U.S. Post Office To End Saturday Letter Delivery

File photo of U.S. Letter Carrier Gerald Tannehill delivering mail in Springfield, Ill. (AP/Seth Perlman)

The head of the letter carriers union says it’s a “disastrous idea.”

Fredric Rolando is reacting to the announcement that Saturday mail delivery will come to an end in August. Under the plan — aimed at saving up to $2 billion a year — mail would go to homes and businesses from Monday through Friday. Packages would still be delivered on Saturday.

Rolando says the move will hurt “millions of customers” — particularly businesses, rural communities, the elderly, the disabled and others who depend on Saturday delivery. He also says it goes against the will of Congress as expressed over the past 30 years.

But the postmaster general, Patrick Donahoe, says research indicates that nearly 7 in 10 Americans support the switch to five-day delivery as a way for the Postal Service to reduce costs.

It’s not clear how the service will be able to eliminate Saturday mail without congressional approval. Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages, and it unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to approve the move. The postal service gets no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations, but it is still subject to congressional control.

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Guest:

Ed O’Keefe, Washington Post federal government reporter. He tweets @edatpost.

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http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Y6CO5C2HE4WM2OYGCDVWGPRXXM oldman

Way overdue – but we’ll still need to see if Congress is willing to see USPS money going into their states reduced as a result.
Maggie

A year later and still thinking about you J(C#12).
Acnestes

Raise the rates on junk mail and end congress’s franking privilege, then talk to me about cutting services.
Roberto1194

This is THE only public service provided directly and equally to everyone.
It is the purest function that a government can and should provide�
-in the most efficient way possible.
WHAT OTHER GOVERNMENT FUNCTION IS EXPECTED TO PAY FOR ITSELF ???
How is this benefit being measured?
Vanessa D

Maybe if the USPS hadn’t spent millions of dollars in advertising in years past (think Superbowl, sponsoring the Lance Armstrong team, and other regular ads on TV) they might be able to operate without frequently raising the price of postage and cutting back on services. I am sure that everyone knows about our postal system in the US…I have been amazed that they would get away with spending for advertising when it’s clearly not necessary.