USA TODAY: First, it was doing away with Saturday delivery. Now, door-to-door service could be coming to an end.
In an effort designed to cut costs at the cash-strapped agency by up to $4.5 billion a year, Congressman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is proposing the U.S Postal Service phase out door-to-door delivery and shift service curbside and to neighborhood cluster boxes.
The Postmaster General’s office estimates labor-intensive door-to-door delivery costs an average $353 a year. Curbside delivery averages $224; cluster boxes, just $160. The Postal Service, currently making 54 million curbside deliveries and 40 million to cluster boxes and central locations, has been moving toward collective deliveries at shopping malls, business parks and newer residential developments… (more)
EDITOR: Cluster boxes have been required for apartment and townhouse communities for twenty-five years. However, older communiities with through the door delivery have been exempted… to date. This might be a good place for the Postal Authority to start. However, Congress has tied its hands when it comes to most practical reforms.
How much would it cost to install and maintain millions and millions of cluster boxes? Right now, it is the resident’s responsibility to provide a legal repository to receive their mail; this proposal would shift the responsibility to the cash-strapped Postal Service. It could cost billions simply to install such boxes across the country.
EDITOR: Excellent point. However, the corollary question is how many billions would it save each year? We don’t have the answer.