I just read where Postmaster General John E. Potter has said that budget deficits could force the post office to cut one day of mail delivery each week to help stem the tide of red ink. And, based on analysis, he’s saying that Tuesday is the sacrificial day. Additionally, in case this happens, he’s asking Congress to set aside the 1983 rule that the US Post Office must deliver mail six days a week.
Excuse me! Why is this a big issue? In today’s world of text messaging and instant communication and doing business online, do we really need to have snail mail delivered six days a week when it means the post office is running in the red? It’s a drain on finances, but a drain with a solution. The answer: Cut delivery.
Case in point: I do my entire bill paying online, so I can schedule payments long before the actual paper bill arrives at my door. I understand there are many who are not computer savvy and who therefore rely on the US Postal Service. At the same time, cutting one or two days a week shouldn’t really create a hardship once the public gets used to it. It would mean credit card companies offer less time to pay by a day or two and newspaper subscriptions which arrive daily would come in clumps. But it would also mean less running to the mailbox and waiting for mail.
Personally, I would take it a step further than the Postmaster General. I would limit snail mail delivery to three days a week — Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Most organizations don’t work on the weekend, so why should the US Postal Service lose money for us by working on Saturday. In addition, just think of the time the general public will save not running to our mailboxes on the off days.
It might mean those citizens who are not hooked to computers are at a disadvantage; and I suspect most of them are elderly. Yet, if they are informed of the new delivery schedule, might they not be able to adjust and handle bills as they come on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday? I think so.
The only downside I see to my proposal is that the US Postal Service might need less postal carriers, which means some will be let go and possibly added to the unemployment rolls. Regardless, we can’t keep pumping money into things that don’t work. So, even though Earl calls me a liberal, I subscribe to bailing the country out in a practical way. Postal woes? Sure. Postal solutions? I’m not an economist, but I say ‘Probably.’
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