WASHINGTON— TheU.S.Postal Service today announced plans to move ahead with a modified plan to consolidate its network of 461 mail processing locations in phases. The first phase of activities will result in up to 140 consolidations through February of 2013.  Unless the circumstances of the Postal Service change in the interim, a second and final phase of 89 consolidations is currently scheduled to begin in February of 2014.

“We revised our network consolidation timeline to provide a longer planning schedule for our customers, employees and other stakeholders, and to enable a more methodical and measured implementation,” said Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the Postal Service.

“We simply do not have the mail volumes to justify the size and capacity of our current mail processing network. To return to long-term profitability and financial stability while keeping mail affordable, we must match our network to the anticipated workload,” said Donahoe. “Our current plan meets our cost reduction goals, ensures seamless and excellent service performance throughout the implementation period, and provides adequate time for our customers to adapt to our network changes.”

The Postal Service will begin consolidating operations this summer – which mostly involve transferring mail-processing operations from smaller to larger facilities. Due to the volume of high-priority mail predicted for the election and holiday mailing seasons, no consolidating activities will be conducted from September through December of 2012. Approximately 5,000 employees will begin receiving notifications next week related to consolidating and other efficiency-enhancing activities to be conducted this summer.

“We will be conducting consolidation activities this summer at only 48 locations,” said Megan Brennan, chief operating officer of the Postal Service. “As a result, nearly all consolidating activities in 2012 will occur in August and then will resume again the early part of next year.”

These consolidating activities will reduce the size of the Postal Service workforce by approximately 13,000 employees and, when fully implemented, will generate cost reductions of approximately $1.2 billion annually.

“The Postal Service will be communicating with our customers and employees about these changes in great detail,” said Megan Brennan. “We will work closely with our customers to ensure there are no surprises as we move forward.”

The Postal Service also announced it is working with its unions for an employee retirement incentive, although no final decision has been made.  “The Postal Service has reduced the size of its workforce by 244,000 career employees since 2000 without resorting to layoffs,” said Brennan. “We are a responsible employer and we will work with our employees to ensure a smooth transition to a much leaner organization.”

The Postal Service also announced that it would soon issue a new regulation to modify its existing Service Standard for overnight delivery. The Postal Service said a Final Rule would soon be published in the Federal Register that would initially shrink the geographic reach of overnight service to local areas and enable consolidation activity in 2013. The new rule would further tighten the overnight delivery standard in 2014 and enable further consolidation of the Postal Service mail processing network absent any change to the circumstances of the Postal Service.

“We are essentially preserving overnight delivery for First-Class Mail through the end of 2013, although we are collapsing the distance that we can provide overnight service to the distribution area served by a particular mail processing facility,” said Megan Brennan. Approximately 80 percent of First-Class Mail will still be delivered overnight.

The Postal Service stated its expectation to pursue additional consolidation activities for an additional 89 mail processing locations beginning in 2014 unless its circumstances change. These consolidations would be based on long-term service standards that would significantly revise mail-entry times for customers seeking overnight delivery.

“Given that the Postal Service is currently projecting a $14 billion net loss in FY2012, and continuing annual losses of this magnitude, we simply cannot justify maintaining our current mail processing footprint,” said Donahoe.

When fully implemented in late 2014, the Postal Service expects its network consolidations to generate approximately $2.1 billion in annual cost reductions, and lead to total workforce reduction up to 28,000 employees.

The list of 140 mail processing locations to be consolidated by February of 2013 is available after 3 p.m. ET today at http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/welcome.htm.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

WASHINGTON

The plan would keep the existing Post Office in place, but with modified retail window hours to match customer use. Access to the retail lobby and to PO Boxes would remain unchanged, and the town’s ZIP Code and community identity would be retained.

“Meeting the needs of postal customers is, and will always be, a top priority. We continue to balance that by better aligning service options with customer demand and reducing the cost to serve,” said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe. “With that said, we’ve listened to our customers in rural America and we’ve heard them loud and clear – they want to keep their Post Office open. We believe today’s announcement will serve our customers’ needs and allow us to achieve real savings to help the Postal Service return to long-term financial stability.”

The new strategy would be implemented over a two-year, multi-phased approach and would not be completed until September 2014. Once implementation is completed, the Postal Service estimates savings of a half billion dollars annually.

“The Postal Service is committed to serving America’s communities and providing a responsible and fair approach for our employees and customers,” said Megan Brennan, Postal Service Chief Operating Officer. “The Post Offices in rural America will remain open unless a community has a strong preference for one of the other options. We will not close any of these rural Post Offices without having provided a viable solution.”

The Postal Service will provide an opportunity for the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to review this plan prior to making any changes. The Postal Service intends to file a request for an advisory opinion on the plan with the PRC later this month. Community meetings would then be conducted to review options in greater detail. Communities will be notified by mail of the date, time and location of these meetings.

This new option complements existing alternatives, which include:

1. Providing mail delivery service to residents and businesses in the affected community by either rural carrier or highway contract route;
2. Contracting with a local business to create a Village Post Office; and
3. Offering service from a nearby Post Office.

A voluntary early retirement incentive for the nation’s more than 21,000 non-executive postmasters was also announced.

Survey research conducted by the respected Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) in February, showed 54 percent of rural customers would prefer the new solution to maintain a local Post Office. Forty-six percent prefer one of the previously announced solutions (20% prefer Village Post Office, 15% prefer providing services at a nearby Post Office, 11% prefer expanded rural delivery). This strategy would enable a town to possibly have a Post Office with modified hours, as well as a Village Post Office.

The Postal Service has implemented a voluntary moratorium on all postal facility closings through May 15, 2012. No closings or changes to Post Office operations will occur until after that time.

In addition to maintaining a retail network of more than 31,000 Post Offices, the Postal Service also provides online access to postal products and services through usps.com and more than 70,000 alternate access locations. Nearly 40-percent of postal retail revenue comes from purchases on usps.com and through approved postal providers such as Wal-Mart, Staples, Office Depot, Walgreens, Sam’s Club, Costco, and many others.

A list of Post Offices affected by today’s announcement and additional details will be available after 4 p.m. ET today at http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/welcome.htm

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Shippers and mailers are advised that:

• Lithium batteries must be removed from electronic devices to be shipped in international or overseas military mail before the package is submitted for mailing.
• Electronic equipment with non-removable lithium batteries may not be shipped using international or overseas military mail.
• USPS retail associates will begin asking Post Office customers whether lithium batteries are contained in any international shipments for which batteries or electronic equipment have been declared as contents on customs labels.

The new regulation will not apply to packages containing lithium batteries or electronic devices mailed within the U.S. on domestic commercial air or ground transportation.

For business mailers who qualify, this promotion will provide an upfront 2 percent postage discount on Standard Mail® and First-Class Mail® letters, flats and cards (presort and automation only) that include a two-dimensional (2-D) barcode or print/mobile technology that can be read or scanned by a mobile device.

The technology must directly lead the person to a MOBILE OPTIMIZED website that allows the purchase of an advertised product or to a unique, mobile optimized and personalized web page.

As a reminder, mail service providers who wish to enroll their customers in this promotion will be able to register beginning June 10, 2012.

Full details, including a program requirements document, user guide for the incentive tool enrollment and frequently asked questions document, are available online at the RIBBS website at https://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm?page=mobilebarcode. Registration for the 2012 Mobile Commerce and Personalization Promotion will remain open through August 30th at http://gateway.usps.com.

Join members of the greater Lehigh Valley mailing community to learn more about important updates and news with the US Postal Service.

Our featured speaker will be David Robinson, Director of Address Quality from Pitney Bowes, Postal Relations.

You may register and pay online or download a registration form and pay by mail. The cost is only $25.00/person, which includes a breakfast buffet. All registrations must be received by April 12, 2012.

Here is information to help you take advantage of this revised special offering:

• Qualifying mailings are Presorted and automation mailings of First-Class Mail cards, letters, and flats and Standard Mail (including Nonprofit Standard Mail) letters and flats with a mobile barcode inside or on the mailpiece.
• The mobile barcode must lead the recipient of the mailpiece either to a webpage that allows the recipient to purchase a product or service on a mobile device, or to a personalized URL, which leads to a web page that is unique to an individual recipient.
• Qualifying mailings may receive an upfront price reduction of 2 percent of the eligible postage.
• Participation requires electronic documentation.
• Commingled, combined and co-mail mailings are allowed, but a separate postage statement is required for pieces with mobile barcodes.

Using mobile barcodes is a great way to integrate direct mail with mobile technology. Get more information, including updated FAQs, on the RIBBS website or by emailing mobilebarcode@usps.gov .

“Mail is an increasingly important part of the U.S. election process and we areconfident in the dependable and timely delivery of election-related mail,” stated U.S. Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe.

In December, the U.S. Postal Service formed an agreement with Congress that no consolidation or closing of any postal facility will occur prior to May 15, 2012. Therefore, most closures or consolidations would have to take place starting after May 15, 2012, and be completed by August 31, 2012. Further consolidation of facilities would then continue in early 2013. The pursuit by the Postal Service of the significant consolidation of its national network of mail processing facilities is contingent upon its adoption of a final rule changing its delivery service standards.

For primary elections after May 15, the U.S. Postal Service is instituting a stateby-state outreach program to address the questions and concerns of election boards, political candidates and mailers.

In addition, for states that are promoting vote by mail, the proposed plan to study 3,600 Post Offices around the U.S. for possible closure will not adversely affect the voting process as customers have many ways in which to deposit mail, including with their carrier, with a retail partner, at a collection box location, or at a neighboring office within reasonable distance to their current location. The Postal Service is exploring options to provide customers with alternate access to postal services and products where they live, work and shop.

In keeping with that commitment, the results of the Area Mail Processing (AMP) facility studies announced last September are now available at http://usps.com/ourfuturenetwork.

This website provides information on the decision made in each study, including whether each facility will be closed or consolidated, remain open, or have its study placed on hold. For those facilities facing a change, the name of the “gaining site”— the facility where mail processing operations will be relocated — also is included.

Implementation of any consolidation or closure, however, is contingent upon the outcome of proposed revisions to existing service standards. In addition, no network changes will be implemented prior to May 15 of this year, in keeping with a moratorium on closing or consolidating postal facilities intended to give Congress and the Administration the opportunity to enact an alternative plan.

I would like to make it clear to you, our valued customers, that there will be no changes at this time to retail services and business mail acceptance located at any of the facilities involved in these studies.

Our commitment to you is:

• No immediate changes to business acceptance locations or hours of operation
• Deliberate timing of operational moves to limit customer impact
• Continuation of Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF) discounts at affected Bulk Mail Entry Units (BMEUs).
• Expanded Drop Shipment Appointments will be available
• Continual communications

Many of you have asked about the impact of these actions on BMEUs. Again, there will be no changes to BMEU hours or locations. Should a BMEU need to be relocated in the future, all customers would receive 120 days notice of the intended move, and any new location would be in close proximity to the original.

In addition, DSCF discounts will continue to be available for mailings entered at BMEUs that remain in impacted facilities. Mailers will be encouraged to align their preparation and entry to the new network. However, they will continue to receive drop-ship entry discounts for mail entered at impacted facilities based on 3-digit ZIP Codes currently allowed.

There will be no major consolidations during the fall mailing season, nor during the election mailing period, and Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST) appointments will be expanded to support shifting volumes across the network.

We know how important it will be for you, our customers, to have detailed site-specific information. In the very near future, our District Managers across the country will be inviting commercial mailers to meetings where they will share more detailed information and answer site-specific questions.

All of us at the Postal Service value your business and your support. Over the coming months, we will continue to keep you informed, and work closely with you to ensure a smooth transition.

Susan M. LaChance
Vice President
Consumer & Industry Affairs

Implementation of any consolidation or closure, however, is contingent upon the outcome of proposed revisions to existing service standards. In addition, no network changes will be implemented prior to May 15 of this year, in keeping with a moratorium on closing or consolidating postal facilities intended to give Congress and the Administration the opportunity to enact an alternative plan.

There will be no changes at this time to retail services and business mail acceptance located at any of the facilities involved in these studies. Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF) discounts will continue to be available in the near-term for mailings entered at Business Mail Entry Units (BMEUs) that remain in impacted facilities.

There will be no major consolidations during the fall mailing season, nor during the election mailing period, and Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST^®) appointments will be expanded to support shifting volumes across the network.

All of us at the Postal Service™ value your business and your support. Over the coming months, we will continue to keep you informed, and will work closely with you to ensure a smooth transition.