The United States Government Accountability Office issued the following report today:
USPS’s proposal to move to 5-day delivery by ending Saturday delivery would likely result in substantial savings; however, the extent to which it would achieve these savings depends on how effectively this proposal is implemented. USPS’s $3.1 billion net cost-savings estimate is primarily based on eliminating city- and rural-carrier work hours and costs through attrition, involuntary separations, or other strategies. USPS also estimated that 5-day delivery would result in minimal mail volume decline. However, stakeholders have raised a variety of concerns about USPS’s estimates, including,
First, USPS’s cost-savings estimate assumed that most of the Saturday workload transferred to weekdays would be absorbed through more efficient delivery operations. If certain city-carrier workload would not be absorbed, USPS estimated that up to $500 million in annual savings would not be realized.
Second, USPS may have understated the size of the potential mail volume loss due to questions about the methodology USPS used to develop its estimates of how 5-day delivery may affect mail volumes.
The extent to which USPS can achieve cost savings and mitigate volume and revenue loss depends on how well and how quickly it can realign its operations, workforce, and networks; maintain service quality; and communicate with stakeholders. USPS has spent considerable time and resources developing plans to facilitate this transition. Nevertheless, risks and uncertainties remain, such as how quickly it can realign its workforce through attrition; how effectively it can modify certain finance systems that cannot be changed until congressional approval for 5-day delivery is granted; and how mailers will respond to this change in service. Further, uncertainties remain as factors other than delivery frequency—e.g., price increases—can also affect mail volumes and revenues.
USPS’s proposal involves several factors that need to be considered. It would improve USPS’s financial condition by reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and better aligning its delivery operations with reduced mail volumes. However, it would also reduce service; put mail volumes and revenues at risk; eliminate jobs; and, by itself, be insufficient to solve USPS’s financial challenges. USPS’s role in providing universal postal services can affect all American households and businesses, so fundamental changes involve key public policy decisions for Congress. If Congress decides 5-day delivery is necessary, then Congress and USPS could factor the savings into deliberations about what package of actions should be taken to restore USPS’s financial viability. Conversely, if Congress maintains the mandate for 6-day delivery, Congress and USPS would need to find other ways to achieve equivalent financial savings, so that the package is sufficient to restore USPS’s financial viability. This would likely entail difficult decisions with broad implications for USPS’s infrastructure, workforce, and service. As GAO has reported, a package of actions by Congress and USPS is urgently needed to modernize USPS’s operations, networks, and workforce.
people can deposit their checks on sat but they are not counted until the next business day and some have holds on them anyways. If it is that importand get direct deposit. You can mail packages and post after hours via the self kiosks and you can still go to a ups store or fedex store on saturdays. i mean why not just keep them open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If you do not want them to close on saturday then pay more for their shipping. Also to the other poster salary does not mean overtime for their position. So that wouldnt cover as much as you think. Cut back to 5 days a week and open from 8am to 2pm save 2 hours everyday.
Can the PRC, OIG, BOARD OF GOVERNORS, CONGRESS FORCE American taxpayers to subsidize a nonessential massive waste delivering low revenue advertising mail on SAT.. Sat. delivery is not essential to individuals and business in today’s electronic INTERNET age. The people, groups listed above, and PMG AND UPPER MANAGEMENT CANNOT SEE THE FORREST FOR THE TREES. UPS has 400,600 employees and the only delivery they perform is next day comparable to Express and 2ND DAY PRIORITY. SCOTT DAVIS, UPS CEO,
COULD MAY ADVISE USPS IN DEVISING A STRATERGY TO ELIMINATE SAT. DELIVERY AND REDUCE 1 BILLION LOSS AS IN FEB. 2011. WHO PAYS THE 1 BILLION DOLLAR LOSS. GOVERNMENT HAS TO REFINANCE EVERY MONTH TO MEET EXPENDTURES. REDUCING FUEL COST FOR 190.000++VELICLES AND ELIMINATING DELIVERY PERSONNEL COST WOULD BE A SIGNIGIANT STEP IN REDUCING SPENDING MORE MONEY THAN TAKING IN.
PMG NEEDS TO TAKE PARANOID VIEW FROM USELESS ADVICE BY OIG, AND BOARD OF GOVERNORS AS THEY ARE NOT IN THE MARKET PLACE AND LACK BUSINESS EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE TO OFFER ANY ADVISE.
CONGRESS AND PRC PROBABLY HAVE TO DEAL WITH AS THEY HAVE MORE POLITICAL POWER.
Grannie you are correct. Move to another higher level position as he as proven himself. A real Postal Executive GLADIATOR. ABUSE And AMUSE..PAY FOR PERFORMANCE.
A little off the subject, but I agree with Susan. Make supervisors and Postmasters accountable for contract violations. If the contract is abused & the grievance is legit, then the offending officer should have their bonus reduced or at least a letter of warning. The general overall attitude of management is: I know it’s against the contract, but it will make my numbers look good for my promotion/bonus, so let them file a grievance, no big deal, it will take forever to be resolved and by that time I’ll be in a different position/already have my bonus, I don’t care if it costs USPS, it’s good for me. THE USPS attitude towards managers: If he blows it in one position, get him out of there, PROMOTE him to another position. (just look at any sexual harassment suit if you doubt me)
A win win would for you lazy craft to do some work for a change.
Line supervisors-or 204B do not have any concern as to contract violations. Most on the scene at present are from the bully buddy pack selected by district honchos who have no regard for contractual violations. Directions are deny it or ignore it and it will move to district labor to handle as labor representative will be directed.
As Susan stated above make supervisors accountable for grievances on Article 8 Hours of Work.sections 4 & 5 probably OT Work.. Supervisors who respect the contract as a binding agreement between the USPS and respective crafts are considered as weak and giving in to union when contract abides by article in question.. Union egotistical stewards also contribute to labor issues.
A massive step in labor relations cost reductions would be to educate all parties in preventing labor issues from most violated articles resulting in grievances. A win win for management and craft.
Cancel Monday mail delivery. Close all plants and post offices on Sunday and Monday. Customers could pick up items at the office on Saturday. We could even offer extended hours on Saturday. Looks like a win win to me!
before post office close on saturdays they need to take care of other problems ,no more bonusses to managers and postmaster,have them contribute to health insurance,cut upper management at least 25 %,make suppervisor accountables for grievances on article 8,they keep paying money over and over for the same type of violation, national agreement means NOTHING to line supervisors. I dont think the post office will do any radical change when it comes to upper management,they are not going to cut their own throats, i have 26 years as a carrier and i honestly dont believe most of the talk is going around,post office eliminates positions and moves managers around,with a higher pay.what a joke!
I’m ready for all of these “pick your acronym” agencies to start talking more about how to EARN an additional 3.1 billion and less about how to save it. All the efficiency gains by the USPS the last decade and we’re still talking more about how to save money than ways to increase earnings. Perhaps we could start with giving mailers workshare discounts based on current efficiency levels rather than pre-automation levels. Better yet, eliminate the competition and do the work ourselves rather than giving workshare discounts. Maybe the USPS could start its own mailhouse operation and compete with PitBowes and Siemens and other such operations.
Hey Ben,
How many checks are delivered on sat? I have business that are not open on saturday that insist on getting thier mail so they can have thier checks ready to get process early on monday. That also doesn’t include individuals who recieve checks can deposit them on sat, sun or on thier way home from work on Mon, instead of having to wait on Tues. Ask a business how important the mail is, they don’t recieve thier check via facebook. The package business is finally coming back despite managements best efforts to kill it over the past decade. We do not charge extra on sat as our competion does. How many times do I deliver a package ship to us via ups or fedex on a sat? A lot is the answer. Another important point is also being missed, sat is the best day to meet your customers and push postal services to them. Mon thru Fri alot of them work, so sat is vital in pushing our business on to them. I would love to work Mon thru Fri, but realize it would just be a bad deal for the postal service. The postal service needs to get out and push its products, thats as simple as it gets. We provide and excellent service, now we need to let the customers know everything we do.
ELIMINATING SAT. MAIL DELIVERY IS THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE METHOD IN REDUCING MASSIVE DEBT AS MORE MONEY IS SPEMT DAILY THAN IS TAKEN IN AND IDLING 195,000 VEHICLES WITH INCREASING FUEL COST GAS 3.60 GAL. AND REDUCING DELIVERY PERSONNEL COST IS A GIANT STEP TOWARD USPS ELIMINATING OPERATING AT A COINTINOUS DEFECIT.
SAT. MAIL DELIVERY NEED IS A THING OF THE PAST AS THE INTERNET CONNECT INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESS. A PERSONAL WRITTEN MESSAGE TO A PHYSICAL STREET ADDRESS IS HISTORY. ADDRESSES ARE E MAIL ADDRESSES FOR PERSONAL AND BUSINESS USE AS WELL AS FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL NETWORKING. ANY TIME AN INCREASE IN POSTAGE OCCURRED THE QUESTION WAS WHY DONT THEY STOP DELIVERING JUNK MAIL ON SAT.. NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT. REDUCE AGE ON A BUYOUT TO 50 YEARS AGE 25 YEARS SERVICE WITH A 1% DECLINE EACH YEAR UNDER 55 YRS. OLD. $20,000 WOULD BE RECOUPED IN 5 YEARS WITH SAVINGS IN LEAVE AND BENEFIT COST. VOLUME WOULD NOT DECLINE ON ELIMINATING SAT. DELIVERY AS OTHER ELECTRONIC MEANS WILL INCREASE ON LINE ADS AND PAPER MAIL ADS WILL DECREASE. VIA MAIL AND NEWSPAPERS..
CONGRESS MUST GIVE SOUND REASONING IN MAKING DECISION BASED ON FISICAL PRUDENCE AND NOT A DECISION PER POLITICS.
Just go forward and fire everyone, drive a stake into the Postal Service, and call it a day. Oh Yeah, CRUSH THE UNIONS!
“VINCENT” is a manager or a non-postal employee.
His idea can’t be done unless the Collective Bargaining Agreements
from ALL of the exclusive Unions AND MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS
are tossed in the trash can.
And his ideas are ridiculous to begin with….
I suggest he find a hobby to occupy his time other than posting odd
and unworkable ideas here….
i think “jack potter” is my fat 204b.
Unions don’t need to “give back”. Useless managers on every level should be fired. They all came from craft and were the lazy do-nothings. Layers upon layers of useless, stupid people all over the country that have nothing to do with the mail. My idiot supervisor does nothing all day but roam around bullshitting with his pals. $73,000 plus a year for 0 output. Where’s the true waste, asshole?
The unions don’t know anything about give backs. all they know how to do is take. the ones that know how to make overtime by the old “go slow to make more dough” pricipal. their budget is based on making so many hours of overtime. I told one carrier that he ought to look into finding an extra job after work to make ends meet and he just laughed and said that he can create enough overtime working for the post office that he doesn’t need to. and that’s the way it is with those types.The good ones don’t do it like that.
5 day delivery is not needed to reduce costs, the way the Postal Service can reduce costs is to change its employees pay scale to a monthly salary vice the current hourly schedule. This way the Postal Service could increase efficiency by eliminating the chance for any employee to hang on the clock just to get overtime, and yes we all know it’s being done…Eliminate the administrative nightmare of Article 8 tracking and count all overtime as earned overtime and this will eliminate the payment of numerous grivences for overtime earned twice. I want the Postal Service to be competitive and around for a long time but concessions have to be made from management and the unions….