USPS Is Temporarily Suspending Services in These States Due to “Safety Concerns”
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While the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) strives to meet our everyday needs, the agency is not willing to put workers or customers at risk to do so. The USPS often touts the importance of safety, warning us that we won’t get our mail delivered if we don’t clear snow from walkways, or put pets away when carriers arrive. But now, problems that are out of your control could also prevent you from being able to access your mail—or at least your local post office. The agency has recently adjusted its operations in four states to account for “safety concerns.” Read on to discover where the USPS is temporarily suspending services, and why.
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The latest update to the USPS Service Alerts website is warning customers in South Carolina about a new closure. According to the alert, operations at a facility in Ulmer, South Carolina, are now “temporarily suspended due to safety concerns.”
During the Ulmer Post Office closure, the USPS is providing retail and P.O. Box services to affected customers at the Fairfax Post Office, which is located in Fairfax, South Carolina, at 190 Pickens Ave N.
“The Postal Service will provide additional information when regular operations resume,” the agency added in its release. “We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience that may be caused by this temporary suspension.”
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A few days earlier, the USPS had updated its Service Alerts website to tell customers about service disruptions happening up north. In a March 7 alert, the agency announced that a facility in Cabot, Vermont, had been “temporarily closed due to safety concerns” as well.
The USPS did not elaborate on the safety concerns happening at the Cabot Post Office, which is located at 3123 Main St. But a March 5 post in the public Cabot Connects Town Bulletin Board Facebook group indicates that as with the South Carolina facility, this post office may have been closed because of structural issues.
Best Life reached out to the USPS for more information on the Cabot Post Office closure, and we will update this story with the agency’s response.
In the meantime, the alert noted that customers’ mail and retail services will be available at the Marshfield Post Office, located at 1401 U.S. Route 2.
RELATED: USPS Changes Could Delay Mail Further: “Maybe Next Week You’ll Get Your Letter.”
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On the opposite side of the country, a facility in Stockton, California, was also shut down earlier this month. In a March 4 local press release , the USPS announced the “temporary closure” of the Calaveras Post Office. Located at 1048 W. Robinhood Drive, the Postal Service said the decision to close this facility was “made in the interest of public safety due to concerns about the structural integrity of the building’s roof.”
“The USPS has identified potential issues with the roof that could pose a risk to both employees and customers,” the agency explained. “A professional assessment of the situation is currently underway, and we are in contact with the building’s owner to resolve this safety issue.”
When Best Life reached out to the USPS about the Calaveras Post Office closure, a spokesperson said that the agency had no additional information about the status of the facility.
But in its release, the agency said that customers are “encouraged to use the nearest post office for their postal needs.” As of March 5, P.O. Box customers from the Calaveras Post Office are being directed to the Hammer Ranch Post Office at 7554 Pacific Avenue in Stockton to pick up their mail.
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The USPS has halted operations at a facility in the Midwest as well. In a separate March 4 local press release , the agency announced that a post office in Charter Oak, Iowa, is not allowing customers inside right now either.
But local news station KTIV reported that the Charter Oak Main Post Office had been temporarily closed because a building directly next to it was showing serious damage and decay, creating a safety concern for the postal facility.
During the closure, the USPS said that all delivery and retail services for the Charter Oak facility have been “temporarily moved” to the Ricketts Main Post office, located at 40 Maple Street in Ricketts, Iowa.
“We appreciate your patience and thank you in advance,” the agency added
- Source: USPS: Service Alerts
- Source: USPS Temporarily Suspends Retail and P.O. Box Operations at the Ulmer Post Office effective March 8
- Source: USPS: Calaveras Post Office Temporarily Closes
- Source: USPS: Charter Oak Main Post Office Temporarily Closed Due to Needed Repairs
USPS Changes Could Delay Mail Further: “Maybe Next Week You’ll Get Your Letter”
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Despite all of the technological advancements that have made life easier, we still rely on the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to send and receive our physical mail. Unfortunately, the essential service has struggled lately amid budget problems and logistical constraints that have sometimes made it hard to get letters and packages as quickly as we’d like . Officials have worked to try to streamline the agency and make it more efficient. But now, some warn that upcoming changes could further delay mail for customers in some areas. Read on to see what’s planned and why it could take longer to get your letters.
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The USPS has made some controversial changes to its operations in recent months in an attempt to streamline service and optimize efficiency. But one of its latest proposals is now raising concern among some employees.
RELATED: USPS Warns Carriers “Cannot Deliver Your Mail” Unless You Make These Changes .
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According to KFOR, customers in Oklahoma with zip codes beginning with 73 already send their mail through the Oklahoma City processing facility. Those beginning with 74 flow through the soon-to-close Tulsa facility, while the mail of Arkansas residents in zip codes starting with 725 and 727 are processed in Fayetteville. Workers say funneling the mail into the same Oklahoma City processing facility will have some significant drawbacks.
“It’s going to delay their mail,” Julia Weare , president of the APWU’s Tulsa chapter, told KFOR. “Used to be, you could mail a letter across town, and it would get there the next day, maybe drop it in the mail, would be there the next day. But now it’s like maybe next week you’ll get your letter.”
She went on to explain that this change would slow down mail meant to move locally, as it would have to make the longer trip to get processed and postmarked. In most cases, it will take as much as two to three more days overall.
“Anything you drop off at the post office is automatically going to be postmarked a day later than when you dropped it off,” Weare warned. “That makes a difference when it comes to voting ballots, taxes—you know, when you’re paying your bills.”
RELATED: USPS Employee Explains Massive Mail Delays: “It’s a Whole Mess.”
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The pending changes won’t only create problems for everyday mail processing. Weare explained that Oklahoma City now relies on Tulsa in the case of any major outages or disruptions but would no longer be able to rely on the station after the closures.
She warned that this could lead to major delays whenever disruptions develop.
“Now, if Oklahoma City has an outage…they have to send their mail to Houston, Texas,” Weare told KFOR. “So, that’s a that’s a big deal, considering your mail is going to go even more than hundreds of miles, that it doesn’t need to go when it can continue to stay local and be worked the same day that you drop it off.”
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For now, Weare says workers’ warnings about increased mail delays are going unheeded from officials.
“We have voiced our [concerns,] we’ve asked every month, we’ve asked the plan, you know, what changes are coming. And they keep saying nothing,” she told KFOR.
The USPS plans to hold a public meeting to address the pending changes. But Weare also says it’s unlikely many will be able to attend because the meeting is scheduled for the middle of the afternoon.
“The post office doesn’t even close until five at night. So yeah, carriers can’t make it,” Weare told KFOR. “Handlers, everybody that works at the plant, you know. So they should have made this meeting in the evening. If they truly wanted the public’s input, it should have been after everybody got off work at five.”
Best Life has reached out to USPS for comment on the changes and will update this article with its reply.
