The people we mail to are OK with no Saturday delivery
Nonprofit mailers, if you're worried that your mail will be missed in a five-day delivery week, a recent survey suggests otherwise, though there are associations that believe a reduced delivery schedule will hurt their industries.
The US Postal Service announced in early February its intention to eliminate Saturday delivery. A survey taken shortly after that announcement by market research company IPSOS showed there is all-around support for the move, especially if it means the service will become financially stable, reported the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers.
Surveys taken before the announcement showed there already was public support for dropping Saturday service, in the 67 percent to 71 percent range. But when adding that the plancontinues "package" delivery on Saturday, support increased by 10 percent, the IPSOS survey found.
Concerns in Congress that non-Saturday delivery would hurt those living in rural areas, rural support for the plan was 76 percent. Elderly support, another demographic some in Congress believe would be adversely affected by the move, was very high - 83 percent for those 55 and older.
What about donors? The IPSOS survey found those with incomes less than $50,000 supported eliminating Saturday service by 78 percent; above $50,000 support was 82 percent.
When respondents were informed the move will help allow the Postal Service to become financially stable, support jumped to 86 percent of those surveyed. ANM adds a caveat that the move itself would not make USPS stable.
Congress must still approve the USPS plan, or determine if the service even has the authority to make the decision, as some have questioned.
In the meantime, the Postal Service released more details about the five-day delivery schedule. The plan includes no Saturday delivery except Express Mail and packages. The term “packages” will include Express Mail, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail parcels, Standard Post (formerly parcel post), and Parcel Select.
The Postal Service will not deliver market dominant packages - Bound Printed Matter, Marketing Parcels, and Media Mail - on Saturday.
There will be no Saturday blue-box collection mail pick up, but post offices that are currently open on Saturday will remain open with their current hours, with delivery to all post office boxes. Remittance Mail (P.O. Box addressed) will continue to be available 7 days a week.
Several associations do not like the plan.
National Newspaper Association elected president Merle Baranczyk, publisher of the Mountain Mail in Salida, Colo., said dropping newspaper delivery on Saturday "is an indication USPS is moving further and further away from the universal service the American public expects."
Greeting Card Association also found the plan troubling. "There are better options that address the USPS financial crisis other than eliminating Saturday service, which is short-sighted and self-defeating," the association stated on its website.
