Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR) 
Notice of Intent to Conduct Mail Processing Facility Review as Part of the Network Modernization Efforts of the Postal Service 
 
Waterloo P&DC in Waterloo, IA to Des Moines P&DC in Des Moines, IA

Jan. 10, 2024

As part of its 10-year strategic Delivering for America (DFA) Plan to modernize the nation’s aging postal network, the U.S. Postal Service is conducting a Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR) of its processing operations at the Waterloo Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC) in Waterloo, IA. The DFA Plan includes initiatives to improve the mail and package processing, logistics, and delivery networks of the Postal Service and to drive innovation in products and services. The review will not result in this facility’s closure or career employee layoffs. 
The DFA plan is a $40 billion strategic investment in our nation’s postal network. The plan informs and powers initiatives to improve organizational and operational processes to actively make the Postal Service an efficient, high-performing, world-class logistics and delivery provider.  Improvements to Postal operations will enhance the level of service provided to the public; drive innovation and enable a broader array of postal products and services; enhance organizational competitiveness; improve efficiency and lower the cost to operate; and provide better workplaces and careers for Postal Service employees.
This specific facility review will inform the best allocation of resources and strategies to improve customer service and to achieve significant cost savings through operational precision and efficiency. Business mail entry, Post Office, station, and branch retail services are not expected to change, and delivery services will be unaffected throughout this review. The modernization evaluation is a first step in the Postal Service review and investment process in this facility.  
In connection with the review, the Postal Service will evaluate the following:

a.	Whether efficiency could be increased by transferring some mail processing operations currently performed at the Waterloo P&DC to the Des Moines P&DC in Des Moines, IA.  A significant percentage of the mail collected in Waterloo will travel across our wider transportation and processing network over significant distances to reach their final destinations. Mail and packages destined for outside the Waterloo area may receive better service and be more cost effectively distributed by aggregating it with mail and packages from other areas going to the same places that will likewise utilize the wider postal network and be transported significant distances from where the mail originated. 

b.	Whether efficiency can be increased and service improved, regardless of any determination to transfer some mail processing operations out of the Waterloo facility, by investing in the Waterloo facility to redesign mail processing operations to accommodate changing mail products and mail flow with modern operating strategies, equipment and improved employee amenities.

c.	Whether efficiency can be improved and/or service enhanced, regardless of any determination to transfer some mail processing operations out of the Waterloo facility, by expanding operations at the facility including adding Sorting & Delivery Center functions currently being deployed throughout the nation, incorporating expanded retail functions currently being evaluated and deployed throughout the nation, and/or increasing local package delivery functions including local transportation initiatives supporting new products being introduced. 

While it may be determined that moving some mail processing operations from the Waterloo P&DC is a good business decision, it is highly likely under those circumstances that the Waterloo facility will be modernized and repurposed as a Local Processing Center, a Sorting & Delivery Center, or both, consistent with the broader network redesign outlined in the DFA Plan. Any such repurposing will result in a revitalized, modernized, and upgraded facility with improved employee amenities and a better working environment.   
   
As part of the review, USPS will evaluate modernizing the Waterloo P&DC as noted above, and it is expected that this facility will be a critical node to the unified movement of mail and packages across the regional processing and transportation ecosystem. The overall network redesign contemplated in the DFA Plan is intended to reduce handlings, improve efficiencies, and optimize letter, flat, and package processing for predictable, reliable, and cost-effective operations. 

Public input will be considered as part of the review. Members of the local community may submit comments at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mpfr-waterloo-ia. If the facility review supports the business case for change to the facility’s processing operations, a summary of the Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR) will be posted on about.usps.com at least one week prior to the public input meeting. Thereafter, Postal Service representatives will hold a public input meeting to allow members of the local community to provide their additional feedback and perspectives on the Initial Findings of the MPFR.