u.s. postal service delivers record-breaking performance

Tennessee matched the national record-breaking on-time performance scores for the delivery of First-Class Mail, setting another new record for highest level of service during the third quarter of fiscal year 2008.

While national overnight delivery service climbed a full percentage point from the previous fiscal quarter, reaching an average of 97 percent on-time delivery, local district scores in Tennessee maintained this same high rating for on-time delivery as seen also in the previous quarter.

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 Tennessee working as a team to provide excellent service to our customers,” said Carolyn Chambers, the U.S. Postal Service’s District Manager for Tennessee. “Now, more than ever, our customers can count on the Postal Service to meet their shipping and mailing needs.”

Since May, prices for Express Mail, the Postal Service’s premier overnight service, are lower at the weights and in the delivery zones used by most customers. The 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.

“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 Chambers. Tennessee provides U.S. Mail delivery to 6.4 million people in more than 2.8 million homes and businesses.

Thirteen of the Postal Service’s 80 districts led the nation with a 98 percent on-time score for overnight delivery: Northern Virginia, Arkansas, North Florida, Big Sky (the state of Montana), Baltimore, Fort Worth, Suncoast (western central FL 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 most of Kansas).

Nationally, delivery service scores reached record highs for all three categories of mail the 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