U.S. Postal Service Will Still Deliver Mail On Saturdays … For Now

For anyone worried that the Postal Service would stop delivering mail on Saturday, we’ve got some good news for you. The USPS has backed off on eliminating Saturday mail service, at least for now.

The Postal Service isn’t technically doing us a favor, though. They’re continuing with Saturday mail delivery because Congress won’t let them stop, essentially. The USPS said in February that it would be switching to a five-day delivery schedule for everything aside from packages in order to keep costs down and curb losses.

After the decision, the governing board said that it wouldn’t be responsible for the service’s financial problems, arguing that it can’t meet cost-cutting goals without changing its schedule. Putting off “responsible changes” means the Postal Service “may become a burden” on taxpayers, they say.

“By including restrictive language … Congress has prohibited implementation of a new national delivery schedule for mail and package,” the USPS governing board said in a statement Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.

“Although disappointed with this congressional action, the board will follow the law and has directed the Postal Service to delay implementation of its new delivery schedule until legislation is passed that provides the Postal Service with the authority to implement a financially appropriate and responsible delivery schedule,” it said.

Officials are still trying to find ways to fix the Postal Service’s financial troubles, but desires the freedom to reduce costs and find new sources of revenue.

“It is not possible for the Postal Service to meet significant cost reduction goals without changing its delivery schedule – any rational analysis of our current financial condition and business options leads to this conclusion,” the statement continued.

It added that “delaying responsible changes to the Postal Service business model only increases the potential that the Postal Service may become a burden to the American taxpayer, which is avoidable.”

What do you think? Should the U.S. Postal Service be allowed the alter its delivery schedule to make itself more cost efficient? Would you mind if they stopped delivering mail on Saturdays?