To get a perfect illustration of what’s happening with the U.S. Postal Service, gaze to the right and check out the Joe Heller cartoon (for those reading online, it depicts a drive-by vandal with a “Cyber Club” demolishing a mailbox.)

We’ve entered the post-post office era, with traditional service becoming yet another victim of the advancements in information technology.

For many Americans, a trip to the mailbox has become uneventful. E-mail is preferred over the personal letter. Bills are paid online. Private businesses have snatched a large share of parcel deliveries.

The number of pieces of mail plummeted by 36 billion from 2006 to 2009. The service is projected to lose $7 billion this year. Those declines are predicted to continue.

In response, the Postal Service is asking Congress to allow it to drop Saturday service, which would save an estimated $40 billion over the next decade. That isn’t enough to stave off future shortfalls, but it’s a sensible start.

Direct marketers back the move, because they don’t want to see sharp rate increases. But that might be necessary, too, along with cutting delivery days even more. Don’t be surprised if service is reduced to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the near future.

For many people, especially the elderly and those in rural areas with poor Internet service, the Postal Service remains very important. But adhering to a six-day schedule would hasten the demise of the agency. The projected deficit for the next 10 years is $238 billion. A government bailout is out of the question, given the overall federal deficit.

According to the Postal Service’s polling, most respondents are willing to accept five-day delivery, especially if it heads off a request for taxpayer dollars or higher stamp prices.

Last fall, Postal Regulatory Commission Chairwoman Ruth Goldway told Congress that “reducing service is detrimental to mail growth and to public perception of the value of the mail system.”

No, it’s a sane reaction to the decline in value Americans have placed on traditional mail delivery. Because of e-mail, texting and online social networks, there just aren’t that many urgent items landing in mailboxes these days.

There was a time when mail was delivered twice a day and on Sundays. There was a time when it was delivered on horseback.

But times change, and so must the service.