Quotulatiousness

December 11, 2013

Canada Post to phase out home delivery

Filed under: Cancon, Humour, Politics — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 16:10

I haven’t had home delivery of my mail for the last few decades, but for folks downtown it’s going to be an unwelcome change. The decision forced itself on the crown corporation through the arcane workings of economic reality: it just costs too much money to deliver to those millions of homes (a tweet I forgot to save said it cost over $200 per year for home delivery and just over $100 for communal mailboxes). The news is not going down well with at least one member of the official opposition, as Colby Cosh pointed out in a series of tweets:

4 Comments

  1. Another “business” where unions are pricing their workers out of a job. Privatize the thing, ax the union, and it will make money.

    Comment by Dwayne — December 11, 2013 @ 17:36

  2. The cost per household is in a CBC story:

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-post-mail-volume-costs-and-other-quick-facts-1.2459693?cmp=rss

    It costs Canada Post an average of about $168 per address annually to operate the mail system. Here’s a breakdown:

    Door to door (one-third of Canadians) – $283 per address
    Centralized point, such as an apartment lobby lock box (one quarter of Canadians) – $127 per address
    Group/community mailbox/kiosk (one quarter) – $108 per address
    Delivery facility such as a postal box (12 per cent) – $59 per address
    Rural mailbox (five per cent of Canadians) – $179 per address

    I remember arguing with a Canada Post employee once about their salary, which I found to be outrageous considering the job is to pick up a load of mail and walk it house to house. You would think that would be worth a bit more than minimum wage, since you do have to read, but that is where the skill stops.

    http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Canada-Post-Salaries-E8747.htm

    I have a feeling this is pretty close. And since it is a Crown Corp, the extra costs for pension and benefits would not be factored into the wage cost, this is just what the folks make.

    Comment by Dwayne — December 11, 2013 @ 17:46

  3. Thanks for providing that link, Dwayne. Those were the numbers I saw quoted.

    Comment by Nicholas — December 12, 2013 @ 07:52

  4. Somehow I suspect that almost all NDPers would indeed cherish the Bullwhip Anus thing.

    Sure is going to be different getting my Bullwhip Anus at the community Bullwhip Anus facility, rather than at home.

    Actually, now that I think about it, that opens up whole new possibilities! Sign me up!

    Comment by Lickmuffin — December 12, 2013 @ 15:25

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