Valley’s Post Offices Tie for Fastest Service in U.S.

It was enough to make a postmaster downright cocky.

Rankings released Thursday showed that San Fernando Valley post offices were tied for the fastest in the nation in the delivery of first-class overnight mail.

Celebrating with nearly 100 postal employees, Van Nuys district Postmaster Woody DeWitt issued a challenge to his customers: “Test us, just as Price Waterhouse challenges us every quarter.”

As if to back up the challenge, the celebrants released hundreds of red, white and blue, helium-filled balloons, each bearing a coupon for free stamps.

Handling more than 5 million pieces of mail a day, the Valley’s 50 post offices delivered 96% of the first-class overnight mail sent from within Southern California to area recipients by the next day, DeWitt said.

Two other postal districts, both in Pennsylvania, matched the Valley’s performance for the period of Feb. 27 through May 22.

“We [try to] make sure we deliver every piece every day without fail,” DeWitt said. “We have a number of innovative employees and we have good leadership, not only at the management level but at all levels.”

The ranking, prepared by the accounting firm of Price Waterhouse, marked a 1 percentage point climb from the previous quarter, when the Valley’s post offices were named the most reliable in the state.

Price Waterhouse ranks post offices on their ability to deliver only first-class mail--standard envelopes with 32-cent stamps. The U.S. Postal Service defines overnight mail for this area as items mailed within Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties and parts of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

The average score for post offices in the Los Angeles Basin was 94%.

The Long Beach district post offices tied for second place nationally with a 95% score, and the Industry and Santa Ana branches hit 94%.

Central Los Angeles, Westside and South Bay offices scored 93%, the highest ever for those locations.

“It feels real good to be recognized for our hard work,” said Debbie Kelly, a letter carrier for nine years in Burbank. “I make over 400 deliveries a day, about 16 to 18 feet of letters a day.”