Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to a comment contained in a letter to the editor on the subject of Congressman Jo Bonner’s no vote on the Health Care Bill, which was published in the Nov. 18, 2009 Courier.

A readers letter regarding the Health Care debate described the U.S Postal Service as poorly managed.

Contrary to what some say, the Postal Service and its customers have benefited greatly from the hard work of Postal employees, consistently producing good results, often against the odds.

Also, these accomplishments are documented with independently audited numbers. Here are some facts not widely known:

• U.S. Postal Service operations are 100 percent self-supporting. The Postal Service has not received any taxpayer assistance for nearly 30 years. And, though the economy and the Internet hit us hard, we received no bailout.

• The overwhelming majority of Postal Service customers give us high marks. In 2008, the last full year for which data is available, 93 percent of Americans rated their mail service as good, very good or excellent.

• Local First-Class Mail is delivered 96 percent of the time, while mail which must travel hundreds or even thousands of miles is delivered more than 90 percent on time.

• Gains in total factor productivity, made possible by improvements in automation and process control, have allowed us to reduce the size of our work force by 175,000 full-time positions since 1999. This was accomplished without layoffs, minimizing the effect of the downsizing on the U.S. economy.

• In 2009 alone, in response to changes brought about by the economy and the Internet, the Postal Service cut 100 million work hours and reduced costs by more than $6 billion.

• These cuts were accomplished while the nation and the number of addresses requiring service steadily increased to about 150 million homes and businesses.

Is the Postal Service perfect? No institution is perfect. Has the Postal Service consistently produced for its customers, providing a wide range of services, even in remote areas? Yes.

U.S.Postal Servicee

Communications

Alabama & North Florida