US Postal Service 2004 Annual Report Download - page 7

2004 annual report united states postal service | 5
To฀the฀President,฀members฀of฀Congress,฀
postal฀ employees฀ and฀ the฀ American฀
people:
Innovation,฀performance฀and฀a฀focus฀on฀
service฀contributed฀to฀a฀record฀year฀for฀
the฀United฀States฀Postal฀Service.
We฀continued฀to฀serve฀a฀growing฀deliv-
ery฀ network฀ while฀ achieving฀ record฀
levels฀ of฀ service฀ performance฀ and฀
customer฀ satisfaction.฀ Financially,฀ we฀
had฀our฀second฀straight฀year฀of฀positive฀
earnings฀—฀with฀a฀net฀income฀of฀$3.1฀
billion.฀In฀fiscal฀year฀2004,฀we฀reduced฀
our฀debt฀by฀$5.5฀billion฀to฀its฀lowest฀level฀
in฀20฀years:฀$1.8฀billion.฀Additionally,฀we฀
recovered฀all฀prior฀years’฀losses฀and,฀for฀
the฀first฀time฀since฀postal฀reorganization฀
in฀1971,฀ended฀the฀year฀with฀positive฀
retained฀earnings.
Productivity฀continued฀its฀upward฀move-
ment฀in฀2004฀ as฀ we฀ showed฀ positive฀
total฀factor฀productivity฀gains฀for฀the฀fifth฀
straight฀year.฀Career฀staffing฀reached฀pre-
1985฀levels฀as฀a฀combination฀of฀process฀
standardization฀ and฀ new฀ technology฀
brought฀our฀system฀to฀remarkable฀levels฀
of฀efficiency.฀As฀our฀delivery฀network฀of฀
more฀than฀142฀million฀homes฀and฀busi-
nesses฀continued฀its฀annual฀expansion฀
by฀ some฀ 1.8฀ million฀ new฀ addresses,฀
we฀ pursued฀ opportunities฀ to฀ further฀
enhance฀the฀efficiency฀of฀delivery฀and฀
mail฀processing฀operations.
Our฀ focus฀ also฀ was฀ on฀ bringing฀ new฀
product฀ and฀ service฀ initiatives฀ to฀ our฀
customers.฀We฀added฀new฀value฀to฀the฀
mail฀ —฀making฀ it฀quicker,฀easier฀and฀
more฀convenient฀than฀ever฀for฀custom-
ers฀of฀all฀sizes฀to฀do฀business฀with฀the฀
Postal฀Service.฀With฀new฀and฀enhanced฀
features,฀ our฀ website,฀ usps.com,฀ has฀
truly฀become฀an฀online฀Post฀Office.
The฀Postal฀Service’s฀37,000฀retail฀loca-
tions฀offer฀unrivaled฀customer฀access.฀At฀
a฀time฀when฀competitors฀pursue฀retail฀
expansion฀strategies,฀we฀are฀enhancing฀
our฀customers’฀retail฀experience฀through฀
new฀technologies฀and฀alliances.฀
And฀our฀employees฀played฀key฀roles฀in฀
these฀efforts฀in฀2004.฀For฀the฀first฀time,฀
a฀pay-for-performance฀system฀directly฀
tied฀ the฀ compensation฀ of฀all฀manage-
ment฀employees฀to฀the฀achievement฀of฀
specific฀corporate฀and฀individual฀goals.฀
Our฀ workplace฀ continues฀ to฀ improve,฀
with฀demonstrated฀significant฀increases฀
in฀safety฀and฀employee฀satisfaction.
While฀our฀success฀has฀been฀significant,฀
changing฀market฀dynamics฀still฀require฀a฀
revision฀to฀our฀statutory฀business฀model฀
to฀protect฀the฀long-term฀right฀of฀every฀
American฀to฀affordable,฀universal฀mail฀
service.฀During฀2004฀there฀was฀consid-
erable฀activity฀ in฀this฀area.฀We฀expect฀
the฀ new฀ Congress฀ to฀ continue฀ these฀
efforts.฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀we฀strongly฀
believe฀that฀Congress฀must฀resolve฀the฀
issue฀of฀billions฀of฀dollars฀in฀costs฀that฀
were฀placed฀on฀the฀Postal฀Service฀and฀
its฀customers฀as฀a฀result฀of฀legislation฀
that฀adjusted฀our฀payments฀to฀the฀Civil฀
Service฀Retirement฀System.
Our฀success฀is฀tied฀to฀the฀strategies฀of฀
our฀ Transformation฀ Plan.฀ It฀ has฀ been฀
at฀ the฀ heart฀ of฀ our฀ efforts฀ to฀ provide฀
exceptional฀service฀and฀value฀to฀every฀
American฀ family฀ and฀ business.฀Along฀
with฀the฀support฀and฀commitment฀of฀our฀
employees,฀the฀Transformation฀Plan฀will฀
help฀us฀to฀continue฀delivering฀results.฀
Sincerely,
John฀E.฀Potter
Postmaster฀General฀and฀฀
Chief฀Executive฀Officer
S.฀David฀Fineman
Chairman,฀Board฀of฀Governors
a letter from the postmaster general/ceo
and the chairman of the board of governors
Using Click-N-Ship is convenient for me.
No stamps? No time? No worry! Click-N-Ship makes it easy to print out mailing labels and
get postage and insurance . . . right from my computer. Convenience . . . with the works!
John E. Potter and S. David Fineman