Americans will continue to get their mail six days a week, the U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday, reversing an earlier decision to limit Saturday deliveries to P.O. Boxes and packages starting in August.
USPS officials say “restrictive language” in a resolution recently passed by Congress that will fund the U.S. government for the next six months prevents the organization from moving to a Monday-through-Friday delivery schedule.
USPS announced its decision to change Saturday delivery in February, adding it would continue dropping off packages and delivering to P.O. Boxes six days a week.
The five-days-a-week delivery plan was supposed to take effect the week of Aug. 5 and would have saved the struggling USPS $2 billion a year, officials report in a statement from its board of governors.
The board was “disappointed” with Congress’ move, but “will follow the law,” it notes in its statement. Still, that doesn’t mean officials think change isn’t necessary.
“It is not possible for the postal service to meet significant cost reduction goals without changing its delivery schedule—any rational analysis of our current financial condition and business options leads to this conclusion,” the statement notes. “Delaying responsible changes to the postal service business model only increases the potential that the postal service may become a burden to the American taxpayer, which is avoidable.”
