The postmaster general announced on Wednesday, February 6th, that the U.S. Postal Service intends to halt Saturday delivery of most mailers, letters and catalogs, ending a 150-year tradition. The plan to shrink delivery from six days a week to five would only affect first-class mail, while packages, mail-order medicines, priority and express mail would still be delivered on Saturdays. This move accentuates one of the agency’s strong points. It’s been reported that package delivery has increased by 14 percent since 2010, while the delivery of letters and other mail has declined.
Post Master of the Jefferson Post Office Peggy Erickson spoke with Raccoon Valley Radio and was able to answer some questions and explain some of the details that we will see later this year. The change is currently scheduled for the week of August 5th, and once in place it is projected to save the Postal Service $2 billion annually.
One of the concerns of going to a five day delivery schedule was that it could affect deliveries of medicines, but since the U.S. Postal Service will keep packages on the six day schedule, it won’t affect medicine delivery at all. The Saturday change will also only affect street addresses; those customers who receive their mail through P.O. boxes will still be able to receive mail on Saturday.
Erickson points out that the postal service has had operational changes throughout the years yet have maintained very high standards and has a proven track record. She has seen change go smoothly in the past and expects that to be the case again in 2013.