USPS closures continue

Post Office Continues to Make News 022912

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has announced that the USPS is going to close or merge 223 mail distribution centers and lay off 35,000 postal workers.  The Postal Service has laid off over 140,000 workers in the last five years, but still retains over 650,000. 

The Postal Service is losing billions of dollars annually, and that number could climb to nearly $20 billion a year by 2020 if something isn’t done.  The PO complains that email, pay by computer, and a reduction in “junk mail” have hurt the agency.  Stamped mail has decreased by 50% in the last decade, and 2006 was the peak year for mail.  The PS simply doesn’t need the capacity it currently has.

Congress controls key aspects of the system, and some analysts note that closures won’t occur until after the legislature decides whether changes to USPS could save it and prevent the closures.  Eventually, if nothing happens, “thousands” of post offices could close.

Of the 223 distribution center closing, the most, 14, are in California.

Plans to move the Reno distribution center to Sacramento have been scrapped, and so far, no local post offices are going to close.  However, that could all change later in the year.