Fort Smith, NWA mail processing may move to Little Rock

A U.S. Postal Service proposal that would essentially move all mail processing in Arkansas to Little Rock would result in lengthier mail delivery times and the loss of more than 200 jobs in Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith.

The new study has also halted the transfer of mail processing from Fort Smith to Fayetteville. Leisa Tolliver-Gay, the USPS spokeswoman in Little Rock, confirmed that the Labor Day weekend plans to begin shifting sorting machines from Fort Smith to Fayetteville has been put on hold pending the outcome of the new national plan. The USPS announced April 28 that it would move mail processing from Fort Smith to Fayetteville.

Thomas Henry, a former Postal Service union official, said the plan is essentially a “done deal” and he expects mail from Fort Smith to be processed in Little Rock by March 2012.

“We don’t know that yet,” Tolliver-Gay said when asked about the March transfer.

The studies are expected to be finished in early 2012.

NATIONAL PLAN
The USPS on Thursday dropped the bombshell that its national plan would include the study of about 250 processing facilities for possible consolidation or closure, reducing mail processing equipment by as much as 50%, decreasing the nationwide transportation network, cutting up to 35,000 jobs, and revising service standards for first-class mail and periodicals. (Link here to a PDF of a letter that contains the list of facilities to be studies for closure or consolidation.)

“We are forced to face a new reality today,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in this statement. “First-Class Mail supports the organization and drives network requirements. With the dramatic decline in mail volume and the resulting excess capacity, maintaining a vast national infrastructure is no longer realistic. Since 2006, we have closed 186 facilities, removed more than 1,500 pieces of mail processing equipment, decreased employee complement by more than 110,000 through attrition and reduced costs by $12 billion.”

According to the USPS:
• Mail volume has declined by more than 43 billion pieces in the past 5 years and is continuing to decline;
• First-class mail has dropped 25% and single piece first-class mail — letters bearing postage stamps — has declined 36% in the same timeframe, and nearly 50% in the past 10 years.
• The decline has created substantial excess capacity within the postal processing network.

POSTAL UNION RESPONSE
Cliff Guffey, head of the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, accused the Postal Service of “demolishing its network.”

“The mail processing network is a major asset,” Guffey said in this statement. “Destroying it is misguided and counterproductive. … Degrading service is not the answer to the Postal Service’s problems,” he said, noting that extensive closures would force the USPS to reduce delivery standards and delay mail delivery. “The Postal Service should be looking for ways to strengthen service and increase its relevance in the age of digital communication.”

Guffey said USPS financial problems are more related to 2006 law than to changes in mail volume. He said the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act requires the USPS to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees.

“The mandate, which forces the agency to pre-fund a 75-year liability in just 10 years, costs the USPS more than $5.5 billion annually,” noted the Union statement.

ARKANSAS IMPACT
Mail processing centers in Fayetteville, Harrison, Hot Springs and Jonesboro are part of the study. Henry said the plan, if approved, would mean “in excess of 200 jobs are gone out of Western Arkansas.”

“Moving the processing from Fort Smith to up there (Fayetteville), well, some people could make that commute. … But now, with all of the processing in Little Rock, there will easily be more than 200 jobs that wouldn’t be needed there (Fort Smith) or in Fayetteville,” Henry said.

Henry said it will be interesting to learn how USPS officials move the mail volume of almost the entire state to a facility in Little Rock.

“What happens when Little Rock takes on the volume of four mail processing centers? I don’t know the answer to that. I think there will be no predictability in terms of service after this,” Henry said.

Tolliver-Gay said the plan also calls for changes to service standards. If approved, first-class mail would move from a 1-3 day schedule to a 2-3 day term, and periodicals would move from 1-9 days to 2-9 days. She said express mail and package service would remain the same.

“That’s part of the study, ‘Can that center handle all of the volume?’ Rght now, they don’t use all their machines 24 hours a day,” Tolliver-Gay said when asked if the Little Rock facility can process a much larger volume of mail.

She said part of the study also includes moving mail processed in Jonesboro to Memphis.

Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders said the plan is “just more proof that the Postal Service doesn’t care about local input” or the local impact of their decisions.

“You can expect poorer service overall for the consumer,” Sanders said. “In the long run, this will not be good for the country.”

In Oklahoma, the proposal also includes moving various sizes and scopes of postal operations from Poteau, McAlester and Tulsa to Oklahoma City.