Tra-di-tion  n [from Latin traditio the act of handing something over] 1:  a pattern of thought, action or behavior handed down from one generation to another 2:  the United States Postal Service's heritage of swift, secure and affordable mail service.

Change — it’s a fact of life. It’s something the Postal Service knows a lot about. For more than 225 years, America’s postal system has adapted to meet the growing communication needs of an expanding nation.

It’s no different today. But the stakes are much higher. The simple fact is that the economic assumptions that created today’s Postal Service are no longer valid. Our 30-year-old regulatory structure doesn’t provide us with the flexibility — particularly in the areas of pricing and product introduction — needed to fulfill our mission in today’s dynamic communications marketplace. To protect the fundamental right of every American to send and receive mail affordably, we need to change. That’s the basis for our comprehensive Transformation Plan.

The Plan approaches this goal in three ways. It addresses today’s challenges by pushing business effectiveness and operational efficiency to the limits permitted by current postal laws. It seeks moderate, near-term legislative reform. It also examines the need for long-term transformative structural change to our legislative and regulatory framework.

Legislative change for the Postal Service will require a comprehensive debate and consensus on complex public policy issues. But until then, the Postal Service has identified — and is taking — innovative actions to protect universal service for every American.

First, we’re increasing the value of the mail. After all, that’s the key to growth. We’ll do that by developing the new products and services our customers need. And we’ll make our existing offerings flexible enough to adapt to the technological advances of a new century. This means we’ll do everything we can to make sure mail serves our customers better than ever.

We’re also expanding access to postal products and services. In addition to 38,000 post offices, customers can buy stamps at about 60,000 other locations including supermarkets, drug stores and ATMs. And through our website, www.usps.com, customers can take advantage of a wide range of features, such as Click-N-Ship, which lets them print out postage and address labels for their packages — and a letter carrier will pick them up.

Second, we’ll continue to push the limits on operational efficiency — while improving service. This will help us reach our five-year goal to reduce/avoid costs of $5 billion, beginning in 2002. And it will support the unique value our customers have come to expect from their Postal Service.

We’re holding the line on future rate changes until 2004 and possibly longer. And, if legislation is enacted that would change the way we fund our retirement obligations for Postal Service employees and retirees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System, it could allow the Postal Service to maintain current postage rates to 2006. That means stability for mailers and stakeholders. And that’s good for customers and the Postal Service.

Finally, we’ll keep working to enhance our performance-based culture. That’s the key to meeting our customers’ expectations. Leadership development, increased accountability and continued workplace improvement will help us to maintain an effective, diverse and highly-motivated workforce. That’s the key to customer satisfaction.