Introduction This report on the Post Office Department of the United States of America is the result of work started on January 5, 1948, for the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government. The Commission was to be provided with a comprehensive report of findings and recommendations for a constructive program for the improvement of the top management organization structure and procedures, and of the general administration of the Post Office Department. Method of Gathering Information Data pertaining to the operation of the postal establishment were obtained from five principal sources: 1. Officials of the Post Office Department at Washington. 2. Personnel of the postal service in the field. 3. Other departments and agencies of the Government. 4. Organizations and persons outside the Government having an interest in postal matters. 5. Public documents, and internal reports and statistics of the Post Office Department. It was found necessary at Washington to work with about 50 officials of the Post Office Department in order to become adequately acquainted with top management activities. These officials comprised the majority in the first three levels of authority in the Department. From them was secured a knowledge of administrative policies and procedures and considerable information on field operations. Work with members of the postal service was conducted in 15 areas selected to provide a cross section of field operations. The areas were Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chattanooga, New Orleans, Canton, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, Fort Worth-Dallas, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. At each of these cities key personnel in all parts of the field service were interviewed, and visits were made to nearby smaller post offices. Internal operations were also studied in some detail at the Chicago, Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Washington post offices, and at the mail-equipment shops in Washington. In all, more than 60 first, second-, third-, and fourth-class post offices were visited, as well as a number of stations and branches of larger offices. Officials in several departments and agencies of the Government performing services for the Post Office Department or having information of significance to this assignment were seen. These included the General Accounting Office, Bureau of the Budget, Department of the Treasury, Department of Commerce, National Security Resources Board, Civil Service Commission, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. In addition, special data were secured from other task forces of the Commission working with other Government departments and agencies. Organizations and persons outside the Government, such as railroads, air lines, truck operators, printers and publishers, mail-order houses, advertising agencies, equipment manufacturers, representatives of postal workers' organizations, and former postal officials, contributed much useful information and many constructive suggestions. Furthermore, officials of the Post Office Department, Dominion of Canada, gave generously of their time in explaining present and proposed organization and operating methods of the Canadian postal system. Public documents and internal reports and statistics of the Department which were reviewed and studied are too numerous to list. It is noteworthy, however, that a wealth of written material on postal operations is available and that most of the recommendations contained later in this report have also been proposed in whole or in part by others in previous reports. Cooperation of Postal Personnel The cooperation of officials at the Post Office Department and the assistance provided by members of the postal service deserve early mention. During the entire course of the assignment the Postmaster General took a lively interest in developments and was always accessible for consultation. At the outset of the work, instructions were issued to postal personnel to supply any data requested and to speak freely on any subject. A post office inspector was assigned to Robert Heller & Associates to be available whenever special help was needed. Not only were requests for information complied with promptly and courteously, but many persons took the initiative by pointing out problems for consideration and volunteering new ideas. I. THE POSTAL ESTABLISHMENT The Postal Establishment of the United States is one of the largest business operations in the world. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 1947, it transported and delivered approximately 37.4 billion pieces of mail, including over 1.6 billion pieces of various types of free mail authorized by the Congress, and handled some 800 million specialservice transactions. For all services it collected revenues of approximately 1.3 billion dollars. Expenditures connected therewith totaled slightly less than 1.6 billion dollars, leaving a net deficit of approximately 263 million dollars, as shown in table 1 in the appendix. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1948, preliminary figures indicate that revenues, expenditures, and deficit were somewhat greater. A postal service was in operation on this continent many years before the formation of the United States of America. In 1790, the first full year of operation of postal service under the Constitution, postal revenue amounted to about 38,000 dollars. By 1836, when the Congress reorganized the Post Office and declared it to be an independent establishment of the Federal Government, revenue had grown to more than 3.4 million dollars. By 1900, revenue for the year exceeded 100 million dollars, and in 1944 it passed 1 billion dollars. Postal Services Offered The Postal Establishment offers a great variety of services to the public which can be broadly classified as follows: General Postal Services First class: Written matter. Air mail, domestic: Written matter, printed matter, and parcel post. Second class: Periodical publications. Third class: Miscellaneous printed matter and other mailable matter (not exceeding 8 ounces in weight). Fourth class (parcel post): Merchandise and other mailable matter (weighing more than 8 ounces). Foreign: Written matter, prints, and parcel post. Air mail, foreign: Written matter, prints, and parcel post. Penalty, franked, and free for blind: Free mail for Government offices, public officials, and the blind. Special Services Registry: Registered mail. Insurance: Insured mail. C. o. d.: Collect-on-delivery matter. Special handling: First class service for fourth class matter. Money orders and postal notes. Postal savings. Field Service The postal service, the field organization of the Postal Establishment, comprises about 42,000 independent post offices, classified as first-, second-, third-, and fourth-class offices, depending on the volume of postal receipts. Total employees at June 30, 1947, numbered about 470,000. Fourth-class offices are the smallest, having annual postal receipts up to $1,500. These offices, numbering 19,406 on June 30, 1947, are located in the smallest rural communities, and are usually operated in conjunction with some other business of the postmaster, such as a general store. Patrons of fourth-class offices generally call for their mail at the post office, although in many instances a rural route is operated. Third-class offices are those having annual receipts ranging from $1,500 to $8,000, and totaled 14,208 in 1947. Such offices usually have 1 or 2 clerks in addition to a full-time postmaster, and in most instances at least 1 rural route is operated out of the office. In a few cases village-delivery service, similar to regular city-delivery service at larger offices, is provided. Second-class offices, which numbered 5,848 in 1947, are those having annual receipts of $8,000 to $40,000. These offices have several clerks in addition to the postmaster, and usually have city-delivery service and several rural routes. First-class offices are those with receipts in excess of $40,000 annually. In 1947, there were 2,297 first-class offices, of which 129 had postal receipts in excess of 1 million dollars for the. calendar year. These 129 offices accounted for over 63 percent of the total revenue of the Postal Establishment. The largest office is the New York, N. Y., Post Office, with postal receipts for the fiscal year 1947 of 132 million dollars. Many offices have one or more stations (within the city or town limits) and branches (within 5 miles of the city or town line). Chart I in the appendix is a chart of organization for a typical large, first-class office. Transportation of the mails between post offices is provided principally by the railroads of the country and by contract carriers over routes known as star routes where railroad service is nonexistent or inadequate. A considerable volume of air mail is transported by air lines certificated by the Civil Aeronautics Board. Mail transported by rail is carried either in railway post office cars (manned by railway postal clerks who pick up, sort, and throw off mail en route) or in storage cars which carry "closed" mail in pouches and sacks. Star routes and air lines also carry "closed" mail. A new transportation service using large busses, equipped and manned like railway post office cars and known as highway post offices, has been introduced to provide service similar to that of railway post office cars along routes not adequately served by rail transportation. Mail is transported locally, within the area served by each post office, by Government-owned motor vehicles of which there were some 10,400 on June 30, 1947. This service is augmented by contract truckers wherever necessary. Central repair shops for Governmentowned motor vehicles are maintained at various points in the field. An Inspection Service, consisting of approximately 800 post office inspectors who are the special representatives of the Postmaster Gen-. eral, operates over the entire country. Inspectors are charged with the investigation of post offices and all matters connected with the postal service, and with keeping Washington officials advised as to the condition and needs of the service. They also investigate violations of law affecting the postal service, and aid in the prosecution of criminals. Postal Management General management of the Postal Establishment is the responsibility of the Post Office Department at Washington. Charts of organization for the Department and for the field organizations of the Railway Mail Service, the Air Postal Transport, and the Inspection Service, as they existed in July 1948, are shown in charts II, III, IV, and V in the appendix. Post Office Department at Washington The Department embraces a group of about 1,800 employees who carry out the mandates of the Congress contained in the statutes governing postal service. Direction of field operations comes mainly under the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Assistant Postmasters General and the comptroller. Other bureaus and offices of the Department, for the most part, perform service functions only. The Postmaster General's staff, shown in chart II in the appendix, assists him in the coordination of management affairs. |