Post office wanting to stop Saturday mail delivery

[Lady's Human]

Canada doesn't have Sat/Sun deliveries, but the plants are still open. The postmen collect the mail, people sort it, & prep it for monday madness

With the internet n such, it is wise the USPS stop delivery on sat.

The postal service likes to claim the Internet is causing the decrease in mail volume..........but the high water mark for number of mailpieces was in 2006. Did they JUST invent the internet?

[Lady's Human]

One more item:

When you get your magazines dogeared and torn up? (It happens now, but it's going to get worse)

No, your carrier isn't reading the magazine..........it's the new equipment they have handling flats in some areas, which actually increase the cost per piece for handling, increases damaged mail by 50%, the internal auditing arm of the USPS has told them to halt deployment and further purchase of these machines, yet the Board of Governors has directed the USPS to actually accelerate the purchase of the machines.

[Cinder & Smoke]

When you get your magazines dogeared and torn up?
(It happens now, but it's going to get worse)

... it's the new equipment they have handling flats in some areas,
which actually increase the cost per piece for handling,
increases damaged mail by 50%, ...

Izzat Why some magazines and even some catalogs are now wrapped in
"protective" plastic baggies?

MORE plastic to dispose of!

[Lady's Human]

That's precisely why more and more are being wrapped in plastic.

They used to be hand fed into the sorting machines, one at a time. Inefficient, but the mail didn't get damaged much.

Now they are fed into the machines automatically, and if the piece isn't lined up perfectly with the feed mechanism, well................stuff happens.

[pomtzu]

The postal service likes to claim the Internet is causing the decrease in mail volume..........but the high water mark for number of mailpieces was in 2006. Did they JUST invent the internet?

No, but I do believe the hold-outs on using the computer for banking, bill pay, etc, has decreased dramatically. I was one of those hold-outs for a long time before I trusted the internet enough to use it for these purposes.

[Lady's Human]

Also, as to their claims about decreasing mail volume........

Mail volume for December was 9% OVER last year.................Tell me again that mail volume is decreasing.

[pomtzu]

Also, as to their claims about decreasing mail volume........

Mail volume for December was 9% OVER last year.................Tell me again that mail volume is decreasing.

I believe that!! Junk mail is constantly on the rise.........

[Lady's Human]

That's First class volume, Pom, not BBM.

[Lady's Human]

And somehow I just lost half of a post.

TO add to the salary issue......

The temps working for the postal service earn $10 an hour. I wish they were paid more, but that's their contract. They can also be terminated without cause or notice, per their terms of employment.

However, the plant manager in Binghamton has been a temporary detail assignment for the last two years......which means the person filling the detail gets the salary of the plant manager (100K/yr) plus per diem at roughly $60/day, a GSA vehicle for their local driving and mileage for their commute to the area.

Also, the position which the acting plant manager was actually in needs to be filled.........under similar terms. But it's labor's fault.

As mentioned above, we have 4 supervisors for a maintenance staff of 29.......but losing money is labor's fault.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

so will the post offices themselves still be open on Saturdays? That's the only day I can actually go when I have to mail a package.

I guess I'm just old fashioned. I pay all of my bills with a check... placed in the mailbox. I'm glad magazines come in plastic bags now, that way my name and address don't have to be on the magazine itself.

[lvpets2002]

Ok I would not miss Saturday deliveries.. Buttttt here is my Soap Box Issue = they also want to go up on Stamps Again!! They have gone up how many times now in the last 2-4 yrs?? Now then they print all kinds of diff people, cartoons & ect of the stamps.. Hello that cost money.. They also pay the Postal Workers Very Very Good Saleries.. So Again Hello just think of the cut backs that could be done.. But all they can say is we are Broke.. Well you know So Are the Rest Of US in the World.. Now that was my soap box gripe.. I am done now.. Thanks

[Lady's Human]

Postal salaries?

Let's see.........

TO get my job, Electronic Technician. I have to be able to pass a test which is roughly the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in electronics........but I also have to be able to repair everything from scales to heavy machinery, troubleshoot anything they toss at me, and maintain and troubleshoot networking equipment. (We have 2 separate LAN structures in every plant)

We're also cleared, every employee working for the USPS has been through a background check, so if you've got anything over a misdemeanor or traffic violation on your record, look somewhere else for a job.

I think just maybe I earn my salary.

[lizbud]

Ok I would not miss Saturday deliveries.. Buttttt here is my Soap Box Issue = they also want to go up on Stamps Again!! They have gone up how many times now in the last 2-4 yrs?? Now then they print all kinds of diff people, cartoons & ect of the stamps.. Hello that cost money.. They also pay the Postal Workers Very Very Good Saleries.. So Again Hello just think of the cut backs that could be done.. But all they can say is we are Broke.. Well you know So Are the Rest Of US in the World.. Now that was my soap box gripe.. I am done now.. Thanks

Amen to that. USPS jobs are right up there in salary with Eli Lilly & Co., the other big employer in Indy.
I wouldn't mind only 5 days of mail service. I use direct deposit and debit card so don't have to keep cash around.


Maybe the USPS should be privatized. According to LH, Managers
who work there are mostly making their own problems. Time to bring
on a little competition.

[Lady's Human]

Maybe the USPS should be privatized. According to LH, Managers
who work there are mostly making their own problems. Time to bring
on a little competition.

No, time to do what any other corporation in similar financial conditions would do........eliminate middle management.

I've looked at the USPS org chart. It is absolutely redundant, you could easily eliminate district management (needed 40 years ago, not needed now, all their functions have gone to either GSA, national HR, or area offices, which get all the data through the net) and no one would ever notice.

[Lady's Human]

To illustrate how inane postal management is:

A few years ago they started pushing customers out of the local post offices. They started selling stamps at CVS,wal mart, etc. (who, by the way, is under NO obligation to sell them to you for .44, they can make a profit if they want to)

Then they reduced the number of window clerks, because they weren't getting as many customers in the offices.

After doing that, they started the mystery shopper programs, and started penalizing clerks for not asking all the right questions........

then they started penalizing clerks for the lines not moving quickly enough.....

Then they expanded the product line to include priority mail......

and added to the number of questions you're supposed to be asked.....

and reduced the allowable wait time in line......

Then they removed vending machines from the post offices, so you have to either go to the window to get stamps, or go to CVS.

All of which lead to a spiral of ever more irritated clerks, and longer wait times in lines, which, by extension, reduces foot traffic in the offices dramatically.

Their solution to their revenue issue? Start selling more crap in the offices, which relies on foot traffic, which you've largely elmiinated through your own actions.

Tell me again why we're losing money?

Postal management is BRILLIANT!