The United States Postal Service has reversed course and announced that 3,563 rural post offices nationwide — including 30 targeted for study in Maine — will stay open.
In a statement released early Wednesday afternoon, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced a new strategy — which should be completed by September 2014 — to keep existing post offices, no matter how small, open, but with modified retail window service hours to match peak customer use.
“This is a victory for mail service in rural Maine and across the country,” Sen. Susan Collins said in an email Wednesday afternoon. “There should be clear minimum standards for service — which we establish in the bill just passed through the Senate — and communities should have a real voice in the decisions.”
As part of the new USPS cost-saving strategy, access to post office retail lobbies and P.O. boxes would be unchanged.
Last July, the U.S. Postal Service said it was considering closing about 3,200 post offices, including 34 in Maine. That number was cut by four shortly after it was determined that customers served by offices in Matinicus, Stoneham, Topsfield and West Forks would lose regular and effective mail service.
Donahoe said under the new USPS plan, about 13,000 post offices will have work hours reduced, be co-located with a nearby business such as the local pharmacy or merged with another location. Other options include providing service to residents and businesses in the affected community by rural carrier or highway contract route or offering service from a nearby post office.
“There are 244 post offices in Maine that will be affected by this new policy. No hours of service will change at any post office until the community meetings and surveys occur after Labor Day,” said Collins.
The new plan will be reviewed by the Postal Regulatory Commission. After that, community meetings will be held in all areas affected by modified post office hours.
“Community meetings and surveys will be conducted to review the options in greater detail,” said Tom Rizzo, USPS spokesman for the Northern New England District.
“Communities will be notified by mail of the date, time and location of these meetings.”
The USPS, which estimates this cost-saving strategy will save approximately a half billion dollars each year, also is going to offer a voluntary early retirement program for its 21,000-plus nonexecutive postmasters.
“To reduce the impact on existing employees, the Postal Service is offering financial incentive to select postmasters and they have until June 22 to accept the offer and either retire or leave by July 31,” said Rizzo.
Rep. Mike Michaud said in a statement that he was encouraged by Wednesday’s USPS announcement.
“The Postal Service must be put on a path to long-term sustainability, but that future cannot be balanced on the backs of the many rural communities that are dependent on quality mail service,” Michaud said. “I will continue to fight to ensure that the USPS honors its commitment to universal service.”
“I am pleased to see that Postmaster General Donahoe has reconsidered his ill-advised plan to close thousands of rural postal offices, including 34 in Maine, and instead focus on alternative strategies to ensure these critical links to our nation’s communities stay open, either with reduced hours or through co-location with other businesses,” said Sen. Olympia Snowe.
Collins also said she is hopeful the postmaster general soon will announce a new plan regarding proposed consolidations of 183 processing and distribution plants nationwide beginning May 15. One of those plants is the Eastern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Hampden, which has been targeted to have its processing duties shifted south to Scarborough, causing the loss of 170 jobs at the plant.
“He will make an announcement about postal plants next Thursday,” said Collins, who authored a provision in the Senate bill passed 62-37 two weeks ago mandating certain overnight delivery standards in some areas, which would keep many of the processing facilities open. “The Hampden plant could not be closed if those standards become law. I have urged the postmaster general to allow the legislative process more time.”
Everyone from Postal officials and politicians are being too
sensitive and showing zero courage in doing what needs to be done to set the
Postal Service in the right direction. Because people in these small
communities have always had the Post Office as an adhoc community center does
not mean that it is etched in stone that the location will always be there. For
the good of the Postal Service as a whole they need to close the locations that
are serving too few people or are in close proximity to another location. Show some
courage and don’t worry about your next election.
Let the post office make a profit to . Do you know by law that the post office can not make a profit an if it dose the government takes that money .
Interesting that so many nice post office buildings have been built in the “boonies,” but now they may have to be shuttled to in-town stores. Wasting money there, for certain.
It cost the tax payers 35billon dollars to keep the Post Office open and still the price of stamps will still keep climbing. It will never be payed back. The postal service is to top heavy. Keep the workers and get reid of the rest. Then the postal service will do fine.
The biggest problem is the mandate by congress to pre-fund
their pension system so many years into the future (not sure how many years it
is). They are funding the pensions of people that have yet to even be hired.
Closing these small offices and doing away with 6 day per week delivery are
really only part of the problem, but it surely is a good place to start.
The funding of the pensions and medical goes all the way back to the 70 when the Postal Service was changed. In 2006 The Government saw the writing on the wall, that if they didn’t force the Postal Service to fund this more there wouldn’t be enough money for the 600,000 employees. The service has only paid into the fund 3 full payments of $ 5.5 billion, one partial payment of $ 1.4 billion and no payment in 2011/2012. This isn’t the reason their broke. The Senate bill wants to give 35 billion dollars to the Postal Service, but they have only paid 17 billion into the retirement fund. The Postal Service loses 25 million dollars a day and something has to change.
I think you misunderstand how the postal service is funded. The Postal Service does not receive tax dollars to operate.
The postal service just got a 35billion dollar bailout from the Feds. According to Susan Collins and the Post Master General this week. That part I did not misunderstand.
The Postal Service just borrowed 12.1 Billion Dollars from the US Treasury, tax payers money, to make payroll in February 2012.
Oh Boy lets dump some more money down the drain.
I am from the Boonies, but now live along our lovely coast where we have an abundance of everything – including postal services. With so many elderly people in our rural communities, can we please maybe sacrifice an urban post office here and there and let these people keep their darned post offices? Crikey.
Let the post office raise its rates an let them make a profit as it is now by law the post office can not make a profit. Even if they raise there rates it will still be cheaper than sending a letter UPS or fedex
try E-Mail. Cheap and almost instant .
Yes, and it’s so easy to email those meds and packages. Why didn’t I think of that? Thanks!
You can’t send every thing by email you will still need the post office
A good example of Postal inefficiency is in Fort Kent Mills where they have their own post office and zip code. I’m not sure if they deliver mail from that facility, but the main PO is in Fort Kent about 2 miles down the road.
Thats great . Two post offices within two maybe three miles of another.
another good example is Mars Hill and Blaine…less than a mile aprt, about 14 buildings between the two post offices. THe tiny Blaine PO could EASILY be closed and thier rural carrier could work out of Mars Hill…EASY
GOOD, WE NEED TO KEEP THEM OPEN.
No we don’t
Close
The latest plan is to force full time Postmasters into retirement. Decrease the open hours in 17,000 Post Office across the country to 2 to 6 hours per day. Depends on the foot traffic. Most of these part time Postmasters will also receive less money per hour along with a salary cut in hours worked. Basically a double pay cut. I am sure many will quit. No point in working 2 hours a day 6 days a week for peanuts. At least the office will still be open with no body behind the counter.
Seems when I go into the post office their always out in the back doing god knows what.
Then wait till they feel like serving service.
What they’re doing is collecting and sorting your mail, making sure each piece gets to where the mailer intended (no matter how incorrect or inadequate their addressing is), loading it, carrying it, keeping it safe until it’s in your mailbox, no matter how far that box is from the Post Office. You obviously have no idea how hard these individuals work.
Whats been done to our Postal Service is a disgrace. It’s budget is run by Stamp Sales, I guess it’s not worthy of a bailout. It is written into the Constitution and is a venerable part of our history. Whats more what’s all this hiring of contractor’s to try to tell Postal Carriers hoe to do thier job better?! Lets stand upo for our Postal Service and the men and women that work for it.
Tell em to go find another job.
When are they going to get it . The post office is a failure .Shut it all down and stop wasting public money. Whilst the administrators live in mansions . HELLO!!