Postal Service Targets Cuts to First-Class Service
Faced with mounting red ink, the U.S. Postal Service is planning cuts to first-class mail service that could eliminate next-day delivery.
The USPS said Monday that it’s proposing to change first class mail delivery to a 2 to 3-day standard for domestic volume.
USPS said it had no choice to move ahead with this service change because it continues to lose money.
“The U.S. Postal Service must reduce its operating costs by $20 billion by 2015 in order to return to profitability,” David Williams, vice president, postal network operations, said in a statement.
“The proposed changes to service standards will allow for significant consolidation of the postal network in terms of facilities, processing equipment, vehicles and employee workforce and will generate projected net annual savings of approximately $2.1 billion,” he said.
In September, the Postal Service said it would begin studying the closure of 252 of 487 mail processing facilities.
On Nov. 15, USPS reported a $5.1 billion loss for fiscal year 2011, which ended Sept. 30.
