Saturday Mail Delivery to End, Postal Service Announces

Calling the six-days-per-week mail delivery business model “no longer sustainable,” the U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday it will eliminate Saturday delivery of mail by Aug. 1.

The plan to change delivery from six days a week to five would only affect first-class mail. Packages, mail-order medicines, priority and express mail would still be delivered on Saturdays, and local post offices will remain open for business Saturdays.

According to the U.S. Postal Service, the reasons are continued economic struggles and the increasing use of the Internet for communications and bill paying by consumers. The U.S. Postal Service is also the only federal agency required to pre-fund health benefits for retirees, and those costs are escalating quickly:

“Our current business model of delivering mail six days a week is no longer sustainable. We must change in order to remain an integral part of the American community for decades to come.”

Saturday is the lightest mail delivery day by volume and many businesses are closed on Saturdays, according to the U.S. Postal Service. However, many residents receive print magazines and ads on Saturdays in the mail that may be shifted to another day.

Over on the Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes Facebook page many residents didn't seem to mind the proposed change all that much: "Make sense to me, and one last thing to do on the weekend!" said Joe Gerber.

Some were downright pleased: "It's about time!" said Debbie Hennen Gilmore.

Wyckoff Resident Gwen Mharquardt pointed out that the local post office may have some other problems to deal with in the interim: "Our local post office hasn't had stamps in stock since early December, so maybe the lack of delivery on Saturday will afford them some spare time to order stamps (before they increase the price again.)" 

It seems, however, that Larry Gruber said succinctly what was on everyone's mind when the news came down this morning: "Blame the internet."

Speak out: How will this change affect you? Will you miss getting mail on Saturdays?

Have a question or news tip for Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes Patch? Contact editor Joseph M. Gerace at Joseph.Gerace@patch.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox every morning, sign up for our daily newsletter.