A Bulletin reader’s June 30 letter about the United States Postal Service included several items that require clarification.

I must take issue with the letter writer’s description of USPS as an “obsolete, inefficient and costly monopoly.” As any of the Bend Post Office’s dedicated employees could tell you, not a single one of those words applies to today’s Postal Service, which has evolved its business structure to capitalize on the bustling e-commerce market to grow the organization’s package volume at historic rates over the past few years.

USPS has successfully cut costs and increased efficiency across the country in order to adjust to the very real decline in first-class mail volume. In addition, USPS is neither costly nor a monopoly. Postage rates in the United States are among the world’s lowest, and the USPS competes with companies including FedEx and UPS in the package delivery and expedited mail categories — and our gains in the package business further demonstrate just how competitive USPS’s pricing is. Of course, nearly every first-class postage stamp issued today is a “Forever” stamp, which means customers can purchase them at today’s rate yet will be able to use them on their cards and letters even if prices change in the future.

Regarding efficiency, the employee data for the Postal Service provided in that letter is dreadfully out of date. As of February, USPS had a total of 486,822 career employees on the rolls. A quick look at our online Postal Facts chart (www.usps.com/postalfacts) shows this number — reduced completely through attrition and without layoffs — is down from 623,128 career employees just five years ago.

The USPS relies solely on the sales of postage and services and receives no tax dollars for its operating budget but is mandated by law to provide universal mail service to every American household. However, Americans’ mailing habits have changed over the past decade — total mail volume is down from nearly 212 billion pieces in 2005 to just over 155 billion pieces in 2014. Obviously, adjustments must be made when any organization or business experiences a change in customer demand of that magnitude, along with the resulting reduced revenues.

The USPS is doing all it can to grow business with initiatives like business and retail partnerships that will benefit employees by helping generate growth and financial stability into the future. We continue to deliver to every address in the country for the same price, and we do it without applying surcharges when delivering to more remote areas.

Regarding the law Congress passed in 2006, the Postal Service continues to work with Congress to seek, among other reforms, an adjustment to the law’s $5 billion-plus annual required payments into a fund for future retiree health benefits — a payment required of no other agency, which indeed accounts for much of each year’s postal budget deficit.

Bottom line, the Postal Service is anything but “obsolete” and will continue to make successful changes to increase efficiency and offer products customers want as Americans’ mailing habits continue to change.

— Nathan E. Leigh, postmaster, USPS, Bend.