CLEVELAND – The U.S. Postal Service plans to conduct a study at several Ohio mail processing facilities to examine the feasibility of consolidating their operations into other mail processing facilities. These Area Mail Processing studies involve a review of the mail processing and transportation operations to determine capacity needs within the postal network in order to increase efficiency and improve productivity.

Ohio mail processing facilities to be studied are:

• Akron Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) for possible consolidation into the Cleveland Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC).
• Athens Customer Service Mail Processing Center (CSMPC) into the Columbus P&DC.
• Canton Processing and Distribution Facility (P&DF) into the Cleveland P&DC.
• Chillicothe CSMPC into the Columbus P&DC.
• Cincinnati P&DC into the Louisville KY P&DC and/or Columbus P&DC and/or the Indianapolis IN P&DC.
• Dayton OH P&DF in the Columbus P&DC.
• Steubenville CSMPC into the Pittsburgh PA P&DC.
• Toledo P&DF into the Michigan Metroplex MI P&DC and/or Columbus P&DC.
• Youngstown P&DF into the Pittsburgh PA P&DC.

The studies, which are expected to be completed in early 2012, come as the Postal Service faces one of the most difficult challenges in its history.

Annual mail volume has declined by more than 43 billion pieces in the past 5 years and is continuing to decline. Total First-Class Mail has dropped 25 percent and single piece First-Class Mail — letters bearing postage stamps — has declined 36 percent in the same timeframe.

Even when the economy fully recovers, the Postal Service does not expect mail volume to return to previous peak levels, and is projecting annual deficits for the foreseeable future. Because the decline has created substantial excess mail processing capacity, the Postal Service is initiating studies to look at reducing the size of its mail processing network nationwide.

If the feasibility study reveals an opportunity to consolidate mail processing operations, the Postal Service will hold a public meeting to explain the proposed operational changes and potential impacts on service, and to solicit public feedback which will then be considered before a final decision is made.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.