"Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds." Well, what about a lack of mail, which has led to a budget deficit?
With falling mail volume and rising costs, the U.S. postal service fell $2.8 billion into the red last year. In testimony before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, Postmaster General John E. Potter said that "if current trends continue, we could experience a net loss of $6 billion or more this fiscal year."
In light of that dire possibility, Potter has asked that the requirement that the U.S.P.S. deliver mail six times a week be lifted.
To be honest, how much real mail does anyone receive any longer? Aside from bills (which in reality, are moving more and more toward electronic delivery and auto-payment), magazines (a dying breed), junk mail (always there), and packages (still going strong), there's not much there.
In terms of personal mail, that has mostly been supplanted by email and phone calls.
Potter added:
"It is possible that the cost of six-day delivery may simply prove to be unaffordable. I reluctantly request that Congress remove the annual appropriation bill rider, first added in 1983, that requires the Postal Service to deliver mail six days each week.
"The ability to suspend delivery on the lightest delivery days, for example, could save dollars in both our delivery and our processing and distribution networks. I do not make this request lightly, but I am forced to consider every option given the severity of our challenge."
It's possible Saturday delivery could survive, even if the requirement is lifted, by using a different day as a skip day, perhaps Wed. or Thurs.
The next postal rate increase is scheduled for May, with the amount to be announced next month. Current rules limit the possible increase to the amount of last year’s CPI or 3.8%. That would round to a $0.02 increase in the current $0.42 first class rate.
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