U. S. Postal Service Considers Cutbacks
Rural towns dominate the review list
Published July 30, 2011 @ 9:12 a.m.
A study by the United States Postal Service to determine whether or not to close over 3600 offices, branches and stations does not, at this time, include Post. Towns in our area listed on the USPS “hit” list include Forsan, Benjamin, Welch, Cotton Center, McAdoo, and Spade.
In locations where the postal service does close the U.S. Post Office, the facility may be replaced by what the service is calling Village Post Offices in which postal services are offered in local stores, libraries or government offices.
According to the agency’s web site, https://about.usps.com/news, most of the locations considered for this large cutback in services are rural towns; however, the Central post office and the Stockyward post office in Fort Worth may also be closed as well as branches in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Corpus Christi.
Being on a review list simply means that the postal operations at that location are being reviewed, some will close while others will remain as is. In January of this year, the postal service announced that it was reviewing 1400 locations for possible closing. To date 280 of those have closed and 200 were reviewed, but were not closed. The remaining locations are still "under review."
Revenue for the postal service continues to decline as it loses first class services to the internet and advertisers rely on methods to reach their audience other than direct mail. As this trend continues, the Postal Service will continue to consider ways to increase revenue or decrease services. Moving to a five-day delivery each week, eliminating Saturday deliveries, is an option proposed a few years back and still under consideration.