Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Thursday that he's willing to consider legislation that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to test out five-day mail delivery in several locations around the country.

The Postal Service earlier this month unveiled a set of sweeping reforms aimed at plugging a $238 billion, 10-year deficit. One of those is a switch to five-day delivery, which members of Congress have vehemently opposed since Postmaster General John Potter first suggested it last year. But a new poll finds that a majority of Americans would support the change.

Potter, testifying before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on financial services and general government, described the switch as vital to the Postal Service's future. He acknowledged that it would lead to a drop in mail volume, but said it would still generate $3 billion in annual savings.

"Every survey I've seen, people look upon this as a favorable alternative to raising rates or making other changes to the service," Potter told lawmakers.

Durbin asked Potter if the Postal Service is planning any pilot programs to test five-day delivery; Potter told him current law prohibits any reduction in delivery frequency.

"Well, we make laws," Durbin said. "I'd like to see if those studies hold up when it's actually tested."

The latest study, conducted by USA Today and Gallup, found that most Americans would accept five-day delivery: 58 percent of Americans aged 18-34 said it would be OK, as did nearly 75 percent of those 55 and older. That's in spite of the fact that older Americans are far more likely to use the mail: 87 percent of the 55-and-older respondents said they mailed a letter or bill in the last two weeks, compared with just 37 percent of the 18-to-34 group.

"I think [older Americans] do value the service enough and understand what it would mean not having the service," Postal Service spokeswoman Joanne Veto said. "I think that's a much more shocking scenario to them than losing one day of having the mail delivered to their door."

Ruth Goldway, chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, says the Postal Service's 10-year plan, made public this month, emphasizes cutting services instead of developing new products. The commission will hold hearings on the proposals and possible alternatives.

"If it's true that younger people value that Saturday delivery, and we want younger people to maintain some use of the mail, should we remove the service they seem to value most?" she asked.

No age group favored raising stamp prices to generate revenue for the Postal Service or closing local post office branches entirely to save money. The Postal Service wants to pursue both options: It's planning a substantial rate increase in 2011, and Potter wants Congress to allow the Postal Service to close post offices for economic reasons.

Despite Durbin's support for pilot programs, five-day delivery — especially on a nationwide scale — still faces opposition from many members of Congress.

"I need to see a compelling case that reduced delivery will not reduce volume significantly and put the Postal Service into a death spiral," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Overall, 87 percent of Americans rated the Postal Service's performance "excellent" or "good," while 10 percent rated its services as "fair" and 3 percent as "poor."

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USA Today's Donna Leinwand contributed to this report.