5-day mail delivery?

A five-day delivery week has been a topic of conversation since it was recently proposed, and the postmaster general was on Capitol Hill on Thursday making a pitch for even more sweeping changes.

The proposed five-day delivery week reportedly would save $3 billion annually.

Postmaster General John E. Potter spoke Thursday to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the U.S. House and subcommittee on Federal Workforce.

He sought a leaner Postal Service able to respond more quickly to change.

"For the past two years, I have testified about the dire financial circumstances facing the United States Postal Service," said Potter. "Once again, I am here to report that our financial situation is precarious, mail volumes continue to decline, and the cost of delivering mail to each address continues to increase."

Potter said he was concerned that there is insufficient appreciation for the long-term financial peril that the Postal Service faces.

"Expert, independent analysis clearly shows an open-ended decline in mail volume and the revenues associated with it," said Potter. "The foundation of our self-sufficient business model has been swept aside by a digital communications revolution and a severe economic crisis."

Local comment

Postal customer Bill Johnson, of Sebring, said it really wouldn't affect him much.

"It's one less trip to the mailbox," said Johnson. "It's one less bill you get, too."

He said if it was a business it probably would have gone under by now, with competition from the Internet, e-mailing, unlimited billing and also with unlimited calling people are writing less.

"I figured sooner or later it would happen," he said.

Luis Rodriguez, of Sebring, said Friday, it's a good thing and a bad thing.

"It's bad because of its affect to us," he said. "Some people work Monday to Friday and take Saturday off. It's good for them because it saves them money."

But he didn't think one day off would save enough money.

"They pay them too much for their salary," he said.

Customer Zachary Blatt said it would upset him.

"If they go down to five days that would be an inconvenience," said Blatt, who said he hated coming to the Lake Jackson branch, where he has a Post Office Box.

"Not for long," said Blatt. "I have 10 days left."

He said he got the P.O. Box because neighbors were stealing his mail, but those neighbors have since moved.

How it would work

"We have to work on legislative change before we can move forward on a five-day plan," said Gary Sawtelle, a post office spokesman for the Suncoast division.

The timeline for the proposed change would begin after Congress approved the measure. Then it would take six months to change operations to go to that schedule, said Sawtelle.

"Mail processing would be seven-days-a-week," he said. "There will be no collection of mail on Saturday or Sunday, unless it is Express Mail."

Important to keep in mind for people paying bills by mail, is if mail is dropped into a mailbox on Friday after the posted collection time, once the collection has been made it will sit there until Monday (or Tuesday, if Monday is a holiday).

"It won't be picked up any earlier than the time posted on the collection box," he said.

If approved, mail would continue to be delivered on Saturday to Post Office Box holders.

Potter's rationale

In his address, Potter also suggested a number of other measures including workforce adjustments, through its upcoming collective bargaining negotiations.

He sought to take advantage of more than 300,000 "voluntary separations" projected to happen in the next decade.

"Today the Postal Service stands on the brink of financial insolvency," said Potter. "Without significant and immediate changes, this pattern of constant financial distress will continue unabated for years to come."

He told the house committee that too much attention had been focused on short-term financial fixes, such as an adjustment to its retiree health benefits fund, or a single significant service change such as five-day delivery.

"Too little attention has been paid to the need for other, significant, across-the-board changes to our regulatory and legal framework," said Potter.

An independent examination of the postal marketplace projected an annual loss of $33 billion in 2020 and cumulative losses of $238 billion over the next 10 years, if little or no changes were made.

"A piecemeal approach with short-term financial relief only delays the inevitable, and impedes our ability to maintain productive and efficient operations...," Potter said.

Solutions included, restructuring the prefunding of retiree health benefits - including shifting to a pay-as-you-go system, comparable to what is used in the rest of the federal government.

The Postal Service five-day delivery proposal was electronically filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission on March 30.

The commission's advisory opinion will be considered by Congress as it reviews the Postal Service's request to change the law.

The public is asked to share its views via the Postal Regulatory Commission's Web site at, www.prc.gov by clicking the "contact PRC" tab for an online customer service form.