U.S. Postal Service Announces Facility Closures

At least 223 mail processing facilities will close or be consolidated later this year, according to an article on the Washington Post.

The U.S. Postal Service said Thursday that the closings would be part of a three-year, $15 billion cost-savings plan.

The consolidations will affect three sites in Virginia, at Lynchburg, Norfolk and Roanoke. However, there has been discussion in the past that the post office in downtown Leesburg might also close.

Last November, during an input meeting at the Rust Library.

Communications Program Specialist Laura Dvorak said that a number of post offices throughout the nation would be facing possible closure following a rapid adoption of electronic communication and diversions as people choose to do their banking online. The economic recession was also a concern. 

Those in attendance argued that the E Market Street location was convenient to the downtown business area and a better choice than the nearby Catoctin location.

“From my visits to the Catoctin Post Office it is already over utilized,” said Leesburg resident Robert Brown. “With the growth here I think this post office is going to be needed.”

On Thursday, Feb. 23, Corporate Communications Manager George T. Maffett Jr. said in an email that the study for the Leesburg Downtown Post Office is on hold until May, after the moratorium expires.

As for other facilities, USPS could eventually operate a delivery network with fewer than 200 processing facilities. The closures could mean the loss of as many as 35,000 mail-processing jobs, mostly through attrition, as part of a broader goal of trimming 150,000 positions by next year. The cutbacks mean USPS will no longer guarantee overnight delivery of some first-class mail.

Read the full article on the Washington Post.