USPS Fearing Bankruptcy; To Look Into Closing North Reading Facility

The U.S. Postal Service announced Dec. 5 that effective in April 2012, first-class mail delivery could slow down and next-day service for stamped mail could be eliminated entirely to save money as the cash-strapped agency teeters near the brink of bankruptcy.

The USPS also plans to shutter more than half of its 461 processing facilities, which are critical for next-day service. David Williams, USPS vice president of network operations, told Reuters the agency expects to trim some 28,000 jobs with the closings.

The USPS is trying to find $20 billion in savings by 2015. Closing the processing facilities is expected to save around $3 billion.

So what does all this mean to you, the citizens of Reading?

For the immediate future, according to one official, not much.

“I don’t expect bankruptcy, and that wouldn’t change the mail and delivery,” said Joe McCarthy, a supervisor at the Reading Post Office.

When asked if he anticipated any slow downs, or interruptions of service for Reading residents soon, McCarthy stated that the coast is clear—at least for now.

“No. Not right now. They mentioned 2012, but we haven’t heard anything more.”

Williams also told Reuters that service standards would not change before April 2012. 

According to the Associated Press, seven Bay State postal processing facilities are slated to be reviewed for closing next year. North Reading is one of them, joining Lowell, Boston, Brockton, Shrewsbury, Waltham and Wareham.

Under the current USPS plan, delivery times for classes of mail such as Priority Mail and Express Mail would not change. However, First Class Mail could take two or three days to reach its destination, instead of the current one to three day period.

The Postal Regulatory Commission will look into the changes and issue a non-binding advisory opinion. 

The USPS is currently hemorrhaging money. The agency lost $5.1 billion in fiscal year 2011, and a loss of $14 billion is expected this year. Twice Congress has moved the deadline for a $5.5 billion payment the USPS claims it can’t afford.

Without any action, the agency says it will run out of money by September of next year.

On Dec. 5, Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) issued a statement urging the passage of postal reform legislation that was introduced last month.

“This situation is less than ideal,” he said in the press release. “The few measures that the Postal Service can adopt on its own – such as closing distribution centers and slowing down first-class mail delivery times – to extend its survival and avoid insolvency will also potentially further erode its declining business.”

Carper teams up with republican Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) in the bipartisan endeavor.

Senator Brown, a graduate of Wakefield High (class of 1977), offered his take on the situation.

“Combined with losses from previous years, it is clear that the Postal Service faces a significant risk of being insolvent by next year,” Brown said in a press release. “Congress will need to act soon to address some of the major financial challenges the Postal Service is facing. The 21st Century Postal Service Act is ready to head to the floor and it’s my hope that it will be called up as soon as possible, so that we can begin to put the Postal Service on a path towards financial solvency.”

Senators Carper, Brown, Lieberman and Collins introduced The 21st Century Postal Service Act in November, but it has yet to clear Congress.

Information from Reuters and the Associated Press was used in this report.