PRC sets half-year review of five-day delivery schedule

The Postal Regulatory Commission, the oversight body that regulates the financially struggling US Postal Service, has established a nearly six-month-long process for reviewing the possible transition to a five-day weekly delivery schedule.

The schedule will include testimony from the USPS and other stakeholder groups, a discovery period and numerous public hearings. At its conclusion, the PRC will make a recommendation on the possible service change to Congress.

The PRC also said it will conduct a series of public hearings in Las Vegas; Sacramento, CA; Dallas; Memphis; Chicago; Rapid City, SD; and Buffalo, NY.

The USPS asked the PRC to review its 10-year plan for restoring financial stability, which includes a move to five-day delivery, in March. The Postal Service saw a net loss of $3.8 billion for its 2009 fiscal year.