Postal Service to end Saturday mail delivery

[Chicago Jake]

This is a good start. Now we have to start working on ending the other five days.

Gordon, tell me again about how efficient they are?.........Jake

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Postal Service says will end Saturday mail delivery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Postal Service plans to drop Saturday delivery of first-class mail by August in its latest effort to cut costs after losing nearly $16 billion last fiscal year, the cash-strapped mail agency said on Wednesday.

The plan would save about $2 billion a year, the Postal Service said. The mail agency will still deliver packages six days a week and will not ch-ch-change post office operating hours.

The Postal Service has been losing billions of dollars each year as it grapples with massive payments for future retiree health benefits and as Americans' increasing online communications drive down mail volumes.

"The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America's ch-ch-changing mailing habits," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a statement.

The 237-year-old institution ran into its legal borrowing limit last year and defaulted twice on required payments to the federal government.

more:
news.yahoo.com/postal-seeks-end-saturday-mail-delivery-132211069--sector.html

[Merlot Joe]

Efficent they are not. Needed, yes they are. If we don't have the postal service how will thing get mailed. Not every one has e-mail or smart phones.

[New Mama]

It should be privatized. The government does nothing efficiently. The postal union has created an income drain on the national budget.

We would have to take on the current retiree obligation but can stop the bleeding by privatizing the service where existing and future workers set up a retirement fund like you and I must. Existing retirees will pass on and the cost to the tax payer will lessen in time.

[Chicago Jake]

It doesn't even need to be actively "privatized" by the government. It could just go away, and private companies would swoop in to take up the slack. I imagine FedEx and UPS would be first in line.