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U.S. Postal Service officials plan to conduct a study at Columbia’s distribution center near the Columbia Regional Airport.

They are thinking about consolidating some of Columbia’s operations into the St. Louis and Kansas City processing and distribution centers.

The study, known as an area mail processing study, or AMP, involves a review of the center’s mail processing and transportation operations.

The review will determine the capacity needs at a facility in order to increase efficiency and improve productivity.

Postal officials are considering the changes because of a continuing decline in first-class mail volumes, especially first-class single-piece mail, which is down by 37 percent since 2007.

The postal service is asking for public input as part of the study process. There will be a public hearing in Columbia on the possible changes within the next 30 days.