Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the mail service in the State of Montana to determine if it has been meeting Postal Service delivery standards. GAO reviewed the Service's delivery performance statistics for fiscal year 1980 and found that the State's overnight delivery exceeded the Service's 95-percent on-time delivery goal. Mail committed to the 2 and 3 day areas did not meet the 95-percent goal, but mail committed to be delivered in 2 days exceeded national averages.
GAO noted that delivery statistics only provided a weighted average of the Service's performance in Montana. Delivery performances to some locations were worse than others, and delivery of mail originating outside Montana was generally below that of the overall delivery performance. In addition GAO found that, when compared to statistics of past years, delivery performances seem to have deteriorated. In commenting on the GAO draft report, the Postmaster General stated that delivery performances had been affected by reduced air service in Montana. He also noted that the expansion of delivery commitments made the Service's goals more difficult to achieve. The Postmaster General stated that corrective action is being taken on this matter.
