Di-verse  adj [from Latin divertereto turn in opposite directions] 1:  composed or distinct or various elements 2:  because they're part of every community we serve, the men and women of the United States Postal Service reflect the communities we serve.

All major capital projects, generally defined as projects greater than $10 million, require authorization by the Board of Governors. At the beginning of the year, there were 56 Board-approved projects in progress. During the year, 10 additional projects, totaling $1,261 million, were authorized. The following table shows the project authorization history and the commitment and capital cash outlays for the 50 Board-approved projects active at the end of the year. While the funding for a project may be authorized in one year, the commitment, or contract to purchase or build the project, may occur over several years. In addition, the actual payment, or capital cash outlays, for the project may occur over several years. In the following table, the $1,030 million in capital outlays for board approved projects for 2002 represents outlays for commitments made in previous years as well as some commitments made in 2002.



We prioritize all proposed capital projects, giving the highest priority to investments related to the safety of our employees and customers, legal requirements, emergencies and investments that produce labor efficiencies. We placed a freeze on all other new facilities. Our total capital commitments for 2002 were $1.3 billion with cash outlays of $1.7 billion.