Mail Processing Facility Could Close

Faced with financial difficulties, the U.S. Postal Service is considering closing or consolidating nearly 250 processing facilities, including the one in the in Cartersville.

Yesterday, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced a sweeping plan aimed at saving the agency $3 billion per year.

According to , the approximate 20 workers employed by the local processing facility would not lose their jobs, but be relocated or reassigned, while Cartersville mail would be processed in Duluth.

But as many as 35,000 employees across the country could lose their jobs as a result of processing center closures and consolidations; the Postal Service also is looking at closing 3,700 post offices, but none in Cartersville or Bartow County.

Spokesman Michael Miles said the local facility processes about 400,000 pieces of mail per day for Cartersville and 21 other nearby ZIP codes, employing 22 people, some of which are not salaried employees.

"Any career employee who is impacted by a consolidation or closure will be  addressed according to the rules of their union's collective bargaining agreement," he said.

A final decision on closure is expected early next year. 

“Our employees continue to do a terrific job for our customers and are among the most dedicated workforce anywhere. These are difficult times and our announcement today does not reflect on their commitment to service,” Donahoe added in the statement.

Officials say the Postal Service's massive nationwide infrastructure is no longer financially sustainable, and in addition to possible consolidations and closures, the agency will consider reducing mail processing equipment by as much as 50 percent, dramatically decreasing the nationwide transportation network and revising service standards for first-class mail.

“We are forced to face a new reality today,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a press release. “First-Class Mail supports the organization and drives network requirements. With the dramatic decline in mail volume and the resulting excess capacity, maintaining a vast national infrastructure is no longer realistic.

"Since 2006, we have closed 186 facilities, removed more than 1,500 pieces of mail processing equipment, decreased employee complement by more than 110,000 through attrition and reduced costs by $12 billion.”

Mail volume has declined by more than 43 billion pieces in the past five years and is continuing to decline. First-class mail has dropped 25 percent and single piece first-class mail—letters bearing postage stamps—has declined 36 percent in the same time frame and nearly 50 percent in the past 10 years. The decline has created substantial excess capacity within the postal processing network.

The mail processing network was constructed to process and deliver first-class mail within a one- to three-day window depending on where the mail is sent and delivered. With the proposed change, the new service standard would become two to three days, meaning that on average, customers would no longer receive mail the day after it was mailed. If implemented, the change in service standards would allow for significant infrastructure changes to be made across the nation.