To curb estimated deficits in revenue, the U.S. Postal Service may discontinue Saturday delivery service, cut down on overtime, raise postal rates, and layoff about 30,000 of its 596,000 employees. A recent article on Reuters.com highlighted an announcement on precisely that subject by USPS CFO Joseph Corbet.

The recent proliferation of private delivery companies and the surging popularity of electronic communications are expected to reduce the volume of first class mail in 2010 by 10 billion pieces. By 2020, mail volume is expected to drop by 37 percent, leaving the UPSP with a potential revenue shortfall of $ 238 billion by that time. No level of debt management would make so much as a dent in a shortfall like that.

Constant losses

Since 2007, the postal service has posted losses. Just last month, the first quarter of the fiscal year revealed a loss of $ 297 million. Competition from Federal Express and United Parcel Service, along with the number of stores selling stamps and other mail services, might shutter post offices.

Retiree health benefits

The same Reuter’s article highlighted that the Postal Service might be unable to meet an upcoming obligation of $ 6.6 billion this coming fall required to cover workers’ compensation liabilities and to fund retiree health plans. Similar payments were restructured by Congress last year, but there are no assurances that the same legislative leniency will be forthcoming this year.

PRC chair Ruth Y. Goldway

The chair of the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) Ruth Y. Goldway is not for cutting Saturday mail service. A recent post on CBSnews.com, Goldway believes that cutting Saturday delivery would threaten the monopoly status of the postal service and undermine “the vitality of the mail system.”

John E. Potter, Postmaster General

Possibly as a strategy to obtain other concessions, Postmaster General John E. Potter is pushing to eliminate Saturday service. CBSnews.com suggests that Potter may believe Congress and the PRC are more likely to relieve the USPS from its government-mandated obligations to provide health benefits for retirees rather than agree to a reduction in service days.

Postal customers

It is certain that a postage rate increase will take place. The USPS has legal loopholes that allow for greater than inflation increase in certain situations. This would probably qualify as an extraordinary circumstance by most criteria. Bear in mind that the U.S. postage rates are among the lowest in the world. By the same token, if you’ll be making any bulk mailings in the near future, the anticipated price hike is one more good reason to keep same day cash loans in mind.