JACK BERGMAN

WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman on Tuesday commended the U.S. Postal Service’s decision to keep local mail processing at the facility in Kingsford, saying he viewed it as “a long-overdue recognition” of the crucial need for a strong delivery system in the region.

Meanwhile, a representative for one of Michigan’s U.S. senators confirmed one USPS service the Upper Peninsula lost in early 2024 — overnight delivery — will not be restored despite local processing being retained.

The USPS announced Friday it had canceled plans to shut down local processing and send all outgoing mail to a regional processing center in Green Bay, Wis., because increased efficiency through its “proposed operational strategy” would already save USPS “an additional $3 billion per year nationwide.”

“As a result, the Postal Service will not need to relocate certain local originating mail processing operations outside of the Iron Mountain facility. This means that mail being delivered from one address in Iron Mountain to another will not leave the region for processing,” USPS stated in a news release Friday.\

Bergman, R-Watersmeet, said he and his office had pushed since the plan first surfaced in early 2024 to convince USPS of the vital role local processing plays in rural regions like the Upper Peninsula and neighboring northern Wisconsin. The Kingsford facility is the only processing center in the U.P.

“Yoopers rely on a timely mail service for everything from VA medications to bank statements, and this announcement by the Postal Service is a long-overdue recognition of this reality,” Bergman said in a news release. “I’m glad the agency reversed course, and I look forward to continuing my work protecting this essential service.”

USPS on May 7 indicated it had green-lighted plans to switch Kingsford and several other facilities to local processing centers that would send outgoing mail to a regional processing and distribution center, or PDC, that in many cases was in another state. All outgoing mail that came to the Kingsford site would be transported to Green Bay, about 100 miles away, even if addressed to a location in Iron Mountain, Kingsford or other communities in the region.

That decision came despite a contentious public meeting in April in which a large crowd detailed the negative effects the changes would have — in some cases, already had — on mail service in the region.

But U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy in mid-May put those plans on hold through the remainder of 2024, in response to concerns raised about the potential effects of what was then referred to as the Delivering for America plan.

Despite Friday’s announcement that local mail processing will continue, USPS will not go back to providing overnight service in the Upper Peninsula that ended in January 2024 when USPS cut Kingsford’s truck trips and collections to once a day, causing mail to sit overnight in local offices. The move affected delivery of items such as prescription medicines and water testing that require a one-day turnaround.

A representative for U.S. Sen. Gary Peters’ office confirmed Tuesday he had been told the Kingsford facility will continue to have only one daily truck run for picking up mail.

USPS also stated Friday it would spend $3.75 million for “expanded and streamlined package and mail processing and distribution capabilities for the facility. These funds will also be used for modernization efforts and deferred maintenance along with new workplace amenities for Postal Service employees such as new lighting and renovated bathrooms and breakrooms.”

But it conspicuously did not mention overnight delivery when it stated, “These changes will not impact business mail entry, Post Office, station and branch retail services. Once the Iron Mountain facility becomes a Local Processing Center, it is expected to handle package mailing and shipping, letters and flats. The LPC is also expected to offer express services and accept bulk and permit mail, further improving its delivery services.”

USPS express services can be up to two days for delivery, priority up to three days.

Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85240, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.