Wilkes-Barre PA – In a continuing effort to improve productivity and increase efficiency, the Postal Service plans to move mail processing and distribution operations from the Wilkes-Barre Processing and Distribution Facility (P&DF) to the Scranton Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC) and the Lehigh Valley Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC). The transition will tentatively begin in October 2009 and be completed by January 2010. Retail services in Wilkes-Barre will remain unchanged.

Postal officials said local service will not be affected by the move. Some affected career employees may be reassigned to the Scranton P&DC, Lehigh Valley P&DC or to other vacant positions.

Central PA District Manager Edward B. Burke said, “As is the case with the Postal Service as a whole, the Wilkes-Barre P&DF has been experiencing a decline in mail volume, and the Scranton P&DC and Lehigh Valley P&DC have underutilized capacity.”

“This consolidation will contribute toward the Postal Service’s goal of increasing efficiency and improving productivity,” said Burke. “The move makes sense. Optimizing our processing network like this will help the Postal Service keep the cost of postage affordable for all Americans.”

“I am confident the transition will be smooth and transparent to our customers because of our excellent employees in this postal district,” Burke added.

The Wilkes-Barre Business Mail Entry Unit will remain open for large volume business mailers. Full retail services will still be available at the Wilkes-Barre facility.

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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.