Rochester Reacts to End of Saturday Mail Delivery
Most around town agree with the Postal Service's new Monday-Friday letter delivery.
When the U.S. Postal Service announced on Wednesday that mail would no longer be delivered on Saturdays, Rochester and Rochester Hills residents reacted positively.
On the Rochester Patch Facebook page, readers sounded off on the change, which the Postal Service says will save about $2 billion annually. The new Monday-Friday letter delivery schedule will begin in August; packages will still be delivered on Saturdays.
"Great - one less day of getting bills," said reader Jim Hample.
"Fine with me. I always forget to check it until Monday anyway," said reader Ben Schutz.
"I don't really like it, but I understand it," said Jennifer Prall.
Most readers said they wouldn't miss their Saturday mail. "They could go to three days a week, as far as I'm concerned," said Cindy Johnson Landholt.
Others expressed their concerns for the postal workers.
"I just think it's sad that our economy is still suffering and postal workers will be losing hours they may need to help pay their bills," said Dawn Barnes.
Marian Watts, who identified herself as a retired postal worker, also chimed in.
"I got up at 4:30 every morning six days a week to be at a 6:00 job and sometimes did not get home until 6:00 that evening," said Watts, who explained that she worked for 32 years. "The reason the post office is having trouble financially is because of the pre-funded health benefits for future retirees, and obligation no other government agency or private company bears."
In a statement, the postal service said it continues to seek legislation to provide it with "greater flexibilit to control costs and generate new revenue."
What would you include in postal reform legislation?
Carol Jackson
1:19 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Like many, I can live without residential mail delivery on Saturday. &, like many, I am concerned about the postal workers losing their jobs. What I don't hear discussed are Saturday hours at post offices. I LOVE that & would miss it if it were taken away. I have a son in the military to whom I need to send packages, & I would prefer not to have to leave work to do it. The Rochester post office is often very crowded on Saturday.
Also, I am sorry to hear people speak as if rural deliveries don't matter. I know many of us have forgotten our rural roots. My grandparents lived on a farm -- mail delivery was a vital service for them.
The Republicans (in MI & elsewhere) have recently tried to push through electoral college changes that would disproportionately penalize suburban & urban voters & reward rural (generally Republican) voters. I don't favor that -- my vote should count as much as theirs -- but I don't think we in the suburbs should forget that we do depend on farmers & others in remote areas. There's no reason to treat them poorly.
Kristin Bull
4:20 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Your question about the Saturday post office hours is a good one, Carol. I haven't seen anything about that yet - I'll have to explore.
Janet
11:05 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Carol - regarding your concern about Saturday Post Office hours - an article on Freep.com states: "Post offices now open on Saturdays would remain open."
Carol
12:47 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
With more and more businesses and customers switching to electronic bills and payments the USPS is going to find its business declining evey year...I hardly get any mail and most of what I do get is the "junk" mail that goes straight to the recylce bin.
Rich Kingston
1:59 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
Get over it! Get a computer! Its over and tired of paying for it! Can you say Detroit FP News!
James Redd
8:10 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
The receipt for the purchase of a single stamp at the Post office is 14" long. It has a lot of ink on it, too. Is this really necessary. Think about how many transactions are done daily by the USPS---- millions!!!!!!
Mary Purcell, KW Realtor & Staging Professional
12:12 pm on Saturday, February 9, 2013
Interesting comment in the article from Ms. Watts, a post office employee for 32 years. She said "The reason the post office is having trouble financially is because of the pre-funded health benefits for future retirees, and obligation no other government agency or private company bears."