PrintFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media Relations 202-268-2155
February 16, 2006
News Release No. 06-012
www.usps.com
POSTAL SERVICE COMMITTED TO IMPROVING SERVICE IN NEW ORLEANS;
Customers encouraged to call 1-800-ASK-USPS to report problems
NEW ORLEANS - At a meeting of the New Orleans City Council today, the Postal Service pledged its commitment to providing the best service possible for every household and business in the New Orleans area.
Postal Service vice president and consumer advocate Delores Killette told Council members, "I want our customers to know that we are listening to them. We understand their needs and we are working to improve our performance every day."
Killette encouraged customers with service concerns to contact the Postal Service at its toll-free number, 1-800-ASK-USPS. "We will follow up on every call and work to resolve every issue quickly and effectively," she said.
At the same time, the Postal Service is continuing its effort to reduce delays and improve the delivery time of mail entering and leaving the New Orleans area, while extending carrier delivery to even more neighborhoods.
"We will also be communicating often with customers," said Killette. "We will use every means possible, including the mail, to let them know about service improvements, the reopening of local post offices and other information about local mail service."
The Postal Service explained that the loss of its New Orleans processing and distribution center, the primary mail-processing facility for mail to and from Louisiana, and the complexities of forwarding mail for more than a half-million families and businesses, has contributed to service delays. Operations at the New Orleans processing plant are expected to resume in the spring.
Nine of 14 postal retail facilities are now operating throughout the city and letter carriers are serving 118,000 addresses on 205 delivery routes.
Killette saluted the dedication of local postal employees, many of whom had to relocate as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Many continue to commute daily to New Orleans from Baton Rouge and other locations.
"The people of New Orleans have our commitment to restore service to pre-hurricane levels as quickly as we can," Killette told the Council.
Since 1775, the Postal Service and its predecessor, the Post Office Department, has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits more than 144 million homes and businesses every day and is the only service provider delivering to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of $70 billion, it is the world's leading provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume-some 212 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year-and serves seven million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide.