POCATELLO — The mail processing center on Flandro Drive began its phase out on April 18.

It ends a long fight to save the processing center that was waged by Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad and Idaho’s Congressional delegation. Blad was unavailable for comment Thursday.

The U.S. Postal Service went forward with its plans to close the mail processing operation in Pocatello and 81 others in the nation on April 18 to save an estimated $750 million.

Mayor Blad had maintained that the closure of the processing center in Pocatello and consolidating operations in Salt Lake City would cause delays in first-class mail delivery. But  Brian Sperry, regional spokesman for the USPS, has maintained that postal service delivery for first class mail will continue to be two days.

“The intent of consolidating mail processing operations from one or more postal facilities to other facilities is to improve operational efficiency without sacrificing jobs,” a March press release from Perry stated. “We have far too much infrastructure necessary for the dwindling amount of First Class Mail volume and a growing package business.”

According to president of the Idaho State Association of Letter Carriers John Paige of Pocatello, closure of the processing plant in Pocatello will ultimately mean the loss of 45 to 50 jobs. Many employees have already left, but delivery sequencing machines are still in place for now and some of the people who will leave are still on the job.

Paige said some of the processing center workers have joined the letter carrier force, others retired, and many are waiting to be placed in other USPS jobs with the bulk likely headed to Salt Lake City.

Mayor Blad and Chubbuck Mayor Kevin England had proposed legislation that would have placed a two-year moratorium on the closing of any U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processing and distribution center unless USPS fails to generate an annual operating profit at any time during this period.  

According to the Postal Regulatory Commission, as of February 2015, USPS had an operating profit of $1.325 billion.

Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Congressman Mike Simpson all signed a letter to the U.S. Postmaster General asking to keep the Pocatello center open.

The letter stated: “The elimination of processing functions at the Pocatello facility would be of great detriment to the region it serves for several reasons, but most importantly reduced standards for the frequency of mail delivery. While we are sensitive to the financial hardship the USPS has faced in recent years, the organization can only reduce its infrastructure by so much until the benefits of cost savings are overshadowed by harms to its customers and employees.”

Paige said Pocatello customers should make sure any outgoing mail gets to a post office by 5 p.m. or it will sit overnight without any handling because the processing center is now essentially closed.