(Screenshot photo from online livestream broadcast) U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, leads the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing Tuesday on the U.S. Postal Services’ $40 billion Delivering for America plan that would make major changes in how mail is processed and delivered across the country. The plan includes converting a number of existing processing and distribution centers nationwide — including the facility in Kingsford — into local processing centers that would have to send mail to be handled elsewhere. Peters, chair of the committee, called Tuesday for USPS to pause its plans until it can produce data that shows the switch will result in cost savings without loss of vital mail services.

The Upper Peninsula got its moment on Capitol Hill along with other regions Tuesday as a Senate committee questioned U.S. Postal Service officials about plans to make major changes in how mail is processed and delivered across the country.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs called the hearing Tuesday to address “mounting concerns about the postal service and timely mail delivery” as the USPS moves forward on its $40 billion Delivering for America plan, designed to “upgrade and enhance” mail processing, distribution and transportation.

U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy told the committee Tuesday the USPS desperately needs the changes to reduce its billions of dollars in losses and make the postal service competitive for the future.

“Status quo is not an option if we want long-term viability,” said DeJoy, who has been postmaster since May 2020.

But Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the committee, suggested Tuesday the plan be put on hold until USPS is able to show these changes will do what USPS intends, before the current system is dismantled.

(AP photo, file) LOUIS DeJOY

“There’s no clear evidence that shows these changes will improve service in the long run,” Peters said in his opening remarks.

The USPS plan relies heavily on creating regional processing and distribution centers and converting a number of other existing PDCs into local processing centers. This would include the Kingsford facility, which would send all mail from the Upper Peninsula and adjacent northern Wisconsin to Green Bay, Wis., if the switch is made.

USPS officials have pledged to invest $3 million to $5 million in the Kingsford facility as part of the conversion, including $1.25 million for a new “state-of-the-art” sorting machine and $2.5 million for modernization efforts and deferred maintenance. In the end, the investment could reach $6 million to $8 million.

DeJoy maintained the majority of these changes would not result in a reduction in local services, contending delivery still should occur within the two-day window expected for first-class mail.

“It’s probably to no one’s satisfaction in this room or in this town, but it’s what we got, this is the plan, we’re going with it and it’s having an impact,” DeJoy said.

But most of the senators Tuesday disagreed that impact has been positive.

Peters, D-Michigan, took time Tuesday to note the effects the USPS plans for the Kingsford center already have had in the Upper Peninsula, eliminating overnight service required for shipping water tests and making it more difficult for senior citizens and veterans in the very rural region to quickly get medications by mail as in the past. That change was done in January, with almost no advance warning.

He called it “somewhat striking” USPS officials who conducted a public input hearing on its Kingsford facility review in Iron Mountain April 1did not know the city had the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center, which uses the mail to connect with the high percentage of veterans who have settled in the region.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, cited the same potential delays for the rural residents of her state, especially in the north, if the USPS plans come to pass. Both existing PDC facilities in New Hampshire would wind up sending mail out of state — Manchester to Boston and White River Junction in the north to Hartford, Conn., 150 miles away. She noted Federal Express and UPS doesn’t operate in much of rural New Hampshire.

“So the postal service is all we’ve got,” Hassan said.

The PDC in Reno, Nev., that services the northern part of that state would have to truck its mail to and from Sacramento, Calif., 130 miles west, Sen. Jacky Rosen said, adding the route goes through the Sierra Nevada’s Donner Pass, which last year had 15 road closures for 37 total days due to snow.

Several on the panel worried about the potential effects the changes could have on timely delivery of mail-in absentee ballots.

As to efficiency, Peters and others pointed to major processing shifts already made last fall in Richmond, Virginia, and Atlanta, Georgia, that so far have increased costs while making people wait longer to get their mail.

The USPS consolidated almost a dozen postal centers in the Atlanta area into one PDC site, in Palmetto, Georgia. Since then, the on-time mail delivery rate has dropped to only 36%, said Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia.

When DeJoy sought to reassure Ossoff that rate should improve significantly in a few months, Ossoff shot back, “You’ve got weeks, not months, to fix this and if you don’t fix it, I don’t think you’re fit for the job.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said he had constituents in the Kansas City area who reported getting Christmas cards in March. DeJoy said a major transportation provider went out of business at its peak season, so they had to reroute 5,000 trucks in and out of Kansas City.

Several senators noted they’d sent DeJoy letters — in some cases, multiple letters — asking for further data or details on the USPS plans that had not drawn a response. DeJoy admitted he had not seen those requests, adding others usually handle his mail.

“Let me give you a friendly piece of advice,” Ossoff said. “You should personally read letters from members of the U.S. Senate committee that funds and oversees your operations.”

Peters asked that DeJoy provide the committee by May 1 with a list of locations USPS plans to change and timelines for making those changes, full service data on every site done so far and documentation on cost savings. DeJoy said he would check with his office on whether that information could be compiled by that date.

Peters also called on DeJoy and USPS to pause moving forward with the plan until it has data available that shows the changes are having the intended effect, given the results seen so far in Richmond and Atlanta.

“We want some caution and not just believing that a plan works, but also that we’re able to back that up with data that shows it’s actually happening,” Peters said.

Michael Kubayanda, chair of the Postal Regulatory Commission, told the committee he believes they should prepare an advisory opinion — a “deeper dive” report, he explained — as well to examine the plan. Earlier opinions had pointed out the potential problems with delivery of medications and that the USPS might be underestimating mail delays. But he acknowledged the USPS is autonomous and the commission “is not one that has a lot of teeth” in influencing its actions.

In a news conference via Zoom after the hearing, Peters stressed he will continue to press USPS and DeJoy to slow the process down. He also hoped if the data doesn’t support making such moves that the USPS would be willing to reverse itself, including restoring overnight delivery in the Upper Peninsula.

“What the postal service needs to build right now,” Peters said, “is trust.”

Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 240, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.