“Snail mail” in Georgia is about to get slower. The U.S. Postal Service confirmed Thursday its plan to close more than 220 mail processing center across the United States, including eight in Georgia.

Officials with the USPS have said they need to slash operating costs by $20 billion over the next three years, making layoffs and closings a necessity.

In Georgia, mail processing centers in Albany, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Savannah, Swainsboro, Valdosta and Waycross are slated to shut down. (Click here to see the full list of closings.)

That upsets Athens resident Claire Thompson, who already drives more than 10 miles to get to post office closest to her house.

“With the price of gas, we are being hampered by needing to get to a post office,” she said. “In fact, we're being sidelined in the post office's plans."

Officials with the postal service say emails, text messages and other forms of electronic communication have hurt its bottom line.

Another Athens resident, Angela Johnson, admitted she sends less mail the old-fashioned way. But she said there's always going to be a need for post offices.

"I still consider it a service that I think is a necessary service. I think that maybe there does need to be consolidation of some of the facilities,” she said.

As a result of the cutbacks, the USPS will no longer guarantee overnight delivery for some first-class mail.

Contributors: GPB's Joshua Stewart contributed to this report.

Tags: Valdosta, Augusta, Columbus, Athens, Savannah, Albany, Waycross, Swainsboro, Post Office, post office closings, closing mail processing centers, mail processing facilities