CNN

Sure, I'm not in a huge hurry to get my bills.

Just raise the price of a stamp. It's already a bargain, raise it five to ten cents and who cares. You don't see people marching in the streets demanding lower postage rates do you? Ralph, Yakima, Wa.

The Postal Service has gotten greedy and misused funds like many other companies have. Good grief, they always raise the price of postage to "cover" their needs so why suddenly the fewer days? Don't they pay about $26 and hour to workers? Talk about overpaid...it's not the autoworkers, it's the post office. when the Post Office can afford to buy out homes so their employees can move around...well...disgusting

I'd agree to fewer days of delivery if they'd stop raising the price of stamps for a couple of years, but they won't. The Post Office will cut services and raise the price of stamps. Isn't that the American way nowadays - pay the same or higher price for less product or services? At least you, Jack, are still worth the price of cable.

It's really a mute question since snail mail is going the way of typewriters. UPS and other competitors will take care of packages and e-mail and text messaging will be the final nail in the Post Office's coffin.
We all realize that private business is more efficient than government and we'll see one government dinosuar after another fading into extinction. Bravo!

Maybe I'm dating myself, but I remember when you could mail a letter for 3 cents and the service was better then than now when it costs almost 15 tumes more. In those days, your mail was delivered to your door. Now you have to be thankful if it's delivered to the curb because God forbid the delivery person sould walk
I often receive someone else's mail and sometimes ithe address is not even faiintly similar. One time, I received mail for someone who lived 10 or 15 miles away from me in a competely different development.

Jack: I think it is fine only to have 5 days of mail delivery to solve the postal service's budget problems. But the US Chamber of Commerce, and the American Council for Business, and other business and industry types might not like the idea. It will depend on who can convince Congress to allow it to happen. I would put my money on the business types to win.

The postal service is a critical part of our infrastructure....I'd support a change of Postmaster general if he/she thinks the only way to resolve the problem is cutting mail service!

Jack the only way I would support this if they stopped delivering mail Friday's & Saturday's, people need there its our way of paying bills and communicating with people who are far away.

Scott Stodden (Freeport,IL)

Jack,

I could go with getting mail a few days a week instead of six. Honestly I only get bills on a average of once a week anyway. The rest of the mail is usually trash. Works for me!

Short answer: Yes.

As long as we have a "public option". If all we had was private carriers, like we do with health care, they'd probably start charging for packages based on pre-existing weight conditions.

No! It's time to draw the line with unions. This economy is being choked by union demands. The high wages and benefits paid to postal employees because of their union is what needs to change. Do we continue to pay these salaries and benefits at any cost? I understand Obama owes the unions his election, but someone has to say the emporer has no clothes. If the postal service can't operate in it's current state, it needs to tell the union to make concessions (real ones) or start firing people. It's time to take back our country.

I rarely use the postal service - after I waited nearly six months to receive a letter someone mailed me from across town, I figured they only provided storage and not actual delivery. So it hardly matters to me how often they do or don't deliver. From my viewpoint, they never deliver on anything they've said.

Why sure, anything to help the budget. I usually forget to check my mail on Saturday anyway.

Sure. Everything is electronic these days, so why not. Get rid of Saturdays and keep it to a 5 day work-week.

Less deliveries is surely the answer. I'm willing to pay more if they filter out my junk email! If it says current resident then I didn't request it. My name is current! If it says I won a million dollars and you deliver over 1,000 pieces of same letter that very day, then I didn't win and it's junk.

No because then people especially businesses would use Fed-Ex and UPS more often passing the costs down to the consumer and the USPS would lose money from lost revenue.

Absolutely. I can always use a day without junk mail.

Jack, that's just one less day of receiving junk mail.

Does anyone rely on regular mail anymore anyway? I haven't been to the post office in years and don't receive anything of any importance through the regular mail (my bills are all handled – paperless – online). It wouldn't impact me one bit if mail delivery were reduced to five days a week.

Missy M, Arizona

One less day of "targeted mail" the US Postal Service equivalent of SPAM! Yes please! One less day of receiving another credit card offer would be a blessing!

Neither rain, sleet, or snow will stop the mailman. from his appointed route. But it looks like lack of business (money) will. Yes, I would be willing to have the number of mail delivery days reduced. Fewer bills each day. It looks like we will be getting less and less from the federal government, except taxes.

I think fewer mail delivery days would also improve the national morale. That's one less day for bills to arrive.

No. The postal service has too many overpaid people working for them. The first thing that they should do is cut their overall pay. The Post Master should $70,000 a year. Every supervisor should earn less than $70,000 a year. The average hourly worker should earn between $13-10$ an hour. They should eliminate overtime by hiring more workers. They should also deliver mail slower in order to save energy. Saving money on energy, payroll, and elimination of overtime are items that the post office should do in order to cut their budget.
Christopher Taylor– Conroe, Texas

very few things that come in the mail are important, most is junk mail and everything is don't by internet or electric depositing and paying billsso you can deliver the mail every other day and that will do the trick

Yes, I'd support fewer days of mail delivery, not that it will actually save money, I have no objection to a return to the 5 day delivery schedule that prevailed prior to the 1983 change; no Saturday delivery. Even a 3-day delivery schedule, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, would work. I'd estimate that >80% of the mail I receive is unwanted junk mail that just goes right from the mail box to the landfill.

Fred, in Michigan

What difference will it make. Mailed a letter from Mesa Verde National Park's post office and it took 4 weeks to get to Tucson AZ! It must have traveled via camel caravan.

The Postal Service could save itself some money if it made clerks and carriers do thier jobs. I come to work and do not have a supervisor or manager tell me what to do, I have been doing my job for a number of years and I just know what needs to be done. I know someone who works for the post office and they say they are kindergarten teachers because clerks and carriers have a union behind them and they do not need to follow work guidelines. If they mess up the union gives them the job back usually with some type of monetary settlement and eventually they will be promoted. Not the hard working supervisor or manager.

Mail delivery? People still actually use that?

I wouldn't care if they delivered mail only once a month. Who gets good news in mailboxes anymore? Besides most of my mail is junk.
Sterling Greenwood/Aspen Free Press

yes! if any company can't make a profit then they close there doors!
not only should they stop delivery on saturdays, they should also have there ability to increase postage more then they are allowed by law! they are going backwards because they can't increase fees and postage to componsate for increased fuel and medical costs. if this continues then the taxpayers will also have to bail them out and they will never be profitable.

Sure then we could say, sorry that bill probably didn't get delivered on
this wednesdays delivery I'll have it in the mail just as soon as I receive it. Either that or they just need to raise costs like other countrys did long ago.

Why not? Most buis don't receive mail on sat. For every five carriers the day off guy can be eliminated or instead of 100,000 you have 80,000 for each grouping. You get bad news in the Sat mail and there is no one to call. Either way all the cuts will not reduce the costs just increase's would slow down. 44 cents is not bad to get a letter to any state or possesion. Oh jack, they are way over paid for the job they do and I hated every raise we got knowing the little guy had to lick a higher priced stamp.
Joe, Houlton, Maine

Why not, Jack. I can't pay my bills anyway. I don't care if the mail comes.

How about if the Postal Service gets out of the real estate business first??

I don't have a problem with fewer days of postal delivery other than....
now all the worthless junk mail will arrive in larger quantities.

If they could time delivery days to be one day in advance of trash pickup...it would work even better.

Check my history, or mabey you just remember... wasnt it nixon who made the post office a federal entitiy instead of the mail carriers being federal employees? I know reagan tweaked it too and now we have a post master general of every state living in a house over a million, remember south carolina?

The only ones who deserve to make money are the kids that trek thru the snow and rain and mud to deliver our personal information confidentially without privacy violation, and the people running the sorting machines. Every other employee at the post office is just some form of unnecessary or another adding pennies to the rate of postage.

Dismantle that sucker from the top till mail can be delivered for a quarter.

Jack,

The taxpayers would receive fewer services from the postal service but our taxes remain the same as well as the cost of postage? The broader issue is that the government hasn't been able to run the post office efficiently for several years now and now Obama wants to hijack our healthcare. I have no confidence in this administration anymore.

I don't mind, Jack. I don't mind putting off bills coming to my house. How bout you?

This sounds like a candidate for the law of unintended consequences.

If one day of delivery is eliminated. That mail would have to go with next delivery days mail.

If the amount of time it takes to deliver the next days mail remains the same, it will save money.

But my guess would be that the postal workers will try to get OT for it. (You know, more mail longer to deliver) Making costs go up not down.

(I wish people would think these things through before throwing them out into the public arena)

Yes, especially Saturday delivery which is mostly junk. In fact most folks could live with Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Business mail could be sorted separately and picked up on the other 3 days.

Yes, I do support shorter delivery date to save the postal service budget crisis. Anything we can do to substain the services and money short fall I totally for it.

Jack, there are several questions I would have.
1. What will the postal carriers do when they aren't delivering mail? (Certainly we aren't going to pay them to sit home, I hope)
2. Will companies change their billing practices with regards to the mail delivery? (Some of us still pay some bills by mail)
3. Why not charge more for junk mail?

I'm hearing that the USPS wants to close some post offices, maybe that will help.

Fine with me

Nothing but junk – a waste of trees and our tax dollars.

Most people pay bills on line and email so they can do away with the Post Office any time they want. I'd rather have my tax dollars for me.

I am rather ambivalent about it. I usually only get junk mail on Saturday anyway. But they can save money in other areas. As a truck driver, I have dealt with the Postal Service. All of the jokes have a kernel of truth to them. I assure you there are ways to make the process more efficient.

Hey jack, heck no i wouldn't support it. Because it would put truck driver's like myself out of work. I don't think public realizes that mail brought to post office by trucks. Besides they couldn't even mange there own budget, so what we've to give them a bailout too?

By way I don't deliver mail on daily basis as truck driver, but I have done a few loads in past for bulk mail, so again i say no.

Over the road truck driver from ca.

Jack, I'd support it if the Postmaster General cuts his salary about 80-percent. Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars a year is what I heard the PM gets, and that figure is about $640K too much.

If the postal service would stop delivery of bills they could eliminate at least one or two days from the schedule provided they do not pay employees for the day off unless they request vacation pay for that day.

Yes, I would support a five day delivery for mail.
Why not?
It was done before it was six day service was implemented.

Lance
Jacksonville, Florida

I would support a five day mail service. It was done once before.

The postal carriers would argue that they are handling the same amount of mail no matter if they do cut the days. The government is notorious for cutting services and not saving any money. This may be another misstep that will lead to no savings just added inconvenience.

We both worked 11 years with the U.S.P.S.. Employees would love dropping to 5 days, but it would not fix the BUDGET WOES; as 6 vs. 5 days DOES NOT change the VOLUME of mail being received on a weekly basis (employee hours would only decrease slightly). The real financial problems are extravagant spending for massive annual bonuses, multi-million dollar homes & more for UPPER management; expensive homes, large bonuses & rewards for MIDDLE management; constant bonuses & awards for REGULAR employees (totaling hundreds & thousands per award on a regular basis). To fix the problem, stop the overspending.

I used to get my mail daily and effectively, However the service person has changed more then once and now my mail ends up at least 3 times a week in the wrong mail box, making us neighbors put the mail in each others correct box.

We complain, but its like dealing with the DMV either they dont care and have that attitude or they dont speak english and cant understand your complaint.

Reducing the mail one day a week wont matter to us, we dont get it half the time anyway, and when we do its someone elses.

We have to take cuts, why cant they instead of going to 3.00 a stamp to keep a failing service going.

Mark M
San Francisco Ca

I would support fewer home delivery days, but they still need to be shipping every day so that the mail service doesn't take twice as long, let people pick the mail up at the post office on the off days.

How about fewer days of junk mail delivery? Better yet, how about no junk mail?

What Mail Delivery??? In this part of the state of California, we either go down to the post office and check our box, or we don't get mail. Works out okay for us.

I live next door the post office and often only pick up my mail once a week. Are our lives so complicated and important that we need our mail instantly. Look at the trees, smile at a squirrel and pick up your mail every other day.

Yes, I support it – and if anyone opposes, just charge them more for customized off-day deliveries.

I wouldn't mind them cutting off mail delivery on Saturday. But I wish they would do is raise the rates on the junk mail, and maybe I wouldn't get so much!

Of course. One less day to look at my bills!

Fewer days of junk mail deliveries? Where's the bad news in that, Jack? Could I get them to drop a day of service to my email account, too?

Craig
Dallas, Texas

Yes – 6 days a week is not happening with the competition. Also we need a break from all that junk mail.....

Increase the rates on junk mail or deliver it to the trash can I have set near my mailbox. They can cut out Saturdays because they only deliver junk mail on Saturdays in my zip code.

Postal Delivery Services.......
I could live with once a week!

The post office is suffering because it did not adapt quickly enough to the newer technology and were slow to incorporate the internet. I think cutting the days of mail delivery is not the solution. They need to get into the root of their problems and why they aren't making money.

Cutting Tuesday deliveries is a bad idea, simply because that's the day that most things (DVDs, CDS, other forms of consumer entertainment) are officially released to the public. Saturday seems to be a better idea... I don't think anybody should have to work on the weekend in the first place.

sure less days ,the better ,no bills.
the internet will make regular post a thing of the past in a decade anyway.
to save money and help the enviornment maybe they should reinstate the pony express ,bring back the horse jack

Yes. I wouldn't mind one less day of worrying about what bills will be in my mailbox.

I would be willing to forego Sat. mail service if the USPS would get its act together and stop wasting millions of dollars on relocating personnel and buying their homes. Also, the price of postage needs to be capped at its current rate or lowered.
Cindy Launch
Santa Rosa Beach, FL

Fewer days of mail service makes sense. I live in Canada and mail service has always been Monday to Friday. Regular buiness days and hours. I've never had an issue with 5 days of delivery, nor ever felt that a 6th day would be something benificial. 5 days makes sense on an operational standpoint and, in the case of the US postal service, on a financial standpoint.

Waiting until Monday to send/recieve mail is fine over my weekend, and I imagine with many others too. If mail must go out on a weekend that's what private services are for.

I think that in these times of the going getting tougher then the tough should do the same even if it means a postal worker.

I do support fewer days. Let them cut Saturdays out... We can all use less amounts of junk-mail...

When will people finally realize that the only way to make the post office cost effective is to privatize it. I have had problems with mail delivery for years and I gave up trying to get my local post office to be accountable and do something about the problem. It is the epitomy of the worst in government services.

Of course I support fewer days for the postal service. I have always said that having mail delivered on Saturday is a waste of time, energy and money. I forget to check the mail on Saturday repeatedly because it is the furthest thing from my mind. Let's stop waste taxpayer money for a service we don't need on the weekends. Most other businesses are closed during the weekends, as well as most government offices. – the USPS should be no exception.

Imagine how terrible it would be if we didn't get our mail every day. What if we couldn't get mail on Sundays, or Columbus Day, or Christmas, or...oh wait. Duh. If they dropped a day, like Saturday, for instance, it wouldn't make much of a difference in our daily lives, mail carriers would get an extra day off, and USPS could save money. Go for it.

I would diffently support less days maybe even two days if it would help, so they would not get bailout money. The business have to suck it up as we are all hurting right now.

It's always astounding to me how, when it comes to businesses saving money, the customer itself is who loses in the end. How about spending less time on the endless amount of junk mail they move and more time focusing on the actual mail itself?

I'm sure the response will be "but we get lots of money from handling junk mail," to which I respond with an equally stubborn "I don't care."

saving money is an important thing. cut it to 5 days jack. lutz florida

Yes i would be open to 5 day delivery. The post office localy is talking about closing post offices. I don't think that is good. Panama City, Fl.

Absolutely not! If the USPS would stop making 9,999 different types of stamps, wrapping paper, Disney characters, NFL and MLB photos, etc. and concentrate on making only needed stamps or postal meters, we'd all be better off. It's bad enough now that a working person can't make it to the PO because they aren't open. Banks stay open longer than the PO now. They need a manager that can clean the place up, not continue to bleed the public. It takes 4 days to deliver a letter across town....of 4,500 people!

Jack,
Yes I would support fewer mail delivery days; such a stopping Saturday delivery, in order to save postal rates.

I have my own business and prefer Monday thru Friday delivery and don't want higher postage rates.

Also, I kind of like the idea of giving postal workers Saturdays off.

I worked Saturdays for many years and now appreciate being off; I think they would appreciate that day off to spend with their family.

Yes, I'd support 5-day delivery of mail.

I'd also loudly support the end of junk mail; it not only adds unnecessarily to the volume/weight of mail, it all ends up in landfills, too. Lose/lose.

The problem is that this is govt owned/managed – if this were a private corporation layoffs and other measures such as post office closings would have already taken place. I dont buy stamps and havent in years – do all my bills online – get a CLUE US Govt. I dont know if anyone else thinks its ridiculous the # of post offices that we have – I know in some areas there are like 5 -10 in a 5 mile radious – do we need all these small offices – they should go to regional larger offices – 1 per 20 mile radius say. They need to adopt technology with kiosks where you can buy weigh and do it yourself. Start closing offices and laying off employees b4 raising fares – otherwise they will become uncompetitive and in the process giving every taxpayer another bill to cover the drastic mismanagement of another US govt agency.

Yes, and the extra non-delivery day should be Thursday. This would give us 3 delivery days, a non-delivery day, 2 delivery days, and a second non-delivery day, spreading the service out across the week as evenly as possible.

Of course I would allow them to deliver one less day of the week to save money because it is one less day of the week I have to look for bills.

Jack,

I would NOT support a reduction in days, I would support a reduction in waste. I work in a governmental office and the waste is disgusting. Make the transition from the private sector to the governmental sector was eye opening. I now understand where all the taxes go…in the garbage. I alone save my office nearly $500,000 my first 6 months on the job. I guarantee if the USPS cut out the waste, they would actually turn a profit.

Yes, I would be willing to give up days of mail delivery. Saturday service is not needed. Most people are off work on these days; our society needs to slow down more on weekends anyway.

Chattanooga, TN

Most of what comes into my mailbox is junk mail that goes right out to the recycling. I'd be happiest if the mailman only showed up when I got something *good* – say once a week or so. Want to contact me faster? Send me an email!

Yes I would support fewer days of mail delivery. Maybe my bills will slow up. I only receive junk mail, and bills. I hope the mail man can lose my electric bill.

Interrupting the steady flow of mail will damage small businesses. The problem is one of efficiency at the post office level. I have never balked at the price of a stamp, but lazy clerks who treat customers with contempt drive people away from a once-great institution toward private carriers whose livelihood depends upon fine service.

I would support eliminating a delivery day as long as it was Saturday. However, as a retired postal employee, I know that they would not eliminate Saturday but rather Tuesday or Wednesday. If that happens it's the end of the USPS.

No I dont think it will help. What I believe will help them is if they sell some of those over priced million dollar home they by for their employees. What employee needs that kind of home just to work for the postal service? Biggest waste of money I have seen from the federal government.

I am all for one less day of mail delivery. It helps the postal service save money and it also takes away one day of junk mail that I receive. Even with email, text messaging and other sources of sending information, the postal service nationwide still work a long tiring day every day to bring us our mail. It's an American institution so why not do whatever we need to support their continued success while serving the masses.

Sacrifice!
We need to do something now or lose everything later. Five delivery days a week is reasonable enough.

Babacar Jacksonville, NC

I support less delivery days to save the Post Service money. Less delivery days means less days I get bills.

Yes! I support cutting back a delivery day.
The "impact cash flow" whine is crap! If they can't realign their in/out-flows to accommodate the new delivery schedule then they don't deserve to be in business.

Cutting or staggering delivery days will save the USPS money and it may help the environment a little.

USPS should start charging more for the junk mail. Most of it is a waste to begin with.

My post office is 3 miles from my home, yet I have one 3 blocks from me. I consider this wasteful spending. They spend a ton of money on gas to travel to my zip code, while a carrier could walk here in 5 minutes.
Until they get their act together, I don't support reduction in services!
I've also done my share to support them, my business has spent as much as $5000 a year to ship my products, while sometimes waiting in line for over 30 minutes.

How about increasing the junk mail rates. May the Post Office could recover some of the cost of delivering that type of Mail. I do not know what other people think but I hate get mail and stand at the garbage can,

How about fewer days of junk mail delivery? Better yet, how about no junk mail at all?

Jack,
Let's get real and come into the 21st century; we don't need 6 days of snail mail. Everyone I know is sick and tired of the junk in the mail box, stop killing the trees for god's sake.
4 days per week would be plenty.
Joe
Ogden, Utah

From Kansas City, Missouri.........
I think that's a ridiculous notion by the postmaster general. There are plenty of other ways to cut costs without sacrificing customer service. I think if this happens then they will just worsen their problem by upsetting those that they already depend on for revenue........the people. They are a service to the people, so if they're going to start thinking about stopping their "services" then just go ahead and sell out to a different courier.

Cutting Saturday delivery is the only thing that makes sense. Savings of 16 of operating costs on the carrier side. No one else will miss it over time. Surely not business that are mostly closed that day any way.

Jack, as a 34 year veteran of the US Postal Service working as a letter carrier, the Postal Services current financial state is the fault of upper management. Why do we need to count the mail every day? Why do we need to have 17 reports submitted by floor supervisors.. Why do we need 2 or 3 supervisors for 38 employees? Why do we need all the districts the PO has with executive vice presidents and all kinds of jobs that do nothing to move the mail. I am talking the actual delivery of the mail. When I started, we had a supervisor and he didn't count the mail, make reports, have meetings. We simply came in, delivered the mail and went home. Get rid of the top heavy management which rivals Nazi Germany (remember where going Postal came from) and simply deliver the mail. Millions could be saved by showing these 6 figure a year potentates the door.

I think mail service should remain 6 days a week. We need to get back to sending mail. The internet is overrated. I would much rather get a hand written note than an E-Mail from someone.Suppory our postal service and preserve a servive that is as American as apple pie..The postal service could also try to offer more services to make gain..and the top guys could slash their salaries..The post office the cheap price of our stamps..The cheapest and one of the best services in the world...We should support it....

Yes, Jack it would be smart. We live in a changing world and the USPS should be changed to a 5 day with it. It is basic economics and also smart business. I would hope for longer hours during the days they are open. I also hope that small offices would be closed. We proved in Michigan that "schools of choice", knock out the weak schools and this same thought can be applied to the USPS. VERY BASIC ECONOMICS, Jack.

Jack, My biggest pet-peve is the size and varity of the stamps themselves. When you figure in die & color charges & glue, The darn stamp cost is too high in cost Thx Ron

The area surrounding our mailbox is one of the meeting places for the local black widow spider population. Therefore, never receiving mail again would not be an issue for me.

Why not eliminate/ban direct mail marketing pieces sent to every home everyday. Save some trees, lighten the load for the US Postal Service, and relieve our mailboxes from the unsolicited excess of garbage that 9 times out of 10 goes straight to the recycling bin. Win/Win/Win.

Rob in Vancouver, Canada.

I say the government make everyone an email account and solicit postal service to company and people who dont have computer. And for any resident who still wants to use snail mail, make the stamps rediculously expensive. 75% my bills are payed automatically or via email.

I think shorter days make a lot of sense. Monday, Wednesday and Friday would be great with me. Anything I order can wait a few days and it would make it easier for my neighbors to pick up my mail when I am out of town.

US Postal Service is just a sign of how great a job our government does in business. Sounds like the same effect they had on Amtrack and now they are talking about taking over healthcare...GOD help us!

Jack,

Saving money for the postal system is not going to be achieved by cutting days of delivery. For years , the waste of issuing meaningless stamps such as Micky Mouse, Elvis, and I suppose Michael Jackson, now. We used to commenorate significant topics like the nurses, scouts, Mount Rushmore but for years we have spent a lot of money on stamps that have no historical significance. This is an example of waste that won't go away with less delivery days. Why don't they clean up their office first!

John of Florida

I would most definitely support the Post Office's proposal to reduce delivery by one day if it would help save money. We all need to understand and embrace the importance of making decisions for the greater good. I hope small businesses that fear potential revenue loss due to this proposed solution realize flexibility to change is the key to longevity – for everyone.

This is a very frugal -Yes.

Businesses can adjust their mailings and maybe reduce some of the "junk mail" so my mail deliverer can have a little less back pain at the end of his day.

If it's going to hurt business, I hardly think this is the time in our economic history to take this route. However, I do think that 44 cents for a stamp is ridiculously cheap. I would fully support a 75 cent stamp. The next chepest letter delivery is what...three or four dollars by a private carrier? Perhaps an individual who cannot afford the 75 cent stamp could buy a 50 cent stamp wtih a valid picture social services ID. But I don't know how this would affect businesses. I think we need to do something quick, and would support a 5 business-day delivery system.

No I would not. Cut out some of those sponsorship that cost millions of dollars. NASCAR is one of them. Now if our Olimypic is not back buy our government 100% but theUS Post is a Federal Job where is the budget. Oh I know stamp increase squeeze American even more.

The Postal Service is supposed to be a self-sustaining entity. I think with the wane in print media, an obvious target for print media advertisers ought to be postage.

The entire tv, radio, and print media industries survive on advertising alone. With much lower overhead, why can't advertisers provide our postage for free, covering the costs of running the postal service. I personally would be ok with pepsi or McDonald's seeking my business on my envelopes if they were also paying to send my letter.

Fewer days? C’mon u must be kidding, the only reason i still use postal service is "the deliver Saturday"

Maybe just like cable vs. satellite. UPS or FedEx can start their normal mail service and show postal service how to get things done correctly.

They should double the bulk rate charge, hopefully this will reduce all that junk that has to be delivered. Then raise first cass to a buck. This would stop the rest of the junk we throw in the trash. All together this would make a more efficient USPS. With the internet and text, who mails anything anymore.

Isn't it true, that the US Postal Service Delivers more mail volume and least cost of ANY Industrialized Nation On Earth ? Isn't it True, the 6 Billion in the RED is caused by Congressional Mandate to pay for "future" medical benefits; which isn't applied to other businesses ? Where is the FULL truth in the NEWS today? Where has the investigative news gone? Is NEWS now, just sound bits of the bad to grab attention repeated every five minutes? I often think, WE, are in for very bad times because NEWS isn't the fact anymore,, it's news/views limited to what the reporter wants to draw attention to.

We absolutely could survive with a 5 day mail delivery schedule, but more importantly, I think we need to reduce the number of post offices. Within a 5 minute drive from my home there are 3 post offices, within 10 minutes there are at least 7, including a main branch, we really don't need that many. The saving would be substantial without that over capacity.

John M
Charleston WV

I have always thought the Postal Servive has done a great job compared to the rest of the Gov't machine. How much power have you gotten from the Dept. of Energy for your 28 billion dollars a year?
I would support fewer delivery days. How about first class mail rates for "junk mail"?

Absolutely not! Since USPS's problems are structural and systemic, cutting mail deliveries to five days per week will solve nothing. The postal service suffers from the same issues that brought down the US auto industry; too much overhead with too little productivity. Cutting big salaries like the Postmaster's $800K per annum, and eliminating annual bonuses to a multiplicity of supervisors is the first step toward saving this bloated bureaucracy.

Perhaps the postmaster general could give back his 39% raise to his base pay he received in 2007. It was only a few years ago the postal service was boasting being in the black. Perhaps He needs to be replaced. Ever go into the post office? Stand in line as the counter clerks work at a minimal level..no multi-tasking there and no one seems to care about how long the line is. What's wrong with this picture?

Yes Jack, Who cares? They only thing I get in the mail box now a days is junk mail or bills. Let the poor mail carrier get two days off in a row Saturday and Sunday. The Tuesday "light day" is stupid. five days in a row makes sense. If you have to do it to save some bucks for the government, (less wear and tear on vehicles, gas). Go ahead it just makes sense. By the way I have the nicest Letter Carrier, always professional and courteous and the older folks really look forward to seeing him everyday!

Yes, definitely!! Any business s/b run within the budget congress (our representatives) or its CEO/board allocates to it - otherwise, it's mismanaged.

Jack, I would support higher stamp prices before cutting days of service. In the age of online bill payment and email, how many letters does the average American send in a year? 200? 300? Even with an additional 5 cent increase that is only 10-15 dollars more a year than now! Anyone who thinks that is too much to maintain 6 day a week service is silly. Then again, I only send about 50 pieces of mail a year.

Washington, DC

I am a retired Letter Carrier for ten years I had a route that consisted of 60% business customers. Over ninety percent of those businesses had me hold their mail on Saturdays because they were not there. Six day mail delivery is mandated by federal law. That law is out dated and it is time to go to a five day delivery.

Jack, I am a small business owner in Monroe, NC. I can live without a Tues or Sat delivery.
However, what I would really liked to see is the postal service raising the price of bulk/junk mailers. On certain days of each week, postal carriers are required to stop at every mailbox on their route to drop in bulk/junk, probably at a cost to the postal service of millions while costing the sender, maybe $ .00000000000005 each. What a waste of the carriers time.

Regards,

Bob Dowless Sr

Hi, Jack,
From my decades of experience doing business with the U.S. Postal Service, I've observed one consistent thing that, if changed, would solve all of the monetary problems of that service, in my humble opinion. If the workers behind the counter had to perform like most businesses with unsubsidized income, they would be moving twice as fast, talking less, and greeting each customer that came in as the line formed. Instead I see one pace; very slow, and a lot of unnecessary chatting that really slows things down. I also see one employee that can do nothing but hand out "pick-ups"... maybe they could do two things at once as many jobs require? I believe that if this one segment of that service would change, enough people would again come to like that service, and its volume would increase exponentially. Just my humble opinion after working forty years in a competitive industry; aviation.
John S.

As far as I know any mail processing employee receives a 25% bonus for working sundays and the carriers have a rotational days off program.Sunday and another ever changing day of the week.That requires extra carriers to cover for the irratic days off schedule.If the Post Office closed down on the weekends like their competitors,give everyone off weekends,they would save more money than they could imagine and have happier employees who are used to having to fight to get a weekend day off at all.

Jack, I work for the US Government and they send me important materials via Fed-Ex.

As a letter carrier for over 20 years I don't mind the 5 days delivery as long as they eliminate the thousands of pen pusher do nothing upper managment.

In my view the stamps should be $0.50. i do agree ppl may not like the idea but logically if each family start adding extra nickle will not affect them.
But in this economy each nickle from each family will help lot of jobs. Not only that companies who think it is becoming expensive will start using email. This will help us going Green too.

Also they need to stop overtime because i always hear that postal job has plenty of overtime.

Less mail mean less paper mean save greenery.

Bunty

Last week I got 4 letters addressed to someone else. One belonged down the street, another around the corner, the third across town and the 4th belonged in another county.....that was on Tuesday...then there was Wednesday and Thursday.

It costs alot to cruise mail around town!

We have plenty of alternatives that save paper, gasoline waste and time. Get rid of the postal service entirely.

Here in Canada, we have postal delivery 5 days per week. There were some other measures taken to streamline the service, and in recent years it actually made money for the Canadian gov't. There are some that don't get home delivery- some of the newer suburbs in urban areas have what is called Super Mailboxes, which are much like a P.O. box. The letter carrier can save time by just putting mail into the boxes instead of going door to door. I think its a good idea to cut back to 5 days/week.

Jack,
I whole heartedly support fewer days of mail delivery. Bi-monthly or once a month would be fine, which is about how how often I check my mail. I enoy your segments, Jack!

Considering I have mailed a personal letter or bill in about 5 years, sure why not support it? Let's face it, the USPS is hurting now because they weren't on top of online advertising, bill payment, and presentment. They should have at the very least been the drivers of email bill presentment and online bill pay technology, but instead they stood by and let the banking industrty get the lead on them.

Once they saw how email pretty much killed personal letter writing one would think they would have realized online bill payment and advertising would have been next and acted accordingly.

But when you need them they are there, so I would support whatever they need to do to stay afloat.

If the NALC would look at the fact of saving jobs instead of fighting against the USPS, they would agree to "evaluated routes". Carriers would be paid for a set time to deliver the mail on their routes rather than milk the system with unnecessary overtime. My experience while working for the USPS was that a majority of carriers are thieves that steal time, not mail, which equates to money!

When my local post office decided to pull all my 1st class mail out of my PO Box when I got a package, I was furious. It was Saturday afternoon so I went without my movies and bills until Monday.

When I questioned the postmaster about this, I was told "if all you are going to do is argue" call this number. The man's supervisor at that number was equally rude when he couldn't answer what law gave them the right to deny delivery of my 1st class mail.

I went home, signed up to get all junk mail stopped by contacting the DMA, got all my bills delivered on-line, directed my movies to my daughter's house and now pay everything on line.

If I buy 10 stamps a year from that outfit, it will be too much. When they learn to treat people better, then maybe I would give a rat's fanny if they deliver one or no days a week.

Take their monopoly away! Too many of their employees think customer service has nothing to do with them so they can be rude or hang up on people who dare question them on anything.

The financial situation of the U.S. Postal Service has reached critical mass, and it has taken dramatic actions in the past several months to downsize its operations and business expenses. Now it is seriously looking at eliminating one day of its delivery schedule. Unfortunately, the USPS has taken no action to deal with a postal culture that generates toxic workplace environments and an increased potential for workplace violence. Consequences of the unilateral, top-down approaches employed by the Postal Service include widespread anger, stress, and turmoil for both craft and management employees alike. Because of the concerted effort by the Postal Service’s Board of Governors to contract out core postal operations, these tensions, stresses and turmoil have escalated in the last several years. The important question here is not if the Postal Service should eliminate one day of its delivery schedule. Instead, the important question is will Congress intervene address the fallout of a toxic postal culture? Until it does, there will continue to be a disproportionate number of workplace tragedies in the Postal Service, including suicides.

It's a great idea. Tuesday would be better than Saturday, to avoid a two day gap in delivery. Reducing the number of post offices in certain urban areas would help to. Also, if they'd stop charging for a return receipt, like their competitors, maybe business wouldn't be so slow.

I have always felt that Saturday mail delivery was unnecessary. I do not see the need to get mail on Saturday as most businesses are closed.

Yes, I think we could do without daily mail delivery since I get mostly unsolicited (junk) mail. if these junk mail senders had to pay the same as I do to send mail it would either give USPS more money or possibly less mail to deliver.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday mail delivery would be fine with me.

Sure. But I'd support even more an end to the outrageous expenditures which burden the finances of the US Postal service, such as the relocation program which purchases employees homes in order to facilitate their move. Losing more than $58k per home is absolutely outrageous, and unacceptable. This is the kind of fiscal irresponsibility that brought them to where they are today. If it were up to me, heads would roll.

Fewer days? Don't think its needed though I can live with it. What will help their need for any money is to sell some of their million dollar homes they bought for their employees. Unreal they think its necessary to spend that much on a home for a postal worker that makes that kind of money.

William Roth
Windsor N.Y.

Absolutely not! The post office needs to change their business model. It hasn't changed much since the pony express. They fell asleep as the world began to email instead of snail mail. Maybe they should consider initiating or raising advertisement fees for all the junk mail I receive.

Yes,I support the Postmasters postion on reducing delvery days.I'am a postal employee,and we are supporting one anothers lively hood . I public knew how much we are really saving them they would support this measure.

RichW

Correction to my comment;
No I would not endorse cutting days. Cut back on postal sponsorships. That would save them 10 million or more.

We live in a town that doesn't have mail delivery in the first place! We'de be happy for mail delivery any number of days a week!!

We need to go the the Post Office every day to gey our mail, and seldom go on Saturday, anyway. In our 25 plus experence, getting mail only 5 days a week has not proven to be a hardship. Sure, there are times we are expecting something we concider critical, but those are few and very far between.

Since Dec 2002 when the US Mail lost a registered letter (paycheck) that I sent from Ohio To Fla,I stopped using the Postal Svc,I Have Found UPS more convenient and reliable (curbside boxes). If UPS were to take over the postal svcs I think everyone would be happier.

Jack, I'm a mailman. The Postal Service will of course save money by cutting out a delivery day. Less time on the road for delivery vehicles is a great savings off the top, but the price will be that many jobs will be lost. As hours are cut, people are eliminated. We've already seen too much of that as management tries desperately to save their own jobs by figuring out ways to get rid of us, the worker, the backbone of the Postal Service.They need to stop the wasteful spending. Cut from the top down, not the bottom up.

Adding further to main point they should reduce hours from 8 or 9 to it should open at 11 am – close at 6 pm. Tuesday – Saturday or Sunday – Thursday.
So all can take advantage of it. Ppl at work and after hour too.

Reducing days of mail delivery would not address the fundamental flaws of the USPS, it has an outdated, excessively large and rigid infrastructure. The USPS has failed to evolve with changes in the postal/mailing industry, It simply cannot compete with other flexible, innovative and efficient mail providers.

Why not remove it entirely? I hear there's this thing called Google that will let to send and recieve mail for free.

Since I see an increase in junk mail they should cut one lite day a week but the second lite day could be junk mail delivery.

The Postal Service suffers from the same ailment as Crysler and GM. Cut those lavish salaries beginning with the Postmaster who makes roughly double that of the President, and place USPS back in Federal Civil Service control. Postal employees have lived high on the hog for much too long, thanks to a union as strong as the UAW!

I'd like to see the GAO look into how the post office can save money. I think there are many cost saving ideas that an entrenched management can't seem to see. Get rid of the trucks that weren't used 20 years ago. The gas, oil, tires, and insurance has to be a HUGE cost. Get rid of the middle layer management. Has anyone gotten a realistic count of supervisory personnel versus actual clerks and letter carriers? I bet ithe inbalance would surprise most people and certainly shock any private sector businesses.

The Post Office needs revamping, not by cutting hours and cutting delivery days, but by cutting from the top down and changing some things that are so entrenched right now that options seem impossible to the Post Master General.

Jack: If I could get my mail delivered to the right address and receive at least part of my magazine delivery in readable condition, I would accept once a week. Given the present situation I will always choose UPS, even as it is more expensive. Maybe it is time to let the Postal Service die a natural death. I am tired of bailing out failures.

Yes, yes and yes... That would be one less day of junk mail in my mail box that I have to throw away. I stopped using the USPS for anything serious some time ago.

Alan
Aurora, CO.

No. The Post Office like many other capitalistic organizations are top heavy..They pay a bunch of supervisors/managers to tell others what to do and how to do it, when they don't have the slightest idea of what works. They constantly implement plans that haven't worked over and over again. These same indiviuals in management get bonuses whether they sink or swim. If they demote management they would save billions.

The Post Office needs to save money in other ways. Quit giving out FREE boxes for shipping that people take , use and send them Fedex. I saw a fedex GND truck with literally 200 USPS priority mail flat rate boxes. The USPS here in Santa Ana CA uses 7 of the 60 watt flood lights burning up the floor. I gave them a free 4 pack of CFL bulbs. They let them sit for 3 weeks, then I asked for them back.. I spoke with the manager, she could care less about saving electricity, or money overall.. Besides, they charge too little for shipping compared to UPS and Fedex...

Our ancestors are rolling over in their graves to know that what they worked so hard to create is being torn down. Its too easy to discontinue a day of postal service for a quick fix, but do people realize how hard it was to create that proud system and how unlikely those services are to ever be recreated? Shame on those that can't or won't figure out how to make our public services work, be effective and efficient. After all, if our ancestors could face the costs and odds to make a system that works given all the technical and logistical difficulties in doing so, why can't the current crop figure out how to run it?

Everyone I know would have no problem with not delivering mail on Saturdays.
But, Jack, the postal service needs to look within. Like many others the perks, vacations, retirements are way out of line. And, have not
heard about the downsizing, eliminating jobs, reassessing benefits
etc to employees if, as they say, business is down, that so many
businesses have had to do.

My answer would be no Jack. It seems the more we as citizens pay out the less we receive for our hard earned dollars whether it be from the service sector or from our government. What this tells me is that any service that is not focused on the wealthy is expendable. The rich don't care about these services because they rarely use them. For them I imagine it's either email or UPS/Fed Ex. Stamps are for the rest of us.

Cut general USPS delivery to THREE days a week - why do we need more? You can pay bills online and if there's an urgent package, use Priority and pay for Special Delivery. Expecting postal workers to trudge up and down every street in the USA delivering junk mail is insanity!

I don't like the idea of 5 days a week delivery but I do know that something has to give. My suggestion would be to have one Saturday a month with no mail delivery in addition to whatever regular holidays occur. I would try this for a couple of years and if it works okay then I would grudgingly consider going to 5 days/week all year. Alternatively, perhaps 5 days per week would work in June/July/August during the presumably slower time of the year. This would be another way to test out the concept. Once cutback to 5 days/week all year round it would be difficult to reinstate to 6.

No!
Stamps are cheap, and the USPS is just as reliable as FedEx and UPS. I pay for certain by-mail services (Netflix) that would reduce the cost-effectiveness and timeliness if the USPS were to cut a day.
I'd prefer to see the price of a stamp go up to .50 cents than to have service cut.
We can bail out Goldman Sachs, Lehman Bros and B of freakin' A, but we can't pitch a little bit towards the USPS? Where are our priorities? Certainly not in the American people's best interests.

No I would not support that. If they would stop paying people all those big salaries they could save some money right there probably not enough to cover there losses. They have already raised the price of postage stamps numerous times. We the people should not have to always use our money to cover someone else's loss. They rely to much on us to cover their butt's. I think we have given enough already without giving up a day of mail delivery.

Absolutely, giving up one day of mail a week is a much better choice than cutting more US jobs.

I am all in favor of cutting out Saturday mail delivery. I would venture to say most people and businesses do not open or at least do not process bills, orders etc. on Saturday. How it would effect most bussiness is beyond me especially many people order products via the internet. and many companies mail packages via the postal competitors ( UPS, FedEx). Let's save some money and cut Saturday delivery.

Jack,
I'm going to go postal lisitning to the postal service saying they are going to loose $
Aparently they need a new manager. They are forwarding mail for anyone all year long let alone all the snow birds getting their mail forwarded FREE every day. There is no way a private company would deliver mail twiice for the cost of once. It's time to makre the postal service act as if they were a for profit company. Additionally, most businesses use UPS because they will pick up. The USPS is new to this market an needs to either be a mail service only or do freight/package delevery like UPS.
Alan

No! I do not favor reduced days of mail delivery. Look what has happened to the US Postal Service since 1982 when the Postal Service was privitized. Prices of fist class stamps steaddily increased since then.

I read recently that the Postal Service purchased a manison? What does the Postal Service need with a mansion?

Recently reported on CNN the head of the Postal Service makes $800,000 in wages. We can do it cheaper.

Wages of Postal Service employees even the the recession years received top wage icreases. They could correct the short fall by trimming some of the fat in this organization.

In my view it was the worst thing that congress has done in some time, it is time to put in back in the government hands maybe rates would be gentiler and less frequent.

They sell you everything imaginable in the Post Office what happened to dealing with potstage. Maybe if you could get service here you wouldn't ship UPS or Fed Ex.

Absolutely not! The postal system is everything to business. It's bad enough that mail isn't delivered on Sunday.

Baltimore, MD

We, as a country, do not need more than 3 days per week of mail delivery. It is 2009 and email is used in all areas. With the economy down, cuts must be made in all areas to remain current. All business should support this measure of accountability.

Yes, i would support postal services working fewer days if it would save more money. Most bussinesses already work 5 or 6 days a week why ccan't they. I do understand our mail will take longer however I believe it's better than no mail. Since most of the online sites like amazon, ebay, and so on refer to postal services to make money. Also that government uses postal services alot. the mail system might be getting weaker however it is still a huge nessecesity. Maybe if they have fewer days they might save up enough money to move quicker where they might not need saturdays and sunday just like every other bussiness.

Before the internet I used to pay my bills by mail. Now I'm down to maybe 3 or 4 check payments at most per month!! So the big need for 6 days/week mail has definitely gone down.

I definitely think they could do away with deliveries on Tuesday every week and at least 2 Saturday's per month ... maybe all if they are losing so much money. Most POs are closed on Saturday anyway.

There will come a time when over 90% of the people will do just fine with all important services as an internet service. Snail-mail is really a legacy function these days!

Absolutely! It should also cut down on the amount of junk mail which still comes even after any personal letters have been diverted to email, text or cell phone. They could come every other day if they want. The saving on gas would be great. They should use green vehicles too.

Leave mail delivery days alone. We have enough people out of work, who suffers the middle class guy. Lower Executives pay and bonuses!

Jack, remember the old saying "Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians"? That's the problem with the postal service. And the Chiefs are scrambling desperately to try to save their own jobs by figuring out ways to eliminate ours. sincerely, your mailman

Here we go another union driven company that is waiting for a handout from Obama. The USPS needs to fix themselve internally before subjecting the public with reduced delivery days even after the increase in postal rates. Whoever thought of issuing the Forever Stamps and selling them at a current rate and the public using them after a price hike for the increase rate. That was brilliant! Here's another company that deserves to fail! Also acquiring properties of transfered employees in small towns when the properties the USPS assume range from $500,000 into the millions. And the USPS can't sell them in the current market. So once again they take on another loss that is going to be passed onto the public. I didn't realize the postal employess make that kind of money.

As a carrier for the Post Office, I can tell you that a reduction in delivery days will still amount to many jobs lost. I've already taken a cut in pay and it seems I am working harder.

The PO should do away with 3rd class mail. It is wastes paper and also time. Mine all goes into the recycling bin immediately, sometimes before I get back to the house. Some countries have a "no junk" list (like the no call list) to help reduce the waste.

Yes, I would support fewer days of mail delivery to save the postal service money. However, I don't think it is necessary for them to deliver weekly advertisements for every grocery, drug, department and electronics store in the county. 99% of our mail goes directly in the trashcan. The Postal Service also delivers unsolicited mail from every credit card company in the country. Since I am about to turn 65, I have been receiving unsolicited advertisements from every health care company too. This waste of paper is bad for the environment.

Once a week is good with me. All I get are bills and junk mail anyway.
All important mail is email. At least until and if I can get a social security check.

I strongly support closure of the USPS on Tuesday of each week. That day has always been the lightest mail volume day of the week. As a retired mail carrier with 30 years of service, I can speak with some authority on this matter. The growing proliferation of email communication and competitive private carriers are only part of the reason that the USPS is wallowing in debt. The reasons are too many to mention here, but if things don't change drastically, the USPS will find itself following in the footsteps of the newspaper industry. And we all know what that means.

DQB-

As a student who has just started to pay the bills for myself, I've realized that the bills require immediate payment and penalties could easily happen. Not only that, the postoffice has very short operation hours during the weekdays and does not open on Sundays. No, I would never be in favor of fewer delivery days from the post office. NYC

I absolutely support cutting mail delivery days from 6 to 5 to save the postal service money.

We are so spoiled today in so many ways that spending rather than saving has been the order of the day for decades.

It's when the going gets tough that we show who we are and of course we can help the postal service save.

I come from Europe and I don't mind saving, its about time that Americans learn to save as well!

Sammamish, Washington state

Jack,
They can cut delivery days and raise postal rates until the cows come home; however, their business will not improve until the employees in post offices improve their attitudes and behavior. They act as if they are doing you a favor by taking your money when you try to mail something. I also understand that Mr. Potter has come up through the ranks in the system. Perhaps a fresh pair of eyes is needed to diagnose their problems. It would also help their bottom line if they would stop buying employees homes and attempting to re-sell them.

Carson city, nv
Yes we could afford to relinquish Saturday deliveries, that would save the postal service $$$ and give postal workers the weekend off to enjoy w/ family.

Leave mail delivery days alone. We have enough people out of work, who suffers the middle class.
Philadelphis PA

In addition to my previous comment, I have to add that I agree with all the comments about junk mail. It is a terrible waste of time and hurts the environment. Trees are cut down, landfills are filled up etc. I recycle what I can but I think it is wasteful and unnecessary. Companies can redirect their marketing to the Internet.

If the post office needs money, why don't we just throw money at it? That's how the government seems to fix everything. On a more serious note, the postal service is already contracting with FedEx and the airlines to carry their mail. It seems that the postal service is simply a middle man. I believe that FedEx and/or UPS should fill the postal service role. FedEx and UPS run more efficiently than USPS as they have more on the line financially.

I do not support reducing the number of days for postal delivery, not necessarily for my own inconvenience, but because I think it would end up being counter-productive for them. It not only loses customers with fixed schedules who cannot get to the post office on other days, but it generates an overall perception that the US Postal Service is just that much more inconvenient than private carriers, like UPS and FedEx. I'm sure balancing their books is daunting, but I would rather see other avenues pursued first, even if that means jumping up the price of stamps again. In fact, I'd feel more confident buying stamps if they would jump the price up by a quarter now, instead of increasing it by a few pennies every other week.

The only ones who want 6 day a week mail delivery are the junk mailers. If it's so imp[ortant to them they can find other ways to get their junk mail to a person.

In light of all the electronic media today I beleive it is time to cut back on 6 day a week mail delivery.

Let's try Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

What kind of manager would sell a forever stamp. Would you work for the same salary forever?

How about raising the rates on all that junk mail we get to 27 cents. The junksters send mail across the country for 17 cents, and it costs you and me 44 cents. What's right about that? Better yet, put the delivery people on a 7 day schedule with rotating shifts. Lot of people work weekends. Look at the broadcasters......

Yes. I would support 1 less day for mail delivery because if the postal service folds that would mean more americans losing their jobs. Most people should remember there is no where else in the world where you can send a first class letter for so cheap. Remember loaf of bread was 25 cent and now it's at least $2.00 a loaf. It's still a great deal for the price.

90% of my mail is junk mail anyway. Cutting back to deliveries one day a week would work for me; and, may I suggest substantially raising the rates for junk mail. We could save some trees , trips to the recycling center as well as tax dollars.

Yes, take Saterday off whoneeds bills 6 days a week!!

No, do you really think the mail will sit idle for the one day that is not being delivered? It will still be moved from distribution centers to your local Post Offices and it may appear to save money but it will cost jobs in the long run mainly affecting the carriers. There is too much pork in the District Offices across the country who need to stop pointing fingers at how much money they are losing but rather how they can work more efficient in getting the mail on time to the homes across America.

NO!! Going to five days a week is a JOKE! That would hurt postal employees and there families! I love how Postmaster General Potter keeps crying broke! If the the clerks, mail handlers, and carriers have to take a paycut, then maybe he should too. He can start with the large bonus that he and many others in upper managment recieve every year. Hey Jack, If you want to get the bottom of it all, tell Anderson Cooper to do a "Keeping Them Honest" report on the U.S. Postal Service.

Reducing the number of days the mail is delivered isn't going to save much money for the USPS, as they'll still need to collect and sort it all week long to prevent the massive pile-up. The question is, does the USPS have the room to store more than one day's worth of mail at a time? I doubt it. Charge more for those paper-wasting junk-mailing companies if you need more money. Two birds, one stone.

Although I currently am not living in America I'm sure my former address is still filled every week with countless pieces of junk mail from credit card companies and other solicitors. How about if we significantly increase the price for these "companies" to send all this mail. It is all a waste of time both for the recipiant ,and for the postal service, not to mention a waste of natural resources. At least this way the problem of junk mail will go away, or the postal service wont have to raise the prices for regular customers.

Fewer days means less pay for the workers. Like every other business it is the working person that gets stiffed.

No, Do you really think the mail will sit idle for that one day it is not being delivered? The mail will still run on delivery trucks from the distribution centers to your local Post Offices. It may appear to save money in the short run but it will cost jobs mainly affecting the mail carriers. There is too much pork in the District Offices. They should stop pointing fingers at how much money they are losing but rather how they can deliver the mail to the homes on a more timely manner.

discontinuing mail delivery saturday, tuesday and thursday would create a huge savings; i.e., personnel, gasoline for delivery cars/trucks and utilities, just to mention a few, would be tremendous. go for it.

to add to the previous comment. laying off postal workers would be other huge hit to the economy just like the car dealer ships because they employ a great number of people too.

Shay upstate N.Y.

I am a letter carrier and I believe it's about time for the Postal Service to change the delivery service to five days a week just like about all of the other businesses' in the Country. We'll still have the stations open on Saturday and offer our services but we just won't have a delivery. Most people don't care if they get mail or not on Saturday and just about all of your manufactruer's work five days a week. We'll be normal for a change. Thanks, Norm

I read some of the Blogs and I want to especially support comments about the amount of junk mail that is delivered. I've been receiving that junk for 50 years and I don't think there has be more than a dozen items that I've found useful. I realize that's a huge source of income to the USPS but if they didn't have to deal with that EXTRA volume they would have a much lighter load. Charge more and only deliver that junk on Saturday. BTW this doesn't include magazines.
Keep up the good work ... Rico

Yes, I would support fewer days of mail delivery to save the postal service money. However, I don’t think it is necessary for them to deliver weekly advertisements for every grocery, drug, department and electronics store in the county. 99% of our mail goes directly in the trashcan. The Postal Service also delivers unsolicited mail from every credit card company in the country. Since I am about to turn 65, I have been receiving unsolicited advertisements from every health care company too. This waste of paper is bad for the environment.

Jack-

The postal service is chasing pennies at the expense of dollars. I recently went to my PO Box, which is about one half the standard size, but likely twice the price, of several years ago. It was stuffed so full I could barely pull the mail out, and was left with several bank statements which were a crumpled mess. More than 90% of the volume was junk mail which went straight into the trash. Given this reality, it's painfully obvious that the postal service is nothing more than one giant boondoggle.

NO !! Cutting service by a service organization makes no sense at. Go to your local Post Office.....are the lines at the window longer? Are you recieving your mail at home later in the day? Has the time the PO Box mail is supposed to been changed to a later time? All this and more is due to reduction in workers and/or their work hours. Much more money could be saved by reducing the mis-management rampant in the Postal Service and reducing by at least half the number of people employeed by the Post Office who have jobs which are not directly involved in moving the mail and getting it delivered.

i support five day deliver, who needs junk mail six days? Great way to cut cost.

Sure, why not Jack? Makes sense to me...although, it won't fix the budget woes we see now. Businesses are suffering across the country....the post office is no different......save for the government control, and if that's the case, I'm scared to see what happens down the road.

Jack, I do not support reducing number of days for mail service. I suggest the postal service reduce costs by suspending financial support (taxpayer supplied) for sporting events, ie., Tour de France, Nascar, etc. Another cost cutting measure would be to just provide a plain ole stamp for mail service, rather than having "collector stamps" to move the mail. It's a stamp for crying out loud whose purpose is to get mail from point A to point B!

I am an employee of the Postal Sevice for many years, over the years I have seen the mail narrowing down continuesly because of new development, and now it is to the point where our Postmaster General is stating that the Postal Service will be out of money by the end of the 2009 FY. I believe from an employee prospective, All Post Offices not only should be closed on Saturday's but the Postmaster General should also appoint one Postmaster over three or four Post Offices. More over, the mail volume does not substain having a postmaster over every post office in every city. Like where I am employed, small town post offices that are open on saturday's does not bring in enough revenue on that day to pay even 2 employees salary for that particular day.

I would accept fewer days and higher prices, but that won't solve the problem. Universal delivery at a flat rate only made sense when the Post Office was supported by taxes. Since it has been expected to cover its own costs - starting in 1971, with all tax supports phased out by 1982 - it would only make sense to charge by the distance a letter or package must travel. Congress won't allow it, so the Postal Service is neither fish nor fowl. We can't have it both ways.

Stay with 6 day delivery and support the U.S Postal Service. They are still cheaper than Fedex and UPS. 44 cents to send a letter anywhere in the country is pretty damn cheap. If they go under think about what 500,00 more unemployed will do to the economy. Think of all the bankruptcies and forclosures. What about all the businesses that depend on the USPS. The economy would crumble, way worse than it already has.

As a rural carrier I do not wanna see a 5 day work week for the postal service. But all in all no one wants to see a six billion dollar loss for any US Company.

Five-days-a-week delivery would be fine for me. I am blessed with the world's finest Postal delivery person - he is almost part of the family; but we really don't need the Saturday delivery. Unfortunately he appears to be the exception; I hate dealing with the slugs at our central post office to mail packages or resume mail after vacations - half of them should be fired (there are long lines out the door while they pick their noses). Between email and FedEx and UPS, I could live without the Postal Service; but I would miss my friend who is always there between 11:30 and noon...

Cutting mail delivery to 5 days a week would cost the postal service money not save money. Customers drop like flies when rates go up 2 cents, loosing a day of delivery cause a greater loss of revenue.

Thousands of part time emploees would loose their jobs because they replace the full time employees one day a week.

With the cost of prescription medicines being what they are today more people are having to use mail order pharmacies for drugs. Cutting out a day of delivery would be a hardship for these people.

The competitores of the USPS do not deliver on Saturday, Sunday nor holidays, and in most instances cost more.

There are alot of oeople who still do not use e-mail or computers.

I have an answer...but I'm waiting for it to be delivered.

I'm a postal clerk of 27 years, so I probably won't be as affected as letter carriers would be if we went to 5 day delivery. The volume that has been lost is not coming back and so I would be in favor of 5 day delivery to help keep the PO going. People still enjoy receiving mail as evidenced by the Gallop poll. If they didn't use the Post Office ever, they wouldn't care if the price of a stamp went up. We all enjoy receiving Birthday and Mother's day cards!