Operational Performance of the United States Postal Service

GAO discussed the operational performance of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) during fiscal year (FY) 1990 and the outlook for FY 1991. GAO noted that: (1) the extent of the tradeoff between reduced service and increased productivity in 1990 was not clear; (2) field officials cited several reasons for the service decline in 1990, including significant pressure on managers to improve productivity; (3) responding to budget cuts, managers tried to process more mail through less labor-intensive automated sorting equipment; (4) some officials reported that several non-budget factors significantly influenced service during 1990, including inclement weather, backlogs, and changes in operating procedures; (5) to meet the Postmaster General's objective of keeping costs below the rate of inflation, productivity levels will need to continue; (6) new USPS and contractor initiatives created to measure and improve performance included the External First-Class Measurement System, the Customer Satisfaction Index Survey, and the Third-Class Mail Analysis System; (7) the results of the 1990 Consumer Service Card Program, which showed a 7-percent increase in customer service concerns, were consistent with other sources showing downward trends in service; (8) even though USPS had several external measurement programs for service improvement, postal managers sought ways to improve service internally; (9) although greater reliance on automation increased productivity, it did not always yield effective mail processing; and (10) about 25 percent of the planned USPS automation was in place.