Hundreds of US post offices could soon close

"The Postal Service desperately needs to restructure, for its long-term and current financial viability," Phillip Herr of the General Accounting Office told Congress on Thursday.

Among the options under consideration are reducing post office hours, closing some post offices, consolidating processing centers and ending Saturday delivery.

In an effort to cut costs, the Postal Service has drawn up a list of 681 post offices to study for possible closure.

The Postal Service's Jordan Small told Congress on Thursday that most of these are in urban areas so affected customers would not have to go far to find another one near them.

Any post office closures would not affect mail delivery at homes and businesses, he said. But members of the House subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service questioned him closely on what criteria would be used for choosing any post offices for closure and how customers would be affected.