USPS Officially Studying Five-Day Delivery Option

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Bolstering U.S. Postmaster General John E. Potter’s prediction that five-day mail delivery will become a reality, the U.S. Postal Service has launched an internal study to examine the feasibility of eliminating Saturday mail delivery nationwide.

Not that the Postal Services seems to be in any hurry to get rid of Saturday delivery. USPS spokesperson Gerald McKiernan says there is no set timetable. “We’re planning a series of outreach meetings with customers and stakeholders and continue dialogue with members of Congress.”

How long will that process take? “That answer is in the hands of the Congress,” McKiernan adds. “There have been some findings that have been shared internally. They continue to be refined and it would be premature to discuss anything just yet.”

The National Association of Letter Carriers, for one, opposes the elimination of Saturday mail delivery. The NALC received a letter dated June 11 from the Postal Service requesting the union’s input on this study.

Said NALC president Bill Young in a release: “Downsizing the Postal Service to meet the needs of a severely depressed economy is short-sighted and self-defeating. It will cost us tens of thousands of jobs and open the way to competitors to provide service on the sixth day.”

How do consumers feel about this? A Gallop poll conducted two weeks ago found that 66% of U.S. consumers were in favor of reducing the number of mail delivery days from six to five as a way to help fix the Postal Service’s budget.