MISSOULA — Missoula may see some changes to its postal service as the United States Postal Service (USPS) restructures.
USPS is considering changing the operations of the Missoula Processing and Distribution Center on Kent Street.
The new center would process local mail with a regional processing and distribution center in Spokane.
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In 2021, USPS announced its 10-year strategic plan, which is meant to reorganize the postal service to ensure the economic future of mail service in the U.S., according to Kim Frum, strategic communications specialist for USPS.
Under the mission of the 10-year plan, USPS started an evaluation of the Missoula center in January. They’ve determined the best course of action is to transition Missoula to a local processing center, moving some mail to go through Spokane instead.
This would cause local deliveries to travel further before reaching the final destination, but USPS says it will still be a more streamlined process.
Frum says during the review process, no career employees will be laid off, no post offices will be closed and retail services are not expected to be affected.
It is unclear if this statement will change as permanent decisions are made. USPS says they can only ensure no career employee layoffs during the evaluation period but did not make any comments about part-time workers or layoffs after evaluations are finished.
USPS will hold a public meeting at the DoubleTree in Missoula on Friday, March 15, at 6 p.m. A final decision on changes in Missoula won’t be made until after the meeting.
The following press release is the only information USPS has shared at this time, but they said they will release more details prior to the meeting on March 15.
USPS Proposes Mail Operations Improvements at Missoula Processing FacilityMISSOULA, Mont. — As part of a $40 billion investment strategy to upgrade and improve the Postal processing, transportation, and delivery networks, the U.S. Postal Service is conducting an evaluation of current operations and potential future uses of its Missoula Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) facility in Missoula, Montana.
- Facility to remain open and modernized as a Local Processing Center to improve mail and package flow through the region
- Investments part of USPS’ 10-year Delivering for America plan to modernize the nation’s aging postal network
- Public meeting to be held March 15
The USPS 10-year Delivering for America (DFA) plan includes initiatives to improve organizational and operational processes and actively make the Postal Service an efficient, high-performing, world class logistics and delivery provider. Improvements to Postal operations will enhance the level of service provided to the public; drive innovation and enable a broader array of postal products and services; enhance organizational competitiveness; improve efficiency and lower the cost to operate; and provide better workplaces and careers for Postal Service employees.
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. Business mail entry, Post Office, station, and branch retail services are not expected to change, and delivery services will be unaffected throughout this review. The evaluation is a first step in the Postal Service review and investment process in this facility and will not result in this facility’s closure or career employee layoffs.
The initial results of the facility review support the business case for keeping the Missoula facility open and modernizing the facility as a Local Processing Center (LPC). The Missoula LPC will be a critical node to the unified movement of mail and packages across the regional processing and transportation ecosystem. The facility will offer expanded and streamlined package processing capabilities in the local market and new workplace amenities for USPS employees – part of the Postal Service’s $40 billion investment in the nation’s aging postal network.
Additionally, the business case supports transferring some mail processing operations to the Spokane P&DC in Spokane, Washington. This would mean a significant percentage of locally collected mail will travel across the wider USPS transportation and processing network over considerable distances to reach its final destination in a more efficient manner. Mail and packages destined for outside the local area may receive better service and be more cost effectively distributed when combined with mail and packages from other areas going to the same places, using the wider postal network to transport the mail a significant distance from where it started.
A public meeting will be held on Friday, March 15, 6 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Missoula/Edgewater, 100 Madison St., Missoula, MT 59802. USPS will share the initial results of the study and allow members of the community to provide oral feedback and perspectives on the Initial Findings of the MPFR. A summary of the MPFR will be posted on about.usps.com [about.usps.com] at least one week prior to public input meeting. Members of the local community may submit written comments at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mpfr-missoula-mt [surveymonkey.com] through Mar. 30, 2024. The public’s input will be considered prior to a final decision.
The Postal Service will work closely with its unions and management associations throughout the facility review and will continually monitor the impact of any changes that are implemented and will adjust plans as necessary and appropriate.
