Sustainability in Operations
Serving Customers
Dean Granholm
Vice President,
Delivery and
Post Office Operations
What’s New
- Increased Carrier Pickups by 13 percent and expanded the service, saving customers time and money — as well as reducing carbon emissions.
- Increased efficiency through a joint program that reduced delivery routes and fuel use — while delivery points grew by nearly a million new addresses.
Delivery operations route management
USPS also is lowering its greenhouse gases by reducing the number of routes and vehicles required to deliver mail.
In 2009, the Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers created a joint program that focuses on data reviews to quickly locate volume fluctuations. This effort uses existing data rather than requiring additional vehicle trips to collect data.
During the first year of this program, 11,080 city routes were eliminated.
Also, 1,243 rural routes were eliminated in FY 2009, most as the result of a national count. Our third route type — the Highway Contract Route — was reduced by 2,791, for a total national reduction of 15,114 routes.
While the number of routes nationally was reduced by 6.5 percent, the number of delivery points grew by nearly a million new residential and business addresses as our nation continues to grow.
The Postal Service absorbed this growth by increasing the number of deliveries on each route, and providing in-office assistance. This kept more vehicles off streets, further reducing gasoline use and GHG emissions in FY 2009.
Facts and Figures
174,796
collection boxes
providing service for all communities
15,144
fewer routes
better route management reduced mileage, fuel use and vehicle maintenance
280,000
addresses
added to Carrier Pickup network
Carrier Pickup
Postal Delivery Operations has helped our customers reduce their carbon footprint by providing expanded Carrier Pickup service — going to customers’ doors during our normal delivery day to pick up their outgoing packages.
This is a no-charge service, available as long as the carrier has the vehicle capacity to handle the extra volume. It can be scheduled online at usps.com as a one-time pickup or on a regular basis.
Carrier pickups increased 13 percent in FY 2009 as we expanded their availability to an additional 280,000 addresses.
By taking advantage of our “every door, every day” presence, customers don’t have to drive their cars and use more gas to get to our Post Offices.
Three districts recognized for exceptional customer service
The Northern Virginia, Boston and Northern New Jersey districts won Diamond “5-Star Customer Service” awards for providing exceptional service for 16 consecutive quarters.
Within the three districts, 20 Post Offices earned the Diamond distinction. In addition, 378 Post Offices in the same three districts won 5-Star awards at least once during the past four years.
The goal of the 5-Star program was to recognize Post Offices and districts that met or exceeded quarterly CSM targets. USPS added the Diamond awards in FY 2009 to reflect the sustained and exceptional service levels these districts achieved.
Collection box management
Our iconic blue collection boxes are visible signs of the Postal Service brand.
These strategically placed boxes, located in high-traffic areas, provide customer convenience and reduce our environmental impact. Our postal vehicles are used more efficiently, and saves customers a trip to the Post Office.
During FY 2009, USPS focused on making sure that collection boxes were in the right locations to serve the most customers.
We have 174,796 collection boxes in communities nationwide.
