Erie P&DF Erie PA 4/18/15 to Pittsburgh P&DC Pittsburgh PA
Erie P&DF Erie PA 4/18/15 to Rochester P&DC Rochester NY
The announcement that the U.S. Postal Service plans to close the Erie mail-sorting facility by April 18 and move the operation to Pittsburgh or Rochester, N.Y., does not make any business sense.
To have local mail leave Erie and go either 134 miles to Pittsburgh or 156 miles to Rochester and come back to Erie adds travel costs and slows down delivery time. Severe winter snowstorms can further delay delivery. It will cost money to transfer equipment to another facility, plus the other facility will require electrical upgrades to accommodate the additional equipment. The space formerly used for sorting mail at the Erie facility will become vacant. If that space doesn’t become occupied by another business, there will be fixed costs to heat and maintain the facility.
While larger companies may use private companies to deliver their mail, many small businesses rely on the post office. If mail is delayed, it can also delay cash coming into the business. Slower mail service could result in delays in getting paid in a timely fashion, and a small business may not have the reserves to cover operations.
A business cannot tell its employees that because they didn’t receive customers’ payments, the employees are not going to be paid. For consumers, a credit card bill received late could result in late fees. Slower mail delivery could result in medications not being received on time. Slowing the delivery of first class mail will accelerate the decline of mail volumes and revenues.
I have sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C. 20260, asking him to keep the Erie mail-sorting facility in operation.
Ken Springirthî¸Harborcreek Township