The struggling U.S. Postal Service is trying to tamp down concern over its wide-scale cuts, saying it will seek to keep hundreds of rural post offices open with shorter hours.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe told a news conference Wednesday the new plan will save the mail agency half a billion dollars each year while addressing concerns of rural residents most opposed to post-office closings. In Texas County, Bucyrus, Huggins, Success, Hartshorn and Elk Creek were on the chopping block.
Previously, as many as 3,700 low-revenue post offices were slated for closure or consolidation beginning sometime after May 15, many in rural areas. It was part of a multibillion-dollar postal cost-cutting effort to stave off the agency’s bankruptcy.
The Postal Service now plans to seek regulatory approval for the new plan and get community input, a process that could take several months.
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The U.S. Postal Service listed these area offices for a change in daily hours. The agency said it is preliminary and subject to change.
They are: Success, six to four; Bucyrus, four to two; Elk Creek, four to two; Hartshorn, eight to two; Huggins, six to four; Plato, eight to six; Raymondville, eight to four; Roby, eight to four; and Edgar Springs, eight to six.