“Among key questions to be answered are: “Will the savings the Postal Service anticipates be as significant as they estimate? Will mail volume decline more than the Postal Service anticipates? Will businesses and citizens have service that remains adequate to meet their needs? And will the national economic impact of service reductions offset or add to the savings that are proposed?”
The PRC issued the following press release:
Washington, DC – The Postal Regulatory Commission today established Docket N2010-1 to thoroughly review whether the U.S. Postal Service plan to eliminate Saturday delivery should be implemented. The Postal Service is required to ask the Commission for an Advisory Opinion on any change in nationwide service it proposes. This is one of the most significant changes the Postal Service has ever presented to the Commission. www.prc.gov, by clicking the “contact PRC” tab to access a convenient online customer service form. To participate more formally in the process and to file documents to be included in the online public record, interested parties should click the “Filing Online” tab and follow the appropriate instructions.
“The Commission is the watchdog agency that determines if the Postal Service meets its Universal Service Obligation to the nation. Our process will provide multiple opportunities for the public to be heard and for all the facts to be considered before the Commission issues its Advisory Opinion,” said Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway. “The ball is in our court now. There will be no final decision until the record is complete.”
The Postal Service has advised the Commission that due to falling mail volumes and revenues it is considering eliminating Saturday mail collection and delivery except for Express Mail and existing post office box service. It submitted 11 pieces of testimony in support of its Request.
Commission procedures provide for public, on-the-record hearings to analyze and cross-examine the Postal Service’s “five-day” proposal and supporting evidence. During the process, mail users and interested members of the public may offer supporting or opposing views, both informally and as part of more formal, technical presentations. The Commission will also conduct as many as six field hearings and solicit public comments through its website. Dallas, Sacramento and Chicago are among the cities the Commission is considering for possible field hearing locations.
Chairman Goldway identified four areas that will be scrutinized. “Will the savings the Postal Service anticipates be as significant as they estimate? Will mail volume decline more than the Postal Service anticipates? Will businesses and citizens have service that remains adequate to meet their needs? And will the national economic impact of service reductions offset or add to the savings that are proposed?”
The elimination of one mail delivery day is not a new concept. It has been proposed many times and was the subject of extensive congressional review in 1977 and 1980. In 1983, the Congress adopted specific language requiring the Postal Service to maintain six-day delivery. The Commission’s Advisory Opinion will be considered by Congress as it reviews the Postal Service’s request to change the law.
The public is invited to share their views via the Commission web site,
The Postal Service proposal was electronically filed with the Commission at 3:34 p.m. today.
My station lost about 25% routes, mail volume is down but not number of supervisors. Mr Poter, you want to save money, no problem. Get rid of all area, district, acting managers…etc. These are some serious salaries, including yours. You had to be competitive with UPS and Fedex exec’s when you gave yourself this salary.
UPS just recorded 33% profit jump. Be competitive now. Cut your salary that would save some carrier jobs, actual providers. Why is he treating us like criminals by installing GPS trackers on our LLV’s. You have money for that. You did know that mail volume is going down, but still went with spending millions and milions on FSS machines. What you are going to feed does machines with.Mr. Poter want us to get rid of Saturday so his contributors can make some money. What is next Mr. Poter, Friday.
Mr. Poter and management in general has completely forgoten the purpose of this agency. That is SERVICE. My customers are very unhappy for all these collection boxes removed recently. Now 5 days delivery. My customers are not happy because they know they will not get service they deserve on Saturday. But who care what people of America want. We are all here to please Honorable Mr. Poter.
CORRECT ME IF I’M WRONG BUT I THOUGHT THE POSTAL SERVICE MAIN JOB WAS TO BE (SERVICE) IF WE STOP 6 DAYS A WEEK DELIVERY, WHATS TO SAY WE DROP DOWN TO 4 AND SO ON, UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE SERVICE? WHAT ABOUT THE PROMISE WE MADE TO THE PUBLIC OVER 100 + YEARS AGO TO GIVE AMERICA A U S POSTAL SERVICE THAT DELIVERS TO EVERY ADDRESS IN AMERICA? IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT PROFITS!! IT’S ABOUT (SERVICE) SINCE WHEN DOES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MAKE A FROFIT? NEVER!!! WE SERVE THE AMERICAN PUBLIC !!! THAT’S WHAT THE USPS DOES THANK YOU..
It is not just the 40,000+Postal jobs that are going away, but an undetermined number of private jobs that will vanish if Saturday is cut . In our 24/7 world cutting service is the last thing that should be done. When you open pandoras box you can’t determine the unintended consequences ,but a death spiral will likely ensue. Remember Service is the only thing that the Post Office delivers. Cutting Service is regressive. It is that simple.Do the right thing and find alternative solutions.
PRESIDENT OBAMA, PMG POTTER HAS TO GO! THROW HIM OUT! THROW HIM OUT! THROW HIM OUT! APPOINT A NEW PMG BEFORE THERE IS NOLONGER A UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE!!! DIDN’T YOU SAY YOU WERE FOR LABOR? IF HE HAS HIS WAY HE WILL PUT 40,000+ P.O. EMPLOYEES OUT OF A JOB… THAT WILL BE A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE ON UNEMPLOYMENT!!! NOT PAYING TAXES!!!! AND GETTING THE (HEALTH BENIFETS) THAT YOU FOUGHT SO HARD FOR AND WE ALL SUPPORT YOU 100% ON… (YES YOU/WE CAN) DO THIS FOR US AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WE CAN’T AFFORD TO GO DOWN TO 5 DAYS A WEEK DELIVERY…
There are many issues at stake here….complex. But 5 day delivery is NOT the answer. Also, the “predictions”, estimations”, by… I will “assume” college educated dips is just that…MAYBES…they have no idea. The “assumption” that most Americans have a computer is reasonable, almost 70-74% have computers or internet access(so the figures say), but the rest of the world(except for Japan, Europe, and several other “smaller” countries) do not. Look at China and India…Potter is a Bush appointee so obviously he is all for the “Republican” party line stance of baloney….Doesn’t mean Democrats don’t have their baloney, but Republicans “conservative” stance lies irritate me. They can spend spend spend just as well as Democrats..THEY JUST SPEND ON DIFFERENT “THINGS”. I will believe the lies the P.O. is spewing just as soon as they let me look over all the sets of cooked books they have….More Americans should NOT lose their jobs, haven’t we seen enough of that already????
Dump Potter and keep six day delivery. We provide a service, not some cockamamie bean-counter scheme.
IT’S TIME TO CHANGE THE POSTMASTER, THE HEADS OF L’EFANT PLAZA HAVE TO GO HOME. THEY ARE A LOT NEW ISSUES THE POSTAL SERVICE NEED TO CONFRONT IN THE FUTURE, THAT’S THE REASON WE NEED A NEW TEAM WITH BETTER IDEAS, EVEN I DON’T LIKE MUCH PRESIDENT OBAMA, BUT HE HAS TWO CHOICES OR REMOVE THE HEAD OR PAY THE CONSEQUENCES IN NOVEMBER, BECAUSE WE ARE WAITING TO LONG.
R.Lindgren, First of all I want to THANK YOU for switching from UPS to PRIORITY MAIL I happen to think we offer a better service @ a better price and know that we will work hard each and every day to KEEP your BUSINESS… You are right the post office was put here to provide a (6) day service to the AMERICAN PUBLIC not everyone has or wants a computer … PMG POTTER is destroying the USPS write to your CONGRESS PEOPLE IN YOUR AREA AND TELL THEM TO VOTE AGAINST (NO) THE 5 DAY DELIVERY.. THIS WILL HURT THE SMALLS BUSINESS AND IT WILL PUT 40,000+ POSTAL EMPLOYEES OUT OF A JOB!! WHERE THEY NEED TO MAKE CUTS IS AT THE TOP! WE ARE SO TOP HEAVY YOU JUST DON’t KNOW…THANKS FOR STICKING WITH THE USPS!!!
5 day per week delivery would be a severe hardship to my small business. I switched from UPS to USPS several years ago, and have seen considerable savings in shipping costs plus better service (LOVE Priority mail).
Uh — what happened to the 75 billion dollars the government overcharged the USPS? Didn’t the postmaster general state under oath before a Senate committee that if the overcharge were to be attended to, the 5 day thing would be moot?
And besides — where does is say that the USPS is supposed to make money? I thought it was here to provide 6 day universal service.
THE GOAL HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO BREAK THE POSTAL SERVICE UP SO IT CAN BE PRIVATIZED THAT’S WHY BUSH SR APPOINTED PMG POTTER, AND THEY ARE ANTI-UNION SO THAT THEY CAN SCREW US OUT OF OUR PAY AND BENNIFETS SO THEY CAN PAY US MIN WAGE WITH NO BENNIFETS… THEY ARE NOT TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE REAL NUMBERS, THE REAL PROBLEM IS WE HAVE TO MANY MANAGERS ON TOP 1 FOR EVERY 10 EMPLOYEES, I’M SORRY BUT WE JUST DON’T NEED THAT MANY… I FEEL LIKE IF YOUR NOT WORKING THE MAIL WHY DO WE NEED YOU? JUST TO WALK AROUND DOING NOTHING BUT BEING A BULLY, START CUTTING FROM THE TOP AND YOU WILL SEE JUST HOW MUCH MONEY WE CAN SAVE STARTING WITH PMG POTTER … PRESIDENT OBAMA PLEASE APPOINT A NEW POST MASTER GENERAL , AND MAYBE SOME NEW BOARD OF GOVERNORS BEFORE WE NO LONGR HAVE A UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE!!! AMERICA PLEASE WRITE YOUR CONGRESS PEOPLE AND TELL THEM TO VOTE AGAINST (NO) TO THE 5 DAY DELIVERY
Why doesnt the government give the Postal Service some bailout money so it can start revamping all of the Postal Vehicles from gas to having electric trucks. Lets face it, most of these LLVs are gas guzzlers and if all of them were replaced with electric vehicles it would save millions and millions of dollars. Sure the initial cost will be substantial, but doesnt the government want everyone going green? Why not start with their own inventory of vehicles. Gas prices alone is what is hurting the Postal Service. For as far as these vehicles travel and they dont need top speed for driving around the city, it makes so much sense to invest in this for the future. But hey, who am I, just a city carrier, what the hell do I know! Its much easier to eliminate days of the week!!
This is a terrible idea. The books have been cooked to justify the dismantling of the Postal Service from within. We are top heavy with overpaid and overstaffed managers. The President of the U.S. doesn’t make half what the PMG makes ! We are way overpaid in our retirees health care payments. At a time when Constitutionally mandated service to the public should be safeguarded, our own leadership is welching on that obligation. We should be offering MORE service, not less. Later window hours, Sunday delivery, and ending workshare discounts, should all be considered before cutting service. 4-10 hour days with rotating 3 day weekends would provide staffing for extra service, and cut down on sick leave costs at the same time. Reestablishing revenue protection jobs would monitor underpaid postage and produce more revenue. And yes, the unions could agree to a wage freeze for the next contract to hold down prices. With an enlarged oil reserve, the government could make surplus fuel available on a regular basis to offset the exhorbitant cost of gas to the P.O. There are options out there to contain costs and add service. Heck, we have post offices in every city and town in the country. Why not cross connect each P.O. with the power grid by outfitting every P.O. with solar power, creating not only more green jobs, but more revenue by selling excess power back to each community to lower electricity costs. Lets try progress instead of regress !