s a good idea and it will save us yidden lots of unnecessary problems etc. In Europe it’s a standard thing 5 day delivery week, all businesses are closed anyhow.