Time for market forces to be let loose

Cancel 2016.2

The Almighty
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/options-few-after-leaders-told-saturday-mail-can-t-end.html

1) We should end the requirement that mail be delivered on Saturdays. In fact we should look to reduce service to three days a week (M/W/F). The other two days the workers can sort the mail etc... Snail Mail is largely outdated.

2) Allow people to opt out of junk mail. Yes, the postal service makes money on this crap, but it is bad for the environment and it only clogs up the system. People can opt in to the junk mail if they want the coupons etc... to keep coming to them.

There is no reason to keep this system in place the way it is.
 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/options-few-after-leaders-told-saturday-mail-can-t-end.html

1) We should end the requirement that mail be delivered on Saturdays. In fact we should look to reduce service to three days a week (M/W/F). The other two days the workers can sort the mail etc... Snail Mail is largely outdated.

2) Allow people to opt out of junk mail. Yes, the postal service makes money on this crap, but it is bad for the environment and it only clogs up the system. People can opt in to the junk mail if they want the coupons etc... to keep coming to them.

There is no reason to keep this system in place the way it is.

Says the guys who lives in the large cities and don't think about rural areas and small businesses that still rely on daily mail delivery.
 
Says the guys who lives in the large cities and don't think about rural areas and small businesses that still rely on daily mail delivery.

For what? what is it that you need to get on a daily basis?

Also... I am referring to residential, not business.
 
Allowing opt-out of junk mail would increase costs substantially. Increased costs are not really what the USPS needs.
 
Allowing opt-out of junk mail would increase costs substantially. Increased costs are not really what the USPS needs.

Junk mail should not be forced upon us just because the USPS wants to make money from them. All that paper being wasted to protect an outdated service is nonsensical. Letting the junk mail pushers pay more for less going through the system makes more sense. They then target the people that WANT to receive that crap instead of filling up landfills with the crap.
 
Also Dung... if you eliminate a bulk of the junk mail from the system and cut back days of service, you are able to reduce labor costs as well as facility costs.
 
Also Dung... if you eliminate a bulk of the junk mail from the system and cut back days of service, you are able to reduce labor costs as well as facility costs.


I very seriously doubt that opt-out junk mail would reduce labor costs at all. Junk mail is really easy for the post office to deal with. Everyone gets it on a carrier's route. The marginal cost of adding a piece of mail to each person on a carrier's route is negligeible. If insteadt someone has to sort junk mail and give it only to people that have not opted out, you're adding a whole new layer of labor to sort junk mail that previously would just go to everyone. That's going to be expensive.
Cutting back on delivery days would obviously reduce costs, but not the junk mail thing. And, no, I don't think junk mail is a good thing, but cutting an income stream and adding costs isn't a very good idea for USPS finances.
 
In this economy, do we really want to reduce labor costs?


Postal service employment is already way, way down:

fredgraph.png
 
Says the guys who lives in the large cities and don't think about rural areas and small businesses that still rely on daily mail delivery.


What the hell difference does it make WHERE you live.....do you get you meals delivered by mail or something....?

What an idiot.
 
I very seriously doubt that opt-out junk mail would reduce labor costs at all. Junk mail is really easy for the post office to deal with. Everyone gets it on a carrier's route. The marginal cost of adding a piece of mail to each person on a carrier's route is negligeible. If insteadt someone has to sort junk mail and give it only to people that have not opted out, you're adding a whole new layer of labor to sort junk mail that previously would just go to everyone. That's going to be expensive.
Cutting back on delivery days would obviously reduce costs, but not the junk mail thing. And, no, I don't think junk mail is a good thing, but cutting an income stream and adding costs isn't a very good idea for USPS finances.

1) You also reduce transportation costs. You are not carting around all that crap mail that everyone trashes anyway. You are not filling up landfills with needless waste.
2) The marginal costs per person may be negligible, but when multiplied by 100 million households (or whatever the number is) it adds up.
3) What is negligible is adding the costs of sorting the junk mail to the already existing sorting process. It won't be any more expensive than a normal piece of mail.
4) Again, you don't have to cut the income costs. Charge more for the junk mail companies as they are directly hitting those that want their junk.
 
1) You also reduce transportation costs. You are not carting around all that crap mail that everyone trashes anyway. You are not filling up landfills with needless waste.
2) The marginal costs per person may be negligible, but when multiplied by 100 million households (or whatever the number is) it adds up.
3) What is negligible is adding the costs of sorting the junk mail to the already existing sorting process. It won't be any more expensive than a normal piece of mail.
4) Again, you don't have to cut the income costs. Charge more for the junk mail companies as they are directly hitting those that want their junk.


That's relaly silly. There are good reasons to get rid of junk mail. Improving USPS finances isn't one of them.
 
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