The Crawford Post Office is scheduled to move a portion of its operations to the Olympic Drive facility in Athens, possibly as early as next month.
The United States Postal Service recently announced that several sorting and delivery centers (S&DCs) across the country would consolidate to more central locations. The merge was initially supposed to start Sept. 24, but has been postponed until October.
Mail will begin to go through the Athens facility on Olympic Drive after Oct. 22, according to a statement from Brooke Hull, postmaster of the Colbert Post Office.
It’s unclear how the Lexington post office will be affected, but it was included in Hull’s email.
Post offices in Stephens (30667), Maxeys (30671), Arnoldsville (30619), Colbert (30628) and Comer (30629) were also included.
Several local postal officials declined to comment.
Post offices in Winterville and other nearby counties, such as Oconee, Madison and Jackson, also will be affected by the change, according to correspondence from James Lloyd, director of USPS labor relations and policies, to the National Postal Mail Handlers Union on Aug. 12.
“... the purpose of creating the S&DCs is to reduce transportation and mail handling costs, as well as provide Postal customers with additional services,” Lloyd wrote in the letter. “S&DCs will allow for easier standardization and management of operations while improving building and operating conditions for employees.”
The Athens processing and distribution center is among the first locations to implement the Delivering for America Plan, a 10-year initiative designed by USPS, according to a statement from spokesperson Debra Fetterly.
It’s also unclear how this transition will affect delivery speed and employment at the locations being consolidated.