The postal service still wants Saturdays off
Posted by drocolate on March 25th, 2009
Postmaster General John Potter (who looks exactly like a postmaster general should look, in my opinion) spoke before Congress today. He was there delivering news that the postal service is rapidly going broke and the only way to prevent a total postal collapse would be to take some pretty drastic steps.
What sort of steps?
Well, let me tell you.
1. Mr. Potter wants to go forward with the oft mentioned five-day mail delivery week. He wants to cut Saturdays out of the mail cycle for good. According to him this could save the USPS around $3.5 billion every year. Wow.
2. 150,000 postal employees are going to be asked to retire a little early for the good of the team. Mr. Potter estimates only about 15,000 will actually accept the early retirement though. What will become of the other 135,000 remains to be seen.
3. Stop delivering mail in the rain, sleet, snow or hail.* Yeah I know that rhymed.
*This one is made up.
Post Master Potter said that even if these changes are instituted the USPS will still face some serious financial challenges in the future. He then closed his speech on a high note by doing a flawless soft-shoe routine to the theme from Jurassic Park.**
**Once again, made up. Total bullshit. I just wanted to cut the negativity a little.
Seriously though, 5 day mail weeks? I guess as long as I still get my Val-Pak I don’t really care. I need that Val-Pak, though. I need the savings!
Tags: bailout, John Potter, postal service, recession, USPS
In related news, I’m taking Thursdays off. From now on. Peace.
[...] Way back in March I reported on the insanely miserable state of out postal service and how they were looking to turn delivering mail into a five-days-a-week job to cut costs. I can’t lie, I haven’t been following that closely but I’m still receiving mail six days a week so clearly that idea didn’t take. [...]