The U.S. Postal Service is moving ahead with plans to close up to 252 processing facilities, to cut costs.
The plan would likely end next-day mail delivery, and restrict service to rural areas. In a House speech Monday, Oregon Democratic Congressman Peter DeFazio blasted the Postmaster General for the move.
"This is an incredible blow to our economy. They are talking about closing processing centers. Let me just be specific. In my area, they are talking about closing the Eugene-Springfield processing center. That means if I mail a letter from Springfield to Eugene, which is six or seven miles away, it will be carried by truck to Portland, Oregon and sorted there and trucked back down, sometime, that week," he said.
Postal officials say they’re studying the feasibility of closing four mail-processing facilities in Oregon. They’re in Bend, Pendleton, Salem and Springfield.
Postal Service Vice President David Williams says the agency is "responding to current market conditions." The Postal Service has said it needs to make cuts of $20 billion dollars by 2015 to be profitable.
