The USPS is opening new sorting and delivery centers (S&DC) in January and February 2024, calling them an integral part of its Delivering for America plan “to create a best-in-class processing and delivery network.”
In its announcement, the USPS wrote the following:
“The S&DCs will revitalize our network of nearly 19,000 delivery units — the last stop for mail and packages before they are delivered by our carriers. The Postal Service has targeted key markets where it is beneficial to aggregate delivery units into fewer, larger, centrally located S&DCs — leveraging both repurposed and new facilities —to simplify the entire network and create a more reliable and efficient.”
The USPS said the opening of the new sorting and delivery centers would not impose Post Office closures, and it said the closures would not result in any changes for customers with regard to their local Post Office retail and PO Box delivery services.
However, that was called into question by postal expert Steve Hutkins who publishes the Save the Post Office website. In a November 13, 2023 article, he wrote about one of the first of the new sorting centers set to open on January 13, 2024 in Pompano Beach, Florida:
“The centralization of letter carriers in Pompano Beach won’t just impact the 450 carriers who will be relocated. The five post offices also have about 80 customer service clerks, processing clerks, managers, supervisors, and custodial workers. Some of these positions will also transition to the new S&DC, and some will remain behind to manage the retail operations in the post offices. But many of these jobs will become unnecessary due to the consolidation of operations and the use of new sorting machines in the S&DC. Those employees will be “excessed” — they’ll have to find another postal job, most likely outside of Pompano Beach.”
Hutkins was quoted in an article on Friday where he told the Guardian newspaper that “the drastic network changes at the USPS under DeJoy are occurring with little transparency and oversight, especially given the impacts of the changes.” The Guardian provides greater detail into the “fight” over the USPS’s Delivering for America plan.
The schedules for the new S&DCs “launches” announced this week are listed below:
January 13, 2024
Pompano Beach, FL SDC
3150 NW 33rd St., Pompano Beach, FL 33069
South Atlanta, GA SDC
1800 James Jackson Pkwy. NW, Atlanta, GA 30369
January 27, 2024
South Atlanta, GA SDC
1800 James Jackson Pkwy. NW, Atlanta, GA 30369
February 10, 2024
South Atlanta, GA SDC
1800 James Jackson Pkwy. NW, Atlanta, GA 30369
February 24, 2024
Binghamton, NY S&DC
115 Henry St., Binghamton, NY 13902
Charlottesville, VA SDC
1155 Seminole Trl., Charlottesville, VA 22906
Erie, PA SDC
2108 E. 38th St., Erie, PA 16515
Flint, MI SDC
250 E. Boulevard Dr., Flint, MI 48502
Hampton, VA SDC
809 Aberdeen Rd., Hampton, VA 23670
Hattiesburg, MS SDC
220 S. 40th Ave., Hattiesburg, MS 39402
Irvine, CA SDC
15642 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92619
Jackson, MI SDC
1500 N. Elm Ave., Jackson, MI 49202
Lafayette, IN SDC
3450 South St., Lafayette, IN 47905
Norfolk, VA SDC
600 Church St., Norfolk, VA 23501
Oxnard, CA SDC
1961 N. C St., Oxnard, CA 93036
Richmond, VA SDC
1801 Brook Rd., Richmond, VA 23232
Salem, OR SDC
1050 25th St. SE, Salem, OR 93701
Stewart, NY SDC
98 Enterprise Dr., Newburgh, NY 12555
South Atlanta, GA SDC
1800 James Jackson Pkwy. NW, Atlanta, GA 30369
Southeastern, PA SDC
1000 W. Valley Rd, Southeastern, PA 19399
Waco, TX SDC
430 W. State Highway 6, Waco, TX 76702
Its called consolidation and getting rid of the useless dead weight in the post office. They have a lot of the dead weight just like the government.
…and nothing heavier than the guy at the top making those decisions
Tons of Post Offices in time will be closed. One thing I do not agree with is the fact of slowing down mail that is purchased or dropped off at that outlining Post Offices. An APWU employee will drop off the Post Office mail in the morning and also pickup up the outgoing mail as well at the same time thus no afternoon pickup. That will delay mail that is sold or dropped off after that morning pickup. Clearly is being done so people don’t go to the Post Office and move to shipping from home.
…and probably tweaked during election time….
Back in the good old days from 2000 to 2011 I worked for the USPS in a P&DC, a Processing and Distribution Center. At the same time, from 2000 to 2015 I was a seller on evilbay and I could say with confidence that my item took two to three days to get from California (where I then lived) to anywhere in the nation.
I saw with my own eyes the corruption, sloth and waste of the USPS but nonetheless, they still moved packages FAST and EFFICIENTLY.
Then came the issue of which post OFFICES to close down and there was a hue and a cry.
Nope, can’t close down post offices so let’s try closing down and consolidating processing centers. That didn’t work too well because now workers had even longer commutes and morale plummeted. Additionally, the trucks had to drive longer distances, causing more air pollution and driver fatigue.
Finally, after exhausting all their options after encouraging early retirements, they decided that the mail delivery times were horribly suffering so they reopened P&DCs and now call them S&DCs for “Sorting and Delivery Centers”. Way to go, USPS! Trying to reinvent the wheel, AGAIN!
You’ll never learn, will you??
Too true. Classic leadership: new guy (or gal) comes in, makes a lot of noise and rearranges the chairs, until discovering that actually the way the chairs had been arranged previously kinda made sense. What a waste of time and effort.
@Making Money.
WRONG. I live in a small po dunk town, pop 1300. Mail is deliver and pickup up at our post office at 5am in the morning. In the afternoon all outgoing mail is pickup at around 6pm. No delays in the mail. Checking tracking number prove it. THERE IS NO DELAY IN OUR MAIL
I am not wrong. If your Post Office is part of the consolidation in the next few years where all the carriers in a 30 minute radius are moved from all those Post Offices to a central Sorting And Delivering Center this is how currently the mail is being handled. You can go to SaveThePostOffice.com and see the articles on it.