WASHINGTON – Already mocked by some as “snail mail,” first-class U.S. mail will slow even more by next spring under plans by the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service to eliminate more than 250 processing centers. Nearly 30,000 workers would be laid off, too, as the post office struggles to respond to a shift to online communication and bill payments.
The cuts are part of $3 billion in reductions aimed at helping the agency avert bankruptcy next year. They would virtually eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day, a change in first-class delivery standards that have been in place since 1971.
The plan technically must await an advisory opinion from the independent Postal Regulatory Commission, slated for next March. But that opinion is nonbinding, and only substantial pressure from Congress, the business community or the public might deter far-reaching cuts.
LOCAL EFFECT
Included in the plan is a proposed closure of the mail-processing center on Pine Street in Tacoma and moving its functions to Seattle.
The service says such a change will improve efficiency by making use of the underused Seattle facility while closing the Tacoma center. The post office that shares the Tacoma processing center would remain open.
Ernie Swanson, a regional spokesman for the Postal Service, said Monday that no final decision has been made on the Tacoma processing facility. The processing facilities facing closure in Western Washington besides Tacoma are Everett and Olympia’s distribution facility in Tumwater. In Eastern Washington, it’s Wenatchee and Pasco. Operations in each region would be consolidated in Seattle and Spokane, respectively.
Swenson said the process for deciding what facilities to close is still ongoing. Tacoma and Olympia residents had until last week to make a comment on plans to close their facilities. Local postal officials will make a recommendation to the regional office in Denver. That office will then make its own recommendation to postal service headquarters in Washington, D.C. A decision should be announced by March. If it is approved, it will likely take several more months before it is implemented.
“What we announced today was change in service standards that would basically eliminate overnight delivery of first-class mail,” Swenson said, a change that is predicated on closing about half of the country’s mail processing centers.
WHY NOW?
At a news briefing in Washington, postal vice president David Williams said the post office needs to move quickly to cut costs as it seeks to stem five years of red ink amid steadily declining mail volume. First-class mail volume is 78 billion per year, down from a peak of 104 billion in 2001. It is projected to drop by roughly half by 2020.
The agency already has announced a 1-cent increase in first-class mail to 45 cents beginning Jan. 22.
Williams said in certain narrow situations, first-class mail might still be delivered the next day – if, for example, newspapers, magazines or other bulk mailers are able to meet new, tighter deadlines and drop off shipments directly at the processing centers that remain open.
But in the vast majority of cases, everyday users of first-class mail will see delays. The changes could slow everything from check payments to Netflix’s DVDs-by-mail, add costs to mail-order prescription drugs and even threaten the existence of newspapers and time-sensitive magazines delivered by postal carrier to far-flung suburban and rural communities.
The Postal Service faces imminent default – this month – on a $5.5 billion annual payment to the Treasury for retiree health benefits and expects to have a record loss of $14.1 billion next year.
“Are we writing off first-class mail? No,” Williams said. “Customers are making their choices, and what we are doing is responding to the current market conditions and placing the Postal Service on a path to allow us to respond to future changes. We have to do what’s in our control to put the Postal Service on solid financial ground.”
WHAT WOULD CHANGE
The cuts would close 252 of the nation’s 461 mail processing centers beginning next spring. They would result in the elimination of roughly 28,000 jobs. Because the consolidations typically would lengthen the distance mail travels from post office to processing center, the agency also would lower delivery standards.
Currently, first-class mail is supposed to be delivered to homes and businesses within the continental U.S. in one to three days. That would lengthen to two to three days, meaning mailers no longer could expect next-day delivery in surrounding communities. Periodicals could take two to nine days.
About 42 percent of first-class mail is now delivered the following day. An additional 27 percent arrives in two days, about 31 percent in three days and less than 1 percent in four to five days. Following the change next spring, about 51 percent of all first-class mail is expected to arrive in two days, with most of the remainder delivered in three days.
The Postal Service initially announced in September it was studying the possibility of closing the processing centers and published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comments. Within 30 days, the plan elicited nearly 4,400 public comments, mostly in opposition.
The Postal Service, an independent agency of government, does not receive tax money, but is subject to congressional control on major aspects of its operations. The changes in first-class mail delivery could go into place without permission from Congress.
Ruth Goldway, chairwoman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, said the commission will be reviewing the proposal closely to ensure that the Postal Service can continue its mission of providing adequate, effective service in a fair manner to all parts of the U.S.
The News Tribune’s Kathleen Cooper and John Gillie contributed to this report.
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