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The United States Postal Service has selected the McAllen Processing and Distribution Center for evaluation on its current operations and potential future use, including possibly transferring some mail processing operations to San Antonio.
In a news release, the agency said the review comes under the USPS’s $40 billion investment strategy to upgrade and improve processing, transportation, delivery networks and employee experience.
The USPS said the review will not result in a facility closure or “career employee layoffs” and that mail entry, the post office, station, branch retail and delivery services will not be impacted.
The review, however, could “lead to overall modernization and enhancement initiatives at the facility.”
“This specific facility review will inform the best allocation of resources and strategies to improve customer service and to achieve significant cost savings through operational precision and efficiency,” the release stated.
The modernization evaluation is the first step in USPS’s review and investment process of the McAllen Processing and Distribution Center.
The first item the USPS wants to review is whether it will transfer some mail processing operations from McAllen to San Antonio.
“A significant percentage of the mail collected in McAllen will travel across our wider transportation and processing network over significant distances to their final destinations,” the release stated. “Mail and packages destined for outside the McAllen area may receive better service and be more cost effectively distributed by aggregating it with mail and packages from other areas going to the same places that will likewise utilize the wider postal network and be transported significant distances from where the mail originated.”
The USPS will also examine whether efficiency can be increased while improving service regardless if a decision is made to transfer some processing operations out of the facility.
The new release said the USPS would do this by investing in the McAllen facility to redesign mail and processing operations to conform with modern strategies, equipment and improved employee amenities.
The USPS will also look at expanding operations in McAllen by adding a sorting and delivery center, which are currently being deployed throughout the country. These incorporate expanded retail functions and aim to increase local package delivery.
The release said regardless if mail processing is moved to San Antonio, “it is highly likely under those circumstances that the McAllen facility will be modernized and repurposed as a Local Processing Center, a Sorting & Delivery Center, or both.”
The news release describes McAllen as a “critical node” in the movement of mail and packages across the region.
The USPS is considering public input, which may be submitted at www.surveymonkey.com/r/mpfr-mcallen-tx.
If the USPS decides to make a change in McAllen, a summary of a Mail Processing Facility Review, or MPRF, will be posted on usps.com at least one week before a public input meeting.
After that, the USPS will hold a public input meeting for community members to provide additional feedback and perspectives.
“The Postal Service will work closely with its unions and management associations throughout the facility review and will continually monitor the impact of any changes that are implemented and will adjust plans as necessary and appropriate,” the release stated.
