U.S. Postal Service looks to close nearly 700 offices
By Sean P. Aune
Things are getting so bad with the United States Postal Service that it is now having to look at closing physical offices.
Last week we reported on how the U.S. Postal Service is removing over 100,000 drop boxes, and now comes the news that it may close 677 offices after the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
There are currently 32,741 post office locations around the United States of America, and in an effort to cut costs, 3,200 offices were examined for efficiency, customer service, mail volume and more factors has now been cut down to 677 potential closings and consolidations. You can see if your local office is on the post office closings list (PDF link) that has been submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission, but this may not be the final line-up of the ones that will close, more may be cut from it before closures begin on Oct. 2. It is estimated that any office closure will take up to 60 days to be final.
All of this was prompted by the fact that the organization is projected to have a loss of $7 billion dollars when the fiscal year closes out on Sept. 30. The postal service has already found ways to cut 150,000 employees since 2000, cut thousands of low performing drop boxes, frozen pay and raises and is lobbying congress to allow them to cut mail delivery from six days a week to five. This is after there was even a price increase in postal rates back in May, but it was not enough to stem the tide of losses for the service.
While many people are blaming email for the decline of 213 billion pieces of mail in 2006 to a projected 170 billion in 2010, there is also the fact that many companies are cutting out printed catalogs in an effort to cut costs of printing and mailing. Of course one can also say cutting services isn’t going to make people that much more likely to use the service when it is made that much more inconvenient for customers. Can you find a postal drop box? Can you find an open post office? Will it be delivered before the service is shut down for two days each week? That is a lot of factors to consider when you could just send an email or a text.
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August 4th, 2009
We are surprised? The USPS needs to scale itself to the reality of the mail volumes.
We already don’t get door to door mail delivery on a Sunday. Would the worldstop turning if we didn’t receive a door to door mail delivery on Saturday also? Everything that WOULD have been delivered on Saturday is going to be delivered on Monday, so it’s not like you aren’t going to get something.
Many of us have moved to electronic delivery of bill payments, so we aren’t putting our bills with checks into the mail anyway. And it seems almost every service I use that mails me a statement or bill or whatever wants me to move to electronic delivery, so as more and more of us take advantage of such the volume of mail is going to continue to decline.
Closing drop boxes? Honestly, for me, I could care less. Close all of them that aren’t already on a mail carrier delivery route for pickup on their way back to the facility from doing door to door deliveries. And they could reduce the number of times each remaining drop box is checked.
I don’t know if USPS does it, but FedEx has saved millions in fuel costs but adjusting their routes to minimize left turns. It’s amazing how much fuel they save by their big delivery vehicles not sitting in left turn lanes waiting for the light to change.
August 4th, 2009
In many other countries the mail gets delivered Monday to Friday, and has for a very long time. I’m sure it won’t be the end of the world if the USPS follows suite.
August 5th, 2009
DavidB, that was UPS who minimized left turns. FedEx probably followed, but UPS was the originator of that aspect of route optimization.
August 6th, 2009
@JohnJ:
OK. Cool. I wasn’t aware UPS instituted it, but I iddn’t say it was a FedEx invention. I just know they do it because I have a friend who drives for them. The point being though, USPS is WAY behind the power curve on efficiency of operation…
August 6th, 2009
My mail carrier doesn’t pick up my mail. I called the office the other day and they say they will ‘look into that’ I hope I will get mu mail now.
but seriously, how many time you waited in line at the post office for more then 1/2 an hour…
those guys brought it on them….sorry