GAO says USPS could save big by ending Saturday mail but would hurt rural people and newspapers

The U.S. Postal Service could save more than $3 billion by ending Saturday mail delivery, but it would hurt catalog businesses, local newspapers, the elderly and rural Americans, says a report from the Government Accountability Office. USPS says it could help stave off $7 billion in losses this year by ending Saturday delivery. "The GAO report agrees USPS could save $3.3 billion by cutting the work hours of letter carriers and reducing operational costs to better match declining mail volume," Ed O'Keefe of The Washington Post reports. Last week we reported the Postal Regulatory Commission said in an advisory opinion that USPS should not end Saturday delivery without further study on the effect it would have on rural customers.

Eliminating Saturday deliveries could also "diminish USPS’s image, in part by reducing public contact with carriers," the report said. Congress has the final say on USPS's plan to end Saturday delivery, and lawmakers have yet to act on several proposals that would accomplish that goal, "partly because they’re worried how any change would impact small businesses and the elderly — two loyal, vocal voting blocs," O'Keefe writes. GAO cautioned that the actual amount of savings from ending Saturday deliveries would "depend on how quickly the Postal Service implements any changes and whether they’d have any impact on overall service," O'Keefe writes. (Read more)