Stamped Letters Could Become Delayed with Cuts to U.S. Postal Service

The U.S. Postal Service plans to make $3 billion in reductions.  A more detailed announcement will be made later today.  What we do know, is for the first time in 40-years, the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day will be eliminated.  The U.S. Postal Service is proceeding with cuts to first-class mail that will make delivery slow come Spring time.  

The agency faces bankruptcy as well as no help from Congress.  Roughly 100,000 postal employees could be cut as a result of the various closures so the governemnt can save up to $6.5 billion a year.  On the latter, many feel the cuts will only help in the short-term and be counter productive in the long-term.  If Americans don't feel they can mail a business letter today and have it reach the recipient tomorrow, they will only turn further to electronic mail and the Internet.  If you're like me, procrastinating those Christmas cards will only make it harder to get to your family and friends on time.  Instead, we'll have to plan way too far in advance and who can be bothered around a busy time like the holidays or when a deadline needs to be reached in the office.

When the cuts are finalized, roughly 250 of the nearly 500 mail processing centers across the U.S. would be shut down.  Many centers will then be consolidated which will cause the process of mail getting from its origin to its destination longer.  The U.S. Postal Service delivers first-class mail within one to three days of it being sent.  That process would then be lengthened to two to three days at the least. 

The post office is in dire need of a solution.  They have been providing service in the red for the last five years due to a steady decline in Americans using first-class mail.  Meanwhile, their cost of retiree health benefits has only stayed the same if not gone up.  The U.S. Postmaster General, Patrick Donahoe, says $20 billion needs to be cut by 2015 if the agency is to stay afloat by being profitable again. 

How often to you use the post office?  I have to admit, I pay my rent in person, my bills online and use the post office once a month, if that.  However, I don't think I'd like the option of not having a post office.  I guess there's no easy solution in these tough times.