WKEF-TV ABC 22 News :: News - Top Stories - Postal Service to End Saturday Letter Delivery to Cut Costs

Tuesday, February 12 2013, 02:37 PM EST

Postal Service to End Saturday Letter Delivery to Cut Costs

MIAMISBURG -- U.S.
Postal Service will end Saturday mail delivery to save $2 billion a
year. Many agree it's a simple way to save, but it will affect bill
payments. Lets say you have a bill due Monday. Depending on where it's
going, right now you can get away with putting it in the mailbox by
Thursday. Come August, Mail Carriers get one less day, and so do you.
You'll have to mail it out by Wednesday.

Most people won't even need a mail carrier to pay their bills,

"I do most of those online," said Linda Truman of Miamisburg.

Still, there are those like Barbara Miller who "do still mail my bills," she said.

And
she still can, but with Saturday's out of the picture for mailing any
letters and magazines, there's no procrastinating. Starting in August,
mail carriers will deliver packages six days a week, but they'll only
send letters for five.

"That's good, packages is what I mail the most to my daughter in Montana," said Miller.

And
whether your sending mail to Montana or, "I'm sending official mail to
the office in New Jersey," said Abhi Kohli of Miamisburg, you'll have
six more months before that letter won't make it on Saturday.

"As long as we're able to send five days a week, it'll still be good. I think they should get a day off," said Kohli.

"They had to make cuts some place and that's a reasonable place to make it," said Truman.

But
the Post Office will continue delivering your packages on Saturday
because the the demand is up 14 percent in the last two years. And while
people we talked to today don't seem too frustrated by the cuts, they
fear this may only be round one.

"I don't know if they'll still
be able to make it, they may have to be privatized in the long run but
it's a good start," said Truman.

Mail addressed to PO Boxes will
continue to be delivered on Saturdays. Post Offices currently open on
Saturdays will remain open on Saturdays.

WASHINGTON,
D.C. -- Multiple news agencies are reporting that the U.S. Postal
Service plans to announce today it will end Saturday mail delivery to
cut costs at the struggling agency.

The USPS will continue to
deliver packages six days a week, according to this proposal. The plan
should save about $2 billion and would take effect in August.

Package
delivery for the post office has increased while letter and other mail
delivery has declined steadily over the years with the increasing use of
email and Internet.

Under the proposal, mail would still be
delivered to post office boxes on Saturdays and post offices now open on
Saturdays would remain open on Saturdays.

The Postal Service
has in recent years advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule
for mail and packages -- and it repeatedly but unsuccessfully appealed
to Congress to approve the move. The service gets no tax dollars for its
day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control.

Fox
News reported that it was not immediately clear how the service could
eliminate Saturday mail without congressional approval. But the agency
clearly thinks it has a majority of the American public on its side
regarding the change.

Material prepared for the Wednesday press
conference by Patrick R. Donahoe, postmaster general and CEO, says
Postal Service market research and other research has indicated that
nearly 7 in 10 Americans support the switch to five-day delivery as a
way for the Postal Service to reduce costs.

USPS NEWS RELEASE:

Postal Service Announces New Delivery Schedule
Six Days of Package Delivery, Five Days of Mail Delivery Begins August 2013

WASHINGTON
— The United States Postal Service announced plans today to transition
to a new delivery schedule during the week of Aug. 5, 2013 that includes
package delivery Monday through Saturday, and mail delivery Monday
through Friday. The Postal Service expects to generate cost savings of
approximately $2 billion annually, once the plan is fully implemented.

“The
Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that
reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the
financial realities resulting from America’s changing mailing habits,”
said Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General and CEO. “We developed this
approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery
needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost
savings.”

Over the past several years, the Postal Service has
advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and
packages. However, recent strong growth in package delivery (14 percent
volume increase since 2010) and projections of continued strong package
growth throughout the coming decade led to the revised approach to
maintain package delivery six days per week.

“Our customers see
strong value in the national delivery platform we provide and
maintaining a six-day delivery schedule for packages is an important
part of that platform,” said Donahoe. “As consumers increasingly use and
rely on delivery services — especially due to the rise of e-commerce —
we can play an increasingly vital role as a delivery provider of choice,
and as a driver of growth opportunities for America’s businesses.”

Once
implemented during August of 2013, mail delivery to street addresses
will occur Monday through Friday. Packages will continue to be delivered
six days per week. Mail addressed to PO Boxes will continue to be
delivered on Saturdays. Post Offices currently open on Saturdays will
remain open on Saturdays.

Market research conducted by the
Postal Service and independent research by major news organizations
indicate that nearly seven out of ten Americans (70 percent) supported
the switch to five-day delivery as a way for the Postal Service to
reduce costs in its effort to return the organization to financial
stability.[1] Support for this approach will likely be even higher
since the Postal Service plans to maintain six-day package delivery.

The
Postal Service is making the announcement today, more than six months
in advance of implementing five-day mail delivery schedule, to give
residential and business customers time to plan and adjust. The Postal
Service plans to publish specific guidance in the near future for
residential and business customers about its new delivery schedule.

Given
the ongoing financial challenges, the Postal Service Board of Governors
last month directed postal management to accelerate the restructuring
of Postal Service operations in order to strengthen Postal Service
finances.

“The American public understands the financial
challenges of the Postal Service and supports these steps as a
responsible and reasonable approach to improving our financial
situation,” said Donahoe. “The Postal Service has a responsibility to
take the steps necessary to return to long-term financial stability and
ensure the continued affordability of the U.S. Mail.”

The
operational plan for the new delivery schedule anticipates a combination
of employee reassignment and attrition and is expected to achieve cost
savings of approximately $2 billion annually when fully implemented.

The
Postal Service is currently implementing major restructuring throughout
its retail, delivery and mail processing operations. Since 2006, the
Postal Service has reduced its annual cost base by approximately $15
billion, reduced the size of its career workforce by 193,000 or 28
percent, and has consolidated more than 200 mail processing locations.
During these unprecedented initiatives, the Postal Service continued to
deliver record high levels of service to its customers.

While
the change in the delivery schedule announced today is one of the
actions needed to restore the financial health of the Postal Service,
legislative change is urgently needed to address matters outside the
Postal Service’s control. The Postal Service continues to seek
legislation to provide it with greater flexibility to control costs and
generate new revenue and encourages the 113th Congress to make postal
reform legislation an urgent priority.

The Postal Service
receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of
postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Follow the Postal Service on www.twitter.com/USPS and at www.facebook.com/USPS.

Connect with ABC 22/FOX 45 Reporter Wale Aliyu on Facebook and Twitter.

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