The Alexander City Outlook

No more Saturday delivery?

Congress is considering a request by the U.S. Postal Service to end Saturday delivery due to decreasing mail traffic and increasing costs of mail transportation.

Joseph Breckinridge, spokesman for the postal service in Alabama, said this could help the postal service be more profitable.

“We have a law that says the postal service has to deliver mail six days a week,” Breckinridge said. “Until that is changed, the postal service will still deliver six days a week. All we’re doing is to ask Congress to consider changing this law as a cost-cutting measure for the postal service.”

Breckinridge said the postal service, however, would keep its window service on Saturday.

“But as a compromise, we’ll continue to keep window service at post offices for customers on Saturday for those who work during the week,” Breckinridge said. “That will allow them the chance to pick up packages, send packages or use any other service.”

Congress received a balance sheet submitted by USPS to show its reasons, according to Breckinridge. That sheet shows how mail usage has declined over the past few years.

The postal service reached its peak in 2006 when 213 billion pieces of mail were sent. That number has dropped to 177 billion in 2009 and Breckinridge expects that number to fall to 167 billion this year, representing a loss of 22 percent.

One of the reasons why mail has dropped off is because of the Internet, including e-billing and e-payment options.

“Most people get their bills through e-mail and pay them online,” Breckinridge said. “That’s one of our biggest losses in the last couple of years.”

Breckinridge said the downturn in the economy has also caused a drop in mail due to less e-commerce.

One area that hasn’t dropped off is the sending of personal letters and cards.

“There’s just no replacement for personal letters and greeting cards,” Breckinridge said. “They just give a more personal touch than you can get with the Internet.”

Also, Breckinridge said the postal service is looking at other ways to decrease costs and increase revenues. One way to decrease costs is to cut service to blue mailboxes across the area. In Alexander City, the postal service is closing several blue mailboxes this week.

“Usually if a mailbox receives less than 25 pieces of mail a day, it is considered for closing,” he said. “It’s just a way to help us save some money.”

However, Breckinridge said the postal service is promoting its Web site for doing business.

“You can do just about anything you want at our online store,” he said. “You can print labels for stamps and postage, and you can even schedule a pickup for your packages. About the only thing you can’t do is send registered mail from home. That is something you have to do at the post office.”

Breckinridge said they are also pursuing a contract with stores including Office Depot to offer postal services.

“Most stores are already selling stamps at the same price you can get at the post office,” Breckinridge said. “We’re doing a lot of things we’ve never done before to help increase revenue like offering services through stores. We hope it leads to an increase in mail traffic.”