Editorials / Opinion

Postal service is responding to digital age reasonably

Members of the National Association of Letter Carriers and American Postal Workers Union protest cutting Saturday mail delivery February 18, 2013 in Chicago, Ill. The United States Postal Service has announced that they plan to end Saturday mail delivery on August 5th. (JOHN GRESS/GETTY IMAGES)

The recent letter to the editor, “U.S. Postal Service to end Saturday delivery,” [Northwest Voices, Feb. 27] provides information that needs clarification.

Individuals who receive their mail at a post office box will continue to receive all of their mail Monday through Saturday. Post offices that currently are open on Saturday will continue to be open.

The U.S. Postal Service is not closing post offices. We are reducing the hours of retail operation at about 13,100 post offices around the country.

We appreciate the writer’s thoughtful suggestions and point to our successes along those very same lines.

Due to the digital revolution, Americans mailing habits have changed. Today, four out of 10 postage stamps will be sold at drugstores and grocery stores, such as Fred Meyer and QFC in the Seattle area, to help meet the demands of today’s busy consumer.

People do have a say in what the U.S. Postal Service decides. They have said so already with their changing use of the mailbox in the digital age. Our stewardship of the Postal Service requires us to deliver a reasonable, responsible action plan to meet that use.

–Yul Melonson, Seattle district manager, United States Postal Service