U-S Postal Service May Close Lufkin Mail Processing Center
The United States Postal Service is in major and potentially fatal financial trouble. There's even talk that USPS could be forced to shut down this winter if Congress doesn't come to the rescue.
It's so bad that USPS has proposed consolidation, relocation or closure of over half of its mail processing network, which could bring changes to or even close the Lufkin Customer Service Mail Processing Center.
The sweeping changes are designed to save the organization up to $3 billion a year by cutting its network of processing facilities and adjusting service standards.
The agency will do a six-month study of nearly 250 processing facilities, including Lufkin, 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.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe says since 2006, USPS has "closed 186 facilities, removed more than 1,500 pieces of mail processing equipment, decreased employee complement by more than 110,000 through attrition and reduced costs by $12 billion.”
But that's still not enough. USPS Officials say USPS has to cut billions of dollars more out of costs and eliminate thousands more jobs or it will be forced out of existence.
The Postal Service union may be the biggest obstacle to the changes. The union says it fight tooth and nail to prevent the closures and layoffs.
If the Lufkin Mail Processing Center is closed, the Post Office itself won't be affected, but one-day mail delivery would become a thing of the past. Two to three day service would be the best Lufkinites could hope for.
USPS will hold public town hall meetings in areas that would be affected by the proposed changes and closures, including Lufkin.
More From Newstalk 860
