KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The United States Postal Service has announced it will pause the movement of processing operations associated with the Mail Processing Facility Reviews. The reviews primarily consider whether to move the originating volume to fewer regional plants to create consistency, precision and efficiency, Postmaster General Louis Dejoy said in a letter.
On May 9, U.S. Postmaster General DeJoy said in a letter to Sen. Gary Peters that he would pause plans to move mail processing facilities until at least Jan. 1, 2025.
"A lot of employees are relieved that they don't have to worry about immediate changes within the service," said Aaron Ward, a USPS employee of 27 years. "It's very important for mail to stay in Knoxville."
In response to this decision, Rep. Tim Burchett (R - TN) said in a statement below:
“I am glad Postmaster General DeJoy is listening to constituents’ and lawmakers’ concerns about these moves. I hope he takes this extra time to consider the best moves for East Tennessee and other districts affected by these moves.”
Rep. Burchett has been following issues with USPS and advocating to make sure the postal service does everything it can to take care of its employees in East Tennessee. In December 2023, he sent a letter to the United States Postmaster General Louis Dejoy after a meeting regarding the future of Knoxville's USPS Processing and Distribution Center.
Burchett, who referred to the meeting as a "waste of time," said his staff attended and reported to him that the USPS staff "stared blank-faced" at his constituents while ignoring their questions.
"I couldn't be happier, because it's stopping it. We're stopping where we're at," said Burchett. "Honestly, I didn't feel like he (Postmaster DeJoy), he showed me any concern at all. And, I was about that close to asking him to step outside. I was that mad."
On Dec. 8, 2023, Burchett joined Reps. Diana Harshbarger (TN-01) and Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03) in a letter to Postmaster General DeJoy asking for answers on the USPS Mail Processing Facility Review studies and final plans for the Knoxville, Chattanooga and Johnson City mail handling centers.
The Postmaster General responded to the letter stating the Knoxville and Chattanooga Processing and Distribution Centers are not closing but are being modernized.
In April, USPS announced its plan to modernize mail operations at its Knoxville Processing and Distribution Center. This is part of a $40 billion investment strategy to upgrade and improve the postal service's processing, transportation and delivery networks.
The investment in the Knoxville facility is a part of the Postal Service’s 10-year Delivering for America (DFA) plan to modernize the delivery network and help the USPS save money.
"If you don't have much seniority with the post office, you could be offered a job in Nashville or Atlanta," said Ward. "We fully expect the post office will continue to talk about changing and go ahead with their plans for moving operations to other locations."