After years of losing billions of dollars as a result of declining mail, the U.S. Postal Service announced this week that by August, there would no longer be Saturday mail delivery. The service would continue delivering packages – the number of packages sent has actually been increasing now that consumption is picking up – on the weekends, but mail delivery would not.
This is another change in an attempt to cut costs. The USPS increased the price of stamps last month, and has been closing and cutting back hours in offices, some to as little as two hours a day. While these moves, along with the new five-day delivery week, are expected to keep the company alive and able to deliver mail, it could also pose some problems for those that rely on the USPS. Residents of rural areas that have to travel farther to reach offices now that there are fewer options, as well as businesses that rely on Saturday mailings may be making some adjustments before the August deadline of the six-day mail delivery week.
But something else that this announcement suggests is simply the way people and businesses communicate. Since so many already rely on email and other forms of online communication, having fewer mail options will likely encourage others to do the same. Offices especially that have large quantities of paper documents may begin turning to scanning companies to adjust to the current changes, as well as to better adapt for any future mail-related alterations.
Tab Service Company is a leading provider of document scanning and data entry services. As an SOC2-approved service organization, we apply industry-best practices to our approach with clients.