Oregon Public Broadcasting

The U.S. Postal Service says it plans to close or consolidate 223 mail processing facilities throughout the country.  Mail that’s sorted now in Bend, Eugene, Salem and Pendleton, will be processed in Portland.

For most people, the change will mean it will take an extra day to deliver their first class mail. Behind the scenes however, the consolidation is expected to eliminate 164 positions here in Oregon. 

Although spokesman Peter Hass says the Postal Service will try to reassign affected employees to other jobs.

Changes at the Oregon facilities are expected save up to $13  million annually.   Nationwide, the Postal Service expects to save $15 billion over the next three years.

Hass says the Postal Service needs to cut costs.  Even in its busiest time of the year -- the holiday season -- the USPS  wrote down more than a $3 billion quarterly loss.

“Over the last 4 years or so, we’ve seen a 25 percent decline in mail volume.  So, basically we have an overcapacity of facilities.  We have too much capacity for the amount of mail that’s sent by the American public.”

Hass says due to an arrangement with Congress, no changes will occur until after May 15th.