U.S. Postal Service Delivers Record-Breaking Performance

Postal customers Iowa, Quad Cities receive top service

DES MOINES, Iowa — Employees of the U.S. Postal Service’s Des Moines-based Hawkeye District matched the national record-breaking on-time performance scores for the delivery of First-Class Mail, which set another new record for highest level of service during the third quarter of fiscal year 2008. The Hawkeye District includes most of Iowa, with the exception of the far southwest corner of the state, plus the Quad City communities in Illinois.

Nationally, overnight delivery service climbed a full percentage point from the previous fiscal quarter, reaching an average of 97 percent on-time delivery.

The third quarter covers April, May and June 2008.

Since 1990, the Postal Service has contracted with an independent agency to measure First-Class Mail service performance independently and objectively.

First-Class Mail performance is measured independently by IBM Global Business Services. The review measures First-Class Mail from the time it is deposited into a collection box or lobby mail chute until it is delivered to a home or business.

“These record delivery levels are the direct result of employees all across the country working as a team to provide excellent service to our customers,” said Sylvester Black, vice president of Operations for the agency's Western Area. “Now, more than ever, our customers can count on the Postal Service to meet their shipping and mailing needs.”

Thirteen of the Postal Service’s 80 districts lead the nation with a 98 percent on-time score for overnight delivery. They are: Northern Virginia, Arkansas, North Florida, Big Sky (the state of Montana), Baltimore, Fort Worth, Suncoast (western central Florida from Tampa/St. Petersburg to Ft. Myers), Dakotas, Greater South Carolina, Mid-Carolinas, Mid-America (northwest Missouri to the south, central and southeastern Missouri, and eastern Kansas), Portland and Central Plains (Nebraska, southwest Iowa, and the majority of Kansas).

“We are committed to providing our customers with the level of service they have come to expect. Our scores remain strong and we’ll continue striving to make them even better,” said Hawkeye District Manager Doug Morrow.

Since May, prices for Express Mail, the U.S. Postal Service’s premier overnight service, are lower at the weights and in the delivery zones used by most customers. The U.S. Postal Service also offers price incentives for both Express Mail and Priority Mail, its two- to three-day shipping service. Online users and commercial Priority Mail customers will see lower prices, while high-volume Express Mail shippers will get quarterly rebates and price reductions.

Nationally, delivery scores reached record highs for all three categories of mail the U.S. Postal Service tracks:

Overnight service was 97 percent on-time, up from 96 percent the same period last year.
Two-day service was 95 percent on-time, up from 93 percent the same period last year.
Three-day service was 94 percent on-time, up from 91 percent the same period last year

An audio news release on this topic is available in the newsroom at usps.com.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.