KANSAS CITY, MO — As a result of a study begun in April, the Postal Service has made the decision to move all mail processing operations from the Fort Scott, KS Customer Service Mail Processing Center to the Kansas City, MO Processing & Distribution Facility (P&DC). Local mail delivery will not be affected by the move.

Mid-America District Manager Mark Martinez said, "Given the drastic 20 percent decline in mail volume the Postal Service has experienced since 2007, we must take action to reduce the size of our mail processing network. Consolidating operations and placing our people where we need them is necessary if the Postal Service is to remain viable to provide mail service to the nation."

"I understand our employees’ concern over this move," Martinez added, "but the consolidation makes sense given the fiscal realities. The Kansas City, MO P&DC has the capacity to handle the additional workload and we can realize significant savings by shifting operations there."

The transition will be completed by October. Some affected career employees may be reassigned to other vacant positions. All reassignments will be made in accordance with the collective bargaining agreements with employee unions.

"This move will not cause any changes in local mail delivery," said Martinez. "Letters mailed to local addresses will be delivered the next day, the same as before. I am confident the transition will be smooth and transparent to our customers and they will continue to receive the same excellent service they always have."

There will be no change in service standards for 99 percent of the mail. However, as a result of the consolidation, service to ZIP Code area 673 will change from overnight to 2-day, and service to ZIP Code areas 644-647 and 666 will improve from 2-day to overnight. "The cost savings and productivity gains expected from this consolidation were deciding factors in making this very difficult decision," said Martinez.

Retail service for purchasing stamps and other postal products will continue to be available at the Fort Scott Post Office, located at 120 S National Ave.

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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.