USPS to slash services, raise prices

The good old days are just that as the grand old dame of letter delivery, the United States Postal Service (USPS)  has announced that it will have to curtail services due to financial difficulties.  Priority mail will no longer be priority.

Now that’s potentially bad news for us procrastinators: According to The Associated Press, 42% of first-class mail (FCM) arrives the next day, but when the new changes take effect next spring about half of all FCM will arrive in two days and most remaining letters will take three full days.

Here’s the story from our friends at The Street:

The U.S. Postal Service warned back in September that ongoing financial difficulties could potentially lead to the closing of more than 250 mail-processing facilities, which would precipitate a slowdown of first-class mail delivery. Now it looks like that doomsday scenario will indeed come to pass.

The Postal Service, which posted a $5 billion loss in the 2011 fiscal year resulting from unique pension demands imposed by Congress, unveiled on Monday the details of its proposed billions of dollars in budget cutbacks. In addition to putting thousands of Postal Service employees out of work, it will also mean that the delivery time of stamped first-class mail will be reduced from one to three days to two to three days. In other words, if you need to send a Mother’s Day card or a rent check, you’ll need to allow at least two days for it to arrive.

There’s more bad news by the way: the cost of stamps will also increase next year rising to 45 cents for FCM.  The closures of 3700 additional post offices will be announced as well as the closures of over 200 mail processing facilities from over 400.

Will the changes in the services of the USPS affect you and the way you do business or communicate with others?

Story in blocked text compliments of The Street.

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