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CNN Live At Daybreak

Post Office to Reduce Hours to Cut Costs

Aired September 02, 2003 - 06:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time again for a little business buzz. If going to the post office is on your to-do list for the day, you better get there quickly because it might be closed.
Carrie Lee live in New York to tell us why.

This sounds ominous.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It does, Carol, and they've already started doing it. In fact, the U.S. Postal Service has started cutting hours of operation at some of its post offices. According to "The Wall Street Journal," it's going to continue doing so.

Now so far about half of the post offices in Maine have scaled back operations over the past couple of months. They're either opening later, closing earlier or at lunchtime. Similar moves are under way in Vermont and upstate New York. And Postal Service managers across the country are weighing the possibility of additional cutbacks.

Why? Well, they're trying to save money, just like a lot of companies are doing these days amid a slump of -- a growing slump in first class deliveries.

Now, in fact of the 27,000 plus post offices in the nation, about three-quarters of them are losing money. They have already made some cutbacks when it comes to the work force, cutting about 47,000 jobs. But it looks like desperate times call for desperate measures, Carol, so they're going to try to inform people when they're doing this nationwide. Exactly how far, they don't have it all figured out yet, but trying to save money that's the bottom line.

COSTELLO: Yes, and you'd think that postage stamps would go up in price again, too, very soon. Who knows?

LEE: Well I'm sure they will sooner or later. They always seem to.

COSTELLO: You got that right. Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site, many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 2, 2003 - 06:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time again for a little business buzz. If going to the post office is on your to-do list for the day, you better get there quickly because it might be closed.
Carrie Lee live in New York to tell us why.

This sounds ominous.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It does, Carol, and they've already started doing it. In fact, the U.S. Postal Service has started cutting hours of operation at some of its post offices. According to "The Wall Street Journal," it's going to continue doing so.

Now so far about half of the post offices in Maine have scaled back operations over the past couple of months. They're either opening later, closing earlier or at lunchtime. Similar moves are under way in Vermont and upstate New York. And Postal Service managers across the country are weighing the possibility of additional cutbacks.

Why? Well, they're trying to save money, just like a lot of companies are doing these days amid a slump of -- a growing slump in first class deliveries.

Now, in fact of the 27,000 plus post offices in the nation, about three-quarters of them are losing money. They have already made some cutbacks when it comes to the work force, cutting about 47,000 jobs. But it looks like desperate times call for desperate measures, Carol, so they're going to try to inform people when they're doing this nationwide. Exactly how far, they don't have it all figured out yet, but trying to save money that's the bottom line.

COSTELLO: Yes, and you'd think that postage stamps would go up in price again, too, very soon. Who knows?

LEE: Well I'm sure they will sooner or later. They always seem to.

COSTELLO: You got that right. Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site, many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com