The U.S. Postal Service stated this week that it will stop delivering mail on Saturdays starting this August, as cutbacks could save them $2 billion annually according to the Associated Press.
The USPS will still deliver packages on Saturdays, as package delivery has increased by 14 percent since 2010 according to The Huffington Post. Mail delivery however has decreased every year thanks to email, smartphones, and other Internet services.
Mail will now only be delivered to businesses and homes on Monday through Friday according to the new plan set to start this summer. Post offices on the other hand will be open the entire weekend to accommodate customers who need to deliver something right away.
The new plan has been rumored for the past several years, but they Postal Service has been denied repeatedly by Congress. They've yet to reveal how they plan to terminate Saturday mail delivery without congressional approval according to the Associated Press.
"If the Congress of the United States refuses to take action to save the U.S. Postal Service, then the Postal Service will have to take action on its own," said corporate communications expert James S. O'Rourke, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame to The Huffington Post.
In 2012, The USPS reported an yearly loss of a record $15.9 billion and predicted they would lost more in 2013 if something wasn't done. The change will also mean a combination of employee reassignment and reduction.
The Postal Service as a whole believes most of the country will like the new plan, as their research indicates 7 out of 10 Americans support the switch to five-day delivery as a way for the Postal Service to cut yearly costs according to a USPS spokesperson.
"The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America's changing mailing habits," said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe in a statement prepared for the announcement. "We developed this approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings."
Not everyone seems to agree that the plan is a good idea however, as Fredric Rolando, the president of the National Associated of Letter Carriers, stated that it was "a disastrous idea that would have a profoundly negative effect on the Postal Service and on millions of customers," mainly because of so many people who depend on Saturday delivery.
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