U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) issued the following statements after U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy confirmed that the U.S. Postal Service will pause the movement of mail processing operations, which includes the facility in North Platte, until January of 2025.
Last week, Senator Fischer sent a letter to Postmaster DeJoy urging him to pause planned changes to its processing and delivery network until the potential impacts are further studied by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) and addressed by the Postal Service. The letter was led by U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.).
“The USPS ‘modernization’ plan failed to consider the impact on rural communities like North Platte and could have slowed down the very mail service it attempted to modernize, which is why I asked the Postmaster General to delay the plan for implementation. For now, no changes should occur at the North Platte facility. This pause should allow more time for the plan and its impact to be studied. I encourage USPS to take the next year to listen to people in communities like North Platte and to incorporate their feedback into any changes that occur after January of 2025,” said Senator Fischer.
“The Postal Service’s primary responsibility is to provide timely and reliable delivery to every community across our country. Modernization plans should improve customer service, not reduce it. I’m glad the Postmaster General listened to our call to delay implementation of the changes to the North Platte facility. The voice of rural Nebraskans must not be neglected in future plans,” said Senator Ricketts.
North Platte Facility Background:
On January 10, USPS published a notice that it was conducting a Mail Processing Facility Review of its processing operations at the North Platte P&DC.
On March 11, USPS announced its initial results of the facility review, including plans to transfer some mail processing operations to the Denver P&DC in Colorado.
Currently, the North Platte facility processes and distributes all mail in Nebraska west of the city of Cozad to the Wyoming border, north to the South Dakota border, and into portions of northern Kansas.
On Thursday, March 28, USPS held a public meeting to share the initial results of the study and allow members of the community to provide additional feedback.
On Tuesday, May 8, USPS announced it will transfer operations of the North Platte Mail Processing and Distribution Center to Denver, Colorado, and convert the North Platte facility to a Local Processing Center.
On Wednesday, May 8, Senator Fischer sent a letter to Postmaster DeJoy urging him to delay the proposed changes until their impact could be further studied and better understood.
On Monday, May 13, Postmaster DeJoy confirmed that the USPS would pause its planned changes and wrote that an updated plan would resume in 2025.