Does government shutdown threaten mail delivery?

October 2 2013

Anyone who follows the news or has a social media account is by now aware that the U.S. Government has shut down. However, there is still much confusion around what is actually going to happen now as Congress tries to get things back on track.

For instance, what happens to the United States Postal Service if the government is shutdown? Since 1971, the USPS has created its own revenue and does not rely on Congressional appropriations, which means it will remain open even though the shutdown is in effect. That is according to a recent article from Lexology.

While that is good news, it does raise the question, what would happen if the mailing industry was to shut down? The article took a guess. First up, any business that sends bills through the mail would be out of luck when it comes to collecting that revenue.

"Mail order businesses and local businesses that rely on advertising mail would also be hurt, and subscribers wouldn't get their magazines and newspapers," the article reads. "Even though the impact would be less severe now than in 1995-1996 – when we had a 21 day Government shutdown – it would still have a huge negative impact on the economy."

Because of this, it may make more sense for a company to start relying on a local courier service instead of the USPS to handle its mailing needs. This way no government shutdown can threaten to halt delivery of critical packages and sensitive information through the mail.