The United States Postal Service on May 9 announced a new strategy to keep rural post offices across the country open for business – despite the fact that the agency loses about $25 million daily and may default on a government loan.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced at a news conference that the agency would keep existing post offices in place, but modify their retail hours to better match customer use. Lobby hours and access to post office boxes would remain unchanged under the new plan. The USPS had announced late last year that it would close 3,700 rural post offices, including 150 in West Virginia, in an effort to save money. But, Donahoe said, rural America sent a message "loud and clear."
"Meeting the needs of postal customers is, and will always be, a top priority," Donahoe said at the news conference. "We continue to balance that by better aligning service options with customer demand and reducing the cost to serve. 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 offices 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 plan will be implemented using a two-year multi-phase approach and isn't expected to be completed until September 2014. Once the plan is fully implemented, the Postal Service expects annual savings of a half billion dollars.
But the Postal Regulatory Commission will review the plan and will have the opportunity to make changes before implementation begins. The Postal Service intends to file a request for an advisory opinion on the plan with the commission later this month. Community meetings will be held to review options in greater details. Residents of affected communities will be notified of these meetings by mail, according to a USPS news release.
The new plan comes as a result of a nationwide poll conducted in February by Opinion Research Corporation. That survey showed 54 percent of rural customers would prefer a new solution to maintain a local post office and 46 percent preferred one of the previously announced solutions, such as using a rural carrier to deliver mail.
Other alternatives include contracting with local businesses to create a village post office and offering services from a nearby post office. Megan Brennan, CEO of the USPS, said the Postal Service would meet with community members and listen to their preferences.
"The Postal Service is committed to serving America's communities and providing a responsible and fair approach for our employees and customers," Brennan said in a news release. "The post offices in rural American 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."
After the USPS announced possible closures, members of Congress pushed the agency to hold off on any closures until a reform bill could be created. The moratorium on closures expires May 15. No changes or closures will occur until after that date.
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