Providing mail delivery is central to the Postal Service’s mission. Delivery is the Postal Service’s largest operational function and accounted for approximately one-third of its nearly $78 billion in total expenses during 2008. Postal Service management is working hard to reduce delivery costs while continuing to deliver to 149 million[1] addresses in the most efficient manner possible. Despite declining mail volumes, the Postal Service is challenged to provide cost efficient and effective service to a delivery network growing by more than 1 million addresses each year.
The mode of delivery plays an important role in determining the cost and efficiency of delivery. The Postal Service provides three modes of delivery for existing delivery points — to the door, to a mailbox on the curb, and to a centralized point that serves several addresses. Door-to-door delivery is the most costly mode and is no longer available for new delivery points. When new developments are established, curbside and centralized deliveries are the only options. Since centralized delivery is the cheapest mode, the Postal Service favors installing centralized delivery. However, the decision on mode of delivery is sometimes left to the developer.
Loading ... Loading ... Loading ... Loading ...Curbside delivery is the most widely-used mode of delivery for residential delivery points. As of September 1, 2009, there were 49 million curbside delivery points. The second most utilized mode of residential delivery is “other” which includes door-to-door. Table 1 below shows the total number of possible residential deliveries by delivery mode.
For business delivery points, the “other” mode of delivery, which includes door-to-door, is the most utilized mode with 5 million delivery points as of September 1, 2009. Table 2 below shows the total number of possible business deliveries by delivery mode.
In response to decreasing mail volumes and revenues, the Postal Service needs to make every effort possible to decrease the cost of delivery operations. Although the Postal Service’s goal is to maximize the use of centralized delivery with the developer’s input, this is not always possible. Additionally, existing costly delivery points could be converted to more cost effective modes.
What do you think?
Is the Postal Service making every effort to promote centralized delivery in new developments and convert existing costly door-to-door and curbside deliveries?
[1] This number includes delivery to all residential, business, and Post Office box addresses.
This topic is hosted by the OIG’s Delivery directorate.
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Yes, the mission is great.
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I would offer the following suggestion to the 20 billion dollar shortfall in the USPS: DO SOMETHING TO FIX IT!! After a year of studying whether to drop Saturday delivery, a decision still cannot be reached? That is beyond belief. Not only should Saturday delivery be dropped, M-F delivery could be modified to every other or every third day. Although we are historically accustomed to 6 day a week delivery, it is NOT necessary to conduct our lives. What makes more sense: receiving our mail less often, or paying a dollar for a first-class stamp? The labor costs of operating the USPS would go down if only one-third or one-half of each days’ mail gets delivered. Another idea that deserves serious consideration is reducing the number of rural post offices. Mountain, WI has one. Lakewood, WI is 13 miles north and has one, Townsend is another 5 miles north and has one…each one of those communities has about 250 residents. This scenario is ubiquitous in rural areas and is totally unnecessary for citizens to have a high quality of life. With a 20-billion dollar shortfall and a 20% drop in business, it makes sense to me to cut your expenses by at least 20%. I have made two suggestions and I’m sure there are many more worthy of consideration. PLEASE think about something more constructive than raising the cost of postage until no one can afford to send anything thru the mail.
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What about Single Point Delivery mode (SPD)? This is the ultimate savings capture mode yet it is not even mentioned above. Postal Operations Manual 631.52 provides the language that allows the USPS to make a single delivery to student housing building (on or off campus) and provide no further delivery to individual boxes or units. There are also numerous memorandums and additional language that support SPD. This mode of delivery is not even known to exist by most local Post Offices and as a result they waste untold amounts of money servicing student housing properties. In addition to the cost of sorting and delivering there are such additional functions as forwarding of mail, storage of parcels for pick up and high volumes of carrier mark-up mail due to the transient nature of residents on student housing properties.
Single Point Delivery is not enforced by the USPS in a uniform manner across the country. There are certain local Districts that do identify and pursue SPD mode but they are the minority by far.
With the USPS searching to save money with minimal negative impact to existing service this matter should receive more attention. Even if the USPS started today and applied this to all new student housing properties the savings would be more than most could calculate annually.
Every day there are local Post Offices that agree to provide full delivery service to student housing properties even though the language clearly exists otherwise. How can this be in this time of extreme focus on efficiency and operational savings? I am amazed that SPD is not pursued nationwide in an effort to aid the efficiency of the USPS delivery units.
Where does the OIG stand on this Single Point Delivery mode as a cost control measure?
Thank you.
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