Mail, Usps Broke | featured news

The U.S. Postal Service lost $1.3 billion in the October to December quarter, an official said on Friday, days after the beleaguered mail agency announced plans to cut back on Saturday delivery to save money.

The U.S. Postal   Service will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to deliver packages six days a week under a plan aimed at saving about $2 billion annually, the financially struggling agency says.

The Postal Service is set this week to default on a giant payment, the latest blow illustrating Congress' slow progress toward fixing the agency's deep financial woes and one that could damage some customers' confidence.

Think snail mail is too slow? Imagine if it got slower. The U.S. Postal Service could save about $1.5 billion annually if it relaxed its one- to three-day guarantees for First-Class and Priority Mail deliveries by a day, according to a new study. Postal executives are seriously considering the idea and are expected to announce new plans regarding delivery schedules after Labor Day, according to USPS officials.

The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service delivered more bad news Friday, announcing it lost $8.5 billion in the fiscal year that ended in September. Without congressional action to change its obligations, officials said, the Postal Service likely will go broke at the end of fiscal 2011.