PORTLAND—Post Offices throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington are adjusting city letter carrier mail routes to help save significantly on costs and increase efficiency.

City letter carrier mail routes at 68 Post Offices and stations in the United States Postal Service’s Portland District were recently adjusted.

The U.S. Postal Service is facing a $7 billion operating budget deficit this fiscal year, chiefly because of declining mail volume and revenue that are a result of the poor economy. Route adjustments are being instituted nationwide to help the Postal Service achieve major cost savings.

The Postal Service’s mail volume through the first three quarters of 2009 was down by 15 percent nationally compared to last year. The USPS relies on the sales of its stamps and services for its operating revenue and does not receive tax dollars for operations.

“The Postal Service needs to be highly efficient and reduce costs while still providing excellent service,” said USPS Portland District Manager Kim Anderson. “These route changes allow us to economize and adjust the work time, amount of deliveries and travel time on routes to reflect the changes in mail volume. These changes will save the Postal Service millions of dollars this year in our operating expenses in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

“While we will try to minimize any customer inconvenience, with these route changes it is inevitable that some customers in these communities will have their mail delivered at a different time than what they’re accustomed to,” Anderson noted. Some may receive mail earlier in the day, some later.

“With these changes, we expect to achieve savings in fuel and vehicle maintenance costs, and work hours. We will also help the environment, and help keep U.S. postage rates among the lowest in the world. As always, all of our letter carriers make it their goal to deliver your mail as early as possible each day. We appreciate their great support.”

For those who require early mail delivery, many Post Offices have Post Office Boxes available for rent at low rates.

(See below for communities and ZIP Codes with route changes.)

Oregon & SW Washington Post Offices making route changes in Autumn 2009

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.