U.S. Postal Service Cancels Saturday Mail Delivery

We want to know: How will the Post Office's latest announcement affect you and your business?

The U.S. Postal Service Wednesday morning announced it will eliminate Saturday delivery of mail by Aug. 1. The current six-days-per-week mail delivery business model is “no longer sustainable,” according to the U.S. Postal Service. Continued economic struggles and the increasing use of the Internet for communications and bill paying by consumers are among the key factors that lead to the decision. Saturday is also the lightest mail day of the week. “We must change in order to remain an integral part of the American community for decades to come,” reads a message on the U.S. Postal Service website. The majority American’s don’t seem to mind whether they get Saturday mail delivered or not. A Rasmussen poll on mail delivery in 2012 showed “…

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What Are the New Postage Rates?

Stamps and Priority Mail service prices went up Sunday, and a new worldwide stamp is now available. So how much is a stamp today? Here's a handy list of the new rates from the U.S. Postal Service.

The cost of sending most letters and packages jumped slightly Sunday when the U.S. Postal Service upped its rates to help cover the costs of delivering the mail. Forever Stamps, the ones that remain good despite future postal rate increases, will increase to 46 cents. Here's a rundown of price increases: The USPS will also introduce a new First-Class Mail Global Forever Stamp. The stamp allows people to mail letters anywhere in the world for $1.10. In addition, several new shipping services products will be available in January. Free tracking will be offered to all packages, including retail Priority Mail and Parcel Post. Priority Mail rates also will see an increase. The new rates are as follows:   Find your nearest Post Office:

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What Do You Think of the Post Office? How Would You Fix It?

Is there a solution to the declining revenues of the U.S. Postal Service. Is it an agency that still is viable?

People tend to have strong opinions of the post office, or more properly, the United States Postal Service.  From crabby clerks in the post offices themselves, to the love expressed for the individual letter carrier, there are strong feelings for the agency called on to carry the nation's mail. There has been discussion of dropping one day of mail delivery as the Postal Service struggles to cope with declining revenue from the services it provides. Email has all but replaced regular letter writing, leading fewer people to buy postage stamps, which always seem to inch up in price. There has even been talk locally of closing post offices such as the one in Maplewood. Missouri U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill have sponsored …

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Harold Clifton

7:15 am on Thursday, October 25, 2012

At least once a week, my mail goes to the wrong address, and "sometimes" I get it sometimes I don't. I say lets start running the Post Office and the goverment as a business. If they don't make a profit. FIRE some people,,CUT cost, Or CLOSE it down. With the internet, smartphones, tablets. I really don't see a need for the Post Office. If I ran my company like the post office, I would be out of …   more ›

Talk of the Town

Talk of the Town: Emmys, Obama's Job Plan and Brazilian Snake Smuggling

"Patch" brings you a local look at national news. What stories are you following this week?

From entertainment news covering sports and the Emmys, to political talk of Obama's job plan, to news of the weird, such as the Brazilian man who tried to smuggle snakes and turtles into the U.S. in his pants earlier this week, Affton and Shrewsbury workers share the news they are following. “I was following the Emmys. I didn’t watch it, but I followed them on Yahoo… Two and A Half Men was up for an Emmy, and I was surprised to see Charlie Sheen. I was like, ‘Ooh, what’s he going to say?’ but he acted normal. I was surprised.”–Anita Terry, Affton “I know a lot of people follow the economy news. It seems like all people are talking about lately here. I wish I had the answers.”–Mel V., South County “What did Obama just sign off on? The $3 …

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Special Delivery: Affton Post Offices to Survive USPS Closure Review

The US Postal Service announced today it will consider closing thousands of branches.

In a move designed to streamline operations and save money, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will review more than 3,600 branches nationwide to decide which ones to close. The post offices in Affton and Shrewsbury are not on the list of branches under review that the USPS released today. The following locations will stay open:  St. Louis branches that are under review are: A spokeswoman for the USPS in St. Louis told Patch the study covers retail branches only, and stressed that delivery is not under review. “Customers have shown us that they no longer need a brick-and-mortar post office,” Valerie Hughes, USPS spokeswoman, said. She pointed to the USPS’s automated postal centers, mobile apps and online services and as well as …

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