Do you think the Post office will go the way of the Dinosaur?

[eliza61]

With so many of us doing so much on the computer and with our cells, the Post office is considering cutting service down to 5 days a week.
They are facing a huge deficit and handling a lot less mail.

Would you miss Saturday delivery?

Do you think the post office will become obsolete?

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/postal-service-saturday-delivery-world-news-question-day/story?id=9986584

 

[Heidict]

No, I think they will always be there, just maybe not to the degree that they always have. Bills are still going to be sent, magazines, catalogs, cards, even letters. I think they are just going to cut back to compensate for the reduction in volume and money coming in.

 

[SandrA9810]

I'm half and half... they didn't ALWAYS deliver on saturdays. I only check my mail about once a week or two to clear out the ads.

But don't they have a special sunday/holiday service that they could use and handle saturday deliveries the same way? And if it's that time sensitive there are options like UPS and Fed-Ex.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I thought that they used to deliver on Saturdays AND Sundays. That was before my time, though.

Personally, they could switch to weekly delivery and it wouldn't bother me much. Slowing down my Netflix turnaround would be the only thing that bothered me. Practically the only things we get in the mail are movies and magazines. Just about everything else that used to come via mail is now electronic - checks, bills, statements, letters. In fact, I find it really annoying when someone mails me something that could have come electronically.

The most annoying thing is that when we get the mail, we get tons of junk that we don't want - stacks of ads, local "magazines", and various other solicitations. I also HATE it when my credit card companies send me blank checks in the mail...it's just something else to shred.

 

[Poohbear123]

Yes, I see it being phased out maybe to ONE day a week, like Wed or something, in about 10 years. I am NOT a fan of the Post office, and I pay my bills on line.

 

[blanq]

I did not read the article you linked to in your post, but I know this has been in the news quite a bit in the last year. I do not think that the Postal Service will go the way of the dinosaur, but I do think they will radically need to change their business model. Heck, they are losing about $8K per minute last I heard. I would not have a problem if they decide to stop delivery on Saturdays. I always just seem to get crappy junk mail on that day anyway. I think they will need to close down post offices (aren't there something like 30K of them?), consolidate services, and provide more self serve kiosk-type options to remain viable. I think customers would love to have options like that in areas they frequent, such as supermarkets. I personally hate going to my post office...the parking totally sucks.

 

[DVC-Don]

Would not miss Saturday delivery at all.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I wouldn't mind seeing a Mon.-Wed.-Fri. delivery.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Agree with Blanq that they will be forced to overhaul their current business model.

What they are going to do is beyond me....

 

[Chaoster]

The USPS is running itself into the ground. It's funny when you have a supervisor yelling at you about how long it should take you to do your route because the computer said so.

 

[clh2]

Would not miss Saturday delivery at all.

Me either!!!

 

[C.Ann]

I would miss Saturday mail deliveries - and no, I don't just get "junk" on Saturday..

"Going the way of the dinosaur" would cause a good deal of hardship for people who don't own computers; can't afford internet service; don't "want" all their business out there on the internet; and deal with companies that won't accept - or don't offer - internet payment options..

I do think the Saturday delivery will probably be done away with by next year though.. Disappointing to me, especially in terms of the letters and book shipments I often receive on Saturdays - but it sounds like it's necessary.. Seems they have dug a pretty deep hole that they have to try to climb out of..

 

[RadioNate]

The USPS has to cut Saturday delivery. How long are they going to continue to lose money? I thought them proposing to cut a mid-week delivery day was stupid but Saturday is fine with me.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

We wouldn't miss Saturday deliveries at all. The only things we get in the mail are weekly ads, junk mail, a couple magazines. We pay all bills online or it comes directly from our bank accounts.

 

[ead79]

I can't see the post office going the way of the dinosaur, particularly from a business perspective. We do lots of mailers at my job to our membership to promote upcoming events, and this is done via postal mail. Of course we use emails too, but postal mail can be a good reminder tool.

Not to mention I would imagine there is still a relatively large percentage of the population that doesn't feel comfortable paying bills via the internet. Until the less computer-friendly generations are gone, I don't see that changing. My dad knows how to use a computer, but he isn't comfortable with online bill pay at all. He doesn't even have direct deposit of his paycheck. I'm sure there are lots of folks like him.

That being said, I could live without Saturday delivery myself. I think they need to do something to stop losing money.

 

[redlight]

It will be downsized and services like Sat delivery will be cut, but I don't see the post office going away.

 

[aussietravellers]

With so many of us doing so much on the computer and with our cells, the Post office is considering cutting service down to 5 days a week.
They are facing a huge deficit and handling a lot less mail.

Would you miss Saturday delivery?

Do you think the post office will become obsolete?

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/postal-service-saturday-delivery-world-news-question-day/story?id=9986584

I wouldn't miss Saturday delivery, but only because I live in Australia and in Australia we don't have Saturday delivery anyway, never have

 

[Kathi OD]

Wouldn't miss Saturday delivery at all. In fact, then we wouldn't have to worry about someone picking up the mail if we go away for the weekend.

However, I don't see the USPS disappearing altogether.

 

[bicker]

The most significant impact on us would be Netflix... Discs mailed on Friday won't get to us until Monday. It'll make the Netflix subscription that much less valuable. Other than that, I'd be fine with mail delivery even just twice a week.

Eliminating Saturday delivery makes the most sense. People want a five day work week, and they want a two day weekend, coincident when their family members have days off. If you vary from that, then you need to make the job pay better to compensate, and as others have pointed out, the USPS is already losing enough money so we need to be finding ways of relieving upward pressure on rates, not increasing that pressure.

Personally, I would prefer a system where by commercial buildings would get Monday, Wednesday and Friday deliveries, and residences would get Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday deliveries. That would save even more money, effectively cutting costs in half, while just getting rid of Saturday delivery would cut costs by about 15%.

 

[Kim&Chris]

The postal service will always exist, in one form or another, as long as people still buy goods over the internet or through catalogs, etc.

But I could definitely live without Saturday delivery.