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‘Pledge to serve’: Reach Road Post Office shows off improvements

By Matthew Courter 5 min read

The Williamsport Sorting and Delivery Center (SDC) of the United States Postal Service welcomed reporters Thursday morning to unveil much needed improvements to both the facility and its fleet of delivery vehicles.

"The Postal Service is making a commitment here in Williamsport and across the nation to upgrade our facilities, vehicles, equipment and more under the umbrella of the Delivering for America plan," said Tom Ouellette, manager for strategic communications.

The investment in upgrading totals $40 billion for what Oullette called, "the largest investment in the postal modernization network in the history of the Postal Service."

As of the second quarter of 2024, $243 million has been allocated towards facilities in the state, Ouellette said.

"Prior to the initiation, our facilities and vehicles were in a state of significant disrepair. This posed a serious challenge to our dedicated workforce, who, despite their unwavering commitment, were grappling with conditions that fell short of acceptable standards," said Eddie Masangcay, state district 1 manager, stressing that the improvements will also be a boost to the services workforce.

"This investment goes beyond just improving infrastructure. It's about empowering our employees, the very heart of our organization, with the necessary resources they need to excel," Masangcay said.

"We're not just upgrading, we are transforming. We're implementing modern technology, enhancing vehicle safety and creating a better work environment in our facilities," he said.

"Over the last few years, the SDCs have reimagined delivery and have become both powerhouses of commerce and guiding lights of operational efficiency," Collin Stefanowicz, manager of sorting center strategy and optimization, said.

The improvements to the Reach Roach center began in January 2023 and went live the following June, he said.

Roughly 60 carrier routes were centralized into the Williamsport site, which has allowed the USPS to serve 64,321 customers from that single location, according to Stefanowicz.

"The investments across Pennsylvania include over $143 million to renovate 324 existing structures and more than $2 million to construct 16 new ones. We've also allocated more than $15 million to purchase 14 state of the art package sorting machines in Pennsylvania, enhancing our operational efficiency and reliability in sorting and delivering mail and packages across the state and region.

"These are the future of delivery and carrier operations in terms of processing mail," Stefanowicz said.

"This machine has the capability of processing upwards of 3,300 packages per hour, and just to make a point of that, prior to these machines, packages were sorted by hand by our clerk staff at 270 packages per hour," he explained.

Another highlight was the presentation of a new fleet of USPS delivery vehicles, many of which have already been in operation throughout the country.

The new vehicles will replace the service's current fleet, known as long life vehicles, the oldest of which has been in operation since 1987.

The new commercial off the shelf (COTS) is an electric vehicle that was deployed earlier in the year, already completing more than 40,000 miles on routes within the city, according to Patrick Ecker, executive manager of fleet strategy and support.

The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) is the new flagship delivery vehicle, constructed with the driver and the public firmly in mind.

"We included our carriers throughout the design process of the vehicle, so we incorporated a lot of feedback from them and from our union partners to make sure this vehicle is really tailored to exactly what our carriers need on a day to day basis," Ecker said.

Among the much requested new additions are air conditioning and cup holders.

The new design also allows for an increased visual field of the driver, improving safety for the driver as well as pedestrians and children.

"It's a very distinctive design, but that's very intentional, so if you have a small child, a basketball garbage can, you can see it all the way around the vehicle," he explained.

"We also have sensors on these vehicles, so it will detect if there's objects in the way. We have automatic emergency braking, and inside the cab, we have a 360 camera, the carrier can see all the way around in the vehicle. It's a great safety feature that allows them to more easily maneuver while they're inside the vehicle.

The cargo capacity is nearly doule that of the older models, and raised ceilings allow for even the tallest delivery person to easily maneuver within the vehicle, something the former fleet did not allow for, according to Ecker.

"By adopting these modern vehicles, we're future proofing the Postal Service and positioning ourselves for growth in the rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape," he said, adding that the service plans on adding more than 40,000 battery electric NGDV by 2028, bringing the total number of electric vehicles in the fleet to more than 66,000.

The ultimate goal is for all delivery vehicles to be fully run on electricity, with a total of 34 charging stations already installed in the city.

"Our goal remains steadfast, and that is to enhance our services for the betterment of our employees, customers and the environment," Ecker said.

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