Tag: USPS

USPS’s financial outlook is becoming increasingly dire

Posted by | Mar 21, 2002 | |

USPS’s financial outlook is becoming increasingly dire. USPS has continuing deficits, severe cash-flow pressures, rising debt, and liabilities that exceed its assets. USPS also lacks sufficient income to fund growing capital asset needs for safety, maintenance, expansion, and modernization as well as to fund its liabilities. In fiscal year 2001, USPS reported a $1.68 billion deficit, up from a $199 million deficit in the preceding fiscal year. Further, USPS budgeted for a $1.35 billion deficit in fiscal year 2002, before the catastrophic events of September 11 and subsequent use of the mail to transmit anthrax. The combined effect of these events and the current economic slowdown have served to further exacerbate USPS’s financial difficulties by decreasing postal revenues, while postal costs continued to increase despite additional USPS cost-cutting efforts.

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Consignia, USPS Work to Speed Delivery

Posted by | Mar 14, 2002 | |

The U.S. Postal Service and Consignia, the British postal system, are working to overcome customer complaints about an international delivery agreement between the two agencies earlier this year, the USPS said this week. As part of the three-year deal, General Logistic Systems, Consignia’s Pan-European parcel company, delivers USPS Global Express Mail and Global Air Parcel Post in Europe.

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US Postmaster discusses deficit

Posted by | Mar 13, 2002 | |

The Postal Service is facing a loss of more than $2 billion this year as mail volume lags and costs of sanitizing the mail and cleaning up contaminated offices mount.
Postmaster General John E. Potter told a House Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday that the projected deficit for this year is “somewhere above $2 billion.”
Potter said the agency is hoping the Postal Rate Commission will accelerate consideration of a rate increase so the higher prices can take effect this summer rather than in the fall as planned.
The post office is seeking a 3-cent increase in the price of sending a letter, to 37 cents.

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REPORT OF THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE ON QUALITY OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE (US) POSTAL SERVICETO THE PUBLIC

Posted by | Mar 6, 2002 | |

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Purpose Of This Report……………………………………………………………………………. 1
II. Deficiencies Identified In The Provision Of Particular Services………………………. 4
A. Priority Mail…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
1. Recent history of Commission’s treatment of Priority Mail …………………….. 4
2. Problems in the provision of Priority Mail service persist ………………………. 6
3. Limited mailing tests of First Class and Priority Mail demonstrate that
First Class provides service equal to, and often better than, that
obtained in Priority Mail ……………………………………………………………………. 9
4. The Postal Service persists in failing to give consumers the
tools and information necessary to compare Priority Mail with
First Class ……………………………………………………………………………………. 10
5. The Postal Service continues to give the public unrealistic
expectations about the service likely to be provided by Priority Mail……… 15
6. Advertisement of Priority Mail and information given by Postal and
Call Center personnel to the public on Priority Mail delivery times
must reflect the ability of the Postal Service to provide promised
service…………………………………………………………………………………………. 19
B. Certified Mail and Return Receipt ……………………………………………………….. 23
C. Insurance ………………………………………………………………………………………… 31
III. Major Areas Of Customer Dissatisfaction And OCA-Recommended
Remedies …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 35
A. Long Waits in Post Offices…………………………………………………………………. 35
B. Present Information to the Public to Improve Understanding
about Postal Services ……………………………………………………………………….. 39
C. The Two-line Address to IRS Service Centers Can Cause Looping …………. 41
IV. Consumer Perceptions Of Postal Service Performance………………………………. 43
A. Introduction and Summary…………………………………………………………………. 43
B. Customer Satisfaction and Equity ……………………………………………………….. 46
C. Surveys of Customer Perceptions Provide Information on the Risk
of Losing Business……………………………………………………………………………. 49
1. Associated Press Polling Report……………………………………………………… 49
2. American Customer Satisfaction Index…………………………………………….. 50
3. Consumer Federation of America Report, May 18, 2000…………………….. 53
D. The Postal Service Obtains High Ratings for Consumer
Satisfaction, but There are Indications of Potential Longer-Run
Problems…………………………………………………………………………………………. 55
E. Additional Sources of Information Were Provided by OCA Focus
Groups and Student Surveys ……………………………………………………………… 56
1. OCA conducted three focus groups…………………………………………………. 56
2. Survey information provided by marketing classes at University of
Southern California and Purdue………………………………………………………. 59
a. Survey procedures………………………………………………………………………… 60
b. Although the student-initiated surveys are not statistically
accurate, the surveys provide useful information………………………………..

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