[Nfbf-l] Postal Service to cut Saturday mail to trim costs.

[Alan Dicey]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ap/top-news/postal-service-to-cut-saturday-mail-to-trim-costs/nWG7C/


 Postal Service to cut Saturday mail to trim costs.

 The U. S. Postal Service will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but
continue to deliver packages six days a week under a plan aimed at saving
about $2 billion, the financially struggling agency says.
By PAULINE JELINEK, The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON -  The U. S. Postal Service will stop delivering mail on
Saturdays but continue to deliver packages six days a week under a plan
aimed at saving about $2 billion, the financially struggling agency says.

In an announcement scheduled for later Wednesday, the service is expected to
say the Saturday mail cutback would begin in August.
The move accentuates one of the agency's strong points - package delivery
has increased by 14 percent since 2010, officials say, while the delivery of
letters and other mail has declined with the increasing use of email and
other Internet use.
 Under the new plan, mail would still be delivered to post office boxes on
Saturdays. Post offices now open on Saturdays would remain open on
Saturdays.
 Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a
five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages - and it repeatedly but
unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to approve the move. Though an
independent agency, the service gets no tax dollars for its day-to-day
operations but is subject to congressional control.
 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.

 Copyright The Associated Press