by Azeezaly S. Jaffer (NAPSA)—Some claim that the Postal Service is a bloated, inefficient government agency and that Americans would receive better service if mail delivery were turned over to private companies. Each day, six days a week, Postal Service employees deliver 650 million pieces of mail to 140 million addresses. No other enterprise in the world can make that claim. For just 37 cents, your letter can go from the top of the Empire State Building to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, from Nome, Alaska to Naples, Florida. And, when adjusted for inflation, postage for that letter costs you no more thanit did 30 years ago. Here are some morefacts, just to give you an idea of the type of job we are doing: Today, we are delivering more than twice as much mail to nearly 75 percent more addresses than we did in 1971 when the Postal Service was created, but with only 17 percent more employees. That’s efficiency! Some say the Postal Service needs to reduce its costs and employee rolls. These people aren’t paying attention. We’ve cut over 40,000 positions in the last 18 monthsandcut costs by $3 billion. We’ve reduced the numberof employees to the same level we had in 1995, yet we are delivering When adjusted for inflation, a First-Class stamp costs no more today than it did 30 years ago. 21 billion more pieces of mail to 12 million more addresses than we did then. No private company would be willing to provide universal service at a uniform rate as we do. The majority of mail routes do not have a sufficient volume of mail to cover the cost of delivery. What private carrier would deliver those routes? Despite the restrictions of an outdated business model set in law more than 30 years ago that hinders its ability to compete, your Postal Service remains the mostefficient in the world. * Azeezaly S. Jaffer is vicepresident of USPS Public Affairs and Communications.
