USPS Announcement: Post Office to Stop Delivery On Saturdays

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10:03 AM

Postal Service in Debt: USPS Ending Saturday Delivery to Save Office

The USPS hopes to save $2 billion annually by stopping Saturdays delivery beginning in August 2013. USPS Washington, D.C. spokesman George Maffett said that the USPS will announce a five-year financial plan: "The Postal Service plans to issue a revised comprehensive five-year financial plan in early March. This plan will identify important cost reduction activities and steps to restore the Postal Service to long-term financial stability. On Wednesday, we plan to discuss some of these additional cost reductions," Maffett said according to Politico.

9:58 AM

The USPS Will Stop Saturday Delivery of First Class Mail By August 1

After losing $16 billion last year, the postmaster general is announcing that the USPS will likely stop Saturday delivery of first-class mail by August 1.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) says the move will save the struggling postal service $2 billion a year. "It's a proper business decision and (in the) long run, good for the Postal Service and good for Americans." The Postal Service has lost $41 billion dollars over the past six years as more and more Americans turned to private shippers, email, and online banking.

Meanwhile, Coburn and Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the two top Republicans on the House and Senate committees that oversee the Postal Service, will send a letter to House and Senate leaders asking them to support the elimination of Saturday service and change the law that has prevented the USPS from doing this in the past.

10:03 AM

USPS Announcement: Post Office to Stop Delivery On Saturdays

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The USPS is announcing Wednesday that it'll stop Saturday delivery in attempt to control costs. However, post offices would remain open on Saturdays for dropping off, buying postage stamps, etc. USPS also plans to continue Saturday delivery of packages (a growing part of the delivery business). But hours likely would be reduced at thousands of smaller locations. Canceling Saturday mail deliveries will save USPS $2 billion annually, according to congressional and postal officials.

The Discussion

Max Alexander10:29 AM

@Michael - Taxpayers will when the Fed bails them out.

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Michael Luciano10:27 AM

It's not a waste of taxpayer dollars because tax dollars don't fund the post office.

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Max Alexander10:21 AM

If Blockbuster only closed M-Th, they'd still be in business. Or what if Hostess only sold Twinkies on Friday, they'd be back in the black by now. I have a solution, only deliver mail on Tuesday, the USPS would save Billions. Hahahaha

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Max Alexander10:17 AM

What's going to happen to the thousands of middle managers who don't do anything all day? Oh wait, they'll keep their jobs and the line workers will get downsized. Go APWU!!!

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Max Alexander10:14 AM

Only the gov't can run a monopoly into bankruptcy.

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Lenny DeFranco10:07 AM

And by the way, without the USPS, FedEx's and UPS's prices would skyrocket. They use a lot of USPS transportation. Nobody has the infrastructure that the USPS does.

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Lenny DeFranco10:06 AM

Congress has been preventing the USPS from running itself like a business for a while. It would have modified the USO years ago had it been permitted. Glad to see some autonomy.

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Michelle Adams10:05 AM

This should be interesting. I wonder how this will effect people who still pay bills in the mail...

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Gary W. Patterson, Jr.10:02 AM

Gotta love gov't enterprises. They're going to provide worse service in an effort to balance the books.

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Michael Nathan Magan10:01 AM

How about just stop delivering mail, period. The US postal service is a waste of taxpayer dollars, full stop.

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