“Mystery shoppers” sounds like a new reality television series, but it is actually one of the tools the U.S. Postal Service uses to gauge customer service. Mystery shoppers are customers unknown to the retail staff and who fill out evaluations on their shopping experience, which helps determine how well retail units are performing.
The federal government ships a considerable number of packages each year, primarily using FedEx and UPS. In fiscal year 2012, federal agencies spent almost $337 million on shipping services through General Services Administration (GSA) contracts. The U.S. Postal Service earned only $4.8 million of that revenue, or less than 2 percent, a recent Office of Inspector General audit report found.
The U.S. Postal Service adds more than 600,000 new delivery points each year, mostly in the form of new residential homes. While most new residences include cluster boxes rather than to-the-door delivery to reduce costs, delivery remains the Postal Service's largest cost center. Canada Post, which has suffered losses recently after years of profits, has introduced a $200 per address charge that it is assessing housing developers for installing community mailboxes.
It’s not easy to find something the entire postal community can agree on. But the U.S. Postal Service’s need to replace its delivery vehicles just might get all heads nodding.
Given package volume growth, the Postal Service needs vehicles with increased cargo-handling capacity to replace...
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It’s that time of year again, when we release our Semiannual Report to Congress (SARC) — a twice yearly look at our work that reflects our mission of ensuring efficiency, accountability, and integrity in the U.S. Postal Service.
Through the first six months of this fiscal year, we issued...
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It’s a lot less expensive to retain a current customer than to acquire a new one. That’s a timeless marketing adage for a reason: it’s true.
In fact, it may never be truer than in today’s economy. Customers have an unprecedented array of choices and easy access to global products and...
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Highway transportation is the surface transportation of mail by means other than bus, rail or water. Service may be between two or more designated points (over the road) or in a local metropolitan area (shuttle service). Highway transportation contracts may include requirements for in-route...
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The Postal Service’s mail processing resources, information technology network, and transportation infrastructure delivers mail to every residential and business address in the country. The mail processing resources include facilities, equipment, and systems used to process, transfer, and store...
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The Postal Service has over 300 processing plants where more than 150 billion pieces of mail are sorted each year. The OIG has recently conducted a series of audits on facility conditions at retail facilities and is now looking at processing facilities nationwide. The safety, security and...
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