The U.S. Postal Service is cutting the hours of operation at rural post offices.
Regional Operations Manager Wendy Berg says the announcements are being made during public meetings at thousands of locations across the country.
This week’s meetings include more than 215 in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.
Berg says instead of closing these rural facilities, retail business hours are being reduced at post offices without a postmaster.
She says most will become 2-hour, 4-hour or 6-hour operations.
Berg says the new hours are based on past retail activity, public input and surveys.
She says the reductions will allow the USPS to stick with its restricting plan and to expand opportunities for sharing resources between offices.
The reduced hours are scheduled to take effect after the first of the year.
Berg says future retail sales will determine whether additional reductions are needed.
The affected post offices in this area include Oneida, IL; East Galesburg, IL; Monticello, MO; LaBelle, MO; Montrose, IA; Argyle, IA; and Denmark, IA.
Berg says Argyle, for example, will become a two-hour facility while Montrose’s hours will be cut to six hours per day.
