By Jan Lemsalu
Managing Editor
Good news for postal customers in the region that the closure or consolidation of post offices and mail processing center on hold until May.
There are 3,700 post office-Venango one-mail processing center and 252-North Platte became one-which has been targeted for some changes to the U.s. Postal Service wants to make.
It was a relief to employees, customers and businesses that depend on services provided by the local post office and the regional center of their distribution.
Obviously, customers are from the post office had been worried that the Venango facilities they will be put on the chopping block. Venango is among a group of 90 Nebraska Post Office planned closure.
According to Brian Sperry, a regional spokesman for the US Postal Service in Denver, Venango was in a group that well before the list of National potential closure out of 3,700 in July.
Close the mail North Platte processing center will affect every postal customers in Perkins County and beyond.
According to Sperry, the postal service is conducting a study on North Platte facility (one of 252) to examine the feasibility of consolidating operations to Cheyenne, Wyo. processing and distribution center.
The u.s. Postal Service declared they would suspend the closure to give Congress more time to pass legislation that would give the postal service of power and liquidity continues to bankruptcy.
If changes are made, it would take an extra day for the class of mail to be processed and delivered, also influenced the work of nearly 50 employees at the center of North Platte. About 100,000 postal employees could potentially cut as a result of the proposed closure of the range, resulting in annual savings of up to $ 6.5 billion.
The original time frame for completion of studies is in March 2012.
Deadline extension to May will buy a little more time.
Senator Ben Nelson, D-Conn., are among a group of 21 US Senators who signed a letter to Congressional leaders asking for a delay.
The postal service is expected to lose a record 14.1 billion in 2012. Projected loss for the year was $ 8 billion.
In 2010, the postal service lost 8.5 billion.
Since 2006, the volume of mail class has fallen almost 27 percent and it could drop another 50 percent more 2020 according to officials.
The postal service receives no tax, however, the Agency is subject to control by the Congress on the main aspects of the operation.
Contributing to the financial crisis the postal service act of Congress passed in 2006 requires the postal service for “pre-pay” 75-year-old retired health obligations with annual payments of $ 5.5 billion over 10 years, contributing to the financial crisis, which is something that is not required from the federal agency to another.