Val-ue  n [from Latin valere to be worth, to be strong] 1:  a fair return on payment for goods or services 2:  what Americans receive each time they use the United States Postal Service.

TRANSFORMING OURSELVES. The Postal Service’s comprehensive Transformation Plan explains how we’re changing to continue to fulfill our historic mission of providing affordable, universal mail service for everyone in America. It’s about improving operational efficiency, growing by adding value for our customers and enhancing our performance based culture. The communications world has changed dramatically. The Postal Service has to change, too.

DELIVERING RECORD SERVICE. The year started with severe restrictions on our ability to move mail by air as a result of the 9/11 attacks. Then bioterrorism disrupted portions of our system, with two key processing facilities indefinitely closed. Despite these challenges, we ended the year with record First-Class service performance and among the highest levels of customer satisfaction we’ve ever achieved.

HOLDING THE LINE. Transformation began with the new year and a focused plan to reduce cost by $5 billion through 2006. By aggressively balancing work hours and workload, reducing 23,000 career positions through attrition, realigning our headquarters and field management structure and postponing most capital spending, we reduced/avoided costs by $2.8 billion.

MAKING HISTORY. With the leadership of the independent Postal Rate Commission and cooperation of the mailing community, we forged an unprecedented negotiated rate settlement that resulted in new revenue of about $1 billion through the early implementation of new rates.

SETTING STANDARDS. Fortune magazine ranked the Postal Service eighth among the nation’s top 50 employers for minorities. This is the third straight year that Fortune has recognized our diversity efforts.

HELPING OTHERS. The Heroes of 2001 semi-postal stamp raises funds for the families of emergency workers killed or injured in the Sept. 11 attacks. It’s already raised $3.9 million. Over 500 postal employees joined the National Registry of potential marrow donors, with two life saving matches. And our Breast Cancer Research Stamp, since being issued in 1998, has raised $27.9 million toward finding a cure.

PRICING FLEXIBLY. A historic series of “Rate Summits” explored all facets of postal ratemaking with the mailing community. We later filed two innovative rate cases with the Postal Rate Commission our first negotiated service agreement, and experimental workshare discounts for Periodicals mailers. Pursuing pricing flexibility is central to our Transformation Plan.

IMPROVING EFFICIENCY. New automated technology brings the processing efficiency of letter mail to flat-size mail — oversized envelopes, magazines and catalogs. By sorting three times faster than the last generation of flat-sorting equipment, we control costs and help make mail a better value than ever.

EXPLORING NEW TECHNOLOGY. Building on our experience as a leader in innovation, we tested the revolutionary Segway Human Transporter on delivery routes in seven cities across the country, with more tests to follow.

PROTECTING THE NATION. The Postal Inspection Service took a lead role in protecting America’s senior citizens against fraud. At the same time, it’s helping to combat identify theft, one of the fastest-growing and most devastating crimes in the country.

ADDING CUSTOMER VALUE. Our new CONFIRM® service lets customers track their mail as it moves through our system. The information it provides helps them plan and manage inventory and other resources better than ever. And Click-N-Ship®, available at www.usps.com, allows customers to print postage and mailing labels from home or office computers.