Mt. Vernon Register-News

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February 9, 2013

Saturday mail deliveries to stop

By RORYE O'CONNOR rorye.oconnor@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — — The U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday that it will make a shift to its mail delivery schedule, ending street delivery on Saturdays nationwide.

The change will go into affect the week of Aug. 5, 2013, according to a release from the U.S. Postal Service.

Mt. Vernon Postmaster Gary Rightnowar said he could not comment on the changes to the delivery schedule.  

Valerie Welsch, spokesperson for the Gateway District of the U.S. Postal Service, said she expects no layoffs to come from the reduced street delivery schedule, though she said non-replacements may occur.

"The Postal Service is currently working to define what the employee impacts will be," she said. "They are working with unions and bargaining associations, and they will follow the bargaining agreements. We do expect through a combination of employee reassignment and attrition, we'll be able to place all employees while achieving a cost savings of $2 billion annually."

Welsch said nationwide, P.O. boxes will still receive mail on Saturday, and parcels and packages will still be delivered on Saturdays as well.

"If a post office location was already open on Saturdays, it will continue to remain open," she said. "Customers will be able to buy stamps and deliver mail. It's just the street addresses that won't receive mail, but they will receive packages."

The postal service has advocated switching to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages for the past several years, information states, but a 14 percent volume increase in package delivery since 2010 and projections of strong package growth through the coming decade led to the revised approach to maintain package delivery six days per week.

"Our customers see strong value in the national delivery platform we provide and maintaining a six-day delivery schedule for packages is an important part of that platform," said Patrick R. Donahoe, USPS postmaster general and CEO in a press release. "As consumers increasingly use and rely on delivery services - especially due to the rise of e-commerce - we can play an increasingly vital role as a delivery provider of choice, and as a driver of growth opportunities for America's businesses."

 

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TESA GLASS/REGISTER-NEWS
Mt. Vernon Police blocked a portion of North Ninth Street Wednesday morning about 11 a.m. after reports the brick facade of the apartment building at the corner of Ninth and Maple streets was falling to the ground. The bricks took out cable lines, awnings and were landing on the street.