April 17, 2024

Manchin, Collins Lead Bicameral, Bipartisan Letter To The USPS Opposing Consolidations, Operational Changes Across The Country

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, and Susan Collins (R-ME), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, led their bipartisan, bicameral colleagues in sending a letter to United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. The lawmakers expressed their opposition to the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) recent nationwide consolidation and review announcements that could severely diminish mail service reliability for postal networks across the nation.

“A common theme of these announcements is the so-called ‘modernization’ of Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs) into Local Processing Centers (LPCs),” the lawmakers wrote in part. “Taken together, these proposals dismantle parts of the Postal Service’s robust network that helps distribute mail across the country and places outgoing sorting into more distant facilities. The result of this change is that mail will need to travel farther from its origin to its sorting, creating inefficiencies in the system, especially for local mail.”

“These consolidation proposals never have had any discernible support from local communities. On the contrary, we have heard strong opposition to these efforts from USPS customers, community leaders, local businesses, and postal employees,” the lawmakers continued. “Rather than marching forward with these plans and offering short and vague statements dismissing concerns, the Postal Service should be communicating why the organization believes these changes are beneficial and what the specific impact of the changes will be to mail service.”

The letter was also signed by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Angus King (I-ME) and Representatives Jared Golden (D-ME), Steve Womack (R-AR), Lisa Blount Rochester (D-DE), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), Eric Sorensen (D-IL), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Mark Alford (R-MO), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Mike Ezell (R-MS), and Chris Pappas (D-NH). 

A timeline of Senator Manchin’s recent efforts to support the Charleston, West Virginia postal facility:

  • On April 2, 2024, Senator Manchin released a statement on the USPS’s decision to convert the Charleston P&DC into a LPC.
  • On February 27, 2024, Senator Manchin submitted a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to express his concern with the initial findings of the Mail Processing Facility Review.
  • On February 15, 2024, Senator Manchin published an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette Mail on the importance of protecting services at the facility.
  • On February 1, 2024, Senator Manchin released a statement on the USPS’s initial findings for the Mail Processing Facility Review.
  • On December 14, 2023, Senator Manchin submitted a public comment to the USPS to express his support for the Charleston postal facility and its employees.
  • On December 8, 2023, Senator Manchin visited the Charleston postal facility to support the workers and reaffirm his commitment to keeping West Virginia mail services in the state.
  • On December 2, 2023, Senator Manchin released a statement after speaking with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about the Mail Processing Facility Review.
  • On November 29, 2023, Senator Manchin released a statement on the USPS’s decision to conduct the Mail Processing Facility Review.

The full text of the letter is available below and here.

Dear Postmaster General DeJoy:

We are writing in strong opposition to the consolidation and review announcements recently made throughout the country by the United States Postal Service (USPS). A common theme of these announcements is the so-called “modernization” of Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs) into Local Processing Centers (LPCs). Taken together, these proposals dismantle parts of the Postal Service’s robust network that helps distribute mail across the country and places outgoing sorting into more distant facilities. The result of this change is that mail will need to travel farther from its origin to its sorting, creating inefficiencies in the system, especially for local mail. Additionally, some of the proposed improvements described as modernization include deferred maintenance for these facilities, which the Postal Service should have already completed.

We hear frequently from our constituents about deteriorating mail delivery. Customers rely on the Postal Service for a variety of important services, including their medication, newspapers, and financial documents. Sending mail farther for sorting is unlikely to improve service. The Postal Service has stated that mail will continue to meet service delivery standards. However, according to the Postal Service, revisions made in 2021 to these delivery standards “will increase time-in-transit standards by 1 or 2 days for certain mail that is traveling longer distances.” For affected communities, the mail will certainly be traveling longer distances, leading to longer processing times.

The announced network changes align with the Postal Service’s Delivering for America (DFA) plan. However, a recent review by the USPS Office of Inspector General of the implementation of the new Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RP&DC) in Richmond, Virginia, raises alarms. That facility was the first to be converted to an RP&DC as a result of the DFA plan. The Inspector General’s review noted that challenges associated with changes to the facility “contributed to a decrease in service performance for the Richmond region that continued four months after launch.” This report should have given pause and caused a review of the plan. However, less than two weeks after the release of this report, the Postal Service announced additional facility conversions, including the downgrades of the Eastern Maine P&DC and the Charleston, West Virginia P&DC – that state’s only remaining full-service facility – to LPCs. Additionally, despite community opposition, the Postal Service is moving forward with downgrades to facilities in Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Tennessee, while being on track to make the same decision in Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, and Vermont, and pushing ongoing changes to the Atlanta RP&DC.

These consolidation proposals never have had any discernible support from local communities. On the contrary, we have heard strong opposition to these efforts from USPS customers, community leaders, local businesses, and postal employees. Rather than marching forward with these plans and offering short and vague statements dismissing concerns, the Postal Service should be communicating why the organization believes these changes are beneficial and what the specific impact of the changes will be to mail service.

We understand the Postmaster General stresses the need to restore the Postal Service to solid financial footing, but we disagree with the proposed changes to postal facilities, particularly given the increased transportation and labor costs associated with implementation of the RP&DC, as described by the IG report. We are skeptical that the DFA plan will successfully accomplish its described goals. It is undisputed that the Postal Service faces a number of challenges in its efforts to provide universal mail delivery service, including workforce challenges, long distances, declining mail volume, and competition in certain markets. However, the proposed network redesign creates a new set of challenges for the Postal Service and is shattering customer confidence in the USPS.

The Postal Service provides an essential service upon which our constituents rely. The robust nature of the Postal Service’s current network is its strength, not its weakness. To ensure that our constituents continue to receive reliable service, we urge you to reconsider these consolidation announcements.