Hey Montana, you’ve got mail! And it’s 98 percent on time

BILLINGS, MT —The summer heat is sizzling and so are Montana Post Offices with their record on-time local First Class Mail service. For the 20th different time or quarter, Post Offices in Montana have tied or led the nation with the highest score in local on-time First-Class Mail delivery.

Montana Post Offices’ 98 percent on-time score tied with 12 other postal districts out of 80 postal geographic districts nationwide for the highest score in the third quarter. On-time mail service was audited during the third quarter period covering April 1 to June 30, 2008.

Nationwide, IBM Global Business Services conducts the quarterly audits of First Class mail on-time delivery performance for the U.S. Postal Service. 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 within each of the 80 postal districts nationwide. The process measures First-Class Mail from the time it is deposited into a local collection box until it is delivered to its destination.

The score essentially means that 98 out of every 100 First-Class Mail pieces mailed within that overnight ZIP Code metropolitan area are processed and delivered the next day.

Nationally, local overnight First Class Mail scores averaged their highest ever in Quarter 3 at 97 percent. IBM reported that scores for two-day First Class Mail service throughout the U.S. averaged 95 percent on-time; while three-day First Class Mail service for all 50 states was 94 percent on-time.
Montana has 324 Post Offices and 2,200 postal employees. They process and deliver an average 2.3 million pieces of mail per day to more than 550,000 Montana addresses and to a delivery area of over 147,000 square miles – the fourth largest state in the U.S.

“We are committed to consistently providing our Montana postal customers with the level of top mail service they have come to expect,” says Big Sky District Manager John DiPeri, who oversees postal operations throughout the state.

“Montana postal employees were the first state/postal district in the U.S. to ever achieve a 98 percent on-time First Class Mail delivery score. They have attained that 98 score several times now. Our goal is to eventually hit 99 percent or even a remarkable perfect score of 100 percent. We appreciate the tremendous support and business we receive from all our many loyal Montana postal customers.”