Democrats press Postal Service on delivery savings

By Bernie Becker - 03/18/13 06:02 PM ET

Two Democrats on Capitol Hill are blasting the U.S. Postal Service for pressing ahead with a plan to limit Saturday delivery without turning over figures on how much their plan would save.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) say they have yet to receive savings estimates from the Postal Service, even though they asked the Postmaster General and the Postal Regulatory Commission more than six weeks ago.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has said that the plan to deliver packages six days a week and letters and other pieces of first-class mail five days starting in August would save around $2 billion a year once fully implemented. The service currently loses $25 million a day, and posted a $15.9 billion loss in 2012.

“It’s not responsible to move forward with this drastic plan without knowing if it would even make a substantial difference in dollars saved,” McCaskill said in a statement. “The Postal Service has the data we need, and it’s time for officials there to stop dragging their feet.”

“The postmaster general demands that Congress quickly rubberstamp the elimination of Saturday mail delivery—yet refuses to explain how cost-savings were calculated—apparently expecting Members to evaluate his policy proposal from press materials alone,” Connolly added.

The Postal Regulatory Commission, USPS’s regulator, told McCaskill and Connolly in a letter last week that the Postal Service had not yet asked for an advisory opinion on its modified six-day delivery plan. The PRC has said that completely getting rid of Saturday delivery would save roughly $1.7 billion.

Postal officials have said that the public supports their plan to limit six-day delivery, and that their plan would keep Saturday delivery of one of the agency’s bright spots – packages.

Dave Partenheimer, a USPS spokesman, also said Monday that the attorneys for the agency have met with lawmakers on key committees, and that the Government Accountability Office is currently evaluating the potential savings from the proposed modification.

But skeptics of the plan to limit delivery say the Postal Service would be giving up a competitive advantage, and say a requirement to prepay for future retirees health care is the real reason for the agency’s financial problems.

USPS defaulted on two of those payments, worth a combined $11.1 billion, last year, accounting for more than two-thirds of their losses for the year.

The government spending measure currently being debated in the Senate also has language requiring six-day delivery. But the Postal Service says it believes it can move forward with its plan, and has support on that front from top House Republicans.

This post was updated at 7:06 p.m.