Postmaster General: Six-Day Mail Delivery Doesn't Make Sense
John Potter also says he is considering shutting down more facilities
What would you say to a national "do not mail" list like we have for telemarketers with the "do not call" list?
That has come up through the years. But I would point out that there's a big difference between receiving something through the mail and aggressive, intrusive salespeople calling at certain times of the day.
What's the difference?
One comes through the mail, while the other is, in a sense, invading your home through the telephone.
Yet taxpayers are also footing the bill for disposing of all that junk mail.
There have been many myths about the environmental impact of mail. I think it's grossly overblown. There are more trees in America today than there were several years ago. There's more recycled material in the mail now than there has ever been. There have been many studies about the impact of mail, and it is negligible. People [falsely] think that electronic mail incurs no environmental costs, that we never throw electronic components away and that energy costs nothing.
How will the mail system change in the coming years?
If nothing else, service should shift to five days per week. I've been out there advocating that. We can think about changing the rules about retail sales in our locations as well. There will probably be other changes, too. Remember, it wasn't until Abraham Lincoln that we had regular rural delivery. It wasn't until catalogs that we had free rural delivery. And it wasn't until the 1930s that the Postal Service regularly delivered packages over 4 pounds.
Has electronic communication undermined the mission of the post office?
We need to have a national debate about the future of the post office. There are still a lot of people who don't have a computer, some who don't have a bank account. There is a lot of commerce that doesn't go through the Internet. And the Postal Service is a lot more into the fabric of America than most people appreciate. For example, we have an address database and a ZIP code database that serves the electronic world very well. If we were to disappear one day, someone might wake up and say, "How do I set my insurance rates without ZIP code boundaries?" Those contributions are lost in a debate that only focuses on hard copy versus electronic mail. By the way, those debates are most often held in places that are wired, not in rural America.
Are we having this national debate in an informed way?
Not yet.
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Reader Comments
Mail Non-existent or Extremely delayed
I live in a rural area. Mail I send and receive from all over the country regularly is delayed by a month or more. Somedays (multiple days in a row) mail does not arrive at all. Right now, I am waiting for a refund check from my University. They sent out the check September 21, 2009 - today is October 2, 2009. They are 30 minutes away. I am going to have to file an affidavit of loss if the check does not show up.
Mail from my lawyer, my doctor's office, magazines, sales flyers, my employer, etc often comes a month after it is dated, if it even arrives at all. I have numerous examples of mail never even arriving at all. Where is this mail going? I have lived here for 3 years - so it is not as though I just moved in. Once we sent my brother his passport via priority mail and it was mysteriously 'lost'.
I would gladly give up 6 day service for reliable 5 day service. I think my mail carrier is throwing away, losing, or maybe burning my mail in their bonfire. Who knows? Thank god the large majority of my communications are now done online. I cringe when I think of some important document coming through the regular mail system.
Post Office
It sounds like Mr. Potter is advocating no rural delivery. A look at history will show that the first mailman during colonial times WAS rural delivery. People in town were close enough to go to the post office and pick up their mail. Later that 'rural carrier' came under the auspice of
city carrier'. Let the city folk go to the PO to pick up their mail Mr. Potter. Folks in country and suburban areas would be placed under more of a hardship. Also the city folk could pay for delivery to their door, like lights or water. Mr. Potter, could your comment be directed towards supporting one union over another?
To Anonymous of VA
Well I actually work for the postal service, and have so for 21 years.
The Comments you are reacting to are bought on by our own doing.
There are thousands, upon thousands, of wasted practices within the postal service that would never be tolerated in the private sector.
Union promotes "the go slow more dough" philosophy and most of the union leaders cannot complete a full route in the allotted time. Now, place a newbie on the route and the route is handle efficiently and within the time frame.
It's ok! Keep up the practice and follow the union's leadership, they are holding the anchor to this fast sinking ship. Additionally, we have have total control of our destiny and with the mentality of most of the workers in the postal service, in will be no time before the competition grabs a hold of our jobs. So, do the right thing and work efficiently, professionally and safe your jobs, or follow the union motto, and expect unemployment in no time. The answer is in your hands. You are in control.
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