Mail delivery may take day longer

Mail delivery in the area could take a day longer when the U.S. Postal Services moves its Clovis mail processing center to Lubbock, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.

The U.S. Postal Service announced its plan Thursday to move the processing center. Dates for the transition have not been set, according to Peter Haas of the USPS.

None of the 51 local postal jobs will be lost as a result of the switch, Haas said.

A feasibility study by the Postal Service indicates that the consolidation is projected to save the Postal Service an estimated $611,387 a year without a change in employee numbers.

Hass said the consolidation in operations will save money in transportation, management and equipment operations. He said the Postal Service has experienced a 25 percent decline in first-class mail volume since 2006.

"We just announced a week or so ago that we experienced a loss of 3.3 billion just in this first quarter of this first fiscal year," Hass said.

"These consolidations are part of the solution in terms of becoming more efficient as well as continuing to provide service to the public."

First-class mail service standards call for delivery between one to three days. When the processing center is moved, area residents could have to wait two to three days to receive their mail, Hass said.

The Postal Service agreed to impose a moratorium on closing or consolidating post offices and mail processing facilities before May 15 to allow Congress and Postal Service officials to seek an alternative route.

Clovis Mayor Gayla Brumfield said she appreciates that postal jobs will remain in Clovis but sees how the extra day could burden citizens. She said when she attended the Postal Service public input meeting Dec. 15 she saw that the public did not favor the change.

"I wish they could somehow focus on not losing a day," Brumfield said. "I do appreciate them keeping the jobs here and we know it's tough economic times with a lot less mail because of email and the Internet.

"But on the other hand, when you take another day or two with mail people may choose another way."