What's the future of the U.S. post office and your mail?
Could mail one day go the way of many pizza chains, where customers can pick it up or pay extra for home delivery?
Will the mail still arrive six days a week? Will the government still be involved?
The Postal Service is facing big questions as it struggles to cope with rising costs and major changes in the way people communicate.
Few doubt there will be adjustments in the U.S., but what those will be remains to be seen.
In 1993, Postmaster General Marvin Runyon drew a barrage of criticism for suggesting mail delivery might be cut to four days a week.
That was a bombshell then, but it’s something postal experts say may still be a possibility.
Already, hiring private delivery contractors is an issue, prompting informational picketing by letter carriers in Florida to protest contracting out new routes in developing areas.
“I think within the next six to eight months the Congress of the United States is going to decide an issue that’s going to determine whether or not we have a reliable, efficient postal service in the future,” said William H. Young, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
“What I’m referring to is the decision that’s been made at the highest levels of the Postal Service to give all the new growth, and the new deliveries that are springing up, to private contractors,” he said.
But such changes may be necessary, says Gene Del Polito, president of the American Association for Postal Commerce, which represents advertising mailers.
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