US Postal Service 2009 Annual Report Download - page 39

2009 Annual Report United States Postal Service | 37
The Postal Service opposes legislation that would limit
mailing or that would interfere with the availability of an
affordable, universal postal system. The Postal Service will
continue to communicate the value of the mail by build-
ing upon its strong environmental record and its work with
mailers to offer consumers choices on how to manage
their mail. By working aggressively with mailers, marketers
and advertisers, the Postal Service can continue to im-
prove the quality and relevancy of advertising mail.
The Postal Service continues to work closely with the mail-
ing industry to promote and implement best practices for
address management and anticipates that the implemen-
tation of the Intelligent Mail Barcode will be an additional
tool to ensure that mail is deliverable as addressed. In ad-
dition, through its environmental stewardship, the Postal
Service continues to promote programs such as recycling
mail in postal lobbies to make it even easier for customers
to make environmentally friendly choices.
Should a state pass Do Not Mail legislation, it would result
in lost revenue for the Postal Service. A Postal Service fi -
nancial analysis estimated that a national implementation
of Do Not Mail legislation would place approximately $6
billion of revenue at risk annually.
We rely extensively on technology to operate our sys-
tems. A signifi cant failure in a material system could
impair our reputation for reliable service and adverse-
ly affect our results of operations.
We rely extensively on technology to operate systems for
processing and delivering mail. Our intranet is one of the
largest maintained by any organization in the world. Any
signifi cant failure of these systems could cause delays in
the processing and delivering of mail, which could dam-
age our reputation, result in loss of business and increase
costs of operation.
A failure on our part to protect the privacy of infor-
mation we obtain from customers could damage our
reputation and result in a loss of business.
We receive a variety of private information from customers,
such as address change data. We have implemented a
number of safeguards intended to protect the confi dential-
ity of data that we obtain.
We are subject to the risk of biohazards and other
threats placed in the mail.
Although we have implemented extensive emergency
preparedness measures to keep the mail, employees
and customers safe from harm due to biohazards or oth-
er threats that could be introduced into the mailstream,
there continues to be a risk of possible biohazard or other
threats. If new biohazards or other threats were to arise
and measures were not suffi cient to contain or mitigate
the threat, our services could be disrupted. This could ad-
versely affect revenues, require substantial expenditures to
address the threat and adversely affect our operations and
fi nancial condition.
We are also subject to risks and uncertainties that af-
fect many other businesses, including:
■ Market acceptance of new service and growth
initiatives;
■ Adverse weather conditions or natural disasters,
such as hurricanes, which can damage property and
disrupt our operations;
■ International confl icts or terrorist activities and the
effects these events may have on business or results
of operations; and
■ Changes in interest rates and foreign currency
exchange rates.