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Two rural Taft post offices are among nearly 3,700 nationwide that will be shuttered by the U.S. Postal Service as part of a cost-cutting effort.
Residents of the tiny towns of Fellows and Tupman are scheduled to lose their Post Offices by January.
They were among 3,653 offices on a list released today by the USPS.
One office in Bakersfield and the rural post office in Posey also are on the list.
Kelly Davis, who has worked at the Fellows post office for more than 25 years, said today that residents in the dwindling oil field town seven miles northwest of Taft will get their mail at a “cluster box” once the office is closed.
She said she will likely transfer to the Taft office and make the mail run every day to Fellows.
Davis is one of three employees working out of a modular building that serves Fellows and nearby Derby Acres.
The others are Jan Cawelti, the officer in charge, and Christine Mullen.
Cawelti, who is on vacation, said she could not at this time comment on the closing.
Davis said Cawelti will likely move to the McKittrick office.
“It’s sad because everybody comes here,” Davis said. “A lot of people don’t get to town (in Taft) very often. They will no longer get that personal service that we can offer.
“We give them personalized service you just don’t see anywhere else. We have done things like repack boxes and made out money order and change of address forms for them. They have no idea what they’re in for.”
Davis said she wasn’t surprised at today’s announcement.
“It’s been rumored for a long time,” she said. “We had a town meeting about two weeks ago, so this doesn’t come as a shock.”
CNN reported that most of the post offices targeted for closure have so little foot traffic that workers average less than two hours of work per day and average sales are less than $50 a day, according to USPS data.
The report said the closings, scheduled to begin within the next four to six months, could cost about 3,000 postmasters, 500 supervisors and another 500-1,000 clerks their jobs.
In fiscal year 2010, CNN reported, the Postal Service lost $8.5 billion on top of $3.8 billion the previous year.
Other cost-cutting measures under consideration are reducing delivery to five days a week.
Two rural Taft post offices are among nearly 3,700 nationwide that will be shuttered by the U.S. Postal Service as part of a cost-cutting effort.
Residents of the tiny towns of Fellows and Tupman are scheduled to lose their Post Offices by January.
They were among 3,653 offices on a list released today by the USPS.
One office in Bakersfield and the rural post office in Posey also are on the list.
Kelly Davis, who has worked at the Fellows post office for more than 25 years, said today that residents in the dwindling oil field town seven miles northwest of Taft will get their mail at a “cluster box” once the office is closed.
She said she will likely transfer to the Taft office and make the mail run every day to Fellows.
Davis is one of three employees working out of a modular building that serves Fellows and nearby Derby Acres.
The others are Jan Cawelti, the officer in charge, and Christine Mullen.
Cawelti, who is on vacation, said she could not at this time comment on the closing.
Davis said Cawelti will likely move to the McKittrick office.
“It’s sad because everybody comes here,” Davis said. “A lot of people don’t get to town (in Taft) very often. They will no longer get that personal service that we can offer.
“We give them personalized service you just don’t see anywhere else. We have done things like repack boxes and made out money order and change of address forms for them. They have no idea what they’re in for.”
Davis said she wasn’t surprised at today’s announcement.
“It’s been rumored for a long time,” she said. “We had a town meeting about two weeks ago, so this doesn’t come as a shock.”
CNN reported that most of the post offices targeted for closure have so little foot traffic that workers average less than two hours of work per day and average sales are less than $50 a day, according to USPS data.
The report said the closings, scheduled to begin within the next four to six months, could cost about 3,000 postmasters, 500 supervisors and another 500-1,000 clerks their jobs.
In fiscal year 2010, CNN reported, the Postal Service lost $8.5 billion on top of $3.8 billion the previous year.
Other cost-cutting measures under consideration are reducing delivery to five days a week.
