Wyoming residents who want to put in their two cents about the United States Postal Service’s latest plans to cut $3 billion in costs, in part by sacrificing rural mail delivery, will have just one chance to do so.
The USPS is offering one virtual conference prior to filing its proposal to discuss what it describes as a mail processing and transportation improvement plan and collect public comments virtually at 11 a.m. Sept. 5.
Those wanting to attend will have to register for the Zoom meeting online.
The meeting will outline the new plans from USPS, which proposes to increase the standard of what’s considered “on-time” delivery to five days and could add an additional day to delivery times for rural areas farther than 50 miles from the nearest large processing facility.
A media statement from USPS claims most mail will move quicker than it did before, even while the proposal adds considerable time to its “on-time” delivery standards.
The statement also stresses that rural mail delivery won’t be cut.
New Plan Not Good For Rural Wyoming
The USPS has not answered Cowboy State Daily questions asking for more specifics on how the plan will affect rural delivery services; however, national media have reported that delivery times are going to be slower for locations that are 50 miles or more from a large processing center.
Ricci Roberts, branch president of the Cheyenne mail handling unit, told Cowboy State Daily she doesn’t believe this new proposal bodes well for Wyoming, where a large portion of the state consists of rural delivery.
Roberts also said that the USPS is leaving out many pertinent details when it comes to the public statements it has made about its plans.
Among these is that the point at which a parcel is scanned might also change, Roberts said.
“Instead of a parcel being scanned right at the window as it should be, they want to have it scanned when it begins processing,” she said. “The reason for that is to skirt around the official time, and make it seem like it was within the standards, even though it was not.”
Roberts told Cowboy State Daily that election mail might be more affected than the USPS is letting on because of what’s called “local transportation optimization.”
That phrase refers to discontinuation of collections from blue boxes.
“If they continue to consolidate smaller facilities like ours, (election mail) will have two times the transportation time,” she added. “Just to sit in overwhelmed larger facilities.”
Other Plan On Hold
The new proposal comes on the heels of the agency’s previous Delivering for America proposal, which would have removed all of the Cowboy State’s large processing facilities, placing them in Colorado and Montana.
That plan isn’t off the table yet. It’s been on hold until January 2025.
USPS officials have not responded to Cowboy State Daily’s question about whether that plan would effectively mean the entire state of Wyoming is considered a rural mail delivery service area, since no location within Wyoming is within 50 miles of where the new large processing centers would be.
The Delivering for America plan for Wyoming was met with a huge outcry from the state, with many residents from rural areas telling USPS that they rely on rural mail service for life-saving medications, as well as Social Security checks, bills and other necessary correspondence.
Wyoming’s Congressional delegation has also been united in its opposition to the plan, proposing legislation to prohibit removing all of a state’s large processing centers. Secretary of State Chuck Gray also opposes the plan, concerned about how it will affect future elections and the timeliness of absentee ballots.
Postmaster Louis DeJoy has told Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission that the changes he has proposed are vital to saving the Postal Service and making it financially self-sufficient in the modern age.
“Since 1997, we’ve seen an 80% decline in single-piece first class mail volume, the significant expansion of delivery points, the growth in the percentage of mail obtaining discounts through workshare programs, and the growth of our package business,” DeJoy said in a media statement. “Our 10-year Delivering for America plan is transforming our network to better reflect today’s market standards.
“This revamped, integrated network, designed for a more unified, logically sequenced movement of mail and packages, combined with modifications to our service standards, will enable us to operate more efficiently and reliably, grow our business and give us a chance for a viable future.”
After the virtual public forum, DeJoy said he would seek an advisory option from the Postal Regulatory Commission after 90 days. That means implementation of the latest proposed changes would not happen until sometime in 2025, so as to miss the November General Election.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
