The U.S. Postal Service’s Northwest Arkansas Processing & Distribution Center is located at 2300 City Lake Road in Fayetteville. (Flyer photo/Todd Gill)The U.S. Postal Service last week announced it is considering moving some mail processing operations from its Northwest Arkansas facility in Fayetteville to the Oklahoma City distribution center.
A public meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6 at the Fayetteville Public Library to share the results of a recent review of the proposal and take feedback from the community.
The announcement did not give any details about the proposal, but said a summary of the review would be posted on the USPS website at least one week prior to the public meeting.
The Northwest Arkansas Processing & Distribution Center is located on City Lake Road in Fayetteville. It employs about 180 people.
Last week’s announcement stated that the Fayetteville facility would remain open and be “modernized” as a local processing center.
A spokesperson said the review that led to the proposed consolidation was initiated as part of an effort to update the aging postal network and achieve a longterm goal of 95% on-time delivery nationwide.
A recent study found that only 87.7% of First-Class mail was delivered on time from Oct. 1 to Nov. 17, which represents a decrease of 3.3% from the fiscal fourth quarter.
That report, however, stated that performance was negatively affected from the insourcing of several surface transfer centers, but that those issues have since been resolved. The decline was also partially the result of a two-week shutdown of a facility in St. Louis where decontamination was necessary after a hazardous mercury leak from an illegally shipped package, the report showed.
The Postal Service in 2011 moved some operations from the Harrison processing center to the Fayetteville facility due to a decline in mail volume. That decision changed service to Little Rock and eastern Arkansas from overnight to 2-day, and required reassignment of some employees from Harrison to Fayetteville, according to the USPS.
An online survey is available for public comment through Dec. 21 at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mpfr-northwest-arkansas.
