GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A former post office employee who worked on the machines that have been removed says there’s no reason to remove any mail sorting machines, saying it will only slow down the delivery process.

The man News 8 spoke with knows the ins and outs of the machines. He worked on them as a mechanic for more than 15 years.

“I’m very concerned that we are going to lose our post office. It is a scary situation. I do not want our mail to end up in the hands of a private company,” said the man who didn’t want to be identified.

Through a Target 8 investigation, we learned that seven of the 35 mail sorting machines in the Metro Grand Rapids area have been taken apart and offline.

“What that means is each machine, whether it’s a facer canceler or a delivery barcode sorter, those machines run approximately 35,000 to 40,000 letters an hour,” he said. “You take a 10-hour day, that’s 350,000 letters per machine. Take out two machines, that’s 700,000 letters that are not going to get sorted or canceled, causing backups.”

He says he’s personally seen the impacts.

“I got a bill the other day that came after I got the call saying I owed the bill, so letters are getting delayed substantially,” the former employee said.

“This is the whole purpose of the post office. You are supposed to get the mail there to the correct address and on time and we are failing at that, not because of the postal workers themselves, but because management is taking away the tools they need to do that,” he continued.

He says he cannot think of one reason why you would get rid of these machines, adding that if a machine isn’t needed during a slow time, it can be placed on idle mode to save money and be turned back on when needed.

“It is just crippling to do. It’s just mine boggling. How are you going to make money by throwing away your machines? It makes no sense whatsoever,” he said.