Tewksbury Post Office To Shed Some Back-End Operations: Report

WASHINGTON D.C. — A report out of Washington last week suggested that six local post offices will shed some of their operations early next year as the U.S Postal Service (USPS) seeks to consolidate some functions at larger buildings.

Government Executive reported that the impacted post office still will conduct retail operations, but that many back-end functions, like sorting, will be stripped away and relocated.

According to the publication, the changes will mean that many letter carriers will no longer be able to go to their local facility to pick up mail for their route.

Within the article, a link to a letter posted by the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, said the affected post offices are Woburn, Andover, Middleton, North Reading, Tewksbury and Wakefield.

The operations removed from those post offices are expected to be consolidated in Woburn, identified as Woburn Main Post Office. The letter suggests the conversion will take place in February 2023.

Government Executive reported that nearly 200 offices around the country will be affected by this consolidation, which is scheduled to begin in some areas as early as late September.

In addition to Massachusetts, states with post offices affected by the changes are: Georgia, New York, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Washington, North Carolina, Indiana and Arkansas.

According to Government Executive, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has "repeatedly decried" the model in which most post offices operate as delivery units, meaning mail carriers go to them to pick up mail and packages for their routes before bringing them to homes and businesses.

DeJoy, the publication said, has called the model inefficient and said it can lead to as many as a dozen of such units in one metropolitan area.

Instead, DeJoy is looking to open "sorting and delivery centers" around the country, as well as larger mega-centers that can take on more work in less space, Government Executive reported.

The publication said that under the new system, letter carriers will have to travel farther to take mail to its final destination, but that DeJoy said the changes will save costs on the contracted trucks that USPS hires to bring mail between various facilities.