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Clarifying USPS changes

The April 8 letter to the editor regarding U.S. Postal Service changes to service standards needs clarification.

Changing service standards and right-sizing the Postal Service are necessary aspects of a larger comprehensive plan to reduce operating costs by $20 billion by 2017. Total mail volume is down by 26 percent in 10 years. First-class mail bearing postage stamps is down more than 50 percent.

Before the service standard changes were implemented in January, first-class mail was delivered on average in 1.8 days. It will now be delivered in an average of 2.1 days. Just 9 percent of total mail volume is affected by the change. Priority Mail, parcels, medicine/prescriptions and standard mail are not affected.

More than 80 percent of Americans polled last year by independent research firm HSR Associates said adding one delivery day to local and national mail would have “no effect” or would be “a change they could easily adapt to.”

The U.S. Postal Service is committed to providing a high level of service to our valued customers. We can only do this by making smart business decisions.

Ernie Swanson

USPS spokesman

Federal Way

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