Government affairs

Talking Points: Six-Day Mail Delivery

Saturday mail delivery is what makes the USPS unique from its competitors.

• The rise in e-commerce is dramatically creating a boom in package shipping and delivery.
• The Postal Service’s unique network creates a cost advantage for the most affordable prices on last-mile delivery service. This allows for effective and profitable partnerships with UPS, FedEx and Amazon.

Ending Saturday delivery would destroy jobs, harm the industry and increase prices.

• Many small businesses, direct mailers and weekly newspapers depend on Saturday delivery for invoicing, bill payments and shipping. Slowing mail service while charging the same price would threaten these small businesses and their customers.
• USPS’ own customer surveys showed that 35-40 percent of business mailers – who account for 95 percent of postal revenue – want Saturday delivery. Ending the service they rely on would simply drive them to other delivery methods.
• Slashing Saturday delivery would hurt the Postal Service’s 500,000 career jobs that support more than 7.5 million private-sector jobs. A reduction of service would impact thousands of workers and industries in the private sector, such as financial services, direct marketing and e-commerce.

Slashing Saturday service won’t save the USPS any money – it might actually cost more than its worth.

• A recent study found that slashing Saturday delivery – in addition to already closing and consolidating post offices – would drop mail volume by 7.7 percent, causing a revenue loss of $5.26 billion and overwhelming a projected $3.3 billion reduction in expenses.
• The most recent plan to eliminate Saturday delivery wouldn’t save the USPS any money if mail volume fell by as little as 3.5-7.5 percent. If Saturday service were eliminated, it would likely be gone for good. Even if the Postal Service realized its mistake, it would be unable to regain the same revenue as before the cut.