Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) issued the following press release:

Senator Highlights IG’s Report Recommending Review of Consolidations, Change in Service Standards Impacts

November 10, 2014 – WASHINGTON – In a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, Senator John Hoeven said the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) needs to reevaluate its decision to consolidate the Minot Area Mail Processing (AMP) center. The senator’s comments come in light of the city’s continuing growth and a new internal USPS study finding that the impacts of consolidation and a new service standard have been inadequately studied, including in Minot.

“The Postal Service is in difficult financial straits, so it makes sense to consolidate facilities when the post office can save money and still maintain services,” Hoeven said. “North Dakota, however, is enjoying an unprecedented period of economic and demographic growth, and that means facilities like the Minot processing center need to stay open to provide reliable and adequate postal services to sustain that growth. The USPS Inspector General’s report shows that the USPS could have done a better job of studying the impacts of consolidation, and, in light of this finding, I urge you to reevaluate the consolidation of the Minot facility.”

Throughout his service in the U.S. Senate, Hoeven has been working to ensure that the USPS consider and meet the needs of North Dakota communities, especially in the rapidly growing western portion of the state, as the agency works to solve its financial issues.

In his letter, Hoeven pointed to an internal USPS Inspector General’s report issued in October that revealed significant concerns regarding the Postal Service’s diligence in finalizing the service standard changes. The senator called on Donahoe to adopt the report’s recommendations, including making information about proposed changes public in affected communities, taking public comments and allowing public review of feasibility studies and impacts prior to implementing system changes.

 

November 10,2014

November 10,2014

The Honorable Patrick R. Donahoe
Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer
United States Postal Service
475L’Enfant Plaza, SW
ïØashington, DC 20260

Deat Postmaster General Donahoe

I write today to express my concerns regarding a recent U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
Office of Inspector General (IG) report entitled, “Management Alert -Lack of Service Standard
Change Information in ,Area Mail Ptocessing FeasibiJity Studies” (Report Number: NO-I{.\ 15-
001) dated October 6,2014. This document reveals significant internal concerns regarding the
USPS’diligence in studying the effects of proposed network optiminization changes across the
country, including the Area Mail Processing (,\MP) center in Minot, North Dakota.

The Postal Service is in difficult financial straits, so it makes sense to consolidate facilities
when the post office can save money and still maintain services. North Dakota, however, is
enjoying an unprecedented period of economic and demographic growth, and that means
facilities like the Minot processing center need to stay open to provide reliable and adequate
postal services to sustain that growth. The USPS IG’s report shows that the USPS could have
done a better job of studying the impacts of consolidation, and, in light of this hnding, I urge
you to reevaluate the consolidation of the Minot facility. ‘additionally, I urge you to take action
on the report’s recommendations, including completing service standard feasibility studies and
impact evaluations of affected communities, before any further changes ate implemented.

In 2011, the USPS initiated feasibility studies for consolidating ¡.MP centers nationwide,
including three potential locations in North Dakota. While one facility has since been
consolidated and one facility was removed from the closure list in North Dakota, the Minot
AMP center stjll remains slated for consolidation beginning January 2015. I appreciate your
staffs recent effort to reevaluate the justification to consolidate the Minot facility. Yet, despite
USPS reconfirming its original decision, I still believe the USPS must reconsider customer and
employee impacts, actual cost benefits, and future mail processing delays, especially in a region
experiencing increasing residential and business growth.
Moreover, the recent USPS IG report confirms that these concerns are not
unfounded. In fact, the report details that once the Phase 2 processing center consolidations are
completed, there are potential negative impacts, These will likely include degradation of service
to communities and delayed mail, unexpected workloads resulting in postal carrers delivering
mail after 5:00pm, as well as customer dissatisfaction, which could harm the Postal Service’s
brand and affect future revenue.

see more

 

 

Senator Hoeven’s letter can be found here. The Inspector General’s report can be found here.