The new rural surcharge implemented by the USPS in July is not only rural discrimination and a violation of its universal mandate to deliver for America — it is biting the hands that feed America, the hands that source the natural resources that power our homes and businesses.
USPS implemented the change with virtually no notice. When questioned, a support representative acknowledged: "We apologize for the late notice. We are working on getting this information communicated to our users but we just learned of these changes as well."
Yet Postmaster General Steiner has decided that rural America is a drain on its operations and must be penalized. That's what rural America gets for feeding the cities that are benefitting from his restructuring. He seems to think the postal service — always intended as a public entity — should operate as a business that sticks it to rural America, refusing to recognize the very lands and people on whom we are all dependent.
Steiner wags his authoritative fingers like a character from Oliver Twist as rural America dares to expect to be treated with the same deference he prioritizes for his urban beneficiaries. Rural America should never have to beg for the equity promised by the postal mandate. Never.
Blaming fuel costs to justify charging us more — when we have tracking data of packages going from south Texas to western Colorado via New Jersey, by ground — is to deny recurring inefficiencies and make excuses. We have the data. Rural America is not the problem.
Krystyn Hartman
Grand Junction
