Postal Service Schedules Community Meetings

For Public Input on Post Office Operations


November 03, 2011 



West Palm Beach FL — The U.S. Postal Service is seeking the public’s input – including tonight at the Mary V. McDonald-Wilson Gaines Park Community Center in West Palm Beach --- to help decide whether to close some of its South Florida Post Offices. Below is a schedule of upcoming community meetings:

Southboro PO Community Meeting, Thursday, November 3, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Mary V. McDonald-Wilson Gaines Park Community Center, 1505 N Australian Ave, WPB

Singer Island PO Community Meeting, Monday, November 7, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Mary V. McDonald-Wilson Gaines Park Community Center, 1505 N Australian Ave, WPB

Palm Beach Gardens PO Community Meeting, Wednesday, November 9, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Mary V. McDonald-Wilson Gaines Park Community Center, 1505 N Australian Ave, WPB

Goulds PO Community Meeting, Thursday, November 10, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
South Dade Regional Library, 10750 SW 211 St, Miami

Metro Postal Store Community Meeting, Tuesday, November 15, 3:45 pm – 5:45 pm
Main Library, 101 W. Flagler St, Miami

Customers with comments about Post Offices that may be discontinued can write to CSDC District Coordinator, South Florida District, PO Box 82-1010, Pembroke Pines FL 33082-1010. Letters must be postmarked by 60 days from the date of the community meeting.

Due to the continuing migration of hard copy messages to electronic alternatives, the downturn in the economy, and some extraordinary requirements in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the U.S. Postal Service is compelled to continue its aggressive plan of cost reductions which began nearly a decade ago.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. Like any self-sustaining enterprise, the Postal Service cannot, in the long run, spend more than it makes and, since many of our losses in volume and revenue will likely be permanent, we must take further action to reduce by consolidating, streamlining, and adjusting our operations.

Postal Facts

  • The Postal Service delivers to nearly 151 million homes, businesses and Post Office Boxes in every state, city, town and borough in this country.
  • The country continues to expand --- there were more than 735,000 new delivery points added last year alone.
  • The USPS delivers early 40% of the world’s mail.
  • With 574,000 employees, the USPS is the third largest employer in the nation (after Wal-Mart and the Dept of Defense) and it pays $3.8 billion a month in employee salaries and benefits.
  • With nearly 32,000 postal-managed retail offices, the USPS has the largest delivery and retail network in the nation.
  • Customers have many choices on where to conduct their postal business and many of the choices no longer involve brick-and-mortar Post Offices. Today nearly 35 percent of all postal retail transactions occur in locations other than the traditional Post Office --- locations like grocer, drug and large retail stores, office supply stores, banking ATMs and online at uspseverywhere.com.
  • Nationwide mail volume has declined by 43.1 billion pieces in the past five years – from an all-time high of 213 billion in 2006 and 171 billion just last year.
  • Customer visits at our retail offices have declined as well – from 1.27 billion customers in 2006 to 107 billion last year.
  • Retail revenue also reflects that decline – from $14.5 billion in 2006 to $12.5 billion last year.
  • USPS has responded aggressively to the dramatic decline in mail volume and revenue by cutting costs across the board. The following actions have occurred and will continue: — Consolidating mail processing operations
    — Adjusting carrier routes nationwide
    — Consolidating Area and District offices
    — Reducing staffing level at national headquarters and in the Area and District offices
    — Selling unused and under-used facilities
    — Freezing executive salaries
  • In reviewing its retail facilities, the USPS looks at current office needs, proximity of other postal locations, proximity to alternate access options, structural condition of the office, lease terms, real estate market, retail revenue transactions, community Input, customer access, impact on customer and community postal needs, impact on employees, cost savings, environmental impact, and long-term USPS needs.
  • The reviews are conducted by local postal management teams, as this is a local process using local knowledge.

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

We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com

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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. We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com. 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.

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