Automation has reduced the time that carriers spend sorting mail, resulting in a 15 percent reduction in the time that carriers spend in the office. To ensure that automation savings are fully captured, near-term plans call for rigorous standardization of existing delivery operations to reduce variability and leverage investments in technology.

To further capture the benefits of automated sortation, targets will be established to increase the percentage of letters sorted to delivery point sequence from 77 percent currently to 95 percent by 2010. The Postal Service's vision for delivery also includes automating flats sequencing for carriers, which will remove much of the remaining office time now spent sorting flats. Flats are larger mail pieces such as magazines and catalogs.