The U-S Postal Service announced plans Thursday to close several mail processing centers around the region.The postal service plans to move several mail processing operations. For instance, the mail processing centers in Carbondale and Centralia will move to Evansville, Indiana; the center in Effingham will move to Champaign and the Cape Girardeau center will move to St. Louis.
Postal Service spokesman Mark Reynolds says electronic communication is hurting post office profits. Reynolds says people are finding other ways to communicate besides First Class Mail. He says that's not to say they're not using mail, and it's not to say that mail has lost its volume. But we recognize that the future's going to look a lot different than what we've been used to.
Reynolds says the closures should not affect mail delivery times. No date is set for the consolidations. Previously Postal Service Officials estimated a consolidation would impact as many as 70-jobs at the Carbondale post office.
Thursday's decision comes after five months of study.
