yes i to see my deliery to day

They should take out Tuesday or Wednesday. Saturday is the only day some might be home for hand delivery. Unless we can go to post office to pick it up.

In regards to "In the direct mail business" I don't know where you live but there are buisness and homes next door to each other in Bloomington Indiana where I live. So what sence does it make to stop at 3 out of 5 mail boxes and drive by the others? I think mondays off is a better idea Indiana did that for the motor vehicle division offices throught the state because they are closed all those "fake" monday holidays (I am sorry but most common people are only paid for 6 holidays max. a year if they are lucky enough to be paid holidays). Why not try holding junk mail for 2-3 days if possible so if you can eliminate a block or cul-de-sac from a route to save hours/vehicle costs.

Clark, Please stop recommending the Post Office only delivery 3 times a week. They are paid, from the purchase of stamps, to deliver 6 days per week. Some of us depend on the service!!

I would be fine with Monday thru Friday delivery of mail. Let's save some money!!

The mailman would still have to walk past every house so it would make no sense not to deliver the mail to any house. Also that would take so much additional money to sort the mail between who is supposed to get delivered each day. People would not want to pay for something they are already getting for free. Which would create more jobs to collect the money and so on.

It is no surprise that the USPO is trying to fix their problem/our problem by making it worse. This seems to be the way in 2009--our big city newspapers have taken the same approach. Why not improve the situation? In a time of such high unemployment, surely there are enough individuals who would work conscientiously in these well-paying jobs.

This is getting to be a joke. Every time I turn around, the PPOSTAL SERVICE is screaming to increase prices because they are losing money. Now they want to decrease delivery service; I already have to wait until around 6:00PM for my mail; this means that if I am waiting for mail so I can conduct business, I must postpone it until the next day. God forbid if it is a week-end.

Fewer days would be fine. People, even the elderly, would get used to it. I don't use mail for bills unless forced to by the biller. I cannot even believe that in my parents' neighborhood mail is still hand delivered to the front door. I see the mailman walking up and down the streets. It's very quaint, but not very practical. It's a high tech world and the government should be forced to participate.

5 DAY MAIL DELIVERY IS JUST FINE.....IT SHOULD HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY !!

We should certainly stop Saturday delivery. We, in America, are just so accustomed to having everything NOW. We need to learn to be frugal in all things...this is true for mail delivery as well. Every other day would be sufficient for us, we just would need to adjust to what we are used to....

If the credit card companies, finance agencies and the ultility companies to change theri due dates accordingly, I would be in favor less days of mail delivery.

To the gentleman that thought that collector stamps were a waste. That is a great profit maker that keeps your rates lowered. If a collector buys a stamps and never uses it that is 100% profit that keeps your future rates lower. There are many people that love to collect stamps.

The postal service is part of our government. It needs to look at the suggestions below and make continuous improvements for their customers.

One obvious common sense approach to save money would to cut Saturday deliveries. However, when you're dealing with the Federal government, common sense goes out the window.

One of the reasons mail service is so costly is door to door delivery. However, that is not universal. In newer neighborhoods, they have gang boxes, regardless of the distance between homes. So, let's equalize service for all homes by putting gang boxes on all blocks. Home delivery could still be provided for the handicapped, but otherwise, we could still enjoy 6 day/week delivery.

BONUS! Since we are looking for stimulus jobs, the jobless could be hired to install the gang boxes. This would be a case where a few dollars spent today would save dollars every year going forward. In fact, the payback would probably be less than a year. How could we NOT do this?

Could we switch to one day a week delivery?
Or perhaps we could undo the monopoly the USPS has for first class mail and find out what the MARKET price for first class mail really is!

I work for the PO and have first hand knowledge of the volumes of mail that pass through our office. It is considerably lower than last year. I agree to a 5 day work week, Monday thru Friday. Most business is closed for the weekend, Federal and State governments are closed. Let the postal worker have the 2 days off to be with their families the same as the fat cats in Washington. I guarantee calling in sick would go down and moral would go up. Any mail that requires attention can be handled on Monday when the business is open anyway. I vote for Monday thru Friday delivery.
to Wayne Light: The USPS does not recieve any government money help of any kind. The PO stands on its own, pays its own way. Try living in another country and see what it costs you to mail a 1st class letter. Our .42 cents or .44 cents per letter is a drop in the bucket compared to some countries.

This is the same post office who will not return 3rd class mail even when it is sent to an incorrect address. They say they are "paid to deliver this mail" and require the recipient to write a letter to the sender asking to be removed from an unwanted mailing list. Bad policies cause big losses!

UPS & FedEx only deliver on Saturdays for a BIG upcharge. The Postal Service should follow the example of companies who are profitable. What a concept!!!

Quit selling collector stamps! Quit selling posters and key chains! Stick to business. They don't mention the money spent on all that crap!!!

I agree with Rich S.- the Post Office should be a Government Agency, as it was supposed to be. All of us do not live in large metro areas, and for working people, Saturday is a day to use mail services. The government should get out of the auto busness, banks, etc. and focus on services to people.

I don't think its necessary to have a Saturday delivery...if it will save us ALL money. As far as the PO increasing the rate for postage just after you have spent money for 100 stamps...You agreed by selling me those stamps to deliver my 100 letters at that price. When I run out of stamps I will pay the
increase...until then you should accept any postage stamp that was bought within, say the last year. If more than a single stamp is required to meet the postage because of weight, then I will bring the package in and have it weighed. Sorry for all the griping but I'm sick of them raising the postage rate every 6 months. Just raise the rate so we don't deal with this so often.

No need to have Saturday mail .
I have a Mail lady on my street and she is more at home with her mailtruck than on the route . Maybe she would not have so much time on her hands if there was more mail in those five days

All of a sudden the people running our Postal System cannot afford to have six day delivery. Will they lower the price of a stamp if they do this? This is a case of our Federal Government passing off the responsibility that is constitionally theirs. This originally was meant to be a non-profit item, but by passing off their responsibility to a private company, they have allowed the citizens to be saddled with paying outrageous fees so that this private company can turn a profit. This is just another case of our government leaders passing off their responsibilities at the expense of the taxpayers. You don't think our government officials are worried about regulating themselves do you.

if they stopped mail delivery on sat. that would really be good for people who go out of town for the weekend and don't have to leave their mail in their mailbox over the weekend.

Yes, let's have a 5-day- Tuesday-Saturday

2 things: (1) creditors have cut the due date on bills to about 15 days (from the date they process the bill for mailing). If the post office only delivers 3 days weekly, how in the world will we get bills paid on time. (2) the post office provides the official time stamp for tax returns (of course that is changing with e-pay). Will the post office provide special hours for tax day when it falls on a day the post office is closed?

Of course, I'm old enough to remember when the post office used to deliver twice a day.

if your idea of 3 days free delivery was a sound one then how about 3 days free postal.. they charge by the item to deliver it.. we are not paying to receive it we are paying to send it.. so if they cut back on the days then they can cut back on the costs.. what happens to next day delivery and over night.... not on saturdays ?

My only problem with cutting back on mail delivery is with credit card bills. So many credit card companies have shortened the time you have to pay, and then take their sweet time about posting the payment once it gets to them, that if you get the bill a couple days later, that would penalize you that much more--especially if you leave the payment for the letter carrier to pick up. Why not have first-class mail delivery 5 days per week and junk mail 3 days per week? That way we get bills and letters, important stuff, on a timely basis, and the periodicals (which we don't have to have right away) and garbage (which we don't need) later.

cluster boxes great bidding out to fedex and ups stupid idea who delivers to the rural, alaska, hawaii, military, grandma etc who dont provide a profit? buying fuel efficient vehicles? with what why dont you buy fuel efficient vehicles? not always practical lets THINK! union contracts of course lets turn the clock back and utilize mexican slave labor, and computers well not everyone has em or is savy enough to use em sorry folks the price of stamps should go up and the subsidies are not for the post office but rather for the large commercial mailers and the non-profits for which the PO does not get reimbursed the answer hey stop forwarding unless with a cost make people pay for change of address make businesses put a return address on their mail especially when they say return service duh! sad to say but the majority of the public is clueless as to the real issues here but it can be solved but think price and timing as in the european model or the japanese model im talking to and about you clark!

Just curious.........why do we expect this 'Government' service to operate at a profit, or even break even? No other 'service' does this or even comes close. It's not even discussed! Just curious.

I think my postman is already on a four or five day schedule. Some days I don't even get junk mail!

I've said for years that they could bring my mail on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They deliver to another group on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

I believe 5-day postal delivery would be sufficient.

agree with Clark. 3 day free delivery & pay for the other days. What's wrong with congress??

a big part of the UPS costs is the overtime paid each quarter.In cental FL alone,almost $300,000 was paid in JAN,FEB & MARCH because many supervisors do not know how to distribute daily workloads. They take the easiest way out,loading up some carriers & giving others too little.At the end of the pay period,those carriers who want to work overtime but didn't because of management's mistakes file grievances and are made whole by UPS. If these payments came out of the money used to pay supervisors bonuses,we would see these extra expenses abate or even disappear.

I think five days a week would be reasonable.

If customers had to put up a box at the curb instead of at the door, more deliveries could be made with less cost, eliminating the need to cut back mail to less than 6 days. Rural routes are the most efficient routes with virtually no supervision required. We don't take breaks, we don't have to be told what to do or when to do it. Instead of 4 managers who pay no attention to us, we could get by with 1 or less. If the mail were delivered less than 6 days, the substitutes that cover vacations and sick days along with a regular's day off would work so little they might as well quit. I still have to drive and deliver the whole route even if some people want 3 day delivery. Where is the savings in that?

You people are not to smart. Dont know what it is you are talking about. You dont work there and do not know how they operate. Did you ready the fy 2008 annual report? OOPS. I guess you dont have to know much to comment. Fact is that blame goes to those who make the decisions. You want to punish hourly people and they do as instructed. 5 day delivery would slow the system down. Delay mail. Not save as much as you think. its the 5 billion prefunding of healthcare and the fact 3rd party people get huge discounts in excess of savings.

I don't understand the "no where to store 3 days worth of mail" idea. If there is no mail going out on Saturday, there should be no mail coming in on Saturday. The entire system shuts down and the mail sits where ever it is until Monday. What am I missing?

I agree that reducing the number of days is a good step toward reducing USPS expenses, along with a fee toward those wanting deliveries more often. One thing not considered in all this discussion is the tight schedule put on for paying bills by many businesses. Let's put everything on the table to include competition from Fed Ex, UPS.

Great idea.

If we are going to have a 16% reduction in mail delivery days then we should get a 16% reduction in postal rates

The mail carriers say those of us who pay bills online and use internet for emails, etc are putting the PO out of business! They seem to think if we paid bills by mail and wrote letters still that they wouldn't be laying off and asking them to take early retirement. I feel if they quit going up on their prices and down on their services that they would be alot better off.

5 or even less days a week for residences is A-OK. I guess businesses need 5 days and are getting 6 days. Guess that's why Congress kept the 6 days for their $$$
contributors.

Remember when we used to get trash pickup 3 times a week and now I only get it once a week, but that price keeps going up. What is the difference if we get 6 days of Postal delivery or 5? The price of a stamp is cheap and I would mind one day less delivery regardless what day it is. 5 day delivery is better than no delivery and having to rent a Post Office box.

Most of you have been thinking of mail delivery in terms of when YOU receive mail. BUT what about sending mail? If USPS skips a workday, your time sensitive article may miss the deadline for receipt. Oops.

I don't need Saturday delivery.

I think this is a terrific idea. I don't need mail delivery 6 days a week.

If we would limit the post office delivery service operation to 3 days, Make it Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. That would elimate paid government controlled "Holidays"(Mondays & Fridays) for government employees there by savings multi millions of dollars. Also Close all federal and state offices on Friday. It is impossibke to get any government business done on Friday.
Dudleyfudp

When I look at the quality of mail I receive, most of it is junk. The occasional checks and personal stuff are way in the minority. But it's hard to ween us off of regularity. We could probably go Mon, Wed, Friday, and that wouldn't affect that much what we send out. More and more bills are being paid on line anyway. People think they're paying 42 cents for a stamp. When you factor in the bilions that congress subsidizes them, we'd be shocked at what we're really paying.

As it always seems to be when we are facing an economic downturn, everybody has opinions about what is wasteful, who is not necessary, and how they want their money spent. I personally am fine with having mail delivered, 3, 5, however many days a week, but my concern is the loss of carrier jobs that may result and the impact it might have on the remaining workers and their morale. Smart is smart and everybody is cutting back so it makes sense for them to do likewise, but those folks at the post office - whether anyone knows or thinks it or not - work hard.

Behind every cut back is the strong possibility that a real life human being with a family who needs their salary to eat and pays bills will be laid off. I know I would hate to be cut from a job because a company is trying to make some cutbacks and save some money.

I think it would not be a problem if they only delivered mail on three or four days per week. However, I think they should keep the Post Office open with a few employees there at least part of every day. In my home town there was no mail delivery in town, you had to get a PO Box. Also they only had the PO open a half day on Saturday. It worked just fine. With a PO Box you can pick up your mail whenever you want.

With 5 days or less for delivery, that would not only save $3.5 billion annually, it would give more time to collect and sort the mail more accurately.

I'm fine with 5 days, 3 days, or less. If they go to 5 days, just eliminate Saturday. I don't need nor do I want mail on Saturday. And they could also save money on staff and fuel by having all mailboxes on a street be on ONE side instead of two. It's time consuming and ridiculous to have the mail deliverer go up and down each street twice.

I think the USPS should use a 3 day a week delivery of either Mon, Wed, & Fri or Tues, Thur, & Sat to make better use of their personnel and cut cost at the same time. This would reduce labor cost as well as vehicle operating cost and reduce capital expenditures when replacement of vehicles is necessary. With email and faxing as prevalent as they are today 4, 5 or 6 day mail home delivery is not necessary as it once was. This would apply for urban areas and a different solution may be needed in rural areas to accommodate their needs. Some changes are definitely overdue to help them control their cost.

I am having trouble finding the text in our Constitution (what's left of it) that grants congress full control of our mail.
Privatize it and problem solved.

Canada has had 5 day a week delivery since 1967!

They can't get the correct mail in the correct box on my street anyway, so who cares...That will give them less chances to screw up.

I could live with 5-day delivery, AS LONG AS some banks, credit card places, etc. can be made to lengthen their due dates. It is funny, however, that USPS is so in the tank. When I was a child and young person, the postman came at 10 a.m. -- and again at 2 p.m.!

EILEEN WROTE: "So what did the PO just pay for the drawings of the Simpsons to make as stamps? A stamp simply moves a letter from one place to another...so why the expense of special artwork? Also..why does the PO need a carpet in their building specifically stating" US Postal Service"? I already know where I am!!! A plain carpet would be fine! Also...why have 6 counter stations and only work 2 people? Waste of equiptment! There are many items the PO could do to cut expenses before cutting service." Collectors add a lot of revenue to the postal service. Creating stamps like The Simpsons will bring attention to stamp-collecting. Many of these stamps will be purchased and never used. Carpeting? I've never seen a post office with carpeting. Easy and inexpensive to maintain floors are in all the post offices I've seen in Arizona. My post office calls workers from the back (sorting?) when the lines get long. Things are run very well in my city (three post offices).

If mail delivery is cutback, it will slow business. We don't need that now, we have enough problems already.

Cut back on the size of stamps, the larger ones have to cost more to make plus a waste of resources.

Why not 3 days a week delivery to home and five days to business.

So what did the PO just pay for the drawings of the Simpsons to make as stamps? A stamp simply moves a letter from one place to another...so why the expense of special artwork? Also..why does the PO need a carpet in their building specifically stating" US Postal Service"? I already know where I am!!! A plain carpet would be fine! Also...why have 6 counter stations and only work 2 people? Waste of equiptment! There are many items the PO could do to cut expenses before cutting service.

Doesn't the post office capitalize from collectors buying sheets and plate blocks of stamps that they never use? I used to collect stamps, and for many years, I used to buy a sheet of every new release (which adds up quickly let me tell you). These are stamps that I never intend on usin... I know that alot of runs are specifically targeting collectors, and while perphaps that run may cost more to print its almost pure profit as the Post office has to do no "real work" for any of the stamps. If you were to make every stamp a flag with the value of it, you could kiss the stamp collector profit goodbye.

Clark's 5 day plan is a good start. I would be just as happy to have 3 mail deliveries a week.

Clark, I love your information, but you have no clue on this one! You really need to see what goes on before trying to suggest a plan. Postal carriers are the problem people make then out be, most of them do a wonderful job for for the Amearicans. The times are hard are we are governed by Congress. Thats the real Problem!

I agree they should close on Sat., but the unions would never allow this to happen. Take away some of their power, and things would get better. I know, I`m a retired Postmaster.

Want 5 days help save money and the postal workers their jobs? If the Post Office General visited my branch and saw how hard his people work he would shut it down completely. If he could fire all of the employees and start over with new ones that want to work we wouldn't be considering cutting delivery back. The line of people at my post office is always out the door while the employees are in the back or out to lunch when custmers need to stop at the post office. If we had decent employees at the post office there would be no need for for this discussion. Oh for the old days when I could get in and out of the post office on my lunch break.

Once a week would be fine for me! I'm all for it! It's all junk anyway!

Well I am 62 and I was trying to recall how often we had delivery - and I was thinking maybe we did not have delivery on Sat. where I grew up. Is that possible? I do recall that at Christmas we had twice a day delivery but I don't believe we had it twice a day to our house at other times - and it was TO our house - poor guys did a LOT of walking.

I would be interested to hear about delivery and services back then.

A good U.S. Mail history site anyone?

I wouln't mind even dropping 4 days a week so that I can be free from all the junk mails....

Most businesses that rely on mail as part of their regular work are closed on Saturdays. Why bother to deliver mail at all on Saturdays? Close the post offices, dispatch no mail, etc other than Mon- Friday. Make fewer stamps available - no need for so many choices (folks who want "cute" ones can create them online themselves). Much business is now conducted online, and people could adjust to having access to the post office only during the "workweek". Whatever it takes to eliminate some of the waste, and reduce spending is fine with me.

I am a letter carrier and think if you want a business or family to pay for delivery than get a Post Office Box. Holding mail will only take up more space in our little Post Office. As for bulk mail aka junk mail.....it's just our job to deliver it. Don't you think that it's revenue for the PO. These companies whether you like it or not paid to get their piece of mail to you. Think about, it's the same as an annoying pop-up or SPAM on your computer. Did you request it! NO! Do I believe somethings gotta give...YES! At this point in economic time I am just grateful for the job that I have. And I will continue to do my job the best I can....with ALOHA!

In general I love your idea. The majority of my mail is not time sensitive. However, I do get delivery of the Wall Street Journal through the mail every day. Yes, I could read it online, but I like having the paper in my hands at the table and apparently the subscription density where I live isn't great enough for home delivery.

After reading Clark's suggestion and many comments I'll add a view from behind the scenes - mail processing and distribution. 1st, I don't work with customers so it's easy to say there is never an excuse for rudeness. We pay for postage the same as you and that makes us a customer too. 2nd, just as the auto workers probably couldn't believe the huge trucks and cars and vans rolling off the assembly lines that helped to bring down the auto industry we can't believe The Board of Governors are still buying huge new machines to process a declining mail volume.
Ask your Congressional Representatives to fire the Board of Governors - they are the kind of spend thrifts Clark abhors.
At your WDBO show you mentioned TV and emoting the news. This is no big news flash: the mail volume is decreasing. Why are we spending on machines that we don't need and that I hear mechanics complain are harder to repair (like new autos with computers).
Talk about less management? I feel selfish about complaining when they moved my start time from 7am to noon. Now I know it was so they could downsize management: no morning manager needed, no morning supervisors needed, etc. and these are mostly old timer high salary folks near retirement.
Did you hear they downsized districts? No more finance, address management, mail piece coordinator (he tells the businesses what size and shape can go through our machines of that mail so many of you love - bulk mail, not junk.
To me it's not the number of days (although with gas at $4.00...)

Howard: Your idea is great. I'd go with that. If that doesn't fly, then 5 days a wk. deliv. is great also.

Stop the boutique stamps, the cutely little "postal stores" in the Post Offices. During this economic crisis, just put out plain stamps. Junk all the estras like the "Ready Post" and "designer labels" that people don't want to pay that much for anyway. And for the love of all, PLEASE do something about the junk mail. They should pay what I pay to mail a post card or letter/brochure. OR we should have a way of blocking all 3rd class mail delivery.

4 words - Too BIG To FAIL

I say lets see. Whether its the PO or a company like GM. The people of this country decide to support or not support these companies using their purchasing power. Purchasing is the same no matter the economy the only difference is the amount changing hands. To BIG To FAIL is really To RESISTANT To ADAPT. If the consumer wants or needs to spend less, then the government, the companies and small business needs to spend less. Biologically we grow and die. Business should be left to do the same unless it learns how to shrink when needed.

Government bailouts are spending money we don't want to spend (or have to spend) to companies that don't want to shrink.

PO is no different except their bailouts are not called bailouts.

If they fail let them go fast and hard. It only speeds up the innovative process of replacing the service with a more efficient alternative. The cycle can't be stopped, just delayed.

We live on a rural ranch and have a PO Box in town. We might go there two to three times a week. Just about all the bills are paid "online". We do not miss getting mail daily.

The postmaster has a great point. Lets take it to the logical conclusion. Close down the postal service all together. All mail is just crap or bills anyway. Bills can be sent via email along with the spam. Thank you postal service but you are not needed anylonger.

There is a very easy answer to making the USPS profitable in the short term. Significantly raise the rates of junk mail.

All the cataloges, news flyers, chinese take out menus, etc. are not solicited. Most of this mail is junk and never read. It creates land fill issues, makes the essential mail more difficult to deliver and is of little benefit to society as a whole. The majority of my mail is nothing but junk. I equate it to commercial television. At least ads on TV helps pay the cost of television and makes it available to the masses.

Junk mail could prove useful to society if it actually covered the cost of mail delivery in the U.S.

Eventually all mail will be delivered electronically. If a hard copy letter or package is needed for delivery it can be sent special delivery. Until that day arrives, I say make the junk mail pay the way!

I agree, with the useage of computers and e-mail the need for snail mail everyday is senseless. Mon-Wed-Fri would work, anything else you should pay for. Very reasonable and a cost savings that's responsible.

I like junk mail. Because of a junk mail piece from Geico, I switched to Geico and saved over $80 a month on my car insurance.

If you dont appreciate junk mail for what it is, which is helping keep the cost down of mailing, like commercials do for free TV, then just throw it away. How hard is that?

Sorry Margaret, you are misinformed there. The retirement benefits are only "grandest" if you are civil service. And that is only employees hired before 1983, which as of now, is a small percentage. After that we get no pension! Its a personal thrift savings account that the PO matches 3% of what you contribute. Gradest? Not so much, but I will take it!

5 days a week would be fine by me, I am in a rural community and work 6 days a week. If you are not in the postal system you do not know what we deal with. We just went through a "mail count" where every piece we deliver has to be counted to determine our wages for a year. Most carriers (rural) took a huge hit. When most companies give raises for good work, we get cut by thousands of $ and reduced hours with the same amount of work. If you feel you do not get the service you deserve, in many instances it is not the carriers fault but managements. We could cut tons of management jobs and not notice the effect. If they would just leave us alone and let us do our jobs, the custmoer would see happier mail carriers. IF you want mail delivered less than 5 days a week do not open your mailbox! walk in our shoes for a month or so and see if you have a pleasant attitude afterwards. People seem to think that the mail just magiclly appears in the box. We have to sort, case, bundle out, load vehicles. We are not perfect but most do their best. You have never made a mistake? Have you ever thanked your mail carrier? Ever put a little something in the box for them at Christmas? Believe me, it is a thankless job both on the customer end and the managements end. I happen to be one of the fortunate ones that have a route full of wonderful customers, probably because it is a farming community. Most of them would be ok with no saturday mail. Business' are closed on saturdays anyway. We have 3 days to get that "junk" mail out and 1st class gets out the day we get it in.
sorry for the rant, I just went through the list of comments and if you aren't a carrier and know whats going on you aren't informed of the many complex issues with the po. Just as I would be ignorant in the workings of your job or business.

I am a rural mail carrier.... and, sorry Clark, but your 3 days a week! No way... If we delivered the entire route only three days a week, the thought of what would be waiting for me on those days would send me screaming from the building... If you're thinking of spliting the routes and delivering the different parts on alternating days... Still a nightmare..
Do you have any idea of what we do to prepare the mail for delivery??? Probably not...
Something may sound good on paper but may not be practical in the reality of it.
As for how horrible "our" service is compared to FEDEX ... I've see some of those Fedex deliveries on my route... and oops! They make misdeliveries too! Sometimes off by several MILES!..
We're all human.. I'm not perfect.. but I can honestly say that the vast majority of MY customers appreciate the service I give them.. Often telling me ,"You didn't have to do that"... And I respond.. "It's my pleasure".. and it truly is.

The post office already gets paid for delivering the mail - I'm not paying extra for the 6 days I get already. AND I'm not paying late charges on credit cards if they do reduce delivery days.

There is an old joke that says, Why should you never use a postal worker as a designated driver?
Because they always deliver the people to the wrong house.
For years, the United States Postal Service has been plagued with inefficiency, poor customer service, misdirected mail, internal theft by postal employees, absenteeism, and general attitude problems.
The postal employees are paid well above what they could make in the private sector but because of labor unions, they know they can perform well below what would be expected of them in the private sector.
I support the idea of suspending Saturday deliveries.
In the past, labor unions served a good purpose but in today's economy, they must accept concessions and support the dismissal of problem postal employees.

I for one support the Post Office and am very appreciative of the services they offer. I still receive and send bills by mail b/c it is the easiest way to keep a paper trail on all my finances. I also do not trust large corporations with my bank account number and refuse to let them auto debit my account for expenses. I think the USPS could continue to be viable without compromising service or through rate hikes by eliminating wastes internally. I am sure if they look hard enough they will find benefit abuses and superfluous positions just like any other company in the US.

I am a retired PM with over 37 years of service with about 31 years as a Postmaster. The problems of the USPS is complex. 5 day delivery would help, but I agree with Clark about 3 day delivery. I don't need my bills or junk mail more than three days a week. If it is desired to have more days of delivery they can rent a PO Box. One of the large unnecessary expenses are details that cost motel, per diem and travel expenses. These should be eliminated and details should come from the commuting area. Unions are another exorbitant costs. Their contacts are way too high (compared to private sector)and the USPS is forced to bear these salaries and benefits. Another unnecessary cost is the large number of small offices. These should be run on a contract and given a percentage of their sales. Some (many?)closed or reduced number of hours and days of service. The USPS has attempted on several occasions to contract out clerical or carrier duties only to have them blocked by the Unions. Employee abuse of the system also needs to be addressed.

this is one of the few government "services" i actually benefit from. May as well reduce this as well, right? regardless of the action taken, my taxes will increase in cost.

yes, rude arrogant and uncaring about service is the new USPS motto, it has served them well. They deliver mostly unimportant junk.

well moving to 5 days seems like a good idea. a lot of thier employees are part time so there would be lost jobs. but to stay afloat you have to cut. that is the simple solution no matter what you do someone will complain

Can you imagine all of the ex postal people lined up at the unemployment office if we go to Clark Howards 3 day plan?

as i read all these comments, i see some many think that their "junk mail" is a big problem. do you seriously think that if days of service were eliminated that junk mail would disappear? don't be dumb. you'd still get it, just in less days. that junk mail helps subsidize costs and keeps YOUR cost as a customer as low as it is. take away the junk mail and see what it will cost. look at UPS and the rest, they have no "junk" and they charge way more for their services.
clark, and a lot of folks here, you have no clue about how the USPS runs. i think a lot of people should learn a few things about the USPS before you speak your minds.
and by eliminating just one day a week, there will be huge amounts of people losing their jobs..and with hardly no jobs to be found, what are they to do then?
if you people that want just 1 or 3 day delivery so bad, just don't go to the box every day and leave the postal jobs alone. or should we be looking at ways to elimiante your job, too?

You all say how the PO is not important to you, just wait until your waiting on that important piece of mail or a CHECK from the gov, you will be waiting at your box everyday. Never fails.

I would like to see the USPS shut there doors and go out of business. It a waist of money for a very poor service. If you want mail at you mail box pay a monthly fee.. Me I don't need it... I would like to get rid of the mail box in my yard all together...

Perhaps they should streamline the services they offer and stick to those that make sense. I'm furious that my PO box has twice been rented to other individuals while i leased it. In fact, upon leasing it i was called and asked to come in and get another because "that one belongs to someone else". For an entity that requires ID to secure a box (because of the amount of fraud that has involved PO Boxes) that is simply no excusable. I appreciate my mail delivery and it is like clockwork. However, parcels and other services are really lacking in consistency and innovation.

Has anyone else tried to get to the post office after work but before 5:30 when the post office closes to pick up a package?

Unfortunately, the Post Office is losing billions each year, not due to being inefficient, but due to the fact that they have to pre-fund their retirement. They may raise the price of stamps every year, only by what Congress allows, but it is still a small percentage of what you pay with UPS or Fed Ex. The Post Office delivers to every address in the US, including the bottom of the Grand Canyon, which is more than I can say for their competitors. How many times a week do most people forget to check their mailboxes.5 days a week is fine. USPS may be controlled by Congress, but they aren't funded by them.

These days I get very little actual mail. I would be in favor of everyone being delivered mail three days a week. Some people would get mail on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The rest on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

I'm tired of all the griping about customer service for the price of a 42 cent stamp. Once again, we are spoiled Americans and showing it. Companies sending junk mail should have to pay a reasonable price and that would help.

It's not just the economy and technology...it's poor, rude customer service, lack of service and inefficiency. I ship all my packages with Fed Ex or UPS because they track for free and insure a small amount for free.

I would not want to pay any fee to have my mail delivered. Five days is fine, except for boxes.

I don't even pick up my mail from my mail box more than twice a week so I really wouldn't miss getting mail delivery 6 days a week. Most of my mail these days (bills, etc) is delivered via e-mail. And what I mail out has been cut down considerably because of e-mail.

I think they could cut costs by eliminating commercials and sponsorships they have. Do we really need to see commercials on tv for a service we are forced to use?

They could cut down to three days a week. I don't think it would be that big of a deal. People would get used to it.

I own an online retail site. Like many others I use USPS because of the value. I pass the savings on to the customer. If they drop their delivery days be ready for your purchases to take longer to arrive or pay more for UPS. This isn't just about bills & junk mail.

I agree 5 days a week is sufficient for mail. Lot's of people are going to e-Statements and online bill pay which reduces mail delivery. Also as others have stated most banks/financial institutions and businesses are closed on Saturday. USPS would benefit from following the same schedule and should be able to get more mail delivered in less amount of time.

Everyone is talking about "junk mail" and how they don't use the usps any more, but listen ups (MR. BROWN) AND FEDEX DO NOT DELIVER ON WEEKENDS AND THEIR ARE SURVIVING, WHY BECAUSE FOR THE SAME LETTER, THAT YOU SENT TO YOUR NEIGHBORD, TRAVELS 100 MILES ONE WAY AND 100 MILES BACK, THEY CHARGE YOU $17.00 AND THE USPS ONLY CHARGE FOURTY SOME CENTS, AND TO LET YOU KNOW, MOST OF THE UPS AND FEDEX MAIL TRAVEL VIA USPS ANYWAY, BECAUSE THEY GOT CONTRACT TOGETHER, SO IF YOU WANTS TO SAVE MOORE PAY LESS, AND AVOID GETTING RIP OFF, USED THE CHEAPEAST OUT THERE WORKING FOR YOU. USPS ALL THE WAY. THIS IS NO BRAINER.

We don't pay to receive mail. The SENDER pays! Reiterating a previos sender, the USPS is self sufficient and does not rely on taxes for funding.

Rather than reduce the number of days they deliver mail, the USPS should charge regular rates for all of the Junk mail catalogs we get. Why should the public pay for discounts given to catalog companies.

The most dummies idea Clark has come up with.

Our postal service, which is self sufficient, depends on the money junk mamil brings in to keep our costs of mail down. Also, USPS goes to outlying addresses which is not always the case with the others. I have had some items that were supposed to go UPS be delivered by the postman because UPS found it cheaper to just let them do it. They don't want ALL of their business, just the cream of the crop. Jobs could be reduced through attrition instead of layoffs. And if they just stopped one day a week, very few of us would be inconvenienced. It makes very good sense to me. But then I don't have the gotta have it yesterday mentality.

I receive bills in the mail and pay some by mail and some electronically. However, every other day delivery would be sufficient for all my needs.

The Postal Service doesn't understand the real reason for the drop in revenue: people like me prefer doing business via Internet because the USPS is so unreliable. They constantly lose important items; half the time carriers just throw mail on my front porch instead of placing it in the locked mailbox, and their fees are outrageously high, with biannual increases without any relief in sight. They've junk-fee'd us to death and do not provide adequite service for the money, and like any other business, I just assume they would go under rather than cutting service even more. I'm sure FedEX or UPS would be happy to take over, and make a tidy profit doing so.

many elderly and disabled relies on mail delivery ... they do not use the computer for the many things that baby boomers and younger do. This is discrimation toward this populace. i think that you are not thinking of all.
Thank you.

First, the Post Office is not supported by your taxes, the Postmaster General explained about pre-funding retirement, no other business has to do this. You need to read the Postmaster General's statement before you start assuming you know how the postal service works. FYI, the postal service was voted the most trusted company this year, don't judge all employees because you may have had a bad experience with one, all companies have people who make the good employees look bad. You also need to consider that everyone does not live like you, there are people who depend on the US mail for letters from their family, medication, to pay bills even to bring them a stamp to put on the bill because they don't own a car. Do not assume you are speaking for everyone when you say one day is enough. Furthermore, I have yet to receive a e-mailed card that I have thought enough of to print and save, unlike the one's someone took the time to write a message and mail to me.

Let's kill two birds with one stone. Levy a 1/10 cent tax on every email worldwide and use the funds collected to subsidize the post office and high speed internet service. This would stop spammers cold, and the cost to average people or businesses would be minimal.

Our taxes already pay for passenger trains, passenger cars, mortgages and just about everything else you can think of. Why should our taxes not support the post office? Isn't socialism wonderful? We are becoming paradise under Obama.

The problem with Clark's system is that if half the neighborhood wants mail delivery every day, and the other half only wants it 3 times a week, the mail carrier still has to deliver mail every day, so there's little or no cost savings to the postal service. This is especially true in newer neighborhoods/apartment complexes with 20 or more mailboxes in one place as opposed to everyone having an individual mailbox in front of their house.

Are you forgetting all the holidays they take off? We get six days a week on some weeks, not all.