STEWART AIRPORT – Ten postal facilities nationwide have been identified by the Postal Service to become sorting and delivery centers and the giant Mid-Hudson Processing and Distribution Center at Stewart Airport is on the list to become a sorting and delivery center (S&DC).
It is part of the 10-year plan to modernize the delivery network by combining and centralizing carrier operations in the large centers.
As part of the plan, carrier operations will shift, where feasible, to new S&DCs that have better infrastructure and adequate space, docks, conveyors and material handling equipment for more efficient operations, a postal spokesman said. It will also provide for more efficient operations while modernizing and leveraging current underutilized and vacant postal facilities, he said.
Postal retail units, including PO Box service, will remain in operation, but carrier operations will shift to the Stewart center and others like it around the nation.
The Postal Service said the model will “greatly improve our transportation utilization by reducing transportation entirely. Additionally, it will allow postal delivery routes to be revamped to make them more efficient and cost-effective.”
Postal officials also said the initiative will enable the Postal Service to use more battery electric vehicles, “since more routes would be at the optimal length to make such vehicles operationally feasible.”
The conversion process will take time with the first S&DC operational in Athens, Georgia. More than 100 new locations nationwide will be evaluated.
Aside from the Stewart Mid-Hudson center, the other nine sites targeted for initial conversion are the Utica Processing and Distribution Facility (P&DF), Southeastern Processing and Distribution Center (D&PC), Kalamazoo P&DC, Gainesville P&DF, Athens P&DV, Columbus Main Office, Northpark Station (Topeka), Newcastle P&DF, and Bryan P&DC.
