NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Snail mail might soon get even slower.
The U.S. Postal Service plans to propose Tuesday an adjusted mail service schedule, which will likely cut Saturday delivery. The agency will also suggest closing some branches and expanding its use of self-service kiosks in grocery stores and other popular retail spots, as part of its effort to work its way out of a mountain of debt.
USPS posted a $3.8 billion loss in its 2009 fiscal year, the latest in a multiyear string of whopping losses. Mail volume was down 12.7% for the year, a trend the agency expects to continue over the next decade as more consumers opt for online bill payments and message delivery.
The Post Office was $10 billion in debt as of Sept. 30 — not far off from its $15 billion debt limit, which the agency expects to hit in its 2011 fiscal year.
Dear USPS: Consider privatizing
The challenges hurting USPS’s bottom line are reflective of a “macro change in society,” Postmaster General Jack Potter said at a press conference Monday previewing the proposed changes. “All posts around the world are challenged, just as we are, by the diversion of hard copy to electronic medium.”
The Post Office, an independent government agency, does not receive taxpayer dollars and is funded entirely by its own revenue. However, the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 constrains the agency’s operations. It prohibits USPS from closing small branches based soled on economic factors, and prevents the agency from expanding its services beyond postal delivery.
Post offices in some countries, including Italy and Japan, have boosted their sales by offering ancillary services, like banking. But unless Congress steps in, USPS cannot expand beyond the postal-mail realm.
