“We don’t anticipate any layoffs, but we anticipate losing people through attrition, and we’ve been keeping a lot of positions open for quite some time,” Van Allen said. Some postal workers who work Saturdays will be reassigned while some jobs will be eliminated through attrition, officials said. “Mail comes more during the beginning of the week and peters out at the end of the week,” he said. Post offices that are open on Saturdays will remain open.Įliminating Saturday delivery makes sense because Saturday has lower mail volumes than weekdays, and the move will reduce costs related to labor, transportation and fuel, Van Allen said. The postal service said it has revised its proposal to keep package delivery at six days a week.Ĭonsumers with PO boxes will continue to receive mail on Saturdays. In recent years, the postal service also asked Congress for permission to end package delivery on Saturdays, but its parcel volumes have increased by 15 percent since 2010 because of the popularity of online shopping, officials said. The postal service delivered mail seven days a week until 1912, when it stopped Sunday delivery at the request of religious leaders and organizations. The agency began delivering mail to homes and businesses in urban areas in 1863, and it began delivering to rural areas in 1891, Van Allen said. 5, said David Van Allen, Ohio spokesman for the postal service. The postal service will stop delivering letters, magazines and large flat envelopes sometime during the week of Aug. “I think it will have a very big impact.”
“This will limit the availability of the postal service to consumers,” said Terry Grant, president of the Ohio Postal Workers Union, which represents about 8,000 employees. Some union officials and other groups said ending Saturday delivery could burden consumers and companies, and the postal service should consider a different and less drastic approach to addressing its financial woes. “I don’t think I’ll miss it on Saturday.” “I don’t really look forward to mail on Saturday, just during the weekdays, basically,” he said. Jacob Shiflett, 30, of Middletown, said he felt the same way. “It’ll take longer to mail something out, but just by a day,” she said. Stephanie Lynch, 25, of Middletown, said she doesn’t send much mail out and not having Saturday pickup from her home won’t have that much of an effect. “It’s a good idea by the post office on saving some money and reducing their costs,” Reichle said. Not everyone was against the Postal Service’s decision.įor Bill Reichle, of downtown Hamilton’s Integrated Network Systems, the Saturday pickup would mean not being able to ship out packages from his office to customers but “nothing critical that would make a difference.” “This will be hard on everybody,” Thomin said. Patricia Thomin, of Hamilton, said she does not like the postal service’s decision because she prefers to get home delivery on Saturday, especially if she’s waiting on a letter or a check. Now you may have to mail it a day or two earlier.”
“A lot of times things are time sensitive, like a bill that you’re paying, you have to make sure it gets there on time.
“If you mail something, it usually takes two days,” Tyson said. Fred Tyson, 75, of Middletown, said not providing Saturday home delivery is not a good idea because it would delay mail.