The United States Postal Service announced plans today to transition to a new delivery schedule during the week of August 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 plan to change delivery from six days a week to five would only affect first-class mail. Packages, mail-order medicines, priority and express mail would still be delivered on Saturdays, and local post offices will remain open for business Saturdays.
 “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.â€
Until the lawmakers on Capitol Hill put the postal service on a sound footing, the crisis won’t be solved. Which is the message that Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe is trying to deliver to Congress. He wants to cut delivery of mail to homes and businesses on Saturdays, a staple for the past 150 years. Delivery of packages would not be affected.
The Postal Service suffered a $15.9-billion loss in the past budget year. It expects to save $2 billion annually with the Saturday cutback. As an independent agency, the USPS is not funded by tax money. It relies on postage and other products and services to pay its way. But Congress has gotten in the way.
Find the complete text of the Postal Service’s news release at http://about.usps.com/news/