# Do we really need mail delivery six days a week? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456 "2024-05-12T18:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yelnick\_McWawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/839c29/32.png) [@Yelnick\_McWawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yelnick_McWawa)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/1 "2024-05-12T18:52:06Z")
It has been reported that the USPS will raise first class postage from $0.68 to $0.73 in July. I think this is the biggest increase in history. This is a 33% increase from the 2019 rate of $0.55. I often wonder how much the USPS could save if we had three deliveries a week (Mon/Wed/Fri) or (Tue/Thu/Sat). Anyone who needed daily mail could get a P.O. Box. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/2 "2024-05-12T18:57:28Z")
Most residential mail recipients would probably not suffer significant hardship from losing every-day delivery. I’d wager that many businesses would feel otherwise; losing even a single day on payments and the flow of documents could be a significant issue. Also, how much _would_ the USPS actually save by eliminating some daily deliveries? Are you also proposing that they cut the salaries of mail carriers by 50%? They might save ~50% on the fuel costs for delivery vehicles, but I’m thinking that that would be about it. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/3 "2024-05-12T18:59:12Z")
You’re suggesting some people would get mail on Mondays and others on Tuesdays? So they’re would be half as many full time letter carriers? I think if the post office did that, it would lose all its “real” business, and no one would bother to check their mail, so the spam that actually funds the service (ads from charities, supermarket flyers, etc.) wouldn’t be seen and corporations would stop paying for it and it would just be a downward spiral. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/4 "2024-05-12T19:53:41Z")
Yes we do. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/5 "2024-05-12T20:13:54Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’d wager that many businesses would feel otherwise; losing even a single day on payments and the flow of documents could be a significant issue. Less than 5% of our (non retail) receipts are received by physical checks. Almost none of that goes to a physical street address. It goes to a “lockbox” service, which has a PO Box. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/6 "2024-05-12T20:15:21Z")
We have never had mail delivery in Canada on Saturdays, although package delivery has gone 7 days since the rise of e-commerce. That being said, Canada Post is at risk of complete financial destruction and there is talk of dropping letter mail delivery service levels to fewer days. The reality is that I get nothing important in the mail anymore. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/7 "2024-05-12T20:48:11Z")
For what it’s worth, in 1981, the USPS raised the rate for a first-class letter twice (due to high inflation rates in that era); at the end of that year, a stamp cost $0.20. According to [this inflation calculator](https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/), $0.20 in 1981 had the same buying power as $0.69 today – so the new rate of $0.73 is not **that** different from what you’d expect it to be in 2024, simply given inflation over the past 43 years. Secondly, even at $0.73, the cost of a first-class stamp is **still** a tremendous bargain: you get direct delivery, to either a person’s home, a place of business, or their post office box, pretty much anywhere in the U.S., in most cases within 2 to 4 days. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/8 "2024-05-12T20:49:50Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Less than 5% of our (non retail) receipts are received by physical checks. Almost none of that goes to a physical street address. It goes to a “lockbox” service, which has a PO Box. Even so, if mail delivery went to every-other-day, I would suspect that it would affect how often things go to your company’s lockbox service, too. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/9 "2024-05-12T20:56:33Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Secondly, even at $0.73, the cost of a first-class stamp is **still** a tremendous bargain: you get direct delivery, to either a person’s home, a place of business, or their post office box, pretty much anywhere in the U.S., in most cases within 2 to 4 days. But its major competitor, email, has a cost of very close to zero at a delivery speed of very close to instant. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/10 "2024-05-12T21:05:42Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > But its major competitor, email, has a cost of very close to zero at a delivery speed of very close to instant. Which is, of course, exactly why personal and business use of first-class mail has declined dramatically. However, it doesn’t mean that email is a perfect (or sufficient) replacement in every case, for every person. If I want to send my mother a Mother’s Day card, well, even if she used email (which she doesn’t), a physical card, delivered to her physical mailbox, is more meaningful to her. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/11 "2024-05-12T21:07:47Z")
Maybe the lighter volume routes could be every other day. But it depends on the physical load. Can a carrier distribute double the volume in a day. If that can be done. Then personnel and resources can be allocated to improve performance in heavier volume areas, which may also be better revenue areas. If overall it can be done with less personnel, then begin reducing personnel by retirement, not layoffs. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/12 "2024-05-12T21:12:59Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > But its major competitor, email, has a cost of very close to zero at a delivery speed of very close to instant. I do not see too much overlap between what can be sent by e-mail and the types of artefacts, original dociuments, etc. that must be sent by post. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/13 "2024-05-12T21:19:14Z")
> [@Yelnick\_McWawa](#): > > I often wonder how much the USPS could save if we had three deliveries a week (Mon/Wed/Fri) or (Tue/Thu/Sat). Anyone who needed daily mail could get a P.O. Box. A P.O. box may be a twenty mile round trip, or further. Not everybody lives a five minute walk from the post office. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > it doesn’t mean that email is a perfect (or sufficient) replacement in every case, for every person. In addition to your accurate example: email is a bad idea for anything with serious privacy concerns. You’d also probably kill what remains of rural area daily printed newspapers, many of which are these days delivered by the post office as same-day delivery. Many of those areas have in effect no other local news reporting. > [@Kedikat](#): > > Maybe the lighter volume routes could be every other day. But it depends on the physical load. Can a carrier distribute double the volume in a day. If that can be done. I doubt it. Around here they’re working fairly long hours as it is; and a significant chunk of that is due to time spent sorting mail. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/14 "2024-05-12T21:54:41Z")
Are we including parcels? I get some medicationsvia USPS. I suppose my Rx insurance could turn to UPS or FedEx, but I’m not sure if that would be more expensive. Some Amazon shipmates arrive by USPS and some by UPS. I’ve never been sure why. Locations of warehouses? (These are not from third party sellers.) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/15 "2024-05-12T23:35:44Z")
Besides the obvious fact that some things can’t be sent by email (I got a lot of my medicine via mail order), I just don’t want to give out my email to every company I do business with. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/16 "2024-05-13T01:27:12Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I do not see too much overlap between what can be sent by e-mail and the types of artefacts, original dociuments, etc. that must be sent by post. There may not be much overlap, but 95% or better of the mail I receive does not need to be sent physically. For example, much of my physical mail consists of proxy voting cards for stocks that I own. My broker manages our portfolios, so I don’t usually bother to vote. I do have the choice to request electronic documents, but every time my broker rebalances my portfolio the new company starts sending dead tree mail again. > [@suranyi](#): > > I just don’t want to give out my email to every company I do business with. Is there a reason not to? You have given them your name, physical address, probably phone number already. If it is a legitimate company that I do business with, I can easily add a rule to sort it and they should respect an unsubscribe if I don’t want it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/17 "2024-05-13T05:48:38Z")
Sorting mail? Interesting. Do the letter carriers also do sorting? I thought it was done at centers which then distributed to areas for individual carriers. I have only a vague idea of the system. Based on general distribution methods. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/18 "2024-05-13T06:06:15Z")
> [@Yelnick\_McWawa](#): > > I think this is the biggest increase in history. How? Stamps were once 2 cents, so the minimum possible increase (without fractional cents) was 50%. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/19 "2024-05-13T08:46:57Z")
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, major cities would have mail delivery several times per day; it would not at all be unusual to have a letter posted in the morning delivered in the afternoon of the same day. Some cities even had elaborate intra-city pneumatic mail networks to speed up the delivery of physical mail; Truffaut’s _Baisers volés_ has a scene showing how a love letter is delivered by such means. But of course that was when physical mail delivery was an essential infrastructure; much of commerce relied on it as the primary means of communication. That has changed. Nowadays, daily delivery (once per day) is more of a holdover from the old days than an economically justifiably service. I suspect, incidentally, that postal services have already begun to reduce their frequency to less than once per day without publicising this: Germany has an official target of at least 80% of domestic letters delivered overnight (i.e. the working day after posting), but in my subjective and anecdotal experience actual overnight delivery is rarer than that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456/20 "2024-05-13T10:40:50Z")
I’d be happy getting mail on Tuesday and Friday. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-mail-delivery-six-days-a-week/1001456.md?page=2)