with some help from joe montana today, u.p.s. introduced a new program called "u.p.s. my choice" to avoid missed deliveries. and for a fee, recipients can reroute a package and get a two- hour delivery window. erika miller was there and spoke with c.e.o. scott davis. she began by asking his view of the economy. >> i think that in a slow growth economy i think all of us were disappointed in the first six months of this year, people thought we'd see probably 3% gdp growth. we saw, as you know, four tenths the first quarter, 1% the second quarter. so it's been disappointing. i think the second half of the year started off similar to what we saw. so i think we're going to see growth. i don't see is up thing over into a second recession, but i certainly see slow growth for the foreseeable future. >> reporter: how does that change your hiring plans? >> our hiring plans are almost done daily. we have the technology that we know what packages are coming in the night before. and so we'll adjust the work force daily. the number of drivers and the number of packages. so for us ob

the beauty of u.p.s. is we have got issues as it relates to the service transportation network, the highways and the railroads and the ports and the aviation and it all matters. it doesn't matter independently but it all matters from an independent grate intermodal system. we don't do that in this country. everyone knows that. outlining the problem is easy. it is the solutions which is difficult and phone calls last week said why does u.p.s. call? if you leave the building here in the first five minutes, you can see a little brown truck. we have about 90,000 commercial vehicles in the united states and move about 15.5 million packages a day and we have 330 million people in the united states. many rely on mass transit to get to work. we think building roads is important. think about this. whether it is an overnight letter or freight or some huge industrial come opponent on an ocean vessel that u.b.s. is moving. we don't own that thing. it starts with a shipper and a company and those folks want their widg

driven in part by stiff competition from carriers such as fed-ex and u.p.s. that's left the agency facing losses of more than $8 billion for the second year in a row. post master general patrick donahoe has responded with a series of cost-cutting proposals. among them, eliminating saturday delivery. and closing up to 3700 local post offices, most of them in small towns. replacing them with automated centers operating out of local businesses. donahoe has also proposed laying off as many as 120,000 workers, nearly one fifth of the agency's work force and pulling workers out of more expensive federal pension plans. pre-funding retiree benefits

u.p.s. has launched an opt-in program called u.p.s. my choice.e a delivery, they'll text, e-mail, or call you and give you a four-hour window in which the time is supposed to arrive. for an extra $5, you can choose that delivery window or send it somewhere else. and for $40 a year, you can opt into a premium service that allows you to choose your four-hour window, and it will also text, e-mail, or call you, and you can also redeliver it somewhere else, and for $5 more, you can choose a two-hour window. i like to have fun with situations like this, because i like to start the clock and see when fedex and dhl will also roll out with something like this. >> four-hour window? come on. who has that much time to sit around and wait for four hours. >> comcast does. the same kind of thing with cable. >> you said it, i -- but that's funny. waiting on a repair person, i'll be there between 9:00 and 5:00, yeah, well, that's when i work. let's talk about this, blackberry messenger, bbm. that's the one thing i missed about having a black berry. a very popular

a lot more than percentage at u.p.s. and fedex as well.ersations have you been having with postal union leaders? >> here's the thing first. our people do a great job. they have continued to do a great job with all of this adversity we're facing. we've reduced head count in this organization by 250,000 people over the last ten years. our people are very productive. we've been talking with the unions about some potential changes going forward. the big difference to keep in mind between us and fedex, fedex and u.p.s. run an airline. airlines cost a lot of money. it doesn't go to the labor side of the equation. serving customers six days a week with 35,000 post offices, you're going to be labor intensive. proposals of moving from six to five day will help with that. >> with e-mail and online bill pay and commercial outfits with u.p.s. and fedex, there are those out there that say perhaps it is time for the post office to go the way of dinosaur. if we lost the post office as we know it, would our daily lives be at all very different? >> i think

now for a time, the u.p.s.te showed what appeared to be a hacker's message written in turkish. it had the date september 4th saying it was world hackers day. >>> many people in the northeastern united states have hardly had fun. they are still cleaning up the mess left by hurricane irene. on sunday, president obama toured some of the places hardest hit. susan candiotti reports. >> reporter: cheers for the president as he visited wayne and paterson, new jersey, ravaged by hurricane irene. the president heard from residents who lost their homes and businesses due to record floods here in new jersey. he promised federal help to get people and their towns back on their feet. >> the main message that i have for all of the residents not only of new jersey, but all of the communities affected by flooding and by the destruction that occurred as a consequence of hurricane irene is that the entire country is behind you. and we are going to make sure that we provide all of the resources that are necessary in order to help

i mean, i get phone calls, e-mails, letters, fedex, u.p.s.-- everything? a.u u? >> he sent me a ham ( laughter ) >> stephen: are. >.>> stephen: really. >> i was like what is this ham for? but i didn't read it. >> stephen: do people look at you, do you think, and see a checkbook? >> they see those big stacks of money. that's what they see all the time. >> stephen: all these people, you don't know who's calling you, you don't know who to give to. who do you give to? >> i haven't given to a political campaign or politician in years. it's been a long time. >> stephen: so you're due. ( laughter ) ( applause ) you're like the slot machine that's all warmed up. the right person's just got to stick a quarter in you. >> yeah. >> stephen: let's say for kicks that you were the anonymous billionaire behind a 501 c-4. >> okay, let's just say. >> stephen: and you were talking to the person who had the c-4. >> okay, hypothetically. >> stephen: hypothetically now. what would you want that person to advocate in advertisements that you wouldn't want the public to know you were

but the nearest u.p.s. store is a good 20-minute drive for us.y. >> and what if they were to close your post office in your town there in missouri? how far would you have to go to the next post office? do you know? >> well, the problem with that is our community is not the only one that's being affected. our neighboring community, helena, is up for being closed as well. and several other local post offices near us are also being up for closure. so we would have to drive into st. joseph. and i believe that's probably 15 to 20 miles for us to drive in. >> regina, i don't want to put words in your mouth. but do you think your community would be taking a big step backwards if you lost the post office? >> well, i feel like we started these two businesses about 18 months ago in our town to help reverse the economic situation of our town. basically we have four businesses in town now. and closing that post office will kind of take us a step backwards when we're trying to propel forward. not only that, those postal workers will lose their positions. and

not only did the would-be buyer want the dogs shipped sight unseen -- >> u.p.s. truck pulled up in the driveway, had an overnight letter with cashiers check for $3,800. >> reporter: his pups only cost $1,500. >> the check should be for the exact amount of whatever the purchase is. >> reporter: jeff fish of the u.s. postal service says it's a scam. the intention is to trick knew cashing what's no doubt a phony check and then sending the scammer the excess money. he says it works because the checks look real and because banks are required by law to accept any check for processing. >> banks will immediately cash a check that you bring if you have an active account with them. >> reporter: the problem arises a week or so later when the bank discovers the fake and you're required to restore any funds you spent. >> at the end of the day, there will be a number of victims. >> reporter: and there have been thousands including breeders and artists and people who sell items online. >> let's go! >> reporter: kevin, however, didn't fall for it. immediately called the bank, wh

the head of general electric, jeffrey immelt, and u.p.s. chief scott davis have both said a double dip is unlikely. but just in case, some strategists recommend investors position their portfolios defensively. >> we think the best bet for your typical investor is to focus on high quality dividend- paying stocks in the utilities and consumer staples sectors while simultaneously avoiding financials. >> reporter: so although utilities and consumer staples may not be terribly exciting investments, safety may be more appealing to many investors these days. erika miller, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom: still ahead, from i.d. theft to being safe during a semester abroad, why insurance is important to life on a college campus. president obama has visited ohio and north carolina this week, hoping to put pressure on republicans to act on his jobs bill. today, washington got a very different version of how to create jobs. house speaker john boehner said the vision the president laid out is a poor substitute for the pro-growth economic ide

u.p.s. introducing my choice, starting october 3rd. you can now get a phone call, e-mail or text with a four-hour window of when your package will arrive. for five bucks you can reroute your package to another address or u.p.s. store follow for 0 bucks a year you have access to an online calendar which gives you more specific delivery times and for another 5 bucks you can get a two-hour window of guaranteed delivery so you don't have to wait around for that package. >> i love that! i love that. >> it sounds really cool. hopefully it works out. >> sometimes u.p.s. leaves packages outside of my door and people steal them. >> oh, really? >> this pays off for the secon or third delivery attempt it costs them more in manpower and gasoline. >> that's a terrific idea. thanks, carter evans. that's it for "a.m. wakeup call." "american morning" continues right now. >> i'm ali velshi. the obama administration trying to defend its decision to award stimulus money to solyndra. a solar power company that went bankrupt. taxpayers are on the hook for

we have companies here that make a lot of money like u.p.s.e have a number of great companies here that are functioning here that are union. and they are doing very well. you can do it here. the answer is you have to have the incentive. so many companies like mr. coffee and other companies that closed and moved to mexico, they are wrong. they are unpatriotic. we have to turn this around and say we are an american company and have an obligation to america and let's put america back to 0 work. >> as you know, your afl-cio has suggested that perhaps afl-cio would not be so focused on the re-election of the president but instead a 24/7 help for its members and getting them politicized. are you happy enough with president obama, who's done a lot of things including mexican trucks in what appears to be a pilot program across the border. would you oppose he is pushing for three trade agreements of which you oppose. are you happy enough with him to fully reinvest in his election? >> we don't have to. president obama, we don't agree with all of his pol

he owns subway restaurants and u.p.s. franchises and real estate partnerships.illion last year. not a bad year. but don't tell that to him. >> the amount that i have to reinvest in my business and feed my family is more like $600,000 of that $6.3 million. so by the time i feed my family, i have maybe $400,000 left over -- >> when they hear that you only have $400,000 left over, it's not exactly a sympathetic position. >> well, again, class warfare has never created a job. >> only $400,000? there are 46.2 million people living in poverty. just $400,000 left over. you want us to feel sorry for people with only $400,000 left over when we have 26% of african-americans below poverty, 21% of americans. and you act as though they did this to themselves, none of this has anything to do with economic policies. but we must protect your policies as you make $6.3 million a year and only worry about $400,000 left over? no. it's time for americans to stand up and have a country that w all believe in each other. a land of opportunity where you can do as well as you can. but do

>> reporter: karl buschmann, with a university of chicago m.b.a., now loads trucks part- time for u.p.s i'm helping get the packages loaded up for delivery at 8:30 in the morning. >> reporter: most here had severance pay and savings to cushion the blow. but there's no denying the status drop. milt haynes helped run information technology at a major drug company. >> you kind of stick your chest out. "i'm an i.t. director at abbott laboratories!" but now i'm just a nobody. i'm unemployed. i'm like a nobody. >> reporter: these guys used to experience inequality from the top, looking down. now, they're looking up. leonard lamkin once managed nonprofits. >> i've been out of work for over 30 months and one of my friends said, "you probably qualify for food stamps." you know if you stop to think about it, that's a scary thing from where i was three years ago. i was in that probably top 7% in terms of income. >> it's relative. >> reporter: peter sturdivant, a once-thriving construction manager, hasn't worked in more than three years. >> when there's any reduction it doesn't matter if you're her

driven in part by stiff competition from carriers such as fed-ex and u.p.s. that's left the agency facing losses of more than $8 billion for the second year in a row. post master general patrick donahoe has responded with a series of cost-cutting proposals. among them, eliminating saturday delivery. and closing up to 3700 local post offices, most of them in small towns. replacing them with automated centers operating out of local businesses. donahoe has also proposed laying off as many as 120,000 workers, nearly one fifth of the agency's work force and pulling workers out of more expensive federal pension plans. pre-funding retiree benefits have cost the local service $21 billion in the last three years. all those moves would require congressional approval. for more on what's at stake for the postal service-- and on whether your mail will keep coming-- we turn to postmaster general patrick donahoe and fredric rolando, the president of the national association of letter carriers. mr. donahoe, you have described this proposal and your critics have described thi

online shopping often used as u.p.s.e stream joined their -- streamlined their operations to meet demands while the postal workers have a contract that does not allow for layoffs. le -- 80% of the of the costs are payroll. now, president obama is working closely with senators to try to find a solution to this problem. there is a committee hearing on the issue tomorrow. we'll cover that tomorrow as well. reporting live in the newsroom. let's go back over to tori. >>> it is 8:46. a california man is hospitalized in hawaii after being hit by a boat propeller. the 42-year-old was taking part in a swimming race from lanai to maui when he was hit saturday afternoon. police say the boat was a rescue boat that drifted into a restricted zone. they say thement is suffering from life-threatening injuries. it's not known where he is from in california. >>> 8:46. a palo alto man was arrested. he's accused of stealing gasoline from u-haul rental trucks. jecy is accused of setting a u- haul truck on fire last july and eight trucks went

. >> there are many other businesses that don't get to do that that pay that much higher -- u.p.s. rate and their competitor dhl paid a 47% tax rate. let's stop picking winners like ge because you get the same amount of losers. >> does that also go to millionaires and billionaires? i think we're probably, you and i ideologically are in line on spending and taxes. i wonder if you agree with me that it is wrong let's say for a secretary or teacher to pay 25% in taxes while on average millionaires and billionaires because of being able to hire the best accountants pay 8%. do you agree that is morally wrong? >> so going over to the individual side, the people who use all the tax shelters, the loopholes on the individual side of the tax code are the top 1%. that means for every dollar it's taxed at zero, take away the tax shelter, lower everybody's tax rates, most file as individuals, then that money's getting taxed, but across the board at a fair rate so that no matter if you're a business or person, the amount of money you make, you pay the same level of taxes as the next guy or next

the rise of fedex, u.p.s. and e-mail giving mr. mailman a run for his money and he is losing.ieces of mail in 2010. that's a big number but down 20% from 2006. but that is the least of its problems. the postal service is also required to deliver mail wherever it's sent no matter what and by law it's forced to pay for retiree health costs the next 75 years. i tell you this because the postal service says it can't make the $5.5 billion payment for retiring health costs this missouri month and in danger of defaulting. the postmaster general will be asking the senate today for help and maybe the answer to that plea is in our question this morning. is the postal service obsolete? facebook.com/americanmorning. >> it has to have smaller work force and fewer delivery days. it has to change. >> it's not so different from the discussion we used to have about the autoworkers and american auto factories. they have changed and they have become very competitive. so maybe there is an answer in there. >> right. >>> up next, president obama says that when it comes to creating jobs, republicans

the fedex, u.p.s., they don't pay a dime. and it's -- it's just a shame. there's so much mail out there. and sure, email has cut back a bit. but why are we only processing 17% of the mail? that means private companies are doing that. work that we can do in house for like i said 2 1/2 cents as opposed to us paying 10 1/2 cents. thank you. >> well, thank you. that was certainly informative. and i hope it will be the first to confess that i know nothing about the postal service's sorting system. [inaudible] to fund the postal service. we don't pay city tax or whatever -- >> property taxes, right. thanks for your input. let me -- i am not familiar with the status of the pension system. but we'll take a look at that. and i appreciate your bringing it up. >> hi. my name is pat senafane and thank you for coming to inform us of your progress in congress. i have awo-part question. the first part is this. most people today feel that congress has relinquished its authority and has given it over to czars. we have never had a situation where we have people who have nev

just the idea that -- or a huge package a fedex or u.p.s. package, it won't usually be this obvious system of what can we do in terms of being informed and responsive. not just informed but to be responsive to address the challenges. >> next question. in the back, please. >> good morning. i'm with talk radio news service. thank you for sharing all this enhanced security measures that t.s.a. has implemented but i'm curious as to whether we really are safer. i travel regularly and i get shavers and liquids through regularly so how do we know terrorists aren't doing the same? >> the bottom line is, yes, i think the consensus is and i strongly believe that we are safer than we were but we recognize again it's not a perfect system. it's not a 100% guarantee. both the government accountability office, the inspector general office, our own office of inspections does covert red team testing to try to get things through at check points and have had successes. a number of successes. and that led with the intelligence we know about how terrorists are t

the fedex, u.p.s., they don't pay a dime. and it's -- it's just a shame. there's so much mail out there. and sure, email has cut back a bit. but why are we only processing 17% of the mail? that means private companies are doing that. work that we can do in house for like i said 2 1/2 cents as opposed to us paying 10 1/2 cents. thank you. >> well, thank you. that was certainly informative. and i hope it will be the first to confess that i know nothin about the postal service's sorting system. [inaudible] to fund the postal service. we don't pay city tax or whatever -- >> property taxes, right. thanks for your input. let me- i am not familiar with the status of the pension system. but we'll take a look at that. and i appreciate your bringing it up. >> hi. my name is pat senafane and thank you for coming to inform us of your progress in congress. i have a two-part question. the first part is this. most people today feel that congss has relinquished its authority and has given it over to czars. we have never had a situation where we have people who have never

we had a number of major companies come to u.p.s.'re really good at moving our stuff and we know what you do and we're interested in making product and whatnot but help us. help us understand how we can move it better so, you know, we're doing all kinds of transportation supply chain consulting and that makes sense of course, as does fedex, but more than that they're saying what can we do about the situation, it's never been on the top of our priority list in a public policy perspective, what am i suggesting? there are new nontraditional stakeholders that care about issue and that matters and ultimately they'll talk to their state and local officials and federal officials but when the usual suspects show up whom are all here, and we go and talk to folks -- we know what your agenda is. but i think it's the nontraditional stakeholders that really got to get involved. easier to say, harder to do. we're seeing more of that. and i would suggest that chairman mike and members of congress who folks know are really, you know, in pivotal posi