Jackson Free Press

The U.S. Postal Service is in what one might call a tough spot. Since people learned how to pay bills online, parents learned how to tweet baby pictures and companies discovered pop-up ads, the centuries-old agency has tried to cope with lowered revenues by raising stamp prices, moving services online and making cuts.

Recently, the Postal Service has considered stopping Saturday service and only delivering mail five days per week, instead of six. It is also looking at consolidating mail-processing centers, leading to longer shipping times, but lower costs.

In July, the Postal Service announced it would study closing about 3,700 post offices in an effort to save money. The postal service argued that most areas have "expanded access locations," such as grocery and office supply stores, which offer many of the same services as traditional post offices.

In Mississippi, the Postal Service chose 61 offices for potential closure, including five of the eight post offices in Jackson.

Deborah Fetterly, a Postal Service spokeswoman, said at this point she does not know how likely it is that the Jackson post offices will close.

"They're being studied, but nothing would be closed before May 15," she said.

Earlier this month, the Postal Service announced it would not close or consolidate any post offices or mail processing facilities until May 15 in response to requests from several senators.

In determining whether to close the five locations in Jackson, the Postal Service will look at how close the locations are to other post offices, the amount of revenue they generate and how many customer transactions the locations handle. Fetterly said the Postal Service will also consider if there are alternate locations nearby where customers can conduct transactions, such as purchasing stamps and mailing packages.

In a statement announcing the potential closures, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said more than 35 percent of the Postal Service's retail revenue comes from expanded access locations and the Postal Service website, usps.com.

"Our customers' habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business," Donahoe said in the statement.

While Jackson would have several full-service, traditional post offices left, even with the closures, other communities might not be so lucky. In September, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi's Second Congressional District wrote the postmaster general expressing concern about elderly and disabled people in rural communities without public transportation to travel to a post office.

He also argued that closing post offices and mail-processing facilities and eliminating Saturday delivery is "unconscionable" in light of current unemployment rates. Thompson's office was not available for comment by press time.

Fetterly said the Postal Service held community meetings in November about closing the Jackson post offices. Input from the community is important, she said, and customers who want to comment on the potential closures can write to Manager, Customer and Industry Contact, P.O. Box 99655, Jackson, MS, 39205-9655.

Comment at http://www.jfp.ms.

Previous Comments

ID

165660

Comment

Other than the Northview Drive location, which PO's are being targeted? Is there a full list available somewhere, including those outside Jackson but in the Metro area?

Author

scottb

Date

2012-01-04T12:27:28-06:00

ID

165661

Comment

The complete list of all the post offices in Mississippi being studied for closure is available at this link: http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/expandedaccess/states/mississippi.htm In Jackson, the locations are: Candlestick Park (820 Cooper Road) Delta Station (550 Melvin Bender Drive) North Jackson (4040 Northview Drive) Southwest (4542 Robinson Road) Westland (905 Ellis Ave.) If all those locations close, that will leave the downtown office (401 South Street), the Fondren office (629 Fondren Place) and the Lefleur office (1501 Jacksonian Plaza) open in Jackson. The Richland post office (366 Scarbrough Street, Richland) is also being studied for closure.

Author

lizwaibel

Date

2012-01-04T13:16:27-06:00