Saturday delivery to and collections from street addresses will be eliminated, except delivery of Express Mail. The number of rural routes is expected to be minimally impacted. The Saturday workload can be absorbed by making territory adjustments and re-evaluating routes.
Rural delivery route classifications will be modified to handle the Saturday volume workload that will be spread Monday through Friday, and to ensure that carriers can meet their leave and return times. Other work, such as fixed office time on Saturday, will be eliminated. The cost to plan and implement rural route adjustments will be about $4.8 million.
Some contractual changes will be necessary. The National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA) agreement contains requirements that are triggered when there is a change in the number of delivery days. The effects of five-day delivery on rural carriers will be negotiated by the Postal Service and the NRLCA.
Local offices will need to update scheduled collection pickup times.
Eliminating Saturday delivery and collections will necessitate revisions to delivery handbooks, operating manuals, forms and management policies, as well as a number of support systems. Reviews are under way to identify those changes. It is expected the changes can be made within required timeframes to support five-day operational changes.
