USPS Announces End of Saturday Mail Delivery Starting in August

The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced today its plans to modify its existing delivery schedule with changes applied August 5th, 2013.

Package delivery will continue with its regular delivery service six days a week Monday through Saturday, while the mail delivery schedule will be modified to a five day service, eliminating Saturday service. This modification is expected to save the USPS approximately $2 billion annually.

“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 Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General and CEO. “We developed this approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings.”

Originally, the USPS was advocating for a five day delivery schedule, but with the volume increase in package shipping, up 14 percent since 2010, the Postal Service revised its plan.

“Our customers see strong value in the national delivery platform we provide and maintaining a six-day delivery schedule for packages is an important part of that platform,” said Donahoe. “As consumers increasingly use and rely on delivery services — especially due to the rise of e-commerce — we can play an increasingly vital role as a delivery provider of choice, and as a driver of growth opportunities for America’s businesses.”

The schedule change will not affect PO box delivery and Post Offices already open on Saturdays will continue their regular schedule.

The USPS claims that market research revealed 70 percent of Americans support the five day delivery schedule as a way for “the Postal Service to reduce costs” and return to organizational stability.

“The American public understands the financial challenges of the Postal Service and supports these steps as a responsible and reasonable approach to improving our financial situation,” said Donahoe. “The Postal Service has a responsibility to take the steps necessary to return to long-term financial stability and ensure the continued affordability of the U.S. Mail.” 

Will this change to the USPS delivery schedule encourage US consumers to choose private services instead? It could easily be seen that if a business needs an important document delivered on a Saturday they'll choose FedEx or UPS, but the USPS's continuation of package delivery on Saturdays may prevent an overall exodus to the private shipping industry.