The United States Postal Service announced that it will stop its mail service on Saturdays beginning in August.
The cutback is due to the financial loss the U.S.P.S. has faced in recent years.
“We are simply not in a financial position where we can continue to make six-day letter delivery,” Patrick R. Donahoe, the U.S.P.S. postmaster general and CEO, said during a news conference.
The U.S.P.S. has lost about $41 billion in the past few years as Americans have started using more private shippers, email and online banking. It also has cut about $15 billion in expenses and has cut its workforce by about 28 percent to try and prevent other cutbacks, CBS reported.
“Our financial condition is urgent,” Donahoe said. “This is too big of a cost savings for us to ignore.”
Another reason for cutting out Saturday deliveries is that it is not delivering as much mail as it once was. According to The New York Times, the number of pieces the U.S.P.S. was delivering fell to about 160 billion pieces in 2012 from about 210 billion pieces in 2008.
While it was still earning money with its delivery services, making $17.7 billion and spending $17.6 billion to continue its services, it claims it was spending too much in health care expenses. The Postal Service also said that the $17.7 billion was a one percent decrease from 2012, according to the Associated Press.
“We can’t continue to operate on a precipice,” U.S.P.S. Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett said.
The U.S.P.S. has faced criticism from the National Association of Letter Carriers for ceasing its Saturday deliveries.
“America’s letter carriers condemn this reckless plan in the strongest terms. We call for the immediate removal of the postmaster general, who has lost the confidence of the men and women who deliver for America every day,” NALC president Frederic Rolando said. “We urge Congress to develop a real reform plan that gives the Postal Service the freedom to grow and innovate in the digital era.”
The Postal Service said that while first class mail usage declined by 4.5 percent, package shipping increased by four percent. It will continue to ship packages on Saturdays, just not letters and standard mail, according to the Associated Press.
