Going Postal

The United States Postal Service is about to get stamped *INSUFFICIENT FUNDS*. 

The USPS stands to lose about $7 BILLION dollars this year. 

One remedy would be to shut down Post Offices that are too close to other locations. 

Here is the proposed hit list of Post Office closures (scroll through it because it is by region, not just alphabetical order).

Another cost saver would be to deliver mail 5 days a week, instead of 6. 

• Congressional Research Reports for the People:
  In 2008, two studies were conducted on the possible economic effects of reducing USPS delivery services. One study, conducted by USPS, estimated the financial savings of a five-day delivery week at $3.5 billion annually, with no anticipated reduction in sales volume. The other study, conducted by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), estimated the savings at $1.94 billion annually, which includes a significant estimated loss of sales volume. One lawmaker stated that Congress may consider commissioning a third study to more accurately determine how much money five-day delivery could save USPS. Other countries mail services vary in their delivery schedules. Australia, Sweden, and Canada offer five-day delivery services. France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK) have six-day delivery. New Zealand offers some customers a six-day delivery option, but charges additional fees for weekend deliveries. 

We could take a clue from our neighbors to the north. 

Canada Eh?

Every business day, Canada Post provides service to 14 million addresses, delivering 40 million items. Delivery takes place via traditional "to the door" service by 15,000 letter carriers, supplemented by approximately 6,000 vehicle routes in rural and suburban areas, and truck delivery of parcels in urban areas. There are 6,800 post offices across the country.

Canada delivers mail FIVE days a week. 

Can the U.S. handle dropping Saturday mail delivery??

The United States Postal Service employs over 760,000 workers, making it the third

largest employer in the United States, after the United States Department of Defense, and Wal-Mart.

 It operates 32,741 post offices and locations in the US. In August 2009 the Postal Regulatory Commission put forward a preliminary list of about 1000 it is considering closing to save money. Its employees deliver mail at an average yearly cost of $235 per residence as of 2009.

The USPS operates the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world, with an estimated 260,000 vehicles, the majority of which are the easily identified Chevrolet/Grumman LLV (Long-Life Vehicle), and the newer Ford/Utilimaster FFV (Flex-Fuel Vehicle), originally also referred to as the "CRV" (Carrier Route Vehicle), as shown in the pictures below. In an interview on NPR, a USPS official stated that for every penny increase in the national average price of gasoline, the USPS spends an extra $8 million to fuel its fleet.

 This implies that the fleet requires some 800 million gallons (3.03 billion liters) of fuel per year, and consumes an estimated fuel budget of $2.4 billion, were the national gasoline price to average $3.00.