Post Office Will Not Deliver Mail on Saturdays Anymore
Starting this summer, you won't be getting any mail over the weekend.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced Wednesday that due to budget issues, the US Postal Service will cease all mail delivery on Saturdays. Packages will still be delivered, though. The move is expected to save $2 billion.
Online bill paying has surged since 2008, lowering the overall volume of mail (which can also be sent electronically now, something called "e-mail") and leading the USPS to a loss of $15.9 billion last year.
Post offices will remain open on Saturdays, but mail will not be picked up from blue collection boxes. Saturday has long been the lightest day for mail, and a Gallup poll showed that it would be the least disruptive day to cancel mail service.
About 22,500 jobs will be terminated as part of the savings plan, which obviously did not please the American Postal Workers Union. "People don't want to find out who won the Friday-night football game on Monday, they want to find out on Saturday," said Sally Davidow, communications director for the union.
But Postmaster General Donahoe seems to see the writing on the wall. He said, "Our financial crisis is the result of a restrictive business model and a permanent and fundamental shift away from first-class mail."