U.S. Postal Service set to close 2,000 post offices

Jan 24, 2011

U.S. Postal Service set to close 2,000 post offices

08:18 AM

By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY

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U.S. Postal Service mail carrier Adriana Hansen navigates a snowy street in Bath, Maine, in December.

CAPTION

By Pat Wellenbach, AP

The U.S. Postal Service will begin the process of closing as many as 2,000 postal offices in March and will review 16,000 more -- half of all existing post offices -- that are losing money, The Wall Street Journal reportsThe new round of closures is in addition to 491 that are already being shuttered.
The Journal says the U.S. Postal Service is lobbying Congress to allow it to change the law so that it can close the most unprofitable among them.
At present, the service cannot shut an office for losing money, only in such cases as maintenance problems or expired leases, the newspaper says.
The U.S. Postal service is an independent agency funded primarily by postage fees, but is required by law to provide universal service to all parts of the country.