Postal Commentator Questions PRC Chairman’s Remarks On Five-Day Delivery
From Postcom.org
The following is an extraordinary letter to the editor of the New York Times from long-time postal sage Murray Comarow:
The Postal Service’s proposal to switch to five-day delivery is complex and controversial. [New York Times article "Sides Form Over Threat to Saturday Mail Service," 7-6-10] Congress has therefore directed the Postal Regulatory Commission to study the issue; its recommendations are expected in October.
But Ruth Y. Goldway, the Commission’s Chairwoman, apparently has already made up her mind. The article quotes her as saying, “”The Postal Service in fact should be expanding its accessibility and delivery capability to meet those needs. The long-term future of the Postal Service may be limited by their interest in reducing service today.”
She is certainly entitled to her opinion, but it is safe to say that Congress expected a serious, credible study leading to recommendations by the PRC’s five presidentially-appointed commissioners. This shoot-from-the-hip comment by Mrs. Goldway is not exactly new and tends to undermine confidence in the Commission.
I don’t know how the other four commissioners feel about Mrs. Goldway’s pre-emptive remarks; perhaps the Times should ask them. I’d guess they would rightly say, “No comment until we report to Congress.”
NALC: Cutting Saturday Delivery And Other Measures Are Not Long-Term Solutions
Letter carriers union says fixing pension errors will solve USPS’ financial woes
WASHINGTON – NALC President Fredric V. Rolando issued the following statement today in response to proposed measures to solve the USPS’ budget deficit, including rate increases and cutting Saturday delivery:
“What is at stake here is finding a long-term, common sense solution to the financial problems plaguing the Postal Service. The answer does not reside with penny-wise, pound-foolish service cuts, as proposed by the USPS. Neither is it to be found by making false and misleading claims about postal labor costs to avoid a postage rate increase, as some mailers are now doing. Of the options under consideration to solve the Postal Service’s financial crisis, the smartest solution is to reform the congressional mandate to massively pre-fund future retiree health benefits.
“The Postal Service is mandated by law to meet an aggressive pre-funding payment schedule of future health benefits for retirees. No other American entity in the public or private sector is required to pre-fund retiree health benefits. The Postal Service has already set aside more than $35 billion, enough to cover retiree health benefits for 15-20 years.
“Additionally, the Postal Service has been overcharged by $50-$75 billion for benefits Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) benefits, according to the findings of both the USPS Office of the Inspector General and the Postal Regulatory Commission. Without these burdens, the Postal Service would have been profitable in three of the past four years. If these burdens were eliminated altogether, the Postal Service would be able to pay down its outstanding operational debt and focus on strengthening and adapting its business model.
“The Postal Service has reviewed its operations repeatedly over the past three years and has reacted quickly to the changing economic landscape. Jointly with the NALC, it has evaluated and adjusted letter carrier routes four times in the past 18 months. These hard-nosed reviews have saved the Postal Service over a billion dollars and have significantly reduced its workforce while it reached record levels of productivity. Indeed, the Postal Service now employs nearly 100,000 fewer career employees than it did before the recession began.
“To make this a labor issue ignores the larger financial issues at play. We are committed to making changes that are in the best interest of consumers. But to address the problem, we should not resort to knee-jerk reactions and criticisms. The long-term solution is to urge Congress to lift the inequitable pre-funding obligation and refunding CSRS over-payment burdening the Postal Service so it can operate profitably.”
Alaska and Hawaii Senators Disappointed that No Field Hearings on Postal Service Five-Day Delivery Proposal Will Be Held in Their States
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka today expressed their disappointment that the Postal Regulatory Commission is unable to schedule field hearings in Alaska and Hawaii on a Postal Service proposal to reduce mail delivery to five days a week.
The Commission has held hearings in seven cities in the Lower 48 on the proposal. In a letter last month to Ruth Y. Goldway, Chairman of the Commission, the senators said that mail delivery is different in Alaska and Hawaii, and that information gleaned from hearings in the Lower 48 “will bear little relevance to the concerns of the people of Alaska and Hawaii.” The lawmakers had asked the Commission to hold hearings in Alaska and Hawaii.
The Commission, which is reviewing a cost savings proposal by the Postal Service that would eliminate Saturday delivery, informed the senators this week that it would not hold hearings in Alaska and Hawaii, but invited the lawmakers to testify at commission hearings in Washington, D.C., later this summer.
Senators Murkowski, Begich, Inouye, and Akaka expressed disappointment in the Commission’s decision, but the lawmakers said they will continue to engage the Commission and the Postal Service on the possible implications of five-day delivery and encouraged all interested residents and business owners to share their views with the Commission at http://www.prc.gov.
Updated: Postal Service’s History of Seeking Five-Day Delivery to Cure Financial Woes
Documents submitted by PostalReporter reader shows the Postal Service’s History of requesting 5-day delivery to relieve its financial woes.
The 94th and 95th Congresses
Representative Tom Corcoran stated at a congressional hearing that the Postal Service took its first formal step toward eliminating one delivery day per week in 1976 when it conducted a study to examine the possible effects of such delivery reduction.That study, according to Corcoran, was completed, but a formal proposal stemming from the study was not drafted. Instead, in 1977, the congressionally created Commission on Postal Service (created in 1975) submitted to Congress and the President a report that discussed the possibility of transitioning to five-day delivery. The members of the congressional commission were divided on whether to recommend eliminating a day of Postal Service delivery. The commission’s final report said that five of the seven commissioners reluctantly recommended the reduction in delivery, but did not say which day of the week would be the optimal day off.
A series of congressional hearings were held on six-day delivery from November 1977 through March 1978. According to Representative Patricia Schroeder, who opened the hearings, the Postal Service prompted the hearings by proposing a cut back in delivery service.36 Although the Postal Service had made no formal indication that it supported the elimination of one service day, one Member of Congress said that “statements made by postal officials indicate[d] they [were] leaning toward making such a recommendation.”In all, Congress held 12 hearings in as many cities with more than 500 testimonies offered between November and March. Those who testified included Members of Congress, union representatives, editors and publishers, the general public, and representatives of the aging. Most of those who testified did not support a reduction in Postal Service deliveries, finding such cuts a “disservice”38 that could result in “possible delay in the receipt of welfare, social security, pension checks, and so forth—the kind of mail that people receive … on weekends and through Saturday mail.”
In addition to concerns about mail delivery in general, much of the testimony framed the debate over six-day delivery as a tension innately embedded in the mission of the Postal Service: is it a profit-driven organization, or a public service? Representative Timothy E. Wirth stated at one hearing that the six-day service was a “social value,” and that cutting a day of service at a time when people were “losing some of their faith in what government can do for them” would exacerbate their disillusionment.
1977 House Report on Saturday Mail Delivery
Early this year, the Commission on Postal Service, a special study commission created by Public Law 94-421 to study the public service aspects of the Postal Service and other subjects, issued a report recommending that Saturday mal delivery be discontinuance of Saturday delivery service would reduce postal costs by $412 million annually. Through attrition, approximately 18,000 full-time positions would be eliminated. The Commission attempted to support its recommendation in part on the basis of a small survey of public opinion which showed that 79 percent of the individuals surveyed would be willing to give up Saturday mail delivery if such a reduction in service helped hold down postal costs.
Immediately following the Commission’s report on April, the Postmaster General summoned the leaders of major postal union to discuss the discontinuance of Saturday mail delivery.
The 96th and 97th Congresses
In 1980, the House Committee on the Budget was expected to propose an $836 million reduction in Postal Service appropriations for FY1981.42 According to Representative James M. Hanley, the chairman of the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, the reduction in appropriations would have eliminated “all of the public service appropriations” and other subsidies for the Postal Service.43 At a March 26, 1980, hearing before the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, then-Postmaster General William F. Bolger stated that eliminating Saturday delivery was one option the Postal Service was considering to ensure its economic stability in the face of the budget cuts. Bolger estimated the service reduction could result in the elimination of 15,000 to 20,000 Postal Service jobs, but would save the Service about $588 million.
The 1980 Task Force
On March 25, 1980, Postmaster General William F. Bolger established a task force to analyze the possible effects of moving from a six- to a five-day delivery schedule. The task force conducted a study, which consisted of telephone interviews of 320 major mailers and 13 selected industries and government agencies. It found that moving to five-day delivery could save $588 million in the first full year of implementation.85 The savings were estimated to “exceed $1 billion annually in future years.”With the cost savings, however, were predicted increases in other stresses for the Postal Service, like loss of patrons to private mailing services or adverse effects on “the levels of service provided to mail on the remaining delivery days.”87 In spite of the projected cost and fuel savings, the task force stopped short of endorsing a reduction in delivery service, saying “[t]he potential cost reduction is extremely attractive; but it is clear that the risks to service and future postal revenues are high.”
The task force recommended a 12- to 18-month planning period if any action to move to five-day delivery was to be made. No such planning period occurred. In addition, the task force suggested that if five-day delivery were to occur, Saturday should be the eliminated day because it “will not greatly affect the majority of … business mailers.”89
April-May 1980 Senate Hearing
There are, of course, a number of factors which have contributed to the operating deficit; however, inflation has undoubtedly been the great factor. The sharp rise could not have been foreseen when the 1970 law was enacted, and it has has a major impact not only on labor costs, which comprise 86 percent of the USPS budget, but on construction, materials and equipment, and operations in general. Also unforeseen was the relentless rise in the cost of energy. The USPS estimates that for every 1-cent increase in the cost of a gallon of gasoline, the transportation costs increase by $3 million.
Mr. Chairman, these hearings are taking place in concert with the Senate’s consideration of the fiscal year 1981 budget. There has been a great deal of discussion about reducing mail delivery delivery from 6 to 5 days in order to meet the anticipated cut in the postal budget. I am concerned that such a decision could exacerbate the current trend of mailers seeking alternate delivery systems and thus decrease further the revenues of the Postal Service.
The President’s Commission on the Postal Service
In 2003, the President’s Commission on the United States Postal Service, created by President George W. Bush, anticipated an “unstable financial outlook” for USPS.90 The commission, however, adamantly rejected any action that would reduce delivery days to five. The Commission firmly recommends continuing the Postal Service’s current Monday
through Saturday delivery regimen. While the Postal Service could save as much as $1.9 billion (less than 3% of its annual budget) by reducing its delivery schedule by one day a
week, its value to the nation’s economy would suffer. Beyond the universal reach of the nation’s postal network, the regularity of pick-up and delivery is an essential element of its
worth in the current climate. Elimination of Saturday delivery, for example, could make the mail less attractive to business mailers and advertisers who depend upon reaching their target audience on that day. In addition, given the volume of mail the nation sends each day, scaling back to a five-day delivery regimen could create difficult logistics, mail flow, and
storage problems.
While the report advised continuing six-day service, the commission noted that increasing use of electronic mail was leading to “a reduction in the demand for mail services” that could lead to a “relaxation of the six-day delivery requirement” in the future.
Documents
May1976HouseHearingsMailCutback
1977HouseReportSatMailDelivery
Nov1977-Mar1978House6DayHearings
Apr-May1980SenateHearings (PDF)
My Five-Day Experience, by Postal Pete
On the day I was born June 12, 1957:
“Postmaster General Summerfield today outlined for Congress a series of cuts in postal service which he plans to put into effect July 1 if his department is not given more money … The list, submitted at a closed meeting, was reported to include: Elimination of Saturday mail deliveries … (and) closing of 2,000 small fourth-class post offices.”
When I was almost five years old :
Feb 19 1962
The Kennedy administration has studied the discontinuance of Saturday mail delivery but fears any publicity might adversely affect its proposals for raising mail raise, Postmaster General J. Edward Day has told Congress …
(Day) said the (post office) department estimated it could save $100 million a year by ending Saturday mail delivery.
When I was eighteen:
Nov 24 1975
With the United States Postal Service losing more that $250,000 an hour, Postmaster General Benjamin F. Bailar is considering further economic moves such as discontinuing Saturday mail deliveries …. The Postal Service … ran up a $1.5 billion debt as of last July.
The year I took the postal exam:
March 29 1977
“The Commission on Postal Service … voted 5 to 2 to recommend elimination of Saturday delivery, a step that would save $400 million a year … Elimination of Saturday delivery is likely to be unpopular on Capitol Hill. Numerous legislators denounced the idea when the service said it was being considered a year ago.”
and so it continued throughout my postal career:
Feb 7 1981
Saturday mail deliveries, Amtrak train service and urban programs, survivors of last year’s spending cuts, face a new threat from President Reagan’s budget ax, according to internal administration documents obtained Friday … (The documents say), “The possible reduction of service to five-day delivery is a symbol of the seriousness of the fiscal austerity being imposed by reductions throughout the federal government.
December 15, 1987:
The Postal Service lost $223 million in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 … Possible major effects … include … Seeking congressional permission to eliminate delivery on Saturdays … closing 10,000 to 12,000 small post offices, primarily in rural areas.
October 16, 1992:
Postmaster General Marvin Runyon said Thursday that he backs continuing Saturday deliveries but wonders whether home delivery could be cut from six to four days a week…
His suggestion was to eliminate Tuesday and Thursday mail for home deliveries, keeping deliveries on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Business deliveries would remain six days a week.
April 9, 2001:
The U.S. Postal Service is thinking about ending Saturday deliveries — and shutting down post offices in rural and remote areas, and raising the price of stamps even more … because it finds itself in almost exactly the position the railroads were in after commercial jet travel became commonplace…
Something quicker came along: regularly scheduled jets. We said we loved the railroads — but we headed to the airports. We gave the railroads our hearts, but not our money… This country will feel different — diminished — without Saturday mail.
But the country already feels different. Fax machines, privately owned overnight delivery services, and — most significantly — the huge growth in e-mail have transformed the way that we write to each other.
December 31 , 2008:
After thirty years of service I take the early out and talk of five day delivery resurfaces.
Postal Pete
Pete Countryman
Sectional Center Facility
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
30 yrs USPS / APWU
National Newspaper Association Continues Support For Six-Day Mail Delivery
The National Newspaper Association issued the following news release:
WASHINGTON, June 14 —National Newspaper Association (NNA), a community newspaper organization of over 2,000 members, today filed its formal opposition to the United States Postal Service’s proposal to end Saturday mail delivery. NNA has intervened on behalf of its newspapers in a proceeding before the Postal Regulatory Commission, which will issue an advisory opinion later this year on ending Saturday mail.
The final decision on six-day mail delivery will be made by Congress, which has reaffirmed Saturday mail requirements annually for nearly 30 years.
The Postal Service has requested the PRC’s support for five-day mail service. In a petition to the Commission, it said the end of Saturday mail would mean:
- No street delivery of mail will occur on Saturdays;
- No mail pickups, including blue collection boxes, will occur on Saturdays;
- No weekend processing of mail in plants, except for Express Mail and some advertising mail will occur over the weekend;
- Post Offices will remain open; and
- Measurements of service performance will be reset to reflect the changes.
USPS said it expects to save $3.1 billion a year from the cutbacks. It is projected to lose over $7 billion in the current fiscal year.
“NNA is a long-time supporter of the Postal Service and it encourages its members to use the mail for delivery. We firmly believe that the solution to its financial woes will not be found in such an extreme cutback in service. We know that many small newspapers publishing Saturday issues will be deeply affected. We also believe the slowing of bill payments to small businesses will affect Main Street America at a critical time in our economy,” Cheryl Kaechele, NNA President, said.
The Postal Service has underestimated the public’s concern about the change, Max Heath, NNA Postal Chairman, said.
“I know that USPS has persuaded itself that a lot of Americans believe Saturday delivery is dispensable,” Heath said. “To the extent that is true, it is not a good sign for the future of our nation’s universal service if people do not care whether the mail arrives. Fortunately, I believe the polls are misreading the public’s mood on this topic. As the old song said, ‘You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone.’ This change will affect the delivery of medicines, home movies and timely bill payments. People who already are cutting into grace periods for credit card payments are going to see an impact on their credit scores. Moreover, the small businesses like our newspapers and their advertisers will see a new sluggishness in bills going out and checks coming in. That cannot possibly be good news in this economy.
“The needs of those who pay the bills, mailers, need more consideration. If mail volume declines more than projected, there is no way back.””
Heath said NNA firmly supported the Postal Service’s request for restructuring of some retirement fund expenses and believes a refund for overpayment into pension trust funds should be seriously examined.
“This change is more of a high stakes gamble, with a lower payoff, than experts can see so far,” he said. “It is impossible to accurately predict the unintended consequences that will flow from this move. Ending Saturday mail should not be considered until better alternatives have been exhausted.”
Fight to Save Saturday Service Approaches Important Milestone
APWU News
Postal employees and customers are approaching an important milestone in the fight to save Saturday service, as a House resolution supporting six-day mail delivery continues to gain momentum.
Close to 200 U.S. Representatives have signed on to co-sponsor House Resolution 173, which says “the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its six-day mail delivery service.” A total of 218 votes are needed to adopt the “sense of the House resolution,” which was introduced in February 2009 by Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO).
Although adoption of the measure would not create new law, it would send a strong signal that lawmakers oppose the elimination of Saturday delivery. The USPS is seeking authority to reduce the number of delivery days from six to five, and has launched an aggressive public-relations campaign to achieve that goal. The APWU vehemently opposes the elimination of Saturday delivery, which President William Burrus has said “would lead to the demise of the Postal Service.”
The 2010 federal appropriations bill requires the Postal Service to maintain six-day delivery; before the USPS could abolish Saturday delivery, the requirement would have to be eliminated from the 2011 appropriations bill.
“I urge APWU members to contact their U.S. representatives and ask them to Save Saturday Service,” Burrus said. “If they are already co-sponsors of H. Res. 173, thank them. If they have not yet signed on, please encourage them to do so.”
PRC: Witness List For Hearings In Dallas and Memphis To Consider USPS 5-Day Mail Delivery
Witness List for the Postal Regulatory Commission Field Hearings On U.S. Postal Service Six-Day to Five-Day Mail Delivery Proposal
Monday, May 17, 1:00 p.m.Dallas City Hall
L1 Auditorium
1500 Marilla Street
Dallas, TX
Panel 1
Phil Major
Editor
Wise County Messengerr
Decatur, Texas
Roy Robinson
Publisher, VP, Graham Newspapers
Graham, Texas
The Honorable Bruce R. Sherbet
Election Administrator, Dallas County
Dallas, Texas
Suzanne Henderson
County Clerk, Tarrant County
Forth Worth, Texas
Panel 2
Ellis Burgoyne
Southwest Area Vice President
U.S. Postal Service
Shelley Hyde
CEO, NDSI Direct Solutions
Dallas, Texas
Carol Kliewer
Director, Distribution & Logistics, Order Fulfillment
Harland Clarke
Dallas, Texas
Carol Bald
Postal Operations Manager
Strategic Fulfillment Group
Big Sandy, Texas
Wednesday, May 19, 1:00 p.m.
Memphis City Hall
Council Chambers
125 North Main Street
Memphis, TN
Panel 1
Linda WelchSoutheast Area Vice President, U.S. Postal Service
Cheryl Chapman
Envelope Paper Products Manager
International Paper Co.
Memphis, TN
Joseph AdamsPublisher, The Lebanon Democrat
Lebanon, TN
Bill Graham
W.E. Graham Inc. (Star Route Contractor)
Memphis, TN
Panel 2
Shri GreenPostal Supervisor/National Assoc. of Postmasters Area V.P. for Cotton Belt Area
Memphis, TN
Mike Morris
Assistant Clerk Director, American Postal Workers Union
Birmingham, AL
Earlice Taylor
Member, Glenview Development Corporation
Memphis, TN
Hazel Burks
Member, Bluebird Estates Neighborhood Association
Memphis, TN
Lynn Strickland
Member, Colonial Acres Neighborhood Association
Memphis, TN
Monday, June 21, 1:00 p.m.
Chicago City Hall
Council Chambers, Room 201A
121 LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL
Other Upcoming Hearings
Wednesday, June 23, 9:00 a.m.
Journey Museum
222 New York Street
Rapid City, SD
Monday, June 28, 1:00 p.m.
Buffalo City Hall, 13th floor
Common Council Chambers
Buffalo, NY
PRC: Witness List For May 12 Hearing In Sacramento To Consider USPS 5-Day Delivery
Witness List for the Postal Regulatory Commission Field Hearing
Sacramento, California
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Panel 1Mury Salls
Senior Vice President, DST Mailing Services/President, Major Mailers Association
El Dorado Hills, CA
Sharif M. Sleiman
Director, Global Procurement, eBay, Inc.
San Jose, CA
Grady Hesters
CEO, Audio Editions
Auburn, CA
Joe Ridout
Consumer Services Manager, Consumer Action
San Francisco, CA
Panel 2Bill Hodson
Sacramento District Manager, U.S. Postal Service
Sacramento, CA
Jill LaVine
Registrar of Voters, City of Sacramento
Sacramento, CA
John Beaumont
California State President, National Association of Letter Carriers
Burlingame, CA
PRC: Witness List For May 10 Hearing To Consider USPS 5-Day Delivery
HEARING TO CONSIDER USPS 6-DAY TO 5-DAY DELIVERY INITIATIVE 2010
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
MAY 10, 2010
Witness List
Panel 1:
Tom Underkoffler, Director, Corporate Logistics, Medco Health Solutions
Doug Bowen, Administrator/Central Graphics, Southwest Gas Corporation
Arnie Goldstein, Postal Solutions, Inc.
Panel 2:Yul Melonson, Las Vegas District Manager, U.S. Postal Service
Omar Gonzales, Western Region Coordinator, American Postal Workers Union
Rich Griffin, Letter Carrier/Vice President, Nevada State Association of Letter Carriers
Sen. Carper Reacts to PRC’s Planned 6 Month Review of Postal Proposal to End Saturday Delivery
April 29, 2010
WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement reacting to the Postal Regulatory Commission’s planned six month review of the US Postal Service’s proposal to end Saturday Delivery:
“I’m pleased that the Postal Regulatory Commission will be taking steps in the coming weeks to thoroughly examine the Postal Service’s proposal to eliminate Saturday delivery and hear the views of stakeholders on both sides of the issue.
“I am concerned; however, that the proposed timeline that the Commission has laid out for the completion of its work might mean that a final advisory opinion from Commissioners might not come until October or later. As I pointed out at a hearing I chaired last week, this seems to me to be an awfully long period of time, especially when you consider the fact that the 9/11 Commission came out with its report just seven months after President Bush signed the bill that created it into law. With the Postal Service at risk of running out of cash and borrowing room sometime in 2011, it is important that postal management and Congress hear from the Commission sooner rather than later on the advisability of finding savings by eliminating Saturday delivery. My understanding is that the law and Commission regulations envision the Commission being able to complete work on proposals like the Postal Service’s proposal on Saturday delivery within three months. I recognize that this is an issue that a lot of people have strong feelings about but I hope that the Commission can make its views known on a quicker timeline, particularly given the dire financial circumstances currently facing the Postal Service.”