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ARMONK, N.Y. – The U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday that it will eliminate Saturday mail delivery starting Aug. 5. The Armonk post office will transition accordingly.
How do you feel about the Postal Service halting Saturday mail delivery?
View ResultsHow do you feel about the Postal Service halting Saturday mail delivery?
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I am not happy about it - I want my Saturday mail!
36% -
If it helps them save money, I am all for it.
50% -
I couldn't care less one way or the other.
14%
“The post office will still be open on Saturdays, and packages will still be delivered, but regular mail will not be,” said George Flood, Northeast spokesperson for the Postal Service. “The market research we conducted suggests that seven out of 10 Americans will have no issue with the change.”
Debra Jones, Westchester County marketing manager for the Postal Service, sees no reason that Westchester County residents would differ from the nationwide market research.
“Customers will still have the option of having a post office box of which they can pick up on Saturdays if they need to,” she said. “They will have that option, and packages will still be delivered.”
The Postal Service expects the transition to save $2 billion annually, once the plan is fully implemented. Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe was confident in the new direction.
“The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America’s changing mailing habits,” Donahoe said in the announcement. “We developed this approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings.”
Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages. However, recent strong growth in package delivery (a 14 percent volume increase since 2010) and projections of continued strong package growth throughout the coming decade led to the revised approach to maintain package delivery six days per week.
“Our customers see strong value in the national delivery platform we provide and maintaining a six-day delivery schedule for packages is an important part of that platform,” Donahoe said. “As consumers increasingly use and rely on delivery services — especially due to the rise of e-commerce — we can play an increasingly vital role as a delivery provider of choice, and as a driver of growth opportunities for America’s businesses.”
The Postal Service said it made the announcement more than six months in advance of implementing the five-day mail delivery schedule to give its customers time to plan and adjust. It plans to publish specific guidance in the near future for residential and business customers about the new delivery schedule.
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