Saturday mail service is worth keeping around

Joel Rector, North Las Vegas

Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.

I’d like to respond to the two letters to the editor published Tuesday regarding curtailing Saturday mail delivery.

Many are under the misconception that the U.S. Postal Service is funded by taxpayer dollars and thus contributes to our national debt. For decades, the Postal Service has been funded exclusively by sales from its products and services.

If mail delivery were cut by one day, the cost would be enormous. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 80,000 jobs could be lost.

The next delivery day would be, at a minimum, twice as heavy; clerks and carriers would work longer days, potentially resulting in more overtime pay. Chances are that cost reduction would be minimal while creating greater risk to employees on the street. Yes, mail carriers still walk their routes delivering house to house. The extra volume and weight would create risk and certainly take longer to deliver.

While technology (e-mail, electronic payments, etc.) contributes to the Postal Service’s loss of income, much of the debt is due to the mandate to pre-fund employee retirement health care benefits; a requirement imposed on no other government program or private-sector company. This burdensome mandate accounted for all the operating losses in 2007 and 2008 and a significant amount in 2009.

Before we throw the baby out with the bath water, examine the facts and see if other alternatives exist before taking drastic measures.

The writer is employed by the U.S. Postal Service as a mail carrier. The views are his own.