Posted on 08/19/2011 8:07:06 AM PDT by Mikey_1962
Americans would rather see the U.S. Postal Service dramatically cut its workforce and reduce mail delivery to three or four days a week than have the government pour more money into the financially struggling agency.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 50% of American Adults believe the federal government should allow the Postal Service to lay off the estimated 120,000 workers it needs to reduce its current losses rather than provide the agency with additional subsidies to cover those losses. Thirty-three percent (33%) think the government should provide subsidies to cover the agency’s losses, estimated at $8 billion last year. Another 17% are undecided what's best. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Even more Americans (75%) would rather see the USPS cut back mail delivery in some parts of the country to three or four days a week rather than for the government to cover those losses. Only 17% would rather see the government provide more subsidies instead of cutting back delivery.
Support for reduced service is up from late July 2009, when 50% favored cutting back mail delivery over government subsidies for the agency. But at that time, the question did not specify how many days of service were to be cut.
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
I live in a rural area and within a couple mile radius, we have 3 post offices. There is plenty of meat on this bone to cut. The problem is some old timers scream bloody murder when they try to close one of these stupid little offices. “Loss our identity” they say. Absolute nonsense.
That “Newman” character clicked with the public for a reason
I don’t think we need to cut services. I think we need to cut pay, benefits, retirement funds, and the rest, down to levels similar to non-government enterprises. Technically, the USPO is no longer a government organization. But in reality, it continues to behave like one. And it knows where to go when it wants more money.
It’s not Saturday delivery that’s so terribly costly. It’s all those extra guys standing around in the back of the mail room, talking, while the line in front grows longer and longer. Cut down on the useless workers, or at least don’t replace them when they retire.
M-W-F mail delivery would work just fine and reduce not just labor costs, but vehicle expenses significantly. If mail carriers become part time, it might become impossible to fill the jobs. Maybe they could get three days regular pay(whatever that is) while they physically deliver mail and two days minimum wage to afford them the minimum benefits that working people should have.
How about 3 day per week delivery. Split the adjacent zip codes into Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. Same staff can do both routes. Switch to 6 hour days.
Had a friend who worked as a letter carrier. He could do his route in less than 4 hours. Spent the rest of his shift at the bar!
Was your friend from Boston? Did he know a Sam, Diane, or Norm?
Some of the post offices are the newest buildings in town, built during the boom decades of about 1960-2000.
You wouldn't even have to close the offices. Turn them over to some responsible local to operate in exchange for "sweat equity" in the building. Allow them to sell their quilt blocks, antiques, establish a convenience store or whatever as long as they weighed packages, sold stamps and set out mail.
If the person does a decent job, the government eventually cedes ownership of the building. That way, you can avoid the screeching about whose post office gets closed and avoid paying for upkeep on a white elephant government building.
There are some postal workers who will vehemently disagree with anyone who disses the post office. To them, delivering junk mail is their right.
A brilliant idea!
And likely too good for government to adopt, sadly.
Every time I stop at our small town local post office it is closed, and this is during hours of operation. It really ticks me off.
I’ve been suggesting that we treat mail delivery like trash pick up. Different areas of the city get service on different days of the week. You could eliminate 80% of the vehicles and the staff required and actually turn a profit at the post office.
You make a great point on stamp sales. There is no reason to have brick and mortar buildings anymore when a local businesses could do it. I could even see a CVS doing it.
The problem with the Post Office is that it is neither man nor beast. It’s not governmental, and yet it’s not quite a for profit private company either.
And so, we can’t get satisfaction through our representatives, and we can’t exercise the kind of market power true customers could, either.
Either way, if they wanted to operate in the black the way to do it is to cut the bureaucratic fat. They’re like an eight hundred pound man.
Cut till they bleed is my second choice...first choice: dump ‘em altogether!
I don’t care either way. The usps is basically operated on user fees like many things should be.
Privatize the Postal Service.. with NO UNION!...
Our post offices around here are open 9:00am-5:00pm, M-F, and 9:00am-1:00pm on Saturday. Since those of us with jobs can only get to the PO on Saturdays, they could close up M-F and we’d never miss it.
No more money for another union laundering scheme for Dems. Eliminate the USPS monopoly for standard letter delivery.
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