Winona Postal Carrier Operations May Move To Warsaw
Winona Postal Carrier Operations May Move To Warsaw
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Winona Postal Carrier Operations May Move To WarsawWINONA LAKE - A proposal to move Winona Lake post office's current mail carrier operations to Warsaw's post office will be considered this week.
Winona Lake currently has four mail carriers that work three mail delivery routes.
If the proposed mail delivery unit relocation is approved, it could mean Winona Lake's mail carrier operations would move to Warsaw's post office.That would leave the Winona Lake post office with two desk clerks and Dan King, Winona Lake postmaster, at the existing post office in Winona Lake.
The town's two postal delivery vehicles and one rural carrier vehicle also could be moved to Warsaw's post office.
During an interview Monday afternoon, King said he received an e-mail Friday from Randy Stines, postal operations manager for north central Indiana, notifying him there will be a meeting Thursday in South Bend to discuss the possibility of moving the town's mail carrier operations to Warsaw.
King said he will attend the meeting Thursday, and notified his employees Monday there could be possible changes at Winona Lake's post office.
King said the e-mail stated the reasoning for the proposal for the mail delivery unit relocation is to provide assistance management to routes, reduce the amount of training needed for carriers, and consolidate services.
King said he feared the proposal, if approved, would be an inconvenience to customers.
Currently, customers who visit Winona Lake's post office who have parcel mail they need to sign for and pick up can do so that same day.
However, if the proposal to move carrier operations to Warsaw is approved, Winona Lake residents who would want to pick up parcel mail the same day would have to go to the Warsaw post office to pick up the parcel mail.
Winona residents who want to pick up the parcel mail at Winona Lake post office would have to wait a day to pick it up if carrier operations are moved to Warsaw.
During a telephone interview Monday afternoon, Stines said there are no plans to close Winona Lake's post office if the carrier operations are moved from Winona to Warsaw.
"We are trying to make the most efficient and cost-effective services for our customers," Stines said.
The purpose of the proposal to move carrier operations from Winona to Warsaw is to consolidate the delivery unit side of services, according to Stines.
Stines also said the Greater Indiana District will be reviewing post offices with rural and city delivery units.
To remain viable in the future, several aggressive cost-cutting actions have been taken by the postal service, he said.
One of the measures that is being used in the Greater Indiana District is the delivery unit relocation process, Stines said.
The process allows the postal service to review opportunities to move delivery operation from one post office into another that has existing delivery so that they can be more centrally located.
Stines said benefits to the postal service includes reduced mail handling and transportation costs as well as a savings of personnel expenses over the long term.
Stines said if the proposal to move Winona Lake's mail carrier operations to Warsaw is approved, it would not take effect until April, but more will be known after Thursday's meeting.
