No mail on Saturday: Will five-day-a-week delivery save the U.S. Postal Service?

Starting in August, the USPS will deliver only packages on Saturday. Is the $2 billion in savings worth it?

Even if Saturday delivery ends, the USPS seems likely to continue hemorrhaging money.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Say goodbye to mail delivery on Saturday, America. Starting Aug. 1, the financially struggling U.S. Postal Service, for the first time in 150 years, will not show up at your house or business on Saturdays unless you are receiving a package, express mail, or Priority Mail. The move "accentuates one of the agency's strong points," says the AP's Pauline Jelinek: While snail mail delivery has steadily declined in the age of email and Facebook, "package delivery has increased by 14 percent since 2010."

The change, "debated ad nauseum for months and months," will save the Postal Service $2 billion a year, says Patrick Rizzo at NBC News. That sounds like a lot, until you realize the USPS posted a record $15.9 billion loss in the last fiscal year, driven by $11.1 billion in pre-funded future retirement costs. "We are currently losing $25 million per day," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe warned in January.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.