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This post office in the Seeger Square Station on St. Paul's east side is one of the many post offices across Minnesota that may close this year. The storefront post office is in a strip mall with a Rainbow Foods, an auto parts store and other businesses.
MPR Photo/Tim Nelson
The neighborhood post office is facing major
changes as postal officials consider closings or consolidating
services at hundreds of locations across the United States.
Click here for a list of Minnesota and North Dakota post offices studied for closure and consolidation
The Postal Service has been struggling with a sharp decline in
mail volume as people and businesses switch to e-mail both for
personal contact and bill paying. The agency is facing a nearly $7
billion potential loss this fiscal year despite a 2-cent increase
in the price of stamps in May, cuts in staff and removal of
collection boxes.
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Post officials sent a list of nearly 700 potential candidates
for closing or consolidation to the independent Postal Regulatory
Commission for review. More may be added, but the current list of
candidates can be viewed at the commission's Web site, www.prc.gov
Some of the offices could be closed while others could have some
of their functions consolidated with other offices.
For example, in
some cases preparing mail for delivery may be shifted from Office A
to nearby Office B, but the first office might still offer such
services as selling stamps and mailing parcels and letters. In
other cases one of the offices might be closed.
Postal Vice President Jordan Small told a congressional
subcommittee that local managers will study activities of
approximately 3,200 stations and branches across the country and
consider factors such as customer access, service standards, cost
savings, impact on employees, environmental impact, real estate
values and long-term Postal Service needs.
No changes are expected before the end of the current fiscal
year on Sept. 30. There are 32,741 post offices.
"We anticipate that out of these 3,200 stations and branches,
under 1,000 offices could be considered as viable candidates to
study further," Small said.
In addition to the switch of business to the Internet, the
recession has hurt the post office by reducing advertising mail.
Last year's high gas prices also siphoned millions of dollars from
its coffers.
Just last week the Government Accountability Office added the
Postal Service to its list of troubled agencies, saying serious and
significant structural financial challenges face the agency.
"Every major postal policy, from employee pay, to days of
delivery, to the closing of postal facilities must be on the table.
Without major change, the day will soon come when the Postal
Service will be unable to pay its bills," GAO said.
Congress is considering a bill to change the way the post office
funds its retiree health benefits over the next two years that
could save it $2 billion annually.
The post office also filed a petition with the independent
Postal Regulatory Commission indicating that managers are looking
at closing many post offices to save money.
In addition, Postmaster General John Potter has asked Congress
for permission to reduce mail deliveries from six days a week to
five.
Last year, mail volume fell by 9.5 billion pieces to a total of
203 billion pieces. It is expected to fall by 28 billion pieces
this year to a total of 175 billion pieces.
Gallery
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This post office in the Seeger Square Station on St. Paul's east side is one of the many post offices across Minnesota that may close this year. The storefront post office is in a strip mall with a Rainbow Foods, an auto parts store and other businesses. Next Slide