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Meeting |
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Report |
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July 25, 2006 |
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 DAVID
FIELDSUS Postal Service This guy is no Cliff Claven!! By Marilynn Bowler Whether you favor Registered Mail, Express Mail or the more common Certified Mail, there was something for you at today's Charlotte Rotary meeting. David C. Fields, Sr., District Manager/Lead Executive, Mid-Carolinas Performance Cluster, Capital Metro Area (whew!) presented a "first class" program. In return, we gave David our Rotary "stamp" of approval. Shannon Vaughn introduced our speaker whose job involves some pretty intimidating numbers. He oversees customer service operations for 10,000 employees in more than 400 Post Offices, with a service area covering 25,531 miles, spanning sections of both Carolinas. He is actually responsible for managing mail delivery to 4.6 million customers. Having earned the Postal Service's Vice President's Award in 2001, 2002 and 2005, along with numerous previous performance-related awards, David came to us via postal jobs in Bristol, TN, Des Moines, IA, Chicago and Bedford Park, IL, and, most recently, Greensboro, NC. A Queens University graduate, he earned his master's of Business Administration from the McColl School of Business in 2004. In quick succession, David drew comparisons between the Post Office and that of corporations in today's busy world when electronic transmissions present such dilemmas. This past year, for the first time, regular postage business leveled out and did not suffer the same 20% decline as had been recorded in recent years. There are continuing challenges to maintain volume, however. MasterCard's electronic payments, for example, have now surpassed payment-by-check. On-line banking is becoming more-and-more prevalent, particularly with the younger generation who has literally grown up using electronic devises and is super-familiar with them. Those are but two examples of how electronic transmission is cutting into the business of the U.S. Mail and the selling of postage. Direct Mail remains one major source of income for the Post Office. Business-to-business, and business-to-consumer transactions are key to the growth in volume for U.S. mail service, and volume is a necessity since the Post Office is required to provide every citizen with delivery without tax subsidy. The cost of postage and postal products pays for our delivery service. David spoke of realistically planning for the future. The Post Office must adjust their business model and, thankfully, a new Act has been proposed which will allow more pricing flexibility and the ability to provide products faster. (No more of this "two years in the making" rule). To accomplish process improvement in Charlotte, David utilizes "mystery shoppers;" he and his staff are working toward minimizing the "Wait Time" in line in Post Office lobbies; and carriers are told to complete residential deliveries before 5:00 p.m. and business deliveries by 11:00 a.m. They've partnered with Gallop Poll to get customer feedback and they use IBM consultants to monitor, aiming to improve transit times. They're exploring and developing alternate access outlets at places like grocery stores, convenient stores, and other venues similar to those used for ATM's. They'll use computerized high speed bar codes to forward mail faster. He gave us an expected delivery of a first class letter as three days from Charlotte to California and two days from Charlotte to anyplace in eastern U.S. One day is the expected delivery time from Charlotte to any city in the Carolinas. In closing, David advised us that the Post Office's 3,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg employees are very much committed to working even harder through continued community partnerships with local charities, schools and food banks. John Lassiter, chairman of our Public Service committee, introduced and thanked our Public Safety Employees' Scholarship winners. There were 13 new winners and 10 renewal winners who were applauded for their achievements. Don Millen, chairman of our International Service Avenue, introduced three students and their international guests from Finland, Spain and Normandy, France. Our club members are proud of each and every one of these outstanding young people. Head Table: Jim Pendergraph, Luther Fincher, Luther Moore, Shannon Vaughn, Darrel Stephens, Joe Penner Visitors & Guests: Myra Johnston; Visitors & Guests: Ed Turner; Song: David Erdman
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Copyright © 1998-2006. The Rotary Club of Charlotte. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 24, 2008.