Please note that your letter must be postmarked by June 13, 2013.
Manager, Consumer & Industry Contact
Lakeland District
PO Box 5008
Milwaukee, WI 53201-5008
Dear Postal Service Representative,
I am writing to urge that the mail-processing operation in Madison not be downsized or consolidated. I am especially concerned about the delays in service and the loss of jobs in Madison. What is being proposed is essentially the elimination of first-class mail service. Whereas now, on weekdays, mail going to a destination in southwestern Wisconsin very often arrives the next day, if the proposed consolidation takes place, delivery times will slow to two or three days or longer, especially in December when mail volume is up and in the winter months when road conditions are hazardous.
I am also concerned that at a time when we should be reducing the consumption of fuel, the USPS is planning to increase its fuel consumption to truck mail farther to be processed. The increased use of the roads will add to traffic congestion and will cause further wear and tear to the roads as well as damage to the environment caused by increased emissions and fuel consumption.
The USPS’s claims to save $146,462 per year on transportation—while moving all mail coming into Madison to Milwaukee every day, then moving Madison’s mail back a day or two later—is obviously false. With the consolidation plan, transportation costs will undoubtedly increase substantially. Moreover, the need for mail handling work will increase in both Madison and Milwaukee, as all the mail will need to be moved on and off trucks in both cities.
The permanent destruction of first-class mail service, along with the sacrifice of 54 jobs in Madison, is far too high a price to pay for what will amount to minuscule savings (if any) for the postal service. A far better solution would be to raise postal rates for all postal customers enough so that the USPS would be able to cover its costs. Just because mail volume is currently low doesn’t mean that it will stay that way. And decreased volume does not mean that the service is any less valuable to those who use the service and rely on it.
The postal service needs to be strengthened and improved, not dismantled. It will not be improved or “saved” by destroying it, which is essentially what this plan amounts to. I cannot express my opposition to it strongly enough.
Sincerely,
