Daily Mail Delivery In Peril – Does It Matter?
07/27/2011Cursive isn’t the only “relic” of a more primitive age that’s in peril. The United States Postal Service is a real money pit and overdue for reorganization. The digital age has taken its toll but so have other factors. As a remedy I favor privatization and expanded competition, unlikely solutions for now. Still something must be done.
To reduce losses, the USPS has floated a plan to cease Saturday delivers and eventually lower the number of delivery days to just three per week. People most affected by this scheme would be those dependent on the USPS for critical items like medicine, medical supplies or other survival related items. Setting aside that issue since other delivery services will continue to deliver, how might reduced postal service affect you? Does it even matter?
An Inkophile's Blog 
It matters. I get my prescriptions via USPS and would hate to have the new schedule. Personally I do think reorganization is needed but feel privatization would spell the end for the service as it would eventually lead to much higher prices and the discontinuation of many services which are not cost effective. I hope this doesn’t come to pass but I already have written off Saturday service in my mind.
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My past experience with meds through the mail was iffy based on the sender more than the post office. UPS only delivers on weekdays and I can live with that should it take up the slack. Frankly, my local pharmacy carries limited inventory so I can’t count on them either. Then there are the drug companies who let inventory decline towards the end of the year for tax purposes. I’ve had to do without on more than one occasion. No Saturday delivery is something we can work around far easier than other problems.
Shipping costs would likely increase with privatization but as an offset taxpayer subsidy would be eliminated. Competition might even lower the cost of some services. Imagine if the postal service became profitable. You could invest in it and let your earnings make up for the higher cost of shipping. Probably too much wishful thinking there but it’s fun to speculate.
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Not everyone can “do without” their meds for a few days.
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I am not advocating doing without prescription medications whether insulin, antibiotics, or anything else. But the USPS has lost packages for weeks in my experience and some were never found. Ordering well in advance helps but unless the USPS offers a guaranteed delivery, there just isn’t any certainty a package will arrive and on time. Add to that the possibility that the company shipping the meds can make a mistake as I have experienced, and meds by mail can make anyone nervous.
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I think it will affect small businesses in a really painful way.
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All privatization will do is further tighten the capitalist noose around our necks and we will wind up paying them more to do it. Clean out the current USPS hierarchy and get advice from the Vatican. Yes, the Vatican. My experiences in Rome have made me a big fan of the Vatican Post Office which runs a near perfect organization.
As with all government entities, including the White House, the USPS has a lot of dead wood that needs to be disposed of, like in Nov. 2012, and a new business plan must be drawn up.
Privatization will simply put us closer to being USA inc. Corporations will be running the country overtly instead of as they do today, covertly.
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I’m just going to say that I have NEVER had anything but inconvenience and problems with UPS and FedEx, but mail to my PO box via USPS has been smooth sailing. I can imagine a privatized post office would be just another flavour of UPS or FedEx, and end up being too expensive and just as inconvenient to me.
I’d also prefer to see them keep Saturday & drop a weekday from the rotation, considering that with my work hours (9 hours a day) Saturday and every other Monday are the ONLY days I can get to a post office when they’re actually open. I’m sure I’m not the only one in that boat, though I’m sure no one wants to go that direction because of businesses…
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I’m with jo and penemuel. No privatization for the same reasons as stated by both. Plus with privatization only certain people will not be concerned for jobs. Most people who worked for the USPS have said they need to get rid of a lot of bad apples at the top. Once they clean house. Do research and see which countries have the best mail service and adopt the ideas that will work in the US.
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I’d concur with dropping a weekday so people actually have a day off to get there.
Most of the time I have decent service, but I went through a spell with USPS where high value items were being stolen or misdelivered regularly. Envelopes delivered with the tops slit and the contents gone. Large boxes of books dropped along the route where the delivery person realized they had passed my house and were too lazy to back up to deliver. Registered items logged as delivered, when they weren’t.
Even now, half the time I get mail for the same house number on the next street over as they never bother to distinguish between Drive and Court.
Yet their prices for overseas delivery are still the best.
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Wow, Beth, you’ve really had to put up with a lot. for me UPS has been the most consistently on time with no losses or damaged items. With a little advance planning, their five-day delivery schedule isn’t a problem.
If the USPS drops Saturday deliveries, I won’t complain about a two day weekend without bills and junk mail. That would be like having a Monday holiday every week.
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Unfortunately, for me “a little planning” to meet UPS’ five-day delivery schedule means actually taking a day off work. I work from 9am to 6:30pm, with commuting time tacked onto the front & end of that period. I’m just not THERE when they deliver. And since they don’t actually say ‘we’re coming to your house at x-o’clock’ that means a whole day off. Not just inconvenient, but also costs me time off and means my work is backlogged for a full day, just to get a package. It’s just not feasible.
On the other hand, my PO box is always available, even at 2am if need be. And if the package is too big, they put it in a locker with the key in my box. BT, sorry to hear you’ve had trouble like that — we actually did with the mail that comes to our apartment, which is why we now rent the PO box. Anything important goes there instead, with the exception of the house bills that they refuse to send anywhere other than the residence (like electric, gas, etc.)
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