From Dawn Obermann
Postmaster, Monroe
The U.S. Postal Service has delivered America's mail in snow, rain and dark of night. However, tough market conditions are creating new challenges for our business. Skeptics say we're not up to them. It's time to dispel common myths and assure the American people that we will continue to deliver the mail.
n The Postal Service wastes taxpayer dollars.
The Postal Service, an independent agency of the executive branch, operates as commercial entity. We rely on the sale of postage, mailing and shipping products and services for revenue. We have not received taxpayer subsidies for operations since 1982. And we're required by law to cover our costs.
n The Postal Service is inefficient.
Ten years ago, it took 70 employees one hour to sort 35,000 letters. Today, in that same hour, two employees process that same volume of mail. Although our nation's addresses have grown by nearly 18 million in the past decade, we've decreased the number of employees who handle the increased delivery load by more than 200,000.
But driving costs out of our system is our greatest testament to efficiency. Since 2002, the Postal Service has cut its costs by $43 billion, including by $6 billion in 2009. These savings have come through reducing workforce and overtime, renegotiating more than 500 supplier contracts, consolidating facilities, closing administrative offices, and cutting travel expenses and supply budgets.
We've also asked Congress to eliminate the statutory requirement that we deliver mail six days a week. Switching to five-day delivery would help us save more than $3 billion a year while still delivering the mail.
n Mail is not reliable.
Independent quarterly surveys confirm that the Postal Service has achieved record reliability. In the third quarter of 2010, on-time overnight delivery of single-piece first-class mail was at 96 percent for the eighth straight quarter, an agency best.
We're not only punctual, we're trusted and secure. According to the Federal Trade Commission, as little as 2 percent of identity crimes occur through the mail. Theft of a wallet or purse is responsible for 5 percent - meaning your documents are safer in the mail then they are in your pocket.
Postmaster, Monroe
The U.S. Postal Service has delivered America's mail in snow, rain and dark of night. However, tough market conditions are creating new challenges for our business. Skeptics say we're not up to them. It's time to dispel common myths and assure the American people that we will continue to deliver the mail.
n The Postal Service wastes taxpayer dollars.
The Postal Service, an independent agency of the executive branch, operates as commercial entity. We rely on the sale of postage, mailing and shipping products and services for revenue. We have not received taxpayer subsidies for operations since 1982. And we're required by law to cover our costs.
n The Postal Service is inefficient.
Ten years ago, it took 70 employees one hour to sort 35,000 letters. Today, in that same hour, two employees process that same volume of mail. Although our nation's addresses have grown by nearly 18 million in the past decade, we've decreased the number of employees who handle the increased delivery load by more than 200,000.
But driving costs out of our system is our greatest testament to efficiency. Since 2002, the Postal Service has cut its costs by $43 billion, including by $6 billion in 2009. These savings have come through reducing workforce and overtime, renegotiating more than 500 supplier contracts, consolidating facilities, closing administrative offices, and cutting travel expenses and supply budgets.
We've also asked Congress to eliminate the statutory requirement that we deliver mail six days a week. Switching to five-day delivery would help us save more than $3 billion a year while still delivering the mail.
n Mail is not reliable.
Independent quarterly surveys confirm that the Postal Service has achieved record reliability. In the third quarter of 2010, on-time overnight delivery of single-piece first-class mail was at 96 percent for the eighth straight quarter, an agency best.
We're not only punctual, we're trusted and secure. According to the Federal Trade Commission, as little as 2 percent of identity crimes occur through the mail. Theft of a wallet or purse is responsible for 5 percent - meaning your documents are safer in the mail then they are in your pocket.
