Pocatello Mail Processing Operations Moving To Salt Lake City

After five months of study, the US Postal Service has announced it will move its mail processing operations from the Pocatello Customer Service Mail Processing Center to the Salt Lake City Processing and Distribution Center.

Once the transfer is complete, the mail processing operation of the Pocatello Center will cease. USPS says there will be no change to the retail unit or business mail entry unit in Pocatello at this time.

The US Postal Service announced it’s decision to close the Pocatello Mail Distribution Center, but some say the decision isn”t set in stone.

There is no date set for the closure of the Pocatello mail distribution facility that employs more than 100 people.

Postal Service spokesman Robert Vunder said before a closure the USPS would have to go through the long process of changing mail delivery standards, and would need to build a bigger facility in Salt Lake City to handle the increased load.

Vunder said the soonest a Pocatello closure could happen is 2013.

Despite it’s spot on the closure list, Vunder said Pocatello’s plant is one of the best.

“They do a great job. They’re one of the most productive plants in the nation. They really haven’t done anything wrong, it’s just a function of the economy and shrinking infrastructure,? Vunder said.

There is also legislation going before congress that could potentially stop the closure of many of these postal locations.

The Postal Service says the move to consolidate mail processing facilities was prompted by a 25 percent decline in First Class Mail volume since 2006 and the “urgent need” to reduce the size of the national network to eliminate costly underutilized infrastructure.

Specific dates have not been set for the transition and until it is, residential and business mailers will continue to be served through current facilities.

Chubbuck Mayor Steve England was focused on keeping the Gateway processing center from being closed. Two weeks ago, he, Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad and Stephanie Palagi with Old Town Inc. traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress and talk with the Postal Service about ways to save the processing center.

Last December, the Postal Service agreed to a moratorium on closing or consolidating post offices and mail processing facilities prior to May 15th. The agency says the consolidation is contingent upon the outcome of pending rule making for a proposal to revise existing service standards.

It was just last week the Chubbuck Post Office was notified it will be closed the end of March.