Tales from the Trail

Washington Extra – Post script

Mary Milliken

Feb 14, 2012 19:57 EST

You’ve heard about the income divide and the digital divide. Now, get ready for the postal divide.

Nearly 80 percent of the 3,830 U.S. post offices slated for closure later this year are in sparsely populated areas where poverty rates are higher than the national average, according to our findings in the special report “Towns go dark with post office closings.”

One-third of them fall in areas with limited or no wired broadband Internet, leaving 1.7 million people in the lurch. One of them is Carlos Sandoval, a rancher in Trinchera, Colorado, who relies on his post office for everything except groceries.

The closures will strike at the economic heart of many of these communities, but they will also hit the reputation of a Postal Service expected to serve all. And although there is not much noise about the impending closures in Washington, those who know about the toll they will take are not mincing words.

“The postmaster general doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on in rural America, and it shows,” said U.S. Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana.

Here are our top stories from Washington…

Lawmakers question U.S. Postal Service money saving priorities

Donna Smith

Apr 15, 2010 17:41 EDT

U.S. Postmaster General John Potter says the nation’s mail system faces a “dire” financial future as more people and businesses switch from snail mail to email and electronic funds transfers.

He is asking Congress to give him authority to drop Saturday delivery service and close some post offices.

Those are a couple of money saving possibilities outlined by the Postmaster General at a congressional hearing on Thursday. But the suggested cutback on services did not sit well with a number of members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Representative Carolyn Maloney said cutting out Saturday service could hurt the economy and Representative Gerry Connolly wondered if companies like Netflix will be able to maintain its customer base if folks can’t get movies delivered on Saturday.

Connolly suggested the Postal Service look at other ways to save money including replacing its gasoline powered fleet with electric vehicles. It not only would save money by not buying gasoline but also make money by selling back to the power company any left over battery juice at the end of day, he said.

Representative Darrel Issa suggested the postal service has not been aggressive in reducing its work force as the number of pieces of mail delivered each day dropped. He cited Kodak as an example of how to deal with a business that is being destroyed by technological advancements.

“Film was going away faster than any projected retirement rates. Now today they produce state of the art inkjet printers, they are first in digital they are making a comeback by reinventing itself,” Issa said.