USPS will halt removal of mailboxes for 90 days, says Morristown photo was part of upgrade process

The U.S. Postal Service says that a photograph of mailboxes being removed in Morristown, New Jersey on Saturday was part of an upgrade to high security mailboxes, but has decided to postpone any future removal of post office collection boxes for 90 days as they evaluate customer concerns.

“Online pictures illustrate our loan-in/load-out process,” said George B. Flood, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.

Flood told the New Jersey Globe that the post office ‘reviews collection box density every year on a routine basis to identify redundant/seldom used collection boxes as First-Class Mail volume continues to decline.”

“Based on the density testing, boxes are identified for potential removal and notices are placed on boxes to give customers an opportunity to comment before the removal decision is made,” Flood said.  “This process is one of the many ways the Postal Services makes adjustments to our infrastructure to match our resources to declining mail volumes.”

Following a photo of a USPS  truck carrying several mailboxes was posted online, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), who represents Morristown in Congress, pledged that her office would launch an investigation.

Earlier today, Sherrill said that her staff had reached out to post office officials and Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty.

“It is unclear how many post boxes have been removed, but Mayor Dougherty said that at least one post box has been replaced,” Sherrill said.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Carolyn B. Maloney announced on Sunday that she has invited U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to testify on recent operational and organizational changes next week.

In a letter to DeJoy, Maloney said his testimony is “particularly urgent given the troubling influx of reports of widespread delays at postal facilities across the country—as well as President Trump’s explicit admission last week that he has been blocking critical coronavirus funding for the Postal Service in order to impair mail-in voting efforts for the upcoming elections in November.”

Maloney’s decision to hold a congressional hearing follows weeks of revelations about sweeping changes at the U.S. Post Service that has resulted in reports of massive nationwide delays.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-Paterson) requested on Friday that a state grand jury investigate whether a statement by Trump that he is holding back funding to the U.S. Postal Service to inhibit the delivery of vote-by-mail ballots is a form of election tampering.

Editor’s note: By coincidence, the individual who took the photograph in Morristown on Saturday morning is related to the NJ Globe editor whose byline appears on this story.