The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Closing the region’s post office distribution center would save the deficit-ridden U.S. Postal Service $20.2 million a year, according to an analysis by the agency.
Nearly two-thirds of that – $12.4 million – would come from eliminating 260 jobs. Most of the remainder – $7 million – would come from reduced maintenance costs.
The Postal Service will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Booker T. Washington High School, at 1111 Park Ave., on its proposal to shut the Norfolk Processing and Distribution Facility on Church Street.
The Norfolk site is on a list of 250 distribution centers that could be closed to cut costs. Earlier this month, the Postal Service reported a $5.1 billion deficit for 2011.
A local post office, the Berkley station on Liberty Street, is on another list of potential closings. The status of two more offices on that list – the Customhouse downtown and the Lafayette on Tidewater Drive – is on hold pending the decision on the distribution center, said Michele Martel, a Postal Service spokeswoman in Richmond, in an email.
In addition, the DeBree office on 20th Street in Ghent had been scheduled to close at the end of the year because the owner of the building planned to increase the rent. However, Martel said the lease has been extended. She did not say when it would expire.
The plan to shut the Church Street distribution center would not affect the service counter there. Mail processing for Hampton Roads would be transferred to the newer Sandston facility, outside Richmond.
“Delivery times of mail to residences and businesses will not change as a result,” the agency’s analysis said.
A Postal Service audit released in September found that the Sandston site was plagued with delays. Martel said the agency has introduced changes that should address the problems.
“It doesn’t make any sense logistically or environmentally,” said Charlotte Graham-Clark, a Virginia Beach artist. Hampton Roads has more residents than Richmond and boasts a strong military presence and port activity, she said.
“We’ll be sending our mail on a 200-mile round trip so you can pay your plumber who’s five miles away,” Graham-Clark said. “It will be an ungodly mess if they send it to Richmond.”
Michele Wright, president of the Norfolk local of the American Postal Workers Union, has said the Postal Service could avoid closing branches and distribution centers if it stopped pre-funding health benefits for retirees, a practice that costs more than $5 billion a year.
The Postal Service will decide the fate of the distribution center by March, Martel said.
Written comments may be sent to the agency at Manager, Consumer and Industry Contact, Richmond District, 1801 Brook Road, Richmond, VA 23232-9631. Comments must be postmarked by Dec. 14.
Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com
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Norfolk Mail Facility
Norfolk is the biggest navel station on the east coast. That mailing facility is the heartbeat of our service men and women. While I believe the big mailers are behind all of the closings of post offices, this one is the most heartless. I thought I was speechless when I heard this, yet I was compelled to express my feelings on this repulsive action toward our men and women in uniform.
close sandston instead
the Sandston Facility in Richmond is the least efficient station in the system; USPS should close Sandston and jkeep Norfolk open. The City should fight for this because of the loss of jobs.
Public Hearing
At 6:00pm tonight there will be a public hearing at Booker T Washington High School in Norfolk. This hearing is to explain/discuss the results of the AMP study completed to see if it would be feasible to consolodate the Norfolk Processing & Distribution Center with the troubled newer Richmond (Sandston) plant. This meeting will also discuss changing the service standards of First Class Mail which would have to be done to even try to make such consolidation feasible. Currently there are over 700 career employees at the Norfolk P&DC that would have to find positions elsewhere if not at the newer troubled Sandston plant. A change of this magnitute would have devastating effects on everyone in the local economy. Please attend.
For those who understand
the importance of keeping our local facility open, there is a public forum tonight with USPS
When: November 29th at 6:00PM
Where: Booker T. Washington High School, 1111 Park Ave., Norfolk, VA
Many local businesses depend on bulk mail and for the rest, the efficiency and timeliness of your mail as well as the overall local economy will take a big hit if we lose the Church Street facility.
PAPER VERSUS ELECTRONICS
It boils down to technological advances. Whereas books, the mail, and newspapers were the chief cornerstone in communications for years and in some cases centuries, it is to me unsettling that we are witness to yet another subtle nail in their collective demise. While I enjoy my book collection, reading a letter, and 'the daily paper', it is very sad -- especially since I am using electronic means to convey these sentiments.
Correct...
This is about technology (and economics), and it has nothing to do with "union busting" or "welfare" or anything else.
With the advent of e-mail and electronic payments, etc., the Postal Service has fewer pieces of mail to process (and therefore collects less revenue). Meanwhile, USPS expenses will remain unchanged (if they do nothing) because they still have to spend $$ on labor, fuel, trucks, etc., to make deliveries to every house every day.
Note - Congress can still help the Postal Service save $$$ by removing the mandate that they deliver to residences on Saturdays.
Final justificatin is the fact that the USPS decision maintains service while reducing total cost. Simple as that.
Sandston: Sub par and slow as can be.
If it were about technology and economics, then the USPS would be SHUTTING DOWN the Sandston facility and pushing it to the Norfolk distribution facility. Let's be honest. A facility that has a poor efficiency rating actually means delays in service, which means more mail pushed into it means even more severe delays, and more money dumped into it to try to "fix" the inefficiencies. Just move all this alleged "high tech" equipment to Norfolk, where they're rated much higher in productivity and efficiency, and makes a system that works well even better. Oh wait. That wouldn't play favor to Richmond. Ignore the fact that we have the larger population over Richmond in just Norfolk alone.
Au contraire...
One must look at the big picture and not just "Norfolk vs. Richmond".
Technology-wise, e-mail and electronic payments have replaced USPS mail; current economic conditions have caused companies to reduce advertising sent via USPS. All of these have contributed to a siginificant decline in USPS revenues while total USPS costs remained the same.
Inefficiencies at Richmond can be fixed with new management, better equipment, etc. Richmond's operation can become what Norfolk's operation allegedly is.
What cannot be replaced is Richmond's central location. Looking at a 120-mile radius of Richmond, more mail (more people) can be collected (and processed under the same roof) in Richmond vs. a 120-mile radius of Norfolk.
Simple as that.
Congress can still help the
Congress can still help the Postal Service save $$$ by removing the mandate that they overpay employee retirements 75 years in advance. Without that onerous and unreasonable burden, imposed by Congress, the Postal Service would be in the black.
Welcome to the New America of union busting, out sourcing..
and the great lie of "free trade"
Waiting for midnight, hungry families on food stamps give Walmart 'enormous spike' By Jessica Hopper
At the stroke of midnight, a growing number of Americans are lining up at Walmart not to cash in on a holiday sale, but because they’re hungry.
The increasing number of Americans relying on food stamps to survive the sluggish economic recovery has changed the way the largest retailer in the United States does business.
What a great idea. Kill more living wages jobs and send more families on food stamps, so Republican politicians can union bust which is all about taking money away from the opposition party and workers be damned.