chloe
07-26-2011, 10:49 PM
The Postal Service announced Tuesday that it will consider closing more than 3,600 post offices. Does that mean people in small towns won't be able to send mail? Not necessarily.
With the United States Postal Service (http://www.debatepolicy.com/tags/topic/U.S.+Postal+Service) facing a potential $8 billion deficit this year as mail volume declines, Mr. Donahoe said the agency will consider closing 3,653 of its 31,871 post offices. Particulaly in rural areas, that could leave a town without a post office – but not necessarily without the Postal Service, he said.
The Postal Service network already includes some 70,000 locations in drug stores, grocery stores, or self-service kiosks. In communities where retail post offices might close, a potential replacement would be this so-called Village Post Office model, which operates in a local business to offer equivalent services.
Our customers' habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business,” he said, noting that more than 35 percent of the Postal Service’s revenue is generated from usps.com, iPhone (http://www.debatepolicy.com/tags/topic/Apple+iPhone) or Android mobile applications, self-service kiosks, and other stores like supermarkets and pharmacies.
Indeed, of the nearly 3,700 locations on the list, 3,061 have annual revenue of less than $27,500 and a daily workload of less than two hours.
Many of these locations are in rural areas, which presents a conundrum, says Ruth Goldman (http://www.debatepolicy.com/tags/topic/Ruth+Goldman), chairwoman of the commission, an independent agency that oversees and advises the Postal Service.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0726/Post-office-closures-What-happens-if-a-town-has-no-post-office
With the United States Postal Service (http://www.debatepolicy.com/tags/topic/U.S.+Postal+Service) facing a potential $8 billion deficit this year as mail volume declines, Mr. Donahoe said the agency will consider closing 3,653 of its 31,871 post offices. Particulaly in rural areas, that could leave a town without a post office – but not necessarily without the Postal Service, he said.
The Postal Service network already includes some 70,000 locations in drug stores, grocery stores, or self-service kiosks. In communities where retail post offices might close, a potential replacement would be this so-called Village Post Office model, which operates in a local business to offer equivalent services.
Our customers' habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business,” he said, noting that more than 35 percent of the Postal Service’s revenue is generated from usps.com, iPhone (http://www.debatepolicy.com/tags/topic/Apple+iPhone) or Android mobile applications, self-service kiosks, and other stores like supermarkets and pharmacies.
Indeed, of the nearly 3,700 locations on the list, 3,061 have annual revenue of less than $27,500 and a daily workload of less than two hours.
Many of these locations are in rural areas, which presents a conundrum, says Ruth Goldman (http://www.debatepolicy.com/tags/topic/Ruth+Goldman), chairwoman of the commission, an independent agency that oversees and advises the Postal Service.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0726/Post-office-closures-What-happens-if-a-town-has-no-post-office