Postal Service Defends Five-Day Delivery Schedule and Cost Savings

In a report delivered to Congress, the U.S. Postal Service asserted that the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) based a recent advisory opinion on a questionable analysis of the potential cost savings that could be achieved by implementing a five-day delivery schedule to street addresses.

The Postal Service has estimated that making the move would yield a net annual cost reduction of $3.1 billion based on extensive market research and financial estimates provided to the PRC March 30, 2010. The PRC issued a nonbinding advisory opinion March 24, 2011 that concluded that transitioning from a six-day delivery schedule to a five-day street delivery schedule would only achieve $1.7 billion in net annual savings.