The Missouri Farm Bureau is the latest organization to voice concern about a United States Postal Service proposal that could reduce services in rural areas.
Under the proposed “Regional Transportation Optimization” plan, USPS officials have estimated the independent agency could save about $3 billion a year by decreasing carrier trips and transportation expenses. If approved, the proposal would improve services for those within 50 miles of their regional hubs – which includes Kansas City and St. Louis – while reducing the number of deliveries and collections for zip codes outside of that radius.
In a letter sent earlier this week, Missouri Farm Bureau president Garrett Hawkins urged Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to reconsider that plan. He said the changes could hurt rural customers who rely on the USPS to receive their medication, bills and paychecks.
“You can't balance a budget on the backs of those of us who live, work and serve in rural areas,” Hawkins said. “It is not right to treat us differently just because of our zip code.”
The Missouri Farm Bureau represents more than 150,000 member families throughout the state.
Representatives for the USPS didn’t respond to a request from KCUR to comment on the Missouri Farm Bureau’s concerns and the future of postal service in rural Missouri at the time of publication.
In a previous statement to KOSU in Oklahoma, a USPS spokesperson said that if mail is sent from a rural area, it could take up to a full day more under the proposed changes, which is within the Postal Service's standards.
Still, experts said that single-piece first-class mail volume would experience the most significant impact. In testimony to Congress, Arslan Saleem, the USPS director of corporate performance reporting and analytics, estimated that nearly 68% of that category mail in rural communities would experience a downgrade.
The move to cut costs comes in response to a reported $87 billion in losses racked up between 2007 and 2020, according to the USPS.
For Hawkins, the savings are not worth the expense of rural customers.
“Don't treat rural Americans differently,” he said. “We're not asking for better service. We're just asking to not be treated worse than our urban and suburban counterparts.”
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley addressed the proposal on Thursday. In a hearing with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, he pressed William Zollars – a Biden administration nominee to the USPS board of governors – about whether he’d support the proposed changes.
“The Farm Bureau has very significant concerns about this and frankly so do I,” Hawley said.
Other rural organizations have also voiced concerns. Previously, leadership at the American Farmers and Ranchers and the Oklahoma Farmers Union shared that some rural communities are already experiencing delays and fear that these changes could make things worse if implemented.
Among those pushing back on the proposal are Steve Hutkins. A retired professor from the Gallatin School of New York University, Hutkins has been operating Savethepostoffice.com – an unofficial watchdog organization – for more than a decade. He said the plan comes after years of increasing cutbacks, and that the latest is likely to have a disproportionate effect on rural Americans outside of the USPS’ regional radiuses.
“This is the first time they've ever done anything like that in terms of reducing service standards,” Hutkins said. “So it's particularly disturbing in that regard as an indication of what may come in the future.”
The National Rural Letter Carriers Association – which represents more than 130,000 USPS employees – said it’s too soon to tell how the proposed changes would impact rural mail carriers. Don Maston, the organization’s president, said that although some customers on rural routes may experience a slight slowdown in mail delivery, it might not be as significant of an impact as those against the proposal are warning.
“The NRLCA is keeping a close eye on the situation to ensure that any cost-cutting measures will not impact the members we represent or the quality of service our customers expect,” Maston said in a statement. “We will continue to work with USPS to mitigate any adverse effects of this plan on rural America.”
Currently, the Postal Service is accepting public feedback before filing a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to approve the proposal. If accepted, USPS officials have said implementation could begin in 2025.
For now, rural advocates like the Missouri Farm Bureau are also calling on legislators, the Biden administration and the upcoming Trump administration.
“That's what we're going to continue to say to members of Congress,” Hawkins said. “That's what we'll continue to say to the current administration as well as the incoming administration.”
