The U.S. Postal Service reported this week that its quarterly loss grew to $3.3 billion. The news wasn't exactly surprising, given the recent trends.
And it also wasn't surprising that postal officials continue to say they need the flexibility to make drastic cost-cutting changes, including eliminating Saturday mail delivery, raising stamp prices and reducing health and other labor costs. They say they could save up to $6.5 billion a year by closing 252 mail processing centers around the country, including many in North Dakota. Minot's processing center would be among the ones closed.
No where in any Postal Service argument do we see discussion that if allowed to cut Saturday delivery and close processing centers, the Postal Service is willingly making itself less useful and necessary to the average consumer. Such cuts will lead to even fewer consumers using the Postal Service, thus reducing service, which in turn will lead to even lower profits.
The North Dakota Newspaper Association gathered thousands of signatures for a petition calling for the Postal Service to reconsider closing mail processing centers in the state. It makes no sense to close centers in Minot, Williston and other areas in North Dakota that are experiencing a population boom.
We fully understand the Postal Service has serious financial issues. But we don't believe options that include closing processing centers and eliminating Saturday delivery are the right answers.