Input sought on proposed switch to 5-day service
Decreasing mail volume and lower revenues have prompted the
watchdog agency that oversees the U.S. Postal Service to look into
eliminating Saturday mail collection and delivery as soon as next
year, except for Express Mail and existing post office box
service.
Input sought on proposed switch to 5-day service
Decreasing mail volume and lower revenues have prompted the watchdog agency that oversees the U.S. Postal Service to look into eliminating Saturday mail collection and delivery as soon as next year, except for Express Mail and existing post office box service.
The Postal Regulatory Commission is seeking public input on the idea of switching to five-day-per-week mail service in an effort to save $3.3 billion next year and $5.1 billion per year by 2020.
“Our process will provide multiple opportunities for the public to be heard and for all the facts to be considered before the commission issues its advisory opinion,” said Ruth Y, Goldway, chairwoman of the regulatory commission, which is the watchdog agency that determines if the Postal Service is meeting its service obligations.
“The ball is in our court now. There will be no final decision until the record is complete.”
Commission procedures provide for public, on-the-record hearings to analyze and cross-examine the Postal Service’s “five-day” proposal and supporting evidence.Â
During the process, mail users and interested members of the public may offer supporting or opposing views, both informally and as part of more formal, technical presentations. The commission will also conduct as many as six field hearings and solicit public comments through its Web site.
Dallas, Sacramento and Chicago are among the cities the commission is considering for possible field hearing locations.
Goldway said the four areas that will be scrutinized are: whether the savings the Postal Service anticipates will be as significant as estimated; whether mail volume will decline more than estimated; whether the five-day-per-week plan still adequately meet the needs of businesses and citizens; and whether the national economic impact of service reductions offset or add to the savings that are proposed.
The Postal Service, which is projecting a $238 billion budget deficit by 2020, according to Business Week, said the reduction in Saturday service would eliminate the equivalent of 40,000 full-time jobs.
The elimination of one-day mail delivery day has been proposed numerous times and was the subject of extensive congressional review in 1977 and 1980.
In 1983, Congress adopted specific language requiring the Postal Service to maintain six-day delivery.
The Commission’s Advisory Opinion will be considered by Congress as it reviews the Postal Service’s request to change the law. Public comment can be submitted to www.prc.gov.
