The United States Postal Service is about to make changes.
They have been financially-troubled for a while and are now expected to announce changes today that would add to your first-class delivery time. To save money, they want to stop delivering first-class mail by the next day .
These changes are being proposed due to the fact that the U.S. Postal Service is facing possible bankruptcy plans. They need to outline an estimated $3 billion in cuts today and fast delivery of first class mail is likely to be a casualty.
The cuts could slow everything from check payments to Netflix’s DVDs-by-mail, add costs to mail-order prescription drugs, and threaten the existence of newspapers and time-sensitive magazines delivered by postal carriers.
One analyst suggests the changes will only increase the shift away from mail to alternatives like the Internet.
The cuts would close roughly 250 of the nearly 500 mail processing centers. The Postal Service already has announced a 1-cent increase in first-class mail to 45 cents in January.
After five years in the red, the post office faces imminent default this month on a $5.5 billion annual payment to the U.S. Treasury for retiree health benefits.
Full congressional action doesn’t appear likely anytime soon.
The U.S Post Office is expected to face a record loss of $14.1 billion by 2012.
Most customers get their mail one day after it’s mailed. The national standard is one to three days.
Today’s proposal would change that standard to two to five days.
It would also take longer for customers to receive their magazine subscriptions.
The Postal Service can make those changes without getting permission from Congress.
Administrators are also moving forward with consolidation plans.
The agency wants to merge half of its mail processing plants around the country, including the facility inside the Main Post Office in Lakeland.
Lakeland’s mail processing plant is slated to shut down by March. The U.S. Post Office says the move will save $6.5 billion a year.
