Tag: North America

The U.S. Postal Service is delivering its best service ever, but the slowing economy kept the agency short of its expected revenue by almost a half-billion dollars last quarter.
A new pricing structure was expected to boost revenues, but the nation’s slowing economy has meant less mail. The Postal Service’s first-quarter volume dropped by 1.7 billion pieces, almost 3 percent, from the same period in 2007. The first quarter runs from October through December. The decrease affected virtually all categories of mail. The steepest decline was in Express Mail, which lost nearly 11 percent of its volume.

Periodicals were the only category to post an increase, a modest 1.2 percent.

Despite the drop, the Postal Service managed to post USD 689 million in increased revenue over the first quarter of 2007, mostly attributable to the increased fees. But that figure was USD 500 million short of expectations: The higher prices couldn’t fully offset lost revenue.

Performance reviews, on the other hand, were overwhelmingly positive. The first quarter is typically the most difficult, because of holiday shipping and unpredictable weather. But national service was at all-time highs, with 96 percent of overnight mail and 93 percent of two-day mail reaching its destination on time. And a national poll found 92 percent of residential customers were pleased with the Postal Service.

The numbers were especially good for Chicago, which last year ranked as the worst mail market in the nation. Ninety-four percent of Chicago’s overnight mail and 92 percent of its two-day mail arrived on time in the first quarter, increases of 5 and 11 percent over 2007.

The US Postal Service announced this week that its Premium Forwarding Service will now be available to domestic residents on a permanent basis.

The service enables US residents who temporarily relocate to another address within the country, such as a summer home, to have all their mail — including magazines and catalogs — forwarded to them. Mail must be forwarded for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of one year. The service is not available internationally.

The service was first rolled out as an experimental product in August 2005. Due to its popularity with customers and the overall success of the service, the USPS said it has decided to make it permanent. According to the USPS, about 300,000 people have signed up for the service, which has generated USD 25.7 million in revenue so far.

When people sign up for the service, mail is reshipped once a week to the temporary location. There is a one-time enrollment fee of USD 10 and a weekly forwarding fee of USD 11.95. Express Mail and Priority Mail, as well as Registered Mail, are forwarded separately for no additional fee. Customers can sign up for the service at the post offices that services their permanent address.

Change of Address orders and Hold Mail services are provided free of charge by the USPS.