March 18, 2010 — United States Postal Service (USPS) postmasters say that mailing a letter or a bill in the mail is becoming obsolete. The industry has taken a huge hit financially and now officials have come up with a proposal to save money with five-day delivery instead of six-day delivery.

An official date for the change must be approved by Congress.

According to Postmaster General John E. Potter in a press release issued March 2, there is no quick fix to the financial shortfall of the postal service. Potter outlined a plan to bring financial relief to the United States Postal Service.

The Morehead postmaster referred questions to corporate offices in Louisville.

“The crisis that we’re facing gives us an historic opportunity to make changes that will lay a foundation for a leaner, more market responsive postal service that can thrive far into the future,” Potter said. “The postal service examined revenue, volume and consumer trends; analyzed revenue and product opportunities employed by foreign posts; and examined more than 50 possible actions to realistically address volume declines that will not return, increasing health care and delivery costs, and dramatic changes to consumer behavior.”

Potter said the future depends on the success of the financial restoration plan he outlined in the press release.

“The future depends on a suite of solutions that takes a balanced and reasonable approach, one that cuts across every aspect of our industry but one that, in the end, does the greatest possible good for our stakeholders and the American public,” Potter said.

The number of mailings are expected drop dramatically in the next 10 years, he said.

“Mail volume is projected to fall from 177 billion in 2009 to 150 billion in 2020,” Potter said. “That represents a 37 percent decline in First-Class Mail alone. Revenue contributed by First Class Mail will plummet from 51 percent today to about 35 percent in 2020.”

Postal service officials say it is imperative that something is done about the financial shortfall soon.

“If the postal service takes no action, it will face a cumulative shortfall of $238 billion by 2020,” Potter said.

A number of proposed actions could save as much as $123 billion, according to Potter. These actions build on the postal service’s record of saving more than a $1 billion every year since 2001 and include continuing to aggressively control costs and eliminating hundreds of millions of work hours. Despite all these efforts, an estimated $115 billion shortfall will remain, he said.

Potter hopes the USPS business plan will ensure a viable mailing service for the United States. Potter’s plan includes the following actions:

     • Restructure retiree health benefits payments to be consistent with what is used by the rest of the federal government and the majority of the private sector and address overpayments to the Postal Service Civil Service Retirement System pension fund.

     • Adjust delivery days to better reflect current mail volumes and customer habits.

     • Continue to modernize customer access by providing services at location that are more convenient to customers, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, retail centers, and office supply stores. Increase and enhance customer access through partnerships, self-service kiosks and world-class website.

     • Ensure a more flexible workforce that is better positioned to respond to changing demand patterns, as more than 300,000 employees become eligible to retire in the coming decade.

     • A modest price increase will be proposed, effective in 2011.

     • Permit the postal service to evaluate and introduce more new products consistent with its mission, allowing it to better respond to changing customer needs and compete more effectively in the marketplace.

“Proposal to change to a five-day delivery week would require a congressional approval,” said Postal Service spokesman for Kentucky David Walton. “It would be six months before congress would make the decision to change mail. The proposal is only for the delivery. Customers can still deposit mail in the post office and they can pick up their mail in the post office boxes.”

The two national poll organizations Gallup and Rasmussen did a survey asking Americans what they thought about the Postal Service going to a five-day mail delivery. Both independent surveys said that if they cut back one day 70 percent of Americans support it, Walton said.    

“Cutting back to a five-day delivery will help offset the budget short fall $3.8 billion dollars,” Walton said.

This proposal is for postal carriers nationwide, he said.    

“The postal service did talk extensively to its customers and everyone they do business with,” he said. “ Even though some did not like the idea, they went with it because they understand where we are right now.”

Once the change in delivery is made, it will be permanent, he said.

“People don’t send mail like they used to,” he said. “We are affected by the economy. Most big companies like credit card companies and mortgage companies don’t send as much mail anymore. More people are paying their bills online.

“Right now the way the postage prices work is they are capped at the rate of inflation,” Walton said about the possibility of postage costs rising. “This year there will not be an increase in postage but in 2011 there will be one. That’s just a part of this 10-year plan.”    

Another benefit postal service workers are hoping for is a change in the health benefits system. It costs the postal service $5.6 billion a year to fund health benefits.

The USPS hopes to add more services for its customers that will be convenient and simple.

“We hope to expand access to our product,” Walton said. “We hope to install self-service kiosk where customers can mail packages and buy stamps.”

Customers can do all their mailing from a home office through the postal service website.

“We also want our customers to become more aware of our website which is usps.com. It has been around for a long time probably since the Internet has been invented,” he said. “Customers will get a 3-5 percent discount if they ship online from home.”

Walton said he hopes postal customers will utilize the website for personal business.

“I encourage anyone who is not familiar with usps.com to get familiar with the website,” he said. “You can hold your mail. You just click and ship. Then leave your package outside your doorstep and a mail carrier will pick it up.”

Walton said he hopes people will go back to mailing items.

“We encourage people to mail mail,“ he said. “It’s a great feeling to get a card in the mail. I encourage the younger generation to send more letters and cards.”