Letter to the editor

Editor:
The United States Postal Service is conducting an Area Mail Processing (AMP) study for the Effingham Post Office.
The employees at the Effingham Post Office have been told that an AMP would involve sending all letters, flats and newspapers from the 624 area to the St. Louis facility to be processed. That means that your mail to the 618-619, 625-627, 628 and 629 ZIP codes would be dispatched from St. Louis.
Anyone saying that service will not be affected needs to look at the AMP that began the evening of April 26, 2011, in the 628 area, and only involved letter mail. I have received reports from postal customers in the 624 and 628 areas whose 628 mail was delayed, which has resulted in late fees being assessed or billing notices not being received.
If you are concerned that a similar AMP for the 624 area would likely have similar results and adversely impact your mail, then I urge you to contact your congressmen and your senators, whose addresses are available in your local telephone books.
I have been told that congressmen consider the opinion in a letter to be equal to 10 e-mails. I am writing a letter voicing my opposition to this AMP.
I also will be sending a comment to: Effingham Study, Corporate Communications, 1720 Market St., Room 3047, St. Louis, Mo. 63155-9341. But I expect that my letter to the congressmen and senators to be much more effective than any comment I send to St. Louis.
Marshall Finley
Effingham