Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Proposes Slower Mail, Shorter Post Office Hours
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The man who heads up the U.S. Postal Service says the agency is on the verge of collapse and he's proposing some major changes to prevent it.
Tony Tutich of the small Westmoreland town of Salem has a daily ritual: a short walk to the post office.
But due to catastrophic losses -- $9 billion last year alone -- Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says the U.S. mail is in bad shape.
"There is difficult work ahead of us to fix the systematic problems that have plagued the Postal Service," said DeJoy.
This week, DeJoy outlined a plan he says will save the post office and keep it from needing a government bailout.
The basics: shorter hours for some post offices and the possible closing of others, longer delivery times for what DeJoy calls outlying areas and more expensive postal rates.
Without it, DeJoy says the post office as we know it will collapse.
"The post office is going to be here for a long time," said U.S. Congressman Mike Doyle.
Doyle says the plan has some good points, like going to an all-green fleet and moving postal retirees to Medicare to save money.
However, Doyle, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, says the plan will leave customers of smaller post offices like the ones in Salem Township waiting longer for the postman.
"This doesn't improve service. It makes the post office less attractive," says Doyle. "They're paying taxes like urban areas and they're going to be subjected to inferior service."
Bill Esposito, who also picks up his mail at Salem's post office, doesn't like the proposal.
"Even if you say they shouldn't do that, what are you going to do, you going to fight bureaucracy?" he said.
This is just a proposal and there are currently three openings on the Postal Service's board of governors. The president picks those board members who then determine who's postmaster. Former President Trump put in DeJoy and Congressman Doyle says President Biden will likely submit his replacement.