Eight other regional mail processing centers in Ohio might be consolidated and closed as well.
The Dayton center is one of five that might be consolidated with the Columbus center, which is near Port Columbus International Airport and is the newest Postal Service facility in Ohio.
The Postal Service said it will review the operations of 252 of the nation’s 487 mail processing centers by early next year, then hold public hearings before making any final decisions. The 252 targeted centers employ about 35,000 workers. The mail service also is reviewing about 3,700 post offices for possible closure.
The Postal Service lost $8.5 billion last year and faces rising deficits as more people use the Internet to deliver their messages and advertisements.
The nation’s mail volume has fallen by 25 percent to 167 billion items in the past five years.
Projections call for mail volumes to fall to about 150 billion items, Dubina said.
Package business makes up 10 percent of the postal service’s business.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
“Everyone has gone online to conduct business,” Dubina said. “People are using online instead of buying postage stamps and mailing their bills.”
The Postal Service also said Thursday it plans to reduce current delivery standards for first-class mail.
Such mail is now supposed to be delivered in one to three days depending on how far it has to go. That will be changed to two to three days, meaning mailers could no longer expect next-day delivery in their local community.
Officials said that could have some impact on commercial mailers, but individual customers are not likely to notice the change.
They promised to work with businesses to help solve any problems the change might cause.
The Postal Service has never had to lay off any employees, “We have relied on attrition,” Dubina said.
A decade ago, the Postal Service employed 800,000 workers across the country and now there are around 560,000, Dubina said.
Amy Thorpe, legislative director for local American Postal Workers Union members, said consolidating the Dayton center’s operations will slow local residents’ mail service.
Those who want to mail a letter that is to be delivered across town may have to wait longer for the letter to be delivered because the letter has to go to Columbus to be processed, then returned to the Dayton area.
A consolidation could also affect small businesses that don’t do business over the Internet. They may have to wait longer for payment, for example, Thorpe said.
If the Dayton Center closes, its employees will relocate or find another job,” Thorpe said.
“According to our contract, we have a no-layoff clause,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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