You may be waiting for your package delivery on a particular day or planning to stop by your local post office at a specific time, but it's important to manage your expectations. In some cases, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) might have different plans. When problems like severe weather or other safety concerns arise, the postal agency can suspend services anywhere at a moment's notice. Now, customers in two states are learning this the hard way, as the USPS is adding new post offices to its list of closures. Read on to find out more about the latest service suspensions.
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Several post offices have been shut down across the U.S.
ShutterstockService suspensions are hardly uncommon for the USPS. Currently, many customers in the U.S. are still dealing with the consequences of postal closures from all the way back in October.
The Postal Service temporarily closed the Stanley Post Office in New York on Oct. 14 "due to unforeseen roof repairs." At the time, the agency said the facility would be closed "until further notice," but now nearly four months later, there has not been any further update on its reopening plans.
Similar situations are also impacting customers of post offices in Wisner, Louisiana; Stanton, North Dakota; and Jack, Alabama—which were all closed temporarily by the USPS for various reasons between November to February.
And over in Florida, services at eight postal facilities in the state are still temporarily suspended "due to impacts from Hurricane Ian," after they were initially shut down in late September when the storm hit.
On top of all of these ongoing closures, the Postal Service is now shuttering new facilities in more states.
The USPS is closing facilities in Ohio and Tennessee.
iStockWhen encountering delivery delays or unexpected post office closures, the USPS recommends that customers check its online Service Alerts tool. The agency says it works to provide "current, frequently-updated information" about any service disruptions on its website. And right now, certain Ohio and Tennessee residents are facing new postal problems, according to the latest Service Alerts update from the USPS.
In a Feb. 7 alert, the Postal Service announced that it had just suspended "all operations" at the East Palestine Post Office in Ohio. Later that day, the agency also warned customers in Memphis, Tennessee, that "retail window services are temporarily suspended" at the White Station Post Office.
The post office in Ohio is closed after an evacuation.
ShutterstockAccording to a local news release posted Feb. 7, the Postal Service said it is closing the East Palestine Post Office "due to an evacuation order" currently in place. On the night of Feb. 5, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued an "urgent evacuation notice" for residents in East Palestine following a Norfolk Southern train derailment in the area two days prior.
"Residents living within a mile of the train derailment site who have not yet left their homes are asked to immediately evacuate due to the potential of a major explosion," DeWine wrote in a tweet. According to the governor, officials had measured a "drastic temperature change" in a rail car, resulting in the "potential of a catastrophic tanker failure which could cause an explosion with the potential of deadly shrapnel traveling up to a mile."
During the East Palestine Post Office suspension, "operations have been moved to the Negley Post Office," the USPS said. This includes retail, PO Box mail, and mail delivery operations. According to the agency, customers can also find additional retail services at nearby facilities, including the New Waterford Post Office, the Enon Valley Post Office, the Petersburg Post Office, the Rogers Post Office, and the Darlington Post Office.
The Tennessee facility had just reopened.
ShutterstockThe Postal Service has not provided much information on why it is suspending retail window services at the White Station Post Office in Tennessee, on the other hand. Retail services will be available at the "nearby alternate location" of Mendenhall Station, which is also located in Memphis. Meanwhile, "PO Box services will remain at White Station," according to the agency.
"We apologize for any inconvenience customers may experience," the USPS said in a separate local press release posted Feb. 7.
The White Station Post Office had just reopened after being shuttered on Feb. 1 alongside several others in the state amid a severe ice storm. The Postal Service gave an update on the "status of retail operations at select Tennessee post offices" on Feb. 3. In that notice, the agency said that retail services had "resumed normal operating schedules" at several of the closed facilities, including the White Station Post Office.
