BUTTE, MT – As a result of a study begun on March 18, 2011, the Postal Service has made the decision to move some mail processing operations from the Butte, MT, Customer Service Mail Processing Center to the Great Falls, MT, Processing & Distribution Facility.
Dakotas District Manager John DiPeri 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,” DiPeri added,”but the consolidation makes sense given the fiscal realities. The Great Falls, MT, Processing & Distribution Facility has the capacity to handle the additional workload and we can realize significant savings by shifting operations there.”
The transition is expected to be completed by January, 2012. Affected career employees will be reassigned to other vacant positions.
“This move will not cause any changes in local mail delivery,” said DiPeri. “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 97 percent of the mail. Service to ZIP Code areas 595 will improve from 2-day to overnight. Service to ZIP Code areas 590, 598 and 821 will change from overnight to 2-day. “The significant cost savings and productivity gains expected from this consolidation were deciding factors in making this very difficult decision,” said DiPeri.
Full retail services for customers will still be available at the Butte Main Post Office at 701 Dewey Blvd., and at the Butte Copper Hill Station Post Office at 60 W. Galena St.
Large volume business mailers will continue to be able to drop off discount prepared mail at the Business Mail Entry Unit at the Butte Main Post Office. Mailers who prepare destination entry rate mailings for 597 ZIP Codes will take their drop shipment to the Great Falls Processing and Distribution Center, 1409 14th St., SW, Great Falls, MT, 59404-9906, effective January, 2012.
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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.
