The office of Congressman Brian Higgins was busy today, rattling off a number of interesting community-wide development news. Now Higgins is calling upon the United States Postal Service (USPS) to drop any further plans to consolidate mail processing centers such as the one located on William Street.
Higgins states that findings by the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) show that these types of consolidations, along with service standard reductions, contribute towards an overall disrupted mail service.
“Since its establishment, the United States Postal Service was highly regarded for its reliability and efficiency but drastic and unjustified cuts and lower standards risk not just the Postal Services’ reputation but its future viability in a competitive market,” said Higgins. “Given the massive delays since operating under this new system, it is clear that moving forward with any plans to reduce operations at the Buffalo facility and other sites would only further exacerbate delivery problems and should clearly be abandoned.”
In recent years, communities have been torn between a younger generation that relies on mail delivery less frequently, opposed to those who grew up with mail delivery as a prime way of communicating. Some feel that mail needs to be delivered every day, while others would be happy with postal deliveries as few as once a week. With the advent of online banking, media, and the lot, mail delivery is going to continue to become more antiquated and obsolete.
At the same time, those that do rely on a constant flow of mail are apparently unhappy with the increase in delays and lost mail. Recent changes (January 5, 2015) from a 1 to 2-day delivery goal to a 2-3-day service standard has proven (see OIG report) that with increased intervals of delivery service, “snail mail” is apt to get lost in the shuffle.
“…in the first 6 months of 2015 delayed processing increased by about 494 million mailpieces (a 48 percent increase), as compared to the same period last year.” – USPS Office of Inspector General
Higgins has been fighting to keep the Buffalo Mail Processing Center on William Street off the list of potentially closing facilities – the facility made the list in 2011, but was removed. At this point the facility is safe… but that could change if mail continues to go the way of the dinosaur. Since 2012, 141 mail processing facilities have been consolidated, and a second phase (currently delayed) would see an additional 82 facilities added to the list.