San Diego Postal Newsletter - September 2009

In the August issue of The Costco Connection they polled this exact question.  The Yes response commentary was provided by Stephen Kearney, senior VP Customer relations from the Postal Service and the NO commentary was provided William Dennis of the NFIB.You can click on the Contents tab and choose “Debate” from this page:  and cast your vote!You can also post a written response. Below was mine:

I have run a small Mailing Equipment and Service business serving over 3000 businesses here in San Diego County for 23 years.  I am active on the local Postal Customer Council and the Mail Management Association.  We are also long time members of NFIB.  Even for someone that lives and breathes “Postal”, this issue is not an easy one to decide. As an advocate for the Post Office’s services, you should know that they will be giving up a significant competitive advantage; they are the only carrier that offers Saturday delivery at no extra charge.  For this reason alone you should derive that it wasn't an easy decision for them either.  

As a manager of a small business I wish to keep my expenses down.  For our own business reasons, the lack of a Saturday delivery means nothing; we simply collect the mail and process on Monday.  For many of our customers it will hurt them.  Since we exist to serve our customers, anything that hurts them, hurts us.  Sometimes taking medicine hurts too, in this case, having a viable self sustaining Postal Service is vital to the nation’s economy.  Benjamin Franklin realized this; he was the master craftsman that convinced Congress to establish the Post Office department and became the first Postmaster of the United States.  If Ben were alive today, I believe he would support this change. 

I would not like this change, but I think we need to give the Post Office the flexibility to decide for itself so it can compete fairly with UPS and FedEx who do not operate with "Universal Service Requirements".  These requirements allow someone to mail a letter to an address at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Rural Alaska or to a remote US Territory for only 44¢

I think Ben would be proud and am sure he wouldn't mind waiting until Monday.

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