Montana Post Offices tie for highest score ever in First Class local on-time mail delivery — 98 percent

BILLINGS, MT — Montana Post Offices have once again tied the national record — which it first achieved in 2004 — for the highest quarterly service score ever — 98 percent — in local on-time First Class Mail delivery.

The Big Sky Postal Service District covering Montana Post Offices and the Dakotas District covering North and South Dakota Post Offices each scored 98 percent — highest on-time overnight First Class Mail score of 80 postal districts throughout the U.S. in the recent quarter. On-time mail service was audited during the first quarter period covering October 1 to December 31, 2007.

IBM Global Business Surveys conducts the quarterly audits of First Class mail on-time delivery performance, called EXFC. IBM has anonymous mailers who drop unidentifiable First-Class mail pieces of all sizes and shapes into the mail system daily. IBM audits the delivery results of those mail pieces covering particular ZIP Codes. The process measures First-Class Mail from the time it is deposited into a local collection box until it is delivered to its destination.

It was also an unprecedented 18th different quarter that Montana Post Offices have achieved or tied for the highest local First Class Mail score in the U.S. Its 98 percent score was two points above the national average. The national average for 80 postal districts covering all 50 states was 96 percent.

“Montana continues to set records for stellar mail service of which our postal employees and all Montana residents can be very proud,” says John DiPeri, Big Sky District Manager in charge of all Montana Post Offices.

“That we tied for the highest on-time score during the most challenging time of the year — during the very busy holiday mail season and during one of the toughest weather periods — is amazing. I thank all our Montana postal employees for their continued excellent service and I thank our Montana postal customers for their great support.”

Montana has 324 Post Offices and 2,200 postal employees. They process and deliver an average of over 2.3 million pieces of mail per day to Montana residents.

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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.