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Finnish Mail System Abandons Tuesday Delivery

Posted by msmash on from the cutting-cost dept.

Reader jones_supa writes: In a world moving to electronic communications, the snail mail traffic has seen a huge drop. Because of this, Posti, the mail delivery organization of Finland will not be delivering letters and magazines on Tuesdays anymore. Tuesday was selected because it generally has the lowest volume of mail. For example, magazines and advertisements are targeted to the end of the week, so that people have more time for shopping dreams in the weekend. Another reason is that Posti recently launched a lawn mowing service which operates on Tuesdays.

8 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. USPS had its tyres slashed by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The USPS would be willing to make similar reforms, but is prevented from doing so by a congress that wants to cripple it with unreasonable pension obligations that not one single company would have to meet, and all manner of restrictions that prevent it from actually competing with private couriers.

    --
    Drill baby drill - on Mars
    1. Re:USPS had its tyres slashed by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Informative

      The free market can't tolerate a successful government agency.

    2. Re:USPS had its tyres slashed by ninjagin · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'm a little confused by your response. The postal service is written into the constitution, but the laws for funding of the pension obligations was written by Fedex and UPS and passed by the congress after a little campaign cash got passed around. I'm struggling to remember a law that the postal service got written on their behalf. Can you furnish an example?

      The security and dependability of the mail was a big deal to the founding fathers, because it ensured privacy, facilitated commerce and provided the handling for unfettered communications between the people and the government. The logistical conditions are different, today, but those same elements still apply. It's the infrastructure of a free society, in gross terms. Voter information, tax forms, subpoenas, government invoices, correspondence with government agencies and branches of government, benefit payouts all need a dependable and timely way to get to people that is not influenced by or unduly affected by private industry. Everyone needs that stuff, so a basic foundation of affordable service for all citizens is necessary.

      Postage actually used to be a tax when I was a kid, but they changed it to a service back in the eighties, if I remember correctly, and this opened up the private letter delivery market for UPS and Fedex and the rest. It's really the exact opposite of your contention that the USPS took over a commercial niche. The postal service can still be sued for liability, so I don't know what kind of immunity you're talking about. What offenses are you thinking about?

      --
      .. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
  2. Re:Seems reasonable. Coming soon to USPS I hope? by DogDude · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seems reasonable? Really? How do poor people get mail, then? In the US, poor people used to have guaranteed mail delivery 6 days a week. Now, if, they can afford to live in the right place, and can afford to get Internet service, and the Internet service happens to work correctly, and they can afford a working computer, THEN they can pay their bills? That doesn't seem reasonable to me at all.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  3. headline facepalmtime by Thud457 · · Score: 4, Funny

    good grief, they couldn't manage to come up with even "Finnish Tuesday Mail Delivery Finished"?!!! Is that really asking that much?!!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  4. Re:What's so "unreasonable"? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What's so "unreasonable" about keeping a government monopoly to a higher standard?

    Please name one Fortune 500 company that Congress has required to fund 75 years of pension obligations NOW rather than over time?

    *crickets*

    That's what I thought.

  5. Re:What's so "unreasonable"? by sasparillascott · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And don't forget that they can no longer raise the prices of stamps....the guys that saddled the Post Office with that giant instant Pension Obligation also made it so they couldn't raise their prices to cover extra cost at the same time. Almost as if they wanted to insure they would fail. I'm sure the UPS / Fedex lobbyists loved it...

  6. Re:What's so "unreasonable"? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Fortune 500 companies almost all use 401(k) programs, not pensions. 401(k) funds are deposited now, not at some distant point in the future.

    What if Congress pass a law that requires Fortune 500 companies to pre-fund employee matches for the next 75 years now?

    Governments and unions are the last main holdouts for pension systems. Everybody else can understand the economics.

    You missed my point. Congress UNDER THE LAW requires the USPS to fund 75 years of pension obligations NOW. It's the only federal agency that is obligated to pre-fund pension obligations. Because the USPS can't meet the pension obligations, their fiscal year ends in the red every year. Remove the draconian pension obligations, the USPS can turn a profit every year.