In a sweeping decision to attempt a remedy to the trillion-dollar deficit, the United States Post Office has made the decision to stop mail delivery on Saturday.
While many post office locations have already closed across the nation, this move signals yet another alert of financial troubles that politicians in Illinois and Washington D.C. are trying to address.
Under the new plan, the USPS will continue to deliver packages six days a week, announced the struggling agency.
The move to stop mail delivery on Saturday will save an estimated 2 billion dollars a year.
According to the Associated Press,
“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.”
Suburban Wheaton resident Ishka Nyguen says that she is “upset” with the decision.
“This is very much about politics, not the post office. The people in office are not serving this country very well. They spend billions to start wars and cut costs in the wrong areas.” Said Nyguen
With the new cuts to service, the USPS is announcing that mail will still be delivered to post office boxes on Saturdays. In addition, most post office locations that are open on Saturday will remain open, with just under 500 locations closing on Saturday’s altogether.
In a press release, the USPS states:
"Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages — and has repeatedly but unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to approve the move. Though we are an independent agency, the service gets no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control.”
The Wheaton post office was not available for comment at the time of this article, to answer the question, “How can the USPS stop delivery on Saturday without the approval of Congress?”
Preparing for a Wednesday press conference by Patrick R. Donahoe, postmaster general and CEO, Donahoe is expected to say 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.
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