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Mail cut to 5 days a week

Posted by
in Geiger's Counter
Wednesday, February 18. 2009
Comments (14)
Postmaster General John E. Potter made $850,000 in salary in 2008.

Last year the U.S. Post Office was 2.8 billion in the red.

Mail was down 9 billion pieces last year from the year before.

Potter suggests cutting back to a 5-day-a-week delivery schedule.

First class stamps are set to go up again in May.

What gives?
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#1 Jeff on 02/18/09 at 08:02 PM
It's the mail people....if it wasn't so loaded with junk mail how many pieces would there truely be to deliver?
#1.1 Tabitha on 02/19/09 at 08:42 AM
That is so true. MOST of my mail everyday is JUNK mail. People wanting me to buy this and buy that. BLAH! It goes from my mailbox straight to my trash can. I get maybe 3 or 4 TRUE pieces of mail in a week!
#2 Anonymous on 02/19/09 at 12:56 PM
post office makes their majority of money by junk mail per mail carriers i have talked to.
#3 Terry on 02/19/09 at 01:52 PM
I've noticed less junk mail in my mailbox. Don't know who makes the decision regarding the junk mail. I have no problem with mail delivery being cut back to 5 days a week as long as processing continues 7 days a week.
#4 I Say... on 02/19/09 at 05:47 PM
One less day to get a bill, Oh my!
#5 H B on 02/19/09 at 08:51 PM
I wonder what the growth of their overhead is. They are constantly advertising positions available. I wonder what the starting salary/hourly rate is.
If they are losing money, and getting less mail to deliver, they why do they have job openings?
Also, I wonder why the so called secondclass junk mail we constantly get doesnt get a large increase in mail cost, and not the first class customer. Hmmmmmm
#6 Anonymous on 02/21/09 at 12:13 PM
First of all there are no openings in the Post Office, there is a hiring freeze in place, the adds you see are people trying to rip off unsuspecting job seekers. It is true that the Post office makes a large portion of it's money on advertising ( Junk ) mail. Most of the public does not realize that the Post office receives zero tax dollars and it has not ask for a bail out. Also the public does not realize that the Post Office is bound to a different set of rules by the US Congress that prohibits them from competing fairly with UPS, FedEx and so on. And most of all, do you see the cost of everything in this country going up in price ? The Post Office has the largest vehicle fleet in the country, over 200,000, it costs the public more to fuel your personal vehicles right ? Well the Post Office is not exempt from the same rising cost of fuel,health care cost for it's employees, etc. The US Post Office still has the cheapest postage fee in the free world. so the next time you complain about a 2 cent hike in cost of a stamp, think about the price hike you are paying everywhere else in your world, the difference is far greater that the 2 cents required to mail a first class letter.
#7 Anonymous on 02/21/09 at 12:25 PM
The Post Office is a business just like this newspaper you are reading. They both are supported by advertisements or as you call (Junk), do you think this paper should turn down or reduce the amount of advertising in it's publication ? If so you probably would not won't to pay the price the newspaper owner would have to ask for each paper, the same would be true for the Post Office, without advertising revenue,the cost of a first class stamp would be much greater than 44 cents. Newspapers, Television, magazines, etc make their money on advertisements, the Post Office is no different.
#8 H B on 02/22/09 at 09:13 AM
Since you more learned persons than I, about the operations of the Post Office. You say the advertising revenue, is their most profitable portion, they why dont they raise their prices. I see their existance predicated on the fact they deliver 1st class mail within a reasonable time.
If their largest revenue is from advertising, then, I would think advertising should get to shoulder the overhead cost they speak of.
#9 kathy on 02/22/09 at 09:20 AM
WHY CANT MR. POTTER TAKE A CUT IN PAY TO HELP THE PEOPLE OUT. NOBODY NEEDS TO MAKE THAT MUCH MONEY AND THEN US HAVE TO PAY EXTRA FOR THE SERVICES. IF PEOPLE WOULD DO THAT WE WOULDNT BE HAVING SUCH A PROBLEM THANK YOU
#10 margaret on 02/22/09 at 07:39 PM
My husband and I own a business and we don't pay ourselves until after we pay our employees and our other bills first. If the money isn't there.....then WE take the cut. The same should be for other businesses as well, if your company is in the red - then you shouldn't have been able to pay yourself $850,000!!! Also, the internet and e-mail have made a big drop in the number of mail circulating thru the post office. Computers have put a hurting on newspapers, magazines, postal mail, etc. It's just the way of life for people now.
#11 Anonymous on 02/24/09 at 04:22 AM
My post seemed to get edited out. Let me try again.

People are whining about someone that manages a complex national organization employing tens of thousands that does a service for everyone $850K a year.

Locally in Barnesville/Lamar we pay someone $100K a year just to manage a local government authority with only one employee that does not do anything to sustain itself. It also has been operatin at a loss, and unlike the post office it requires direct taxpayer support.

It seems to me $850K is very reasonable based on the amount of responsibility for the postmater's job if a local job is worth 100K.
#11.1 Pharoah on 02/24/09 at 10:05 AM
Amen! The 100k job is a big waste of the taxpayers money. At least we do get our mail delivered in a timely manner. How has the county benefited financially (not just bragging rights to get a company to come here virtually tax free)from the 100k job holder. I'll have to say the USPS does a great job. However, to save my money, I use "FREE" Bill Pay to pay all my bills. Most anyone with a bank account can do it free and if you don't, well, it's your money!
#12 Anonymous on 02/24/09 at 09:52 AM
Anonymous i live in thomaston ga
i think the mail 1 day a week.
i am tried junk mail.
thanks
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