Statement from NRLCA President on Elimination of Six-Day Delivery

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Following today's announcement by United States Postal Service Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association (NRLCA) President Jeanette P. Dwyer released the following statement:

“Today's announcement by Postmaster General Donahoe to eliminate six-day delivery is yet another death knell for the quality service provided by the U.S. Postal Service. For decades, the Postal Service has upheld a personal and professional standard of service, delivering to every household nationwide six days a week. To erode this service will undermine the Postal Service's core mission and is completely unacceptable.

“Saturday mail delivery is an important communication and marketing tool used by millions of citizens and mailers across the country, especially in rural areas that lack broadband Internet access. Many customers rely on the Postal Service to deliver prescription medications, social security checks, and financial statements. Many other citizens and businesses rely on Saturday for the collection of outgoing invoices and materials.

“Since 2006 the Postal Service has been mandated by law to pre-fund future retiree health benefits, a 75-year obligation, in only 10 years. This has left them drowning in red ink. While no other federal agency or business is burdened by such an extreme pre-funding requirement, the Postal Service is shackled and left to fail. Congress must act immediately to rectify this situation, or else risk harming many businesses and individuals and eliminating millions of jobs across the country.

“On February 13, I will testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. In my testimony, I will emphasize the importance of protecting and securing the future of the Postal Service, including the maintenance of six-day delivery as we know it today.”

The NRLCA is an independent union whose members include 104,718 full- and part-time rural letter carriers. Rural carriers deliver mail on 73,461 routes, serving over 40 million customers and driving almost 3.5 million miles each delivery day in all 50 states, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The average route is more than 47 miles long and serves 552 boxes.