The state’s largest farm organization is expressing concerns about a new U.S. Postal Service policy that would affect rural Missourians.
The USPS Regional Transportation Optimization plan would consolidate mail dropoffs and pickups for locations more than 50 miles out from the nearest regional Postal Service hub. USPS said the plan would result in an additional day of transit for mail for those post offices by removing end-of-day collections.
There are about 60 regional hubs, leaving much of the country’s rural areas to be affected by the change. Missouri has two of these hubs: one in Kansas City and one in St. Louis, according to mapping from savethepostoffice.com.
Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins sounded off on the proposal last week, sending a letter urging Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to reconsider the idea.
“Rural Americans rely on prompt and reliable postal service for a whole host of reasons, including receiving letters from loved ones, critical medication, time-sensitive documents and bills and even Social Security payments,” Hawkins’s letter read, “We believe these taxpayer-funded services should serve rural and urban areas equally to the maximum extent possible. Further restricting access to services in rural areas does not accomplish this goal.”
Hawkins said the Farm Bureau’s more than 157,000 member families rely on reliable service to rural areas six days a week, and that frustration with the service is already pretty common.
“Our members are already frustrated by slow delivery times, consolidation of rural facilities, and the overall perceived inefficiency of USPS as a whole,” the letter reads. “Additionally, we echo concerns shared by various members of Missouri’s congressional delegation in correspondence with USPS earlier this year.”
U.S. Reps. Sam Graves, Mark Alford and Emanuel Cleaver joined colleagues in Kansas on a letter in September urging the agency to remedy problems with missing or delayed mail and long stretches where no mail was delivered at all for some constituents. The congressional lawmakers pointed to audits of postal centers in both states that cited numerous deficiencies leading to delays. U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, also has expressed concerns.
Missouri’s congressional delegation was also copied on Hawkins’s letter.
For its part, the USPS said in a lengthy request for an opinion on the proposal from the Postal Regulatory Commission that the changes are meant to help an ailing agency.
The filing said USPS is in a “perilous fiscal condition and wholly lack(s) the financial flexibility under the current business model to absorb the cost of long delays before implementing a restructuring plan.”
The filing said operational changes could save the service up to $3.7 billion in costs spread between transportation, processing and facility expenses.
The USPS is self-funded, unlike other agencies and services that receive tax money, and relies on its own revenue generated via the sale of postage, services and products. The agency argued its current business model is not sustainable and needed to be changed quickly.
“While these initiatives in themselves are not sufficient to ensure financial stability, they are necessary to do so. Moreover, the proposed changes must also be pursued with a sense of urgency, given both our financial condition … and the fundamental fact that we cannot be an efficient, high-performing organization until we fix the inefficiencies of our current network,” the filing read. “We simply lack the financial runway to endure a drawn-out restructuring, while also ensuring that we do not run out of cash.”
The proposal cannot be put into effect until 90 days after the Oct. 4 request for feedback from the commission was submitted, meaning a consolidation would not occur until early next year.
In the meantime, Hawkins urged the federal service to consider alternative options.
“We urge your team to reconsider this proposal and develop a better path forward that prioritizes efficiency within the service, and equitable treatment between rural and urban citizens,” Hawkins wrote.
