(CBS) — U.S. Postmaster General John E. Potter is to herald his vision of a shorter post week – eliminating all Saturday deliveries – at a conference Tuesday addressing the future of the U.S. Postal Service, according to a report in USA Today.
According to the article, Potter revealed his intention to seek a shorter delivery week on Monday, saying it was an absolutely unavoidable move if the debt-mired service is ever to climb back into the black.
“We know we’re going to have less mail in 2020 than we have today,” USA Today quoted Potter as saying. “We can’t freeze wages. We can’t freeze fuel costs.”
The article said Potter was about to officially forward the request for a 5-day week to the Postal Regulatory Commission, which will in turn debate the proposal, seek expert testimony and then issue its own recommendations.
The commission chair, Ruth Goldway, urged a cautious approach.
“The Postal Service is an enormous organization. This change in service that they’re proposing is a very complex and significant change,” she told the newspaper. “The Postal Service is an essential part of the country’s infrastructure, so you don’t want to change it willy-nilly.”
As a function of the federal government, the Postal Service is currently mandated under U.S. law to deliver mail six days per week. Changing that schedule – if the commission does recommend it – would require congressional approval.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
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