2. Expenses

TABLE 3.3 ANALYSIS OF EXPERTS

	(in millions)
		2001	2000	Change	%Change
	Personnel compensation	$37,924	$36,981	$  943	2.5%
	Personnel benefits	13,427	12,551	876	7.0%
	Transportation	5,056	4,709	347	7.4%
	Supplies and services	3,061	2,982	79	2.6%
	Interest on deferred liability	1,603	1,568	35	2.2%
	Depreciation and write-offs	2,255	2,068	187	9.0%
	Other	1,548	1,369	179	13.1%
	Rent and communication	1,086	1,127	-41	-3.6%
	Vehicle/building maintenance	600	588	12	2.0%
	Personnel compensation	$37,924	$36,981	943	2.5%
	Utilities	537	466	72	39.1%
	Interest	306	220	86	39.1%
	Advertising	146	151	-5	4.3%
	Total	$67,549	$64,780	$2,769	4.3%

Compensation and benefits, including interest on deferred retirement, comprise more than 78 percent of our total expenses. In 2001, Postal management controlled costs aggressively, cutting workyears by 11,500, while servicing the national delivery network with its 1.7 million new residential and business delivery addresses. These actions held the increase in compensation and benefits to 3.6 percent, or $1.8 billion, down from the 4.6 percent growth of $2.2 billion in the previous year. Still, due to salary increases and inflation in health benefit costs, this year’s rate of growth in compensation and benefits exceeded that of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Employment Cost Index (ECI). Workers’ compensation costs, a component of compensation and benefits, increased by almost $60 million in 2001, following the more than $300 million increase in this category in 2000.

Historical fluctuations in workers’ compensation expense can be seen in Table 3.4.