Daily printout: Jan. 15

The Postal Service announced significantly improved delivery performance during this past holiday season, a result of large investments in technology and enhanced logistical planning and execution.

Letters and packages were delivered on average within 2.5 days between Nov. 15 and Jan. 9. The average was 2.8 days for the same period last year.

On-time delivery scores were higher virtually across the board, with the best results reported in the organization’s last-mile destination delivery units. The last-mile network is the subject of a USPS bid solicitation process beginning later this month.

“Customers entrusted us with billions of letters, cards and packages, and we delivered — faster than last year and with strong consistency across the network,” said Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino.

The Postal Service also recorded a 23 percent drop in calls to its Customer Care Center and a 44 percent drop in package-related customer service inquiries.

Scores on customer satisfaction surveys improved 6.4 percent compared with the same period last year.

“These results reflect the tenacity of our workforce as well as the network improvements we continue to implement,” Postmaster General David Steiner said. “We will keep improving service throughout the coming year — optimizing our network, strengthening reliability, improving delivery times, and ensuring high value products and services for residential and business customers in every community we serve.”

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The Postal Service will release a stamp honoring “The Greatest” — Muhammad Ali — on Thursday, Jan. 15.

Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, KY, Ali (1942-2016) rose from humble beginnings to become a three-time heavyweight boxing champion known around the globe as a powerhouse in and beyond the ring.

He had 56 wins and five losses during his career, which ended in 1981.

Ali’s influence wasn’t limited to boxing. He used his platform to advocate for peace, faith and justice, emerging as a global symbol of courage and compassion.

The stamp design by Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS, portrays Ali in an iconic boxing stance — capturing his intensity as a fighter.

The bold typography echoes classic boxing posters and the chant embraced around the world: “Ali! Ali! Ali!”   

The picture in the selvage — the area surrounding the stamps — shows a black-and-white 1976 Associated Press photo of Ali smiling in a pinstripe suit, reflecting the humanitarian and cultural icon he became outside of boxing.

“There are many facets to Ali,” Alcalá said. “I felt it was important to represent him on the stamp as a boxer, but also to include a photo showing his non-boxing side.”

The Muhammad Ali stamp will be available in panes of 20 at Post Offices and on usps.com.

A dedication ceremony will be held Jan. 15 at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be observed Monday, Jan. 19.

King helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his landmark “I Have a Dream” speech. He also helped pave the way for the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In 1964, at age 35, he became the youngest person at that point to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

He was assassinated four years later.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation designating the third Monday in January a federal holiday in honor of King’s birthday. The holiday’s official name is Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.

The Postal Service has issued several stamps honoring King and his work, including a 1979 Black Heritage stamp and a 2005 release honoring milestones in the Civil Rights Era.