Help to Save Your Local Post Office

We live in a world dominated by technology, where worldwide communication is just a click of the mouse away. Emailing, text messaging and portable telephones are all at our disposal. Good old snail mail has become an antiquated practice, forgotten by the general population. Thought it might not seem like anything serious on first thought, the decrease in the volume of mail is seriously affecting the United States Postal Offices and leaving it in a precarious state. The United States Postal Service is currently sinking in a billion dollar deficit. As of March 2009, 3,200 post offices nationwide are at risk of being consolidated or shut down.

The cost of postage has been steadily increasing for the past couple of years in an attempt to pull the Postal Service from the deficit. Emailing and electronic bills have reduced the amount of mail sent through the US Postal Service. Due to the state of the economy, businesses nationwide have opted to go paperless, and cease mail advertisement. It was a significant loss and a striking blow to the Postal Service’s revenue bringing them one step closer to closing the doors of yet another post office.

The U.S. Postal Service was once one of the most successful federal institutions, and even today they lay claim to the largest civilian auto fleet in the world. For years the Postal Service has been suffering from issues within their Union, losing millions to grievances made by mail carriers. There are larger implications than just shutting the doors of a building. Jobs will be lost, and it could possibly be the post office in your town that will be shut down.

The closure of the postal offices is not immediate. What can be done to save the USPS? Many say that the Postal Service should cut the mail deliveries to just 3 times a week. However, this would still require a reduction in the workforce, which means that jobs would still be lost. A downsize in the workforce seems inevitable, but there are other ways that you can help to save the US Postal Service. Communities around the nation are rallying to save their local post offices by raising money. Their aims are to buy the property that the post office operates on so that there is one less worry and expense for the USPS.

On a smaller and more individualistic level you can do your part to save local and national post offices. All you need to do is start sending letters! Send a gift to your relatives, buy a book of stamps and write a personal letter to an old friend. The higher the mail volume that the post office receives, it is less likely to be put on the list of offices to be closed down. There is a long process that the Postal Service must go through before they can shut down any offices. They are obligated to hold a city meeting and inform the residents of that city that their local post office will be closing. There is plenty of time, (usually about 2 months) before the doors close to rally and raise some revenue. So, write a letter and send a package. Save a job and save your local post office!