Delegation Questions USPS Plan, With Wyoming Mail Handled In 4 Other States

Answers about the U.S. Postal Service’s plan for Wyoming mail delivery under its Delivering for America plan have not been easy to come by.

That has Wyoming’s congressional delegation sending outgoing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy a letter seeking concrete answers on how Wyoming mail will be handled.

The letter, signed by Wyoming Republican U.S. Sens. Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso and U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, highlights in particular that Wyoming mail will be split between four large mail processing centers, called Regional Processing and Distribution Centers (RP&DCs) across four other states.

“Will mail originating in one RP&DC center and destined to a different RP&DC center within Wyoming have to leave the state for processing?” the letter asks. “To what extent will the Cheyenne and Casper processing and distribution centers retaining certain local originating processing operations under the new network affect the implementation of (Regional Transportation Optimization) in Wyoming?”

The Regional Transportation Optimization component of the Delivering for America plan kicks in for any post office that is 50 miles or more away from a large, regional processing center.

Those locations lose afternoon pickups, which will add a day to mail delivery service standards for those letters and packages.

Wyoming’s Congressional delegates want to know whether communities within 50 miles of Cheyenne and Casper’s enhanced local processing units will continue to get afternoon/evening collections. 

If they fall under the Regional Transportation Optimization plan, instead, that could mean the state at large isn’t eligible for a next-day mail service standard.

“While the recent development that Cheyenne and Casper will maintain certain local originating processing operations for their respective regions is welcomed, further action must be taken to ensure Wyoming is not left behind under these reforms,” the delegation writes.

Get Ready For The Pingpong Effect

Cowboy State Daily reached out to the USPS for comment on the congressional delegation’s letter.

A spokesperson said the agency would defer to DeJoy’s eventual response to the delegation and referred Cowboy State Daily to its filed, point-by-point response to the Postal Regulatory Commission’s recent advisory opinion. 

That opinion is, in part, what has prompted concern from Barrasso, Lummis and Hageman. The PRC’s non-binding review found that Delivering For America will have significant negative effects for rural communities across the United States.

“In the case of Wyoming, which the PRC singled out in its opinion, the changes (Delivering for America) will have across our state are particularly destructive,” the delegation wrote. “Wyoming is in the unique situation of not having a Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPD&C) under the new network.”

That means much of the mail processing outside Casper and Cheyenne could get split between Denver, CO; Billings, MT; Salt Lake City, UT; and Boise, ID. And with those areas also likely subject to the consequences of the Regional Transportation Optimization plan, it could mean no afternoon pickups and no next-day service for a huge portion of the state.

In one example that the delegation described as “particularly egregious,” Wyoming’s mail addressed from central Wyoming to western Wyoming would routinely get sent through four processing facilities in three states, putting that mail on permanent pingpong ball status.

Many USPS customers have already been complaining about mail that takes the scenic route to get where it’s going. That’s before Delivering for America has even taken full effect. 

“While we understand the USPS must evolve to keep up with changing markets, the PRC, the USPS Office of Inspector General, postal employees, multiple industry stakeholders, state and local officials and members of Congress have repeatedly raised heightened concerns about these elements of the DFA plan, and what is in store for rural communities,” the delegation wrote. “To that effect, we strongly urge you to heed the warnings in the PRC’s most recent advisory opinion.”

USPS Appears To Be Ignoring PRC Opinion

The U.S. Postal Service has already announced it is proceeding with implementation of the RTO plan, which ends afternoon collections at three-fourths of the nation’s post offices, and will add another day to delivery time standards for outgoing mail and packages from those locations.

RTO applies to any postal office that is 50 or more miles from a Regional Processing and Distribution Center. For Wyoming, that’s essentially the entire state — unless having an enhanced Local Processing Unit in Cheyenne and in Casper will make a difference. 

The first phase of the RTO’s implementation is set for April 1. It will add one day to service standards for mail originating at RTO post offices and the ZIP codes they serve.

The second phase goes into effect 90 days later on July 1, and will implement new service standards for processing mail. The changes reflect that some mail and packages will move faster through the network. Those speedier packages will lose one day off of the expected delivery service standard. 

In moving forward with the RTO, USPS is rejecting most of the PRC’s advisory opinion. In its Federal Register notice, USPS explained why it is ignoring that opinion.

“The PRC”s advisory opinion presents a one-sided narrative that mischaracterizes the Postal Service’s proposal, ignores the benefits it can be reasonably expected to yield, baselessly magnifies its alleged downsides, downplays the necessity of financial self-help, and makes unrealistic demands that would, if heeded, impede urgently needed progress,” the USPS said.

Postal Workers Have Questions, Too

Wyoming’s federal representatives aren’t the only ones who have questions about how things will work in Wyoming when it comes to mail delivery. 

Postal employees themselves have told Cowboy State Daily they aren’t sure what the latest changes, where Cheyenne and Casper retain more of their mail processing capabilities, will exactly mean for Wyoming deliveries.

“Given the generic language of the letters issued by the post office, I’m not sure exactly what they mean,” Wyoming’s state representative for postal worker union NPMHU’s Robert Jacknitsky has told Cowboy State Daily. “It would seem to me that everything, as far as originating mail, will stay as it currently is.

“This should also include the surrounding Wyoming cities, as well as considering we process their mail with ours. Time will tell.”

Under the current plans, both Casper and Cheyenne will become what’s called a Local Processing Center or LPC, but Jacknitsky said he still has yet to hear an explanation on what becoming that will exactly entail. 

“I’ve also heard that we will be getting single induction package sorter, which should help us move mail faster,” Jacknitsky said. “Unfortunately, I’ve been with the P.O. long enough to say I’ll believe it when I see it happen. 

Jacknitsky still maintains that Cheyenne has geographical advantages, and that it would make more sense to expand on its geographical responsibilities, if improved service is really the aim.

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.