Installation of new automated postal machines delayed
The Postal Service is delaying the second stage of installing automated postal centers in lobbies.
Spokesman Gerry McKiernan confirmed the delay Wednesday, saying the agency is studying why some of its already installed automated centers did not perform up to expectations.
About 2,500 automated postal centers have been located in post offices across the country. The centers allow customers to weigh letters and parcels, select the type of service needed and print out postage, using credit cards to pay.
A June report from the agency’s inspector general said that as many as half of the installed centers were not meeting minimum expectations.
McKiernan said of the 2,500 installed, 514 centers were not meeting expectations for various reasons.
As a result, he said, deployment of further centers is being delayed while the problem ones are being assessed. The agency also cited cost considerations in the delay.
McKiernan said that 145 of the underperforming centers are being relocated to other offices. In the other cases, officials are trying to determine if customers just don’t want to use the machines or need assistance getting started with them.
In some cases lobby directors are being put into service to help people begin using the automated centers.
An inspector general’s report had warned that installing the planned 3,000 phase two centers could end up causing a loss of USD 115 million over seven years, rather than the anticipated USD 243 million in income.
