Tag: USPS

The US Postal Service will seek approval for a 10 percent increase in postage rates early next year, according to a report published Wednesday. First-class stamps, which have risen 12 percent since 2001, would increase to at least 41 cents, the Wall Street Journal reported in a story on its Web site. The last price increase was in 2002. According to the report, the unusually large size of the expected rate increase stems partly from the demise of proposed legislation that would have allowed the postal service to take advantage of about USD3 billion a year in pension-fund savings resulting from a change in how it contributes to a federal retirement fund. The legislation also would have freed the service from future pension payments to employees who previously served in the military.

Praising employees’ performance at every level of the organization, Postmaster General John E. Potter today hailed 2004 as the Postal Service’s best year ever for customer satisfaction and on-time delivery of First-Class Mail. Speaking to the Board of Governors of the Postal Service, Potter said that 94 percent of customers – an all-time high – rated their postal service good to excellent during the last quarter of 2004. During that time, the Postal Service also delivered 95 percent of local First-Class Mail overnight, while two- and three-day scores were the highest ever. “Service performance remains my top priority,” said Potter.