Postal service has no choice

Journal & Courier, Lafayette, Ind.: Will there be some pain once the U.S. Postal Service cuts service on Saturdays? No doubt.

But, honestly, what should Americans expect, long after they dropped shipping much of their everyday correspondence through the postal carrier? The Internet, apparently, is here to stay.

Recently, the U.S. Postal Service laid out a plan that would take delivery from six days a week to five, leaving Saturday without regular mail, starting in August. Package delivery, a post office service seeing gains, would still go to customer doors on Saturdays.

The savings would be about $2 billion each year, postal officials said.

Pressure from federal officials resistant to necessary changes has helped the U.S. Postal Service’s reputation for being slow-footed. But how can a business operate efficiently if it isn’t allowed to adapt?

The postal service is in no position to run a 21st century business under 19th and 20th century models. The loss of Saturday delivery was inevitable because we, as customers, all but demanded it through our declining patronage.