WASHINGTON (CBSDC) — The U.S. Postal Service is discontinuing delivery of first class mail on Saturdays by Aug. 1. Priority mail and packages will still be delivered six days per week.

The move is expected to save the financially struggling agency roughly $2 billion annually.

While delivery of traditional mail has declined steadily, the shipment of packages has risen by 14 percent since 2010, the Associated Press reports.

Under the plan, which will be formally announced later Wednesday, Saturday delivery to post office boxes will continue. In addition, those post offices currently offering Saturday hours will continue to operate on a six-day schedule.

The Postal Service has long eyed five-day mail delivery, but has been unsuccessful in changing operations until this point. It is not immediately clear how the agency will cease Saturday deliveries without congressional approval.

Nearly seven in 10 Americans are in favor of the move as a cost-cutting measure, according to an AP report.

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