Postal Service To Keep Saturday Mail Delivery

The United States Postal Service has backed off a plan to stop Saturday mail delivery, citing lack of cooperation from Congress, ABC News reports. 

The USPS Board of Governors said restrictive language prevents it from going ahead with the plan to eliminate Saturday delivery of mail by Aug. 1, according to a USPS statement.

"The Board continues to support the transition to a new national delivery schedule. Such a transition will generate approximately $2 billion in annual cost savings and is a necessary part of a larger five-year business plan to restore the Postal Service to long-term financial stability," according to the USPS statement. 

In February, USPS said its current business model of delivery mail six days a week is no longer sustainable and must change to remain an integral part of the American community.. 

A Rasmussen poll on mail delivery in 2012 showed “Three-out-of-four Americans (75%) would prefer the U.S. Postal Service cut mail delivery to five days a week rather than receive government subsidies to cover ongoing losses.”

A USA Today/Gallup poll in 2010 found the majority of U.S. residents surveyed were ok with eliminating Saturday delivery. The March 2010 telephone survey of 999 adults revealed people age 55 and older were more likely than younger people to have used the mail to pay a bill or send a letter in the past two weeks.