The Postal Service says it is considering closing more than 1 in 10 of its retail outlets nationwide. The financially-troubled agency announced that it will study 3,653 local offices, branches and stations for possible closing. But many of those may be replaced by Post Offices in which postal services are offered in local stores, libraries or government offices.”It’s no secret that the Postal Service is looking to change the way we do a lot of things,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said at a briefing. “We do feel that we are still relevant to the American public and the economy, but we have to make some tough choices.”
Currently the post office operates 31,871 retail outlets across the country, down from 38,000 a decade ago, but in recent years business has declined sharply as first-class mail moved to the Internet. In addition, the recession resulted in a decline in advertising mail, and the agency lost $8 billion last year.
Other options the Postal Service is considering include cutting delivery service back to three days a week, eliminating Saturday mail delivery and even outsourcing USPS services to third parties.
Most of the offices that face review are in rural areas and have low volumes of business. As many as 3,000 post offices have only two hours of business a day even though they are open longer, said postal vice president Dean Granholm.
Coming under review doesn’t necessarily mean an office will close. The post office announced in January it was reviewing 1,400 offices for closing.
So far 280 have been closed and 200 have finished the review process and will remain open.
Once an office is selected for a review, people served by that office will have 60 days to file their comments. If an office is to be closed, they will be able to appeal to the independent Postal Regulatory Commission.
“This is bitter medicine, but changed times call for a changed Postal Service. With mail volumes declining at a dizzying rate, we need a Postal Service that is leaner, more efficient and less expensive,” said Art Sackler, chairman of the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, a mailing industry group. “The closure of a post office can be difficult, but these avenues must be explored to ensure that the Postal Service and the 8 million private sector jobs that rely on it are able to survive, and that the economy as a whole doesn’t take yet another disruptive blow.
{WJLA.com/Matzav.com Newscenter}
