Outgoing mail from Cheyenne will head to Denver first

CHEYENNE (WNE) — All of Cheyenne’s outgoing mail will be sorted in Denver in the future amid sweeping, nationwide changes in the United States Postal Service.

While USPS says this change will result in no layoffs and will save taxpayers money, it does nothing to alleviate some concerns community members and postal workers raised at a forum on the subject in December.

USPS announced the decision Thursday morning.

The Cheyenne Processing and Distribution Center will be converted to a “local processing center” in an effort to “modernize” the USPS, according to a news release.

No timeframe for the change — which is “under review” — has been announced, said James Boxrud, a strategic communication officer with USPS.

He estimated that 10% of the mail that enters the USPS system in the Cheyenne area has a final destination in the same area. For that reason, sorting would be more efficient for the entire postal network if Cheyenne mail was sent to Denver first, Boxrud said.

While that might mean a slightly longer wait time to get local mail, he added, the USPS will still meet its goal of 95% on-time delivery.

In Thursday’s news release, USPS also said there would be “no career employee layoffs.”

Boxrud was unable to comment on how many jobs would be shifted once the facility changes. He said Cheyenne employees will have priority consideration for reassignment when the changes solidify.

The USPS also announced that, once the conversion is implemented, “business mail entry, post office, station, and branch retail services are not expected to change.”

“I’m deeply concerned that processing Wyoming mail outside the state of Wyoming will delay the delivery of all mail,” Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray wrote in an email to the WTE. Gray said the shift will delay delivery of absentee ballots and thereby impede the integrity of elections.

This story was published on March 29, 2024.