Representative David McKinley (R-WV) proposes to assist rural America by introducing a bipartisan resolution that would end the “go-slow” approach to mail delivery and return USPS to a time when customers received their newspapers, medication and credit card bills on time. According to Rep. McKinley, that was the norm before July 1, 2012, when the Postal Service began closing rural post offices and mail processing plants, and cutting back on First Class Mail Delivery. For example, this January the USPS introduced measures to save money by curtailing overnight delivery of First Class Mail.
Congressman McKinley wants his rural West Virginia constituents to be able once again to trust the Postal Service for expeditious mail delivery. Since the closing of a mail processing center causes the center’s mail to be re-directed to other more distant facilities for processing, Rep. McKinley believes such processing center closings cause delays, added cost, and unpredictable mail delivery service. Rather than accepting such adverse impacts, Rep. McKinley hopes the USPS will instead work with Congress to devise alternate solutions to its financial problems.
While the financial difficulties of the USPS constitute a national problem, the impacts of the solutions proposed by the USPS are felt most acutely by rural customers. For example, Don Smith, the executive director of the West Virginia Press Association, identified newspapers delivered in rural areas as an industry that is particularly hard hit. Customers cancel their subscriptions when they can’t count on timely delivery of their newspapers. He also hopes Congress will “support Rep. McKinley’s resolution and join in the discussion.”