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HARRISON, N.Y. – The U.S. Postal Service will no longer be delivering first-class mail on Saturdays, according to multiple published reports.
The elimination of Saturday service is expected to save the USPS $2 billion annually, the reports said. The schedule change is set to go into effect in August.
Many Harrison residents were fine with the Wednesday decision, announced by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.
“If they have to cut costs by not delivering Saturday, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing,” said Jane McCarty while walking her two dogs past the Harrison Post Office on Halstead Avenue. “They have to do what they have to do. Monday through Friday is fine as long as they’re timely.”
She said having to compete with FedEx, UPS and email has hurt the postal system, and she sees this as “the next step.”
Facing billion-dollar deficits each year since 2007, Donahoe told USA Today that the move makes “common sense” as “America’s mailing habits” change. Packages will still be delivered on Saturdays and post offices will maintain normal Saturday hours.
As long as there are people still delivering the mail and available to discuss any issues, Anje-tte Payne agrees with the decision.
“I’m OK as long as they don’t privatize it and have computers,” said Payne. “I like to deal with people and know your carrier and make sure you get your mail.”
She added that dealing with automation when calling a company is "ridiculous."
Her friend, Jane Fogelson, said it comes down to the amount of money the postal service will save by making the change.
“I think to save that amount of money, we can survive getting mail like a business Monday to Friday because the postage stamps keep on going up and up and up, which is crazy,” said Fogelson. “It’s so expensive. The cost of mailing a letter is increasing so much.”
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