Thursday, September 15, 2011

Our Future Network

In a major announcement, the Postal Service today unveiled big changes in the way we handle mail.

Proposals under consideration include studying nearly 250 processing facilities for possible consolidation or closure, reducing mail processing equipment by as much as 50 percent, dramatically decreasing the nationwide transportation network, adjusting the workforce size by as many as 35,000 positions, and revising service standards for First-Class Mail.

The reason? Mail volume has declined by more than 43 billion pieces in the past 5 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 timeframe, and nearly 50 percent in the past ten years. The decline has created substantial excess capacity within the postal processing network

The entire list of affected facilites can be found  here.

Got an opinion?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't see that any management positions are being abolished...

Anonymous said...

It seems that the Postal Service failed to explain that if they cut Saturday delivery (which should go) and...increase the delivery standard from overnight in your area to 2-3 days. What that means to mailers is that if you mail on Wednesday through Friday your letter will take a total of 6 or 7 days to go across the street.
That really is not customer service. Only Postmaster Donahoe sees that as a solution. What does that do to a bill that you mail. Instead of 3-5 days it may take up 7 or more as not all credit card companies may be within one of the few mail processing centers left thus putting them in the 2-3 day delivery standard. I am sure the credit card companies will Love all the late fee's they are able to rack up if this goes through. We have local companies that give you 7-10 days to pay your bill. Most are good but some will charge you if you are late. So if they mail your bill (or anything)on a Thursday...you should get it on a Tuesday at the latest. So you mail it in the next two days....they should have it back the following Monday or Tuesday. It seems that this letter just took 6 days or so to go what use to take 2...if you mailed Monday through Friday in an overnight delivery area.
I think all that will do is encourage people to pay bills online....which will drive down the revenue of the Postal Service even farther.

Look at Netflix...Do you think I am going to subscribe to a service that I can only get one DVD a week from because the other 4 days of the delivery week it is in transit.
Business does not look good under this plan.

Grannybunny said...

I hate that we're having to do this, because I believe that -- rather than not needing all these facilities and employees -- we simply cannot afford to keep them, due to Congress' delays in granting us relief from the future retiree health benefit prepayment and the CSRS and FERS overpayments. We are not just downsizing our network, we are -- for the first time in Postal history -- downgrading our service.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone get the chance to read the USPS morning report? It gives you such a positive, upbeat feeling to get your day started...NOT. I am so tired of all the bad news, and wondering how soon they are going to shut the door permanently on my office, and what I'm going to do when it happens. I can tell my friday is off to a great start.

Anonymous said...

PMG Donahue is just trying to save the Postal Service by looking at the whole picture. I'm sure he doesn't enjoy seeing people lose their jobs. Some of the changes coming might seem drastic, but unfortunately are probably necessary. Have you ever thought that you can just put the check in the mail a day or two earlier?

Anonymous said...

Postmaster General is not helping the postal service.he is going to chase customers away from the usps.This is ridiculous.Not knowing if your job will be gone tommorrow.Used to like working for the postal service, not anymore.

Anonymous said...

People won't put their checks in the mail a day or two earlier, they'll pay them online. We're just shooting ourselves in the foot by closing PO's, processing centers and degrading our delivery standards. I don't know how the PMG thinks this will make us "sustainable" when we won't have any customers.

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't the top 20% of the upper managenent starting with the PMG down take a pay cut (10%-15%)? The bargining non-bargining employees who work the mail and with the customers have already given up a lot and taken on more responsiblity. I am a Postmaster in what most would call sorta small office and have only gotten 2small raises and one okay in 7 years. Pay for performance is a joke. We also do not get COLA's either. They cut my budget so I do not have a cleaner any longer and no snow removal allowance. When I get the propane tank filled every fall there goes my utility budget.

Anonymous said...

We also do our own cleaning in the office's I work in. We wash our own windows, too. I'm a PMR and I am scared. 2 of the post offices I work in already had town meetings about closing. I have 3 kids, one is getting ready for college. I may be out a job and then what?
Why don't they cut hours instead of cutting out days? Shut down each office one hour early or start one hour later.

Anonymous said...

I do my own cleaning and cutting weeds,etc.They could close us on saturdays.My community meeting for my office is in november.this is scary.I wish they would offer early out ,I would probably take it

Anonymous said...

My customers have just received their questionnaires so I don't know the timeline until our community meeting. I also wish they would close us on Saturday or even cut the office hours by 2 hours. Not only do I not want to lose my job, but I hate my customers having to drive 60 miles to buy Money Orders, mail Parcel Post and Media, Express, etc. I kept thinking "someone" would realize they'd made a mistake and take my PO off the List. Apparently not. I agree, this is very scary and also so sad to see this once mighty institution reduced to such a pitiful mess.

Anonymous said...

Our community meeting is tomorrow. Also a one woman office here too. I would agree with cutting a few hours off the day, and saturdays too. At least the customers would still have a post office. If it closes, they will have to go a minumum of 15 miles to another PO. I'm pretty sure they will close me, after I saw the PMG message that he wants to close over 200 plants, I know there is no hope for little rural offices. I'm just not sure what I am going to do after that happens.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your meeting tomorrow. It just breaks my heart to see so many communities hurt by these closures and so many Postmasters, with all their loyalty and dedication, tossed aside. Hang in there and please know that you're not alone in what you're facing.

Anonymous said...

Customers want consistant and reliable service. Now that USPS is going to downgrade service standards, customers will not want to continue to pay. More will be driven to online and ACH (checking) payments, accelerating the demise of USPS.

Anonymous said...

I think the PMG was promoted to his level of incompentence. He is just destroying the Postal Service. Why don't we start charging for all PO Box rents instead of having the no fee ones. Cut wages across the board starting at the top. Charge say ten dollars to each rural delivery point on our rural routes. There are more things that could be done instead of closing the small offices. This is going to drive alot of customers to UPS and FedEx. People are going to get upset about how they are being treated by the Postal Service and they are going to use other modes of delivery for their mail.

Anonymous said...

The PMG has received so many suggestions on how to save money....but he seems to focus only a a couple. A good example, lifing the grandfather clause on relocating delivery boxes. I live in a small town where about 1/3 of the people still have their mail boxes on their houses (no hardship). The OIG report stated they would save millions by requiring the house boxes be moved to the curb. I live in a small rural town and all the avenues have one side of the road marked no parking, yet boxes are on both sides of the street. The carrier must constantly dismount to walk around the blocked boxes...or pass them by because of it being blocked. If we required the customers to move their boxes accross the street...it would take less time for the carrier and this would save money!!