SPOKANE, Wash.- U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) issued a statement against a USPS plan to move a series of mail processing operations from Missoula to Spokane.
The proposed change would relocate operations which currently occur at the Missoula Processing and Distribution Center to Spokane.
Moving some mail processing operations to the Lilac City is part of a $40 billion USPS project to make mail delivery more efficient. The move of some mail processing operations to Spokane is not inevitable, but is currently under review. USPS Strategic Communications Specialist Kim Frum placed the review within the wider context of a decades-long USPS improvement plan.
“This specific facility review will inform the best allocation of resources and strategies to improve customer service and to achieve significant cost savings through operational precision and efficiency,” Frum said.
The postal service highlighted that the change in venue for processing would not impact career USPS employees, and would not result in the closure of the Missoula facility. Frum did not address how non-career employees would be affected by a potential change in processing procedures.
Tester argues that the proposed change would make mail delivery to the Treasure State less efficient due to the need for USPS drivers to travel over Lookout Pass. In an open letter to Postmaster Louis DeJoy, the senator made his concerns clear.
“I fail to see how this transfer would result in improved postal service for Montanans,” Tester said.
The USPS declined to comment on Tester’s claim that the potential change could slow mail service for Montanans. The potential change will not occur until after a period of public comment and coordination with the postal worker’s union.
