Postal service scraps Reno mail distribution proposal

After months of trying to sell a proposal to transport mail from Reno to Sacramento, Calif., for sorting and distribution and then back to the Silver State, the U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday it’s scrapping the plan.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy proposed earlier this year to reposition the processing center from western Nevada to Sacramento in a plan that would supposedly save $4.5 million annually. U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, Rep. Mark Amodei and Gov. Joe Lombardo urged DeJoy and the USPS Board of Governors to stop what they called a disruptive change to Reno’s processing facility.

“Today’s announcement is a win for our postal workers and all of our families in Northern Nevada,” Cortez Masto said Tuesday in a news release.

According to the USPS, the postal service identified other operational improvements and corresponding refinements that are within the existing service standards.

“Service standards reflect USPS’s commitment on the number of days it should take for mail to travel from its origin to its destination,” the postal service stated in information provided to the Postal Regulatory Commission on Aug. 22.

In addition to working with the Nevada delegation and local leaders, Cortez Masto also joined a group of more than 20 fellow senators in a letter urging DeJoy to stop any changes or relocations to USPS processing facilities that could hurt mail delivery and kill jobs nationwide.

Rosen said the plan was misguided and expressed her concern that the plan would hurt people who depend on timely mail service.

“The announcement that this widely opposed transfer of local mail processing operations will no longer happen is a huge win for our seniors, veterans, and every person in Northern Nevada who depends on timely mail delivery,” Rosen said in a statement.

While DeJoy’s proposal earlier this year could affect mail service between Reno and Sacramento, residents in the outlying communities of Carson City, Gardnerville, Winnemucca and Fallon questioned the timeliness of the plan and wondered if it would take additional days to deliver mail to rural Nevada.

The congressional delegation said severe weather over the Sierra Nevada would delay the mail. During the winter of 2023-24, storms periodically closed Interstate 80. Earlier this year after a major storm slammed the Sierra, Amodei said the proposal was made with little care or understanding of the ramifications it could pose for his constituents.

Lombardo reaffirmed in May his opposition to the proposed downsizing and relocation of the Reno facility.