Tom,
I heard this too. I was told by my Manager of Human Resources from district. He says that they don't know what the offer is going to be but they want to get rid of the higher payed employees and bring in a new younger work force. We have to wait for the OPM to come up with an offer.

The same rumor is going around Colorado as well. Because I have not seen any in writing I am making this comment as a rumor. Our state APWU office has been told that early outs will be offered in late 2009 or early 2010 when the FSS (flat sorting) machines are deployed.

My brother, also a carrier here in Cleveland, said three different people have asked him about a buyout in the last week! (all outside the USPS).
Rumor I heard was, because of gas prices and high salaries, going to 5 day week.Buyouts would leave enough openings for T-6's to grab vacant routes. USPS seems to be hiring an awful lot of transitional's lately. They would also fill the openings very cheaply and could be let go as the mail volume ebbs and flows during the year!
Also, buyout would probably be 6 months pay ($25,000).
Flat sorters probably three to five years away...we're still waiting for them to get DPS right! What's that been, 10 years?