May 13, 2008

The Evening News has noted that "Royal Mail slated for slow deliveries."

PostCom extends its congratulations...and thanks...to the National Association of Letter Carriers for its work in behalf of the nation's hungry. Kudos!

Dow Jones has reported that "Postal giant TNT NV's performance was back on track in the second quarter, according to its Chief Executive Peter Bakker."

According to Robert Schrum of the Lexington Institute, "Yesterday the price of a First-Class stamp rose by a penny. With gas now costing nearly four bucks a gallon, a 42-cent stamp might not sound like much. But while stamp prices climb, the Postal Service keeps offering sweetheart deals to bulk mailers and the postal labor unions."

The Yorkshire Post has reported that "sixty three post offices across West Yorkshire are facing the axe in the latest wave of closures to be announced today. The Tories have already pledged to fight the closures – the first to be announced since the local elections – while one Yorkshire MP described them as a "huge blow". Calder Valley is the hardest-hit constituency in today's closures, with seven branches facing the axe. In total, around 18 per cent of the 345 branches in West Yorkshire are facing closure as part of the Post Office's controversial plans to close 2,500 branches to cut losses."

According to Director of Finance, "Poor UK postal services are forcing an increasing number of companies to seek alternatives to the state provider - which principally means TNT or UK Mail. They now handle more than one letter in five delivered in Britain and could easily double that, very possibly taking a majority of the mail. The more successful the private providers become, the weaker Royal Mail will be. But this is not a classic model of splitting market share: these new rivals to the state monopoly are not only competitors of Royal Mail, they are its customers too. The newcomers collect post and sort it but they hand it to the government-owned mail business to deliver to customers’ doors. Gaining market share and shrinking the Royal Mail business further thus puts the private companies’ own business at risk too. Delivery depends considerably on critical mass to give economies of scale, but without the state organisation to deliver the post, UK Mail and TNT, part off the Dutch post office, have no business."

According to MediaDaily News, "Amid all the dire talk of falling revenues at big newspaper publishers, some good news gets lost: Many smaller operations are doing quite nicely--even during an economic downturn. Above all, smaller newspapers are benefiting from their still-unchallenged ability to deliver local audiences for local advertisers."

Precision Marketing has reported that "Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services, has refuted suggestions that it will recommend a reduction in postal deliveries."

ZDNet India has reported that "The Yahoo Internet Location Platform provides programmers "with the vocabulary and grammar to describe the world's geography in an unequivocal, permanent, and language-neutral manner", the site said. "The Internet Location Platform is designed to facilitate spatial interoperability and geographic discovery; users can traverse the spatial hierarchy, identify the geography relevant to their users and their business, and in turn, unambiguously geotag, geotarget, and geolocate data across the Web."

Sky News has reported that "There are no plans to get rid of the Saturday postal delivery, according to the Post Office Minister. Pat McFadden told Sky's Jeff Randall Live that the Government, the Royal Mail and the postal watchdog are all determined to maintain the current delivery service."

Press Release: "Vertis Communications, the premier provider of print advertising and direct marketing solutions to leading retail and consumer services companies, today launched “Vertis Optimal Postage,” a predictable and cost-effective mailing solution that will provide marketers a guaranteed flat-rate postage and processing fee. This new service addresses rising postage rates across standard-class, letter-size mail, including handling and freight surcharges. The vision of Vertis Optimal Postage is to provide industry-leading, guaranteed-rate postal processing with the highest delivery predictability to Vertis customers."

As B2B magazine has noted, "As U.S. postal rates continue to rise each year—including a projected increase of around 4% this May—direct marketers are continually challenged to offset these costs, which can represent up to 65% of total direct mail project budgets. Yet many marketers fail to focus their cost-reduction efforts on postage, trying instead to reduce expenses involving printing, materials and other campaign elements."

The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

DMM Advisory:  Be sure to check the Postal Service's DMM update. The latest issue provides information on rate changes and mail preparation requirements. This is ESSENTIAL reading.

May 12, 2008

The Postinsight web site has a link to a recent paper by Bradley Tisdahl, strategy analyst at Pitney Bowes, on household generated mail in the U.S. Key findings include: - U.S. household generated mail, or mail which is primarily consumer originating, has been in a steady decline over the past six years. - Changes in consumer behavior based, in part, around electronic substitution, have led to a reduction in the amount of mail individuals send, but despite these changes it still accounts for around 10 percent of the total mail mix in the U.S. - Electronic substitution appears to have a greater impact on transaction based mail, most notably bill payments. - Correspondence mail volume, like greeting cards, is stable overall. However, on a per capita basis, it is also in decline. Looking forward we recognize three key levers that impact household generated mail: regulatory changes, continued technological innovation and expansion, and consumer behavioral shifts. We predict that there will be continued declines in overall household generated mail, however, changes are not likely to take place suddenly."

The Financial Times has reported that "Pat McFadden, post office minister, will today risk further political damage to the government by making clear he will press ahead with controversial closures. Mr McFadden will tell the annual conference of the National Federation of Subpostmasters that the post office network has no choice but to continue to reorganise itself and modernise if it is face the challenges of "lifestyle, technology, and competition". He will argue that the key objective of the programme - "which can get lost in the heat of the debate about individual post office closures" - is to increase the sustainability of the remaining network of 11,500 outlets."

From Business Wire:

• Pitney Bowes Inc. Executive Chairman Michael J. Critelli today informed the company’s board of directors of his decision to retire as executive chairman and as a director of the company at the end of 2008. Critelli has worked for Pitney Bowes since 1979, when he joined the company as a staff attorney in the legal department. His rise through the company included successful leadership positions as general counsel, chief personnel officer, president of Pitney Bowes Financial Services, and vice chairman. He was named chief executive officer in 1996, and chairman in 1997. He stepped down from the CEO role in 2007 when he was named executive chairman. Critelli has left an indelible mark on the history of Pitney Bowes, according to Martin. Among Critelli’s many achievements, Martin cited the strategic repositioning of the company to focus on growth opportunities in its core mailstream business. To achieve this, Critelli led the divestiture of the fax and copier business, and the financial services businesses unrelated to the mailstream. As CEO, Critelli also embarked upon an aggressive acquisition and organic investment program that has led Pitney Bowes into faster-growing new businesses in adjacent markets, including software, marketing services, mail services, and expanding international opportunities.
• Newgistics Inc., the only provider of a postal-based, intelligent logistics solution for forward and returns shipping, today announced that Vice President of Business Strategy David Plemons has been elected as president of the Parcel Shippers Association (PSA).

From the U.S. Postal Service: "For the past several weeks, we’ve been beating the drums about the new era for the Postal Service that begins May 12. The new era has begun. Today, USPS combines its established reputation as a trusted, reliable service provider with an unmatched delivery and retail network, with the ability to offer competitive pricing."

According to Transport Intelligence, "Royal Mail said its [recent dour] results were dominated by the profit fall in the letters business where overall market volumes had declined by 3.2% year on year "in line with other major European postal markets". However, Crozier said the last year had seen "strong" revenue growth from Parcelforce Worldwide and GLS, the group's UK and European parcels businesses, "both of which operate in tight, highly competitive markets." [EdNote: It looks as if the U.S. Postal Service will be looking to the packages market for its near-term revenue gains.]

As MediaPost has noted, "Newspapers and the substantive journalism that has long been their hallmark are fighting for survival–and they might just be able to help each other. Newspapers can reinforce their own value online by reinventing and delivering more of the contextual analysis and in-depth reporting that’s all too scarce in the slapdash interactive marketplace. It is a race against newspapers’ plummeting subscription and advertising dollars, and consumers’ diminished expectations for pithy information. There are no quick fixes."

UPS Freight today announced it has reduced transit times on nearly 1,000 traffic lanes originating in metropolitan areas in the Southwest and Southeast to points across the United States. Transit times have been reduced by one or two days from points in 11 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. The customer improvements are being made without adjusting rates. [EdNote: Imagine that. Improved service at no increase in rates. What a concept!]

The Guardian has noted that "Addressing 600 sub-postmasters, minister Pat McFadden will defend his government's policy of opening up postal services to more competition. And he will be told that 3,000 more post offices could close if the government allows benefit payments to be handled entirely by competitors. This debate shows up everything wrong in our debate over postal services. They are on the way to becoming a heritage industry, romanticised over by the able-bodied and the urban but used only by the isolated and financially excluded. Ever since the turn of the decade, as benefit payments, TV and driving licences were all shifted away from the post office, more and more branches have shut, while ministers and civil servants have come round to the unspoken view that the only sensible thing to do with vast tracts of the postal network is to manage its decline."

The Financial Times has reported that "Just because the “final mile” is a natural monopoly does not mean that the ex-monopoly should automatically still run it. An alternative approach would be for the government to set service standards and then put the contracts up for auction. The service would still be financially supported through the fees charged to other mail users. But the threat of not winning the contract – or of losing it if performance was poor – would encourage efficiency."

The Times has reported that "Business customers are deserting Royal Mail and most firms do not find the postal group an efficient organisation to work with, a study by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) for The Times has revealed. The BCC sought the views of nearly 1,000 businesses throughout the country about their use of Royal Mail and their experience of the organisation. Sixty-eight per cent said that they did not find the postal group to be a “professional, efficient organisation to do business with”; 55 per cent said that Royal Mail was less reliable than it was five years ago and only 8 per cent thought that it had improved. In a striking example of how much electronic communication has hit the use of postal services, nearly 86 per cent of businesses said that they used the internet and e-mail for transactions that they would have put through Royal Mail five years ago."

May 11, 2008

According to the Augusta Chronicle, "As postal rates continue to inch upward, it places the question into business owners' minds: What really needs to go out with the mail?"

The Harrisburg Patriot New has reported that "Local businesses might not like paying more for their mail, but some say they appreciate a new law that annualizes postal rate hikes and limits them to inflation. However, one major mailer -- Bookspan, the Upper Allen Twp.-based book club -- is expressing concern over rising postage rates."

As the San Diego Union-Tribune has noted, "But rather than curse the Internet, the Postal Service is embracing it. Its Web site, usps.com, requires little more than a few mouse clicks to purchase stamps, design greeting cards, order shipping boxes and print shipping labels from a home computer. More important, the Postal Service has formed strategic alliances over the last several years with major companies and online retailers such as eBay and Coldwater Creek to protect its lucrative package-shipping business from competitors like FedEx, UPS and DHL Express. But rather than curse the Internet, the Postal Service is embracing it. Its Web site, usps.com, requires little more than a few mouse clicks to purchase stamps, design greeting cards, order shipping boxes and print shipping labels from a home computer. More important, the Postal Service has formed strategic alliances over the last several years with major companies and online retailers such as eBay and Coldwater Creek to protect its lucrative package-shipping business from competitors like FedEx, UPS and DHL Express."

The Washington Post has reported that "The funds that pay pension and health benefits to police officers, teachers and millions of other public employees across the country are facing a shortfall that could soon run into trillions of dollars. But the accounting techniques used by state and local governments to balance their pension books disguise the extent of the crisis facing these retirees and the taxpayers who may ultimately be called on to pay the freight, according to a growing number of leading financial analysts." [EdNote: Thank God all of this was addressed in PAEA.]

Globes Online has reported that "The government is to indemnify the Postal Bank against future prosecutions arising out of the provision of banking services to banks in the Palestinian Authority (PA). Officials are currently thrashing out the extent of the indemnification and the manner in which it will be provided with Ministry of Finance Accountant General Shuki Oren. Israel Post Company Ltd. director general Avi Hochman has made it clear that without the guarantee of full indemnification by the state, Israel Post would not provide banking services to Palestinian banks. The Postal Bank has requested indemnification in the event it is prosecuted for offenses under the Prohibition on Money Laundering Law (5670-2000), or the Prohibition on Terrorist Financing Law (5765-2004)."

May 10, 2008

Internet Retailer has noted that "Looking to cooperate more with its competitors, the U.S. Postal Service is hoping to expand its package returns service through major carriers UPS, FedEx Corp. and DHL, says Jim Cochrane, acting vice president of ground packages at the U.S.P.S. But while none of the three big carriers have yet to publicly express an interest in the service, the Postal Services’ sole returns partner for now, Newgistics Inc., plans a major expansion of the service this year, Newgistics CFO Mike Twomey says."

According to the New York Times, "Cellphones have become consumers’ most personal technological devices. Some industry executives, along with consumer groups and security experts, are concerned that unwanted text messages on phones will be an even greater headache than unwanted computer messages. Cellphone spam is particularly annoying to its recipients because it is more invasive — announcing itself with a beep — and can be costly. American consumers are expected to receive an estimated 1.5 billion unsolicited text messages in 2008, according to Ferris Research, based in San Francisco, which tracks mobile messaging trends. That is nearly double what they received in 2006."

WCCO has noted that while stopping mail delivery on Saturday may seem a logical alternative for a Postal Service under stress, the decision to do so is more complex than initially perceived.

According to Hellmail, "a rapid downturn in profits on letters at Royal Mail, already putting pressure on the 'one-price deliver anywhere' universal service, is prompting rumours in terms of possible solutions. One idea making the rounds is the abolition of Saturday deliveries although Royal Mail is vehemently against such a proposal and it would impact on other postal providers feeding into Royal Mail's network. It seems an unlikely scenario and would mark a real step backwards for postal services, particularly since Sunday collections have already gone.

The Washington Post has reported that "in a recent survey by the Gallup Organization, both the U.S. Postal Service's Northern Virginia District and the Capital District (which includes Montgomery County, Prince George's County and parts of Southern Maryland) emerged with five-star customer service ratings. Among 80 postal districts nationwide, Northern Virginia is one of only four to notch the distinction for 10 consecutive quarters, starting in 2006, when the Postal Service began tracking customer satisfaction through the Five Star Customer Service Program."

The American Chronicle is wondering "so what is the best way to get your mail? It´s common knowledge that most city dwellers use a mailbox stuck to the side of their home or apartment, while rural folks use a roadside/curbside mailbox."

The Sun has reported that "Royal Mail will pay £800 bonuses to its 160,000 posties in the next month, it emerged yesterday. The payouts come despite the postal service making a full year pre-tax LOSS of £77million — compared with a profit last year of £313million. It is Royal Mail’s first pre-tax loss since 2003-04 and comes after the first national postal strike in 11 years."

Teletext has reported that "A postal consumer group has denied claims it will advise Royal Mail to end deliveries on Saturdays. A spokesman for the Postcomm group said: "There is no truth in this suggestion. The status quo is totally enshrined in law."

The Telegraph has reported that "Postal deliveries on Saturday may be discontinued under plans by the industry regulator to save money for the Royal Mail."

MTAC minutes for the April 30 - May 1 General Session Meeting are now posted on the MTAC website (http://ribbs.usps.gov/mtac.htm).

The latest copy of the National Association of Postal Supervisors electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on this web site. NAPS President Ted Keating, in his Congressional testimony at a House postal oversight hearing, called for aggressive efforts to provide the Postal Service with additional revenues to offset its sagging financial health."

May 9, 2008

 
   The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

• The USPS said total mail volume in the second quarter of FY 2008 was down 3.3 percent; it was down 3.1 percent for the first half of the fiscal year. Postal Service CFO Glen Walker said volumes are down from last year in every class of mail, and reported the USPS saw a net loss of $707 million in the second quarter.
• USPS Board of Governors Chairman Alan Kessler said this week the governors had formed a new committee that will be responsible for interfacing with the Postal Service’s stakeholders.
• Postal Service VP and Consumer Advocate Delores Killette this week told the Board of Governors the USPS achieved its best second quarter ever of on-time service for overnight First-Class mail measured by the External First Class measurement system.
• The Postal Service this week released the official rules for the 2008-2009 CASS™/MASS™ Cycle M, saying all requirements presented at February’s Partnership in Tomorrow meeting will be implemented in CASS Cycle M.
• Postmaster General Jack Potter, PRC Chairman Dan Blair and USPS Inspector General David Williams were among the witnesses who testified before the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, the Postal Service and the District of Columbia’s oversight hearing Thursday. The lengthy hearing on the future of the post-PAEA Postal Service included two other panels that featured the leaders of the four postal unions and heads of the three management associations.
• The Postal Service published its final rule on address placement and construction requirements for flats this week in the Federal Register. The new requirements take effect March 29, 2009, and apply to automation, presort and carrier route flats. For most flats, the new rules demand the address must be placed in the top half of the mailpiece, and automation rate flats will need to meet additional address construction requirements related to font size, character spacing and line spacing. The USPS has removed the barcoding requirements from this final rule, placing those proposals into its Intelligent Mail Barcode proposed rule, for which comments are due May 30, 2008.
• Catalogers and other mailers commenting on the USPS’ Advance Notice on Letter-Size Booklets and Folded Self-Mailers cautioned the Postal Service to go slow. The mailers urged the Postal Service to seriously consider the potential impacts on revenue and volume that could occur as a result of restrictive mailpiece design changes for pieces mailed as non-enveloped letters such as booklets, folded self-mailers, slim jims, etc.
• Some mailers not getting the word on IMB. Winn honored by IDEAlliance. USPS sends McCrery, Plunkett to Sloan. DHL, Teamsters cut five-year labor deal.
• Post Danmark posts improved numbers. Mail competition not seen a benefit by U.K. review panel. British review panel’s summary: ‘The Post Matters.’ Postcomm shares views of review panel. Britain’s Royal Mail wants bulk compensation plan kept on hold.
• Motorola joins PostCom as new member.
• A list of upcoming postal-related events.

The PostCom Bulletin is distributed via NetGram

From Business Wire: "FedEx Corp. has announced that earnings for the fourth quarter ending May 31, 2008 are expected to be in the range of $1.45 to $1.50 per diluted share, compared to the previous forecast of $1.60 to $1.80."

NewsOK has noted that "Economist Charles Guy said he thinks officials will continue to raise stamp prices each year. The former director of the Postal Service's office of economics and strategic planning said even the price increases aren't enough to remedy "significant fiscal challenges.”

PrintWeek has noted that "Royal Mail boss Adam Crozier has called for a new debate on funding of the operator’s Universal Service obligation after it posted its first ever loss. The state-owned mail operator recorded a £200m loss within the price-controlled business, which includes the Universal Service, by which it has to ensure delivery of letters to any UK address for the price of a single stamp."
 

PostCom welcomes its newest member: Crosstown Traders, Inc. 3740 E. 34th Street Tucson, AZ 85713-5305 Represented by Leslie Lenhart V.P. Corporate Marketing.

The Financial Times has reported that "Royal Mail's letters business has plunged into a loss, as the number of items posted plummeted last year and private sector competitors continued to win contracts to collect and sort post for large mail users."

Steve Lawson, editor for Hellmail, the postal industry news site, hit out today at what he called: "Too many cooks in a very small pot - all with completely different ideas". Lawson said the funding of the Universal Service had been left on the backburner by the UK government and postal regulator Postcomm, and was now not just a hurdle to competition for the final mile, but crucial to the long term stability of the UK postal network

Robert Schrum of the Lexington Institute told his readers in the Asbury Park Press that "On Monday, the price of a first-class stamp will rise by a penny. With gas now costing nearly four bucks a gallon, a 42-cent stamp may not sound like much. But while stamp prices climb, the Postal Service keeps offering sweetheart deals to bulk mailers and the postal labor unions. Ordinary consumers ought to ask why the Postal Service is delivering for everyone but them."

The powerpoint presentation on USPS finances by Postal Service chief financial officer Glen Walker has been posted on this site.

May 8, 2008

The Chicago Tribune has reported that "A federal jury has awarded a black woman more than $380,000 in her racial discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service. Sheryl Rogers, a former night shift mail sorter at the Des Moines Post Office, testified during the trial that the harassment included chants of racial epithets by her co-workers. The jury awarded Rogers $382,500 on Tuesday after hearing five days of testimony."

  From Post Denmark: "Even though today the option is available for the Danes to receive some of their mail by e-mail, e-Boks (an electronic mailbox), online banking and SMS or to visit websites for information, there is still a large preference for receiving a physical letter. A survey (Qualitative strengths of the letter in a digitised everyday life) which Tranberg Marketing has conducted for Post Danmark demonstrates that this is the case. The Danes were asked how they prefer to receive information from business enterprises, public authorities, trade unions, humanitarian organisations and sports clubs. Replies showed that, regardless of type of information, the letter is preferred for receiving information from business enterprises and public authorities. For receiving information from business enterprises, 62 per cent prefer a letter, 17 per cent an e-mail, while 11 per cent prefer to receive the information in their e-Boks. For receiving information from public authorities, 58 per cent prefer a letter, 23 per cent an e-mail, while 12 per cent prefer to receive the information in their e-Boks."

Advertising Age has reported that "It seems marketers and TV executives are having a half-full, half-empty kind of argument over TV's prowess. The results of a survey on consumer media habits commissioned by the Television Bureau of Advertising, out this week after the study was conducted by Nielsen Media Research, show that adults spend a little over half of their media hours with TV. Meanwhile, a recent survey of marketers and advertisers by the Association of National Advertisers found many were losing confidence in TV as a medium. Focusing on the 25- to 54-year-old demographic, the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) survey found that 53% of their total daily media hours are spent with TV, more than all other mediums combined, and that more of them are reached by TV than other mediums. The survey also showed that TV advertising overwhelmingly remains the most influential with 81.4% of the 25-54 adult segment, compared with advertising on internet (6.5%), newspapers (5.8%), radio (3.9%) and magazines (2.3%)."

Each year, a diverse group of talented mid-career executives participate in the rigorous one-year Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. PMG Jack Potter recently announced that Operational Requirements and Integration Manager Marc McCrery and Pricing Strategy Manager Michael Plunkett will represent the Postal Service this year when the program starts in June. When the two finish the 12-month curriculum, they will receive a Masters in Business Administration.

The House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia has held a postal oversight hearing concerning “The U.S. Postal Service, Post-PAEA: What’s Next?" 

PostCom welcomes its newest member: Motorola, Inc. 2010 Corporate Ridge, Suite 500 McLean, VA 22102-7855 represented by India Berkholtz Enterprise Account Manager India.Berkholtz@Motorola.com Voice: 703-288-2784 www.Motorola.com

The following are just some of the links you can find on the PostInsight web site, these pertain to financial performance reports.

• Royal Mail - Preliminary Statement for Year Ended March 20, 2008
• Post Danmark 1Q 2008 Report
• An Post Annual Report (2007)
• Canada Post Annual Report (2007)
• Posten 1Q 2008 Results

Postcomm, the U.K.'s independent regulator for postal services, today welcomed the emerging views of the independent review panel on the UK postal services market. See also "The challenges and opportunities facing UK postal services" a paper that aims to establish a body of evidence which has widespread support as a basis for evaluating the full range of choices open to policy makers over the short and long-term."

Mail On Sunday has reported that "Royal Mail warned today that it cannot keep delivering letters to every home in Britain for the same price without radical changes. In a red alert, it said the "universal service" is losing money for the first time since records began. Without urgent help, chief executive Adam Crozier said the "one-price-goes-anywhere" service will struggle to survive."

According to Business Green, "The global postal industry has this week unveiled ambitious plans to measure its carbon footprint, and instigate a range of initiatives to slash its environmental impact. According to conservative estimates, postal services worldwide employ over five million staff and use over 600,000 cars, vans and trucks, and hundreds of aircraft to deliver mail. However, while it is known that the sector has a significant environmental impact through both travel-related carbon emissions and the millions of tonnes of paper it transports each day, there are no official figures on its carbon footprint."

The Star-Ledger has reported that "postal workers across New Jersey will participate in the national "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive. Residents are asked to leave non-perishable donations in a bag near their mailbox on Saturday morning before their letter carrier arrives. It will be taken to the local post office and delivered to a local food pantry. People may also bring food items to their local post office on Saturday. Donors are asked not to include glass items or expired food. Sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers and the Campbell's Soup Company, the drive is the largest single-day food drive in the nation. More than 10,000 communities participate in the effort nationally, typically collecting more than 70 million tons of food."

According to the BBC, "A slump in the number of stamped letters being sent in the UK has seen Royal Mail profits fall by 30.4% in the year to the end of March. The firm made £162m in what it said was a time of "difficult challenges" after the opening up of the postal service." See also the Press Association, the Financial Times, and The Times.

ThisIsLancashire has reported that "Leyland based training organisation PeoplePost, has joined a select list of just 20 UK companies that hold licences issued by the UK postal regulator, Postcomm at a time of profound change in the £7bn postal industry. PeoplePost will join existing licence holders Royal Mail, TNT, DHL and UK Mail in the recently liberalised marketplace. Postal licences are valid for a period of ten years."

May 7, 2008

PostCom member Quebecor has reported that "Many independent truckers have initiated a strike in Northern California, lining their trucks bumper to bumper outside of Union Pacific's rail terminal, aggressively protesting all transactions at the terminal and slowing all progress to a crawl in response to the lack of support for elevated diesel prices. Union Pacific has placed an embargo on all Intermodal loads heading to Oakland and Lathrop, CA Intermodal facilities in order to protect these shipments from potential delays. The embargos are currently affecting Union Pacific's Pacer Stacktrain and 40' containers moving through steamship lines."

Lenser Corporation CEO John Lenser told his catalog marketing customers "what catalog mailers should do when contacted by Catalog Choice about taking downloads of files of individuals who have registered with Catalog Choice and have requested that the mailer's catalog not be mailed to them. If a mailer has refused to accept these files, Catalog Choice has posted the refusal on their website resulting, in some instances, in consumers calling customer service and complaining. While the DMA has taken the position that Catalog Choice is unneeded given their own "Do Not Mail" preference services, I no longer believe this position is in the industry’s best interest. Catalog Choice now has over 736,000 registered accounts of those who have requested that one or more catalogs not be mailed to them and registrations are growing by thousands each week. Therefore, I am recommending that catalog mailers move forward and accept Catalog Choice's merchant agreement and accept their file downloads. The negative repercussions for not doing so, at this point, outweigh any advantages of not joining. It is naive to pretend they do not exist."

At today's Postal Service Board of Governors meeting, Board Chairman Alan Kessler announced that the governors had formed a new committee, the Government Relations and Regulatory Committee, which would be responsible for interfacing with the Postal Service's stakeholders. Chairman Kessler said the committee would provide the governors a direct line of communication to stakeholders, including Congress and postal customers, without the need to loop communications through management. New Secretary of the Board Julie Moore will make herself available to stakeholders, Kessler added, and the committee would begin making a series of appointments to invite representative stakeholders in to discuss their concerns and thoughts about the postal system. Governor Thurgood Marshall Jr. will chair the committee, with Governors Barnett, Williams and Bilbray rounding out the committee.

According to Hellmail, "Last year’s postal strike was, in part, an attempt to halt the madness in the industry that Royal Mail employees have seen for a long time. Now that the proposed and actual changes in the industry are reducing standards for all except those large companies who can increase their profits by exploiting the changes forced upon The Post Office and Royal Mail, namely cheaper labour, and costs, less obligation on services offered, and bucket-shop discount prices for access to Royal Mail systems and networks."

From the U.S. Postal Service: Despite cost-cutting measures, the U.S. Postal Service ended the second quarter with a net loss of $707 million, driven by a continued decline in mail volume resulting from the current national economic climate. Year-to-date total mail volume is down by 3.1 percent compared to the same period last year. If the trend continues, this will be only the seventh year total mail volume has decreased in the last 50 years and could be the largest decline since 2002. “Weakness in the housing and credit markets, both of which are heavy users of mail, are leading the declines in mail volume,” Postmaster General John Potter told the Board. “While mail volume may rebound with the economy, it is clear we need to accelerate our efforts to seek new structural and process changes to remain economically viable and to further improve customer service.”

24Dash has reported that "The closure of scores of post offices in London will start next month but seven branches on an original hit list are now to remain open."

DMM Advisory:  "The Federal Register published our [USPS'] final rule [PDF] | [HTML] changing the address standards for commercial flat-size mail, which we posted previously on Postal Explorer. The new standards are effective March 29, 2009, and require mailers to place delivery addresses in the top half of all Periodicals, Standard Mail, and Package Services flats mailed at automation, presorted, or carrier route prices. Additional standards relate to address characteristics and apply to all commercial flat-size pieces."

Environmental Expert has reported that "The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have agreed to work together to slash the CO2 emissions caused by members of the postal sector. UNEP will help the UPU calculate the volumes of greenhouse gases generated by the postal sector, using a clearly-defined methodology. The UPU's International Bureau is shortly to launch a survey of the organization's 191 member countries, to collect data on the sector as a whole, including buildings and vehicles, the mileage these vehicles cover, and the volumes of fuel consumed. Once this information has been gathered, UNEP will help the UPU develop a method to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the postal sector." See also BusinessGreen.com.

The litany of regret continues within the British press over the success or the lack of it stemming from postal reform.

• Consumers fail to benefit from postal reforms, Financial Report
• Postal privatisation a threat with no benefit to customers, says report, The Guardian
• Postal service competition has produced ‘no benefits’, The Scottish Herald
• Postal service 'not delivering', Sunday Sun
• 'No significant benefit' from liberalising postal service, View London
• Last Post for Royal Mail?, The Mirror

From PR Newswire: "Beginning next week, customers will be able to take advantage of some of the best bargains in the shipping market when the U.S. Postal Service launches new prices for its expedited mail products: Express Mail and Priority Mail." See also the Washington Post.

PostCom Members!! The latest issue of PostCom's PostOps Update has been posted on this site. Information on Intelligent Mail Barcodes, report by the Great Addressing workgroup, operations changes to support service performance measurements, start-the-clock, critical entry times, and service performance measurement, flats sequence sorting and mail entry, PostalOne! update. Attached to Postal Policy Report 02-08 dated May 6, 2008 is a 2 page power point file on flats volume that may be used in your own presentations if useful. If you encounter problems accessing the document, please contact Caroline Miller, cmiller1@postcom.org.

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