Busting myths about the postal service

The U.S. Postal Service has delivered America's mail in snow, rain and dark of night. However, tough market conditions are creating new challenges for our business. Skeptics say we're not up to them. It's time to dispel some common myths about what we do.

The postal service wastes taxpayer dollars. The postal service is an independent agency, operating as a commercial entity, and has not received taxpayer subsidies since 1982. The sale of postage, mailing and shipping products and services creates revenue to cover expenses.

The postal service is inefficient. Ten years ago, it took 70 employees one hour to sort 35,000 letters. Today, it takes two. Our nation has added 18 million addresses in the past decade, while we've reduced the number of employees who handle the load by more than 200,000. Mail is not reliable. Independent surveys confirm the postal service is indeed reliable. Recent on-time overnight delivery of single-piece first-class mail was at 96 percent for the eighth straight quarter.

The postal service is not environmentally friendly. Our fleet of 44,000 alternative-fuel-capable vehicles is one of the largest in the world. More than a half-billion packages and envelopes we provide annually are recyclable. Last year, we recycled more than 200,000 tons of paper, plastics and other waste - the equivalent of saving 1.67 million barrels of oil.

The postal service can't compete with the private sector. Our closest competitors, UPS and FedEx, pay us to deliver more than 400 million of their ground packages every year. And although stamp prices have increased steadily in recent years, this increase is within inflation. During that same time, private carriers raised their prices as much as 60 percent.

The postal service is, and has always been, a bargain.

Robert Hart

Manager

Northern Illinois District

U.S. Postal Service