Five-Day Mail Delivery Picks Up Steam
The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors today approved management’s request to move forward with its five-day mail delivery proposal and to file a request for an advisory opinion with the Postal Regulatory Commission on March 30.
A Website will be launched to provide customers with the details of the proposal. The Website will include a special section telling business mailers how to manage a change in delivery. The site can be accessed at http://www.usps.com/communications/five-daydelivery.
Postmaster General John E. Potter pitched the proposal last year and earlier this month made it an integral part of the U.S. Postal Service’s new business model for the future. Besides implementing five-day mail delivery, Potter hopes Congress will approve restructuring of the payment schedule the USPS is required to follow to prefund retiree health benefits and the elimination of existing statutory language mandating mail delivery six days a week.
According to a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted earlier this month, there is support for five-day mail delivery: 58% in the 18-34 age bracket and 73% among those 55 and older.
If implemented, five-day delivery would include the following: street delivery and blue box collections will be eliminated on Saturdays; Express Mail service will continue seven days a week; post offices currently open on Saturday will remain open; post office box accessibility will continue; and bulk mail and drop shipments will continue to be accepted at facilities that are currently open. The USPS estimates annual savings of $3.1 billion with this plan and as much as $5.1 billion by 2020.
In testimony before a Senate subcommittee last week, PRC Chairman Ruth Goldway said it’s difficult to gauge a timetable for her commission to develop a thorough advisory opinion.
“Depending on the complexity of the issues raised both by the Postal Service and by individual and business participants, a rough estimate would be six to nine months,” she said. “Based on recent experience, I expect the commission will receive detailed and thoughtful comments from a wide variety of businesses and associations that are dependent upon, or make significant use of, the Postal Service. To the extent necessary, the commission will issue information requests so that a comprehensive record exists to support conclusions on potential cost savings, volume declines, and impacts on the maintenance of timely and reliable service.”
March 25th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
They should make the day off Wednesday, that way there will not be a long time between the mail deliveries. Monday is alreay a busy day and so is Sat and Friday
so it would make sense to do it so as to cause less inconvenience to everyone.