Fact Finders: Are mail-sorting machines being removed from Tucson locations?

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - A Southern Arizona customer was concerned to hear changes could be happening behind the scenes at a Tucson-area post office.

KOLD News 13 received this email:

“We went to post office on North Oracle at Orange Grove this morning and we’re (sp) told by postal employees that necessary mail sorting equipment was being removed right then... about 9 am Friday today the 14th. PLEASE INVESTIGATE!”

According to a spokesperson for USPS, mail processing occurs at Processing and Distribution Centers, not at individual post offices.

USPS has not removed machines recently from the facility on Cherrybell Stra, which is a Processing and Distribution Center.
According to the spokesperson, The Postal Service “does routinely move equipment around its network as necessary to match changing mail and package volumes. Package volume is up, but mail volume continues to decline. Adapting our processing infrastructure to the current volumes will ensure more efficient, cost effective operations and better service for our customers.”

The email to KOLD News 13 came amid reports that the US Postal Service plans to remove hundreds of high-volume mail-processing machines from facilities across the country. According to CNN, documents indicate 671 machines used to organize letters or other pieces of mail are slated for “reduction” in dozens of cities this year.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs wants to know if “President Trump, and others at his direction, has conspired to violate” an Arizona law that makes it illegal to “knowingly delay the delivery of a ballot.” She emailed Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich Friday to ask the Election Integrity Unit to look into it.

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