• John Potter, USPS Postmaster General, reiterated his belief that the Postal Service should not be saddled with the military portion of a postal retiree's expenses. He also said the escrow provision had to go, if Congress wanted to avoid sticking mailers with higher than necessary postal rate increases. He said this would not be good for the economy or the nation. Price caps, he said, must take into account all the costs the Postal Service must incur. The USPS needs flexibility to tailor its network to its needs. He noted that the USPS agrees with the principle of financial transparency, but the provisions calling for a base-closing mechanism for post offices and a strong regulatory board will make it harder for the USPS to be managed flexibly. Regarding collective bargaining, he said some new mechanism should be put in place as a prelude to arbitration in the event agreements are impossible. When it comes to negotiations with labor, everything should be put on the table, including benefits. An appropriately constructed price cap should allow the Postal Service to recover costs over which it has little or no control. He acknowledged that price caps will require aggressive management to keep costs under control.
  
  In commenting on Fedex CEO Fred Smith's testimony, Potter said that the claim that the postal monopoly is rendering the Postal Service unfit to compete and prosper in the delivery services sector of the future. "His proposition," he said, "rests on the notion that by creating a "protected market," the Private Express Statutes make it virtually impossible for the Postal Service to be efficient. That is simply not the case, as our record of service performance and cost reductions clearly indicates. The worksharing partnerships we have formed with mailers over the past 25 years also attest to the efficiencies gained by mailers who perform the work of preparing their mail for automated processing and delivery by the Postal Service." As for UPS CEO Michael Escrew's testimony, he said that the Postal Service's mail monopoly allows it to subsidize competitive products and inappropriately compete with the private sector. He said the Postal Service's monopoly on letter mail does not subsidize competitive products.

  ---

  Following the panel's testimony, House Governmental Reform Committee chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) said he can't understand why the Administration is demanding other budget tricks just to give mailers the money that's really theirs. Davis said that unnecessarily high postal rate increases reduce, and does not expand, jobs and economic development. These are postal dollars; deficits be damned.

  Brian C. Roseboro, Acting Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance insisted that the requirement for the USPS to pick up the military portion of a postal retiree's obligation is consistent with the idea that the Postal Service should be self-sustaining. All the Postal Service's unfunded rate obligations, he said, should be raised in postal rate case, but in a manner that would avoid rate shock.
  
  PMG Potter said there were some opportunities to reduce postal costs further, and the USPS was exploring all opportunities. Being extremely aggressive, he said, the USPS can take out about a billion dollars a year. It would take decades, he said, to mitigate the increases a CSRS escrow would create. He said that without reform and elimination of the escrow, the USPS would probably have to raise rates by about 5.4% on average.
  
  Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) challenged Roseboro to explain why the Administration believes that the level of postal rate attribution needs to be increased significantly. McHugh succeeded in getting the Undersecretary to admit that a more precise system of calculating costs was the desired outcome, and not just an arbitrary increase in attributable costs.

  ---

  A written report from David Walker, Comptroller General, U.S. General Accounting Office, also has been posted on this site.

March 23, 2004 -- According the Cato Institute, "it's nearly tin cup time at the Postal Service."

March 23, 2004 -- UTV (Ireland) has reported that "imminent talks to resolve an escalating postal crisis in the Irish Republic are unlikely to succeed, it was claimed."

March 23, 2004 -- Ireland Online has reported that "An Post and the Communications Workers Union have agreed to attend talks under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission in an effort to resolve an ongoing dispute between both sides. The exploratory talks are due to begin tomorrow." In a later report, Ireland Online noted that "Communications Minister Dermot Ahern has welcomed the decision by both sides in the postal dispute to attend talks tomorrow at the Labour Relations Commission."

March 23, 2004 -- The Scotsman (U.K.) has reported that "hundreds of Royal Mail staff were quarantined for four hours after the discovery of a suspicious powder in a city sorting office."

March 23, 2004 -- As the Washington Post has noted, "there is trouble at the post office. The U.S. Postal Service's financial outlook is bleak and getting bleaker, according to members of Congress, a presidential commission, the General Accounting Office and postal officials themselves. It is bad enough that some federal officials are warning of a huge taxpayer bailout -- or dramatic increases in postal rates -- if Congress does not reorganize the $67 billion-a-year entity soon to help it operate more efficiently."

March 23, 2004 -- Online.ie (Ireland) has reported that "the Tanaiste Mary Harney has called on both sides in the postal dispute to agree to talks to resolve their differences. Postal services in many parts of the country, particularly the eastern region, have been badly affected by the dispute which was sparked by the introduction of new sorting machines. Workers at An Post's Dublin mail centre are refusing to use the new machines and 508 of them have been suspended."

March 23, 2004 -- According to the Irish Examiner, "despite yesterday’s strident escalation of the war of words between unions and management at An Post, hope remains that a full-scale strike can be averted. If it fails, collapse of the State-owned postal service cannot be ruled out." As the Examiner noted, "business organisations have warned that a postal strike would have an 'horrendous' effect on both large and small firms and the economy as a whole. The Dublin Chamber of Commerce said many businesses, particularly smaller ones, were still “heavily dependent” on the postal service." Of course, the same also can be said about the American postal system if Congress and the Administration fail to enact postal reform legislation in the United States.

March 23, 2004 -- Modern Tire Dealer has reported that "the United States Postal Service has picked Oliver Retreading Systems to retread of all its tires nationwide for the next 10 years. Oliver is a subsidiary of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. Most of the postal servce's mail trucks use LT195/75R14 light truck tires, according to Boarts. A smaller number use 15-inch tires. The postal service has more than 300 vehicle maintenance facilities. Only 20% of its trucks use retreads. The USPS wants to increase that to 70% within two years."

March 23, 2004 -- The Moscow Times has reported that "ordered to Moscow to whip FedEx's Russian staff into shape, Chuck Noland decided to demonstrate how bad things were by sending himself a clock from Tennessee. It took 80 hours. In a snarl-up that has yet to be fully unwound, thousands of FedEx packages became marooned at Domodedovo Airport, calling into question the company's membership in the "Big Four" club of express delivery providers in Russia, while simultaneously opening the door to upstart domestic companies. By most accounts, the industry has grown between 25 percent and 40 percent per year over the last three years, and just four Western companies -- Dutch TNT, Brussels-based DHL and American UPS and FedEx -- account for most of the action. Industry players say that while international deliveries still account for most of the industry's revenues, future growth will hinge on express services within Russia. This, they say, is encouraging Western companies to expand aggressively nationwide while giving domestic upstarts like PonyExpress and Russian Post room to expand -- developments that will eventually lead to lower prices for consumers."

March 23, 2004 -- The Polish News Bulletin has reported that "last week the Sejm amended the postal law and at the same time set the pace of liberalising postal services by 2006. Courier companies however, estimate that the modification of regulations will not break the monopoly of Poczta Polska (PP). Even though there are 65 postal companies on the Polish market only PP can offer exclusive services, such as delivering parcels weighing less than 500g. As far as those services are concerned the remaining operators are forced to establish prices that are much higher than those of the monopolist. The amendment marks a new stage in the liberalisation for 2006, by which time Poland will fully have to harmonise its laws with those of the EU, which in turn will permit a monopoly only in case of parcels lighter than 50g."

March 23, 2004 -- Reuters has reported that "FedEx Corp. has sold $1.6 billion of debt in three parts on Monday, market sources said, in a transaction that will help the global delivery company pay for its first-quarter acquisition of copy-center operator Kinko's. The air express delivery group, based in Memphis, Tennessee, used short-term borrowings to help fund the $2.4 billion acquisition in February, and will pay down those borrowings with the proceeds from these notes, according to a statement from Moody's Investors Service on Monday."

March 23, 2004 -- WDAF-TV has reported that "more than 200 residents in the southern corner of Overland Park (KS) have been victimized by a massive postal theft ring. For more than a week, mailboxes in the area have been vandalized, leaving residents open to possible identity theft."

March 23, 2004 -- According to The Independent (U.K.), "French politics is becoming too heavy, according to the postal workers of Nancy, in Lorraine. They went on partial strike last week, protesting against the regional elections (over two rounds last Sunday and this Sunday). They said that there are so many political parties in France, and so many candidates that each letter-carrier has to lug 40kg of political pamphlets a day."

March 23, 2004 -- Les Echos (France) has reported that "it is thought that an agreement may be reached between the French magazine press and La Poste, the French postal service, by the end of May. Three trade unions for the French magazine press have put forward some general proposals in the hope that an agreement can be reached; negotiations between the two sides have been at a standstill for just over a year."

March 23, 2004 -- Bloomberg has reported that "a government panel discussing the privatization of Japan's postal service will probably propose the end of a state guarantee of savings accounts and insurance products provided by the post office."

March 23, 2004 -- According to the Austin Business Journal, "the U.S. Postal Service is preparing to drop its lead sponsorship of Austin cyclist Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Pro Cycling Team, Ad Age reports."

March 22, 2004 -- Dow Jones has reported that "the U.S. Treasury shouldn't take on any pension responsibilities from the U.S. Postal Service, a senior Treasury official said Monday in a speech on postal reform. Brian Roseboro, Treasury's acting undersecretary for domestic finance, said the administration wants the Postal Service to follow through on reform recommendations. But Congress shouldn't shift any pension responsibilities away from the agency, he said."

March 22, 2004 -- A copy of a letter sent to the House Budget Committee's leadership by Treasury Secretary John Snow and Office of Personnel Management Director Kay James on the Postal Service's retirement obligations has been posted on this site.

March 22, 2004 -- PostalWatch has reported that the Postal Service is "poised to abandon" its support of the Lance Amstrong bicycling team.

March 22, 2004 -- ElectricNews.net has reported that "the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced on Friday that 10 proposals had been received for new sponsored top-level domains (sTLDs). This is the first stage before the introduction of generic TLDs (gTLDS). Respondents include the curiously named Universal Postal Union, which is vying for dot-post (.post)."

March 22, 2004 -- UTV (Ireland) has reported that "the Communications Workers' Union says it will be happy to go into mediation with An Post to resolve the escalating dispute at Dublin's main mail centre. An Post`s Director of Corporate Affairs, Larry Donald has urged the CWU to deliver on the deal that staff had already been paid for."

March 22, 2004 -- Politics.ie (Ireland) has reported that "Labour Party Spokesperson on Communications, Deputy Tommy Broughan, has said that the current conflict between An Post and the Communications Workers Union which has resulted in disruption to postal services around the country, is the result of 'bungled management at An Post and the deteriorating state of industrial relations across the semi-state sector.'"

March 22, 2004 -- AMEInfo has reported that "a high-level delegation from Swiss Post, led by Dr. Ulrich Gygi, Chief Executive Officer of Swiss Post, held talks with Emirates Post Director General Mr. Abdullah Al Daboos, to explore areas of further mutual cooperation. The talks centred on boosting the existing business service agreement between Emirates Post and GATS (Global Alliance of Transportation Systems), a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss Post."

March 22, 2004 -- The Copenhagen Post has reported that "over the next two years, Post Denmark expects to shut down nearly 250 of the 339 post offices the company operated at the end of 2003 Supermarkets and other local businesses are expected to take over many traditional postal customer services. Politicians are already drafting a postal service law that could bring the additional closure of hundreds of service centers. Transport Minister Flemming Hansen, who also oversees the nation's postal service, confirmed the news in a written response to Parliament's Traffic Comimttee."

March 22, 2004 -- DM News has reported that "in a departure from previous campaigns that promoted a specific product or service, the U.S. Postal Service has started an effort to sell businesses on the value of direct mail in customer relationship management. 'We are turning a corner in the way we are going to market with our products these days,' said Susan Dow, manager of sales strategy at the postal service. 'This is our first foray into positioning mail as a CRM tool, and [the mail piece] talks about the attributes of hard-copy communications.' The first drop went to 75,000 mid-tier customers March 12, including 40,000 new accounts nationwide managed by the USPS direct sales force that have been identified as having high growth potential, Dow said. These customers generally have more than 20 employees and spend $200,000 with the USPS yearly. Also targeted was a 20,000-count control group of customers that use direct mail but are not managed by the USPS sales force, she said. A compiled list of 15,000 professionals in the CRM field who subscribe to CRM-intense magazines also was targeted."

March 22, 2004 -- It has been alleged four named postal employees (three active and one retired) that the United States Postal Service (USPS) in recent times has "systematically and purposefully" altered their electronic time slips ... and ... seeped money out of their paychecks. But this is not just about four postal workers. The case is also brought as a class action. As a class action suit, the number of plaintiffs may ultimately increase to over 200,000 nationwide. That is the number of postal workers that may have been affected by the purposeful actions of USPS supervisors in the United States. The crux of the suit is that Plaintiffs and other employees were paid less than the salary they should have been paid for the work they did on behalf of the USPS. The suit alleges that Defendant's supervisors intentionally made deletions on regular and overtime hours, impacting letter carriers, rural route letter carriers, mail handlers, window clerks, drivers and other employees. This has resulted in a reduced salary to the employees.

March 22, 2004 -- The U.S. Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union have settled one of its arbitration disputes--this one concerning Sunday Premium pay.

March 22, 2004 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that "Amicus, the union that represents more than 14,000 Royal Mail managers, has accused the postal group of planning to impose longer hours on remaining staff following 3,000 job cuts. Royal Mail is shedding 3,000 non-operational management jobs as part of a three-year plan to reduce the group's headcount by 30,000. About 2,400 staff have accepted voluntary redundancy but up to 600 staff might be laid off. Amicus said it would hold a strike ballot as soon as compulsory job losses are announced."

March 22, 2004 -- Lloyds List has reported that "Dutch mail and logistics group TPG has announced a E 59m ($71m) tax liability 50% higher than estimated last month relating back to an unnamed UK subsidiary in the late 1990s."

March 22, 2004 -- Chandigarh Online has reported that "the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs has sanctioned Rs 836 crore under the Tenth Five Year Plan for computerisation of postal services across the country. Director General Posts and Chairman Postal Services Board Vijay Bhushan, while interacting with newspersons here, said the thrust of computerisation would be on departmental offices to improve their productivity. Bhushan was here to inaugurate a philatelic exhibition 'Chandipex-2004' organised to mark the Golden Jubilee year of Chandigarh. Further, concerted attempts are being made to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure of the Department of Posts. Posts offices are being 're-engineered' as a part of the endeavour to make them more 'attractive' to the public."

March 22, 2004 -- ChannelNewsAsia has reported that "the British subsidiary of the German postal service Deutsche Post will this week receive a permanent license to deliver mail, enabling the German parent company to continue international expansion. The British subsidiary, known as Global Mail, has hitherto held a provisional licence from the British regulator Postcomm, limiting annual distribution capacity to 40 million letters and business parcels. The new authorisation will enable Global Mail to distribute letters up to 100 grammes in Britain, as well as penetrating the market for overseas distribution and publicity mail." See also Bloomberg.

March 22, 2004 -- Ireland Online has reported that "postal services are seriously disrupted in Dublin and some other areas this morning due to an ongoing dispute over work practices at An Post's main mail centre in Dublin."

March 22, 2004 -- According to the Irish Examiner, "with chaos looming in the postal service, the troubles besetting An Post are symptomatic of a malaise in a raft of ailing State companies. Losing money at an alarming rate, An Post urgently requires root-and-branch surgery. So deep-seated are its industrial relations problems that an outright postal strike seems unavoidable."

March 21, 2004 -- RTE (Ireland) has reported that "a further 128 postal workers were suspended yesterday evening, bringing the total suspended to date to 194. Following last night's development, An Post issued a statement saying services would be severely disrupted. The company was asking people in Dublin city and county not to post mail until further notice." See also Ireland Online and the Irish Examiner.

March 21, 2004 -- KGUN has reported that "the number of Tucson inspectors assigned to protect your mail-- has just doubled. Their focus is making sure crimes like theft, fraud-- and others-- don't get shuffled into the U.S. mail system. Three inspectors were arresting so many mail thieves-- they had cases that were ready to be prosecuted-- but instead-- sat piling up on their desks."

March 20, 2004 -- The Irish Examiner has reported that "the prospect of a postal strike receded last night after a public appeal by the Communications Workers' Union (CWU) to An Post management 'to reengage with the union immediately in relation to all outstanding issues'."

March 20, 2004 -- RTE (Ireland) has reported that "the Communication Workers Union says 58 postal workers and managers in Dublin's main mail centre have been suspended in an ongoing row over changes to working paractices. A spokeswoman for An Post has confirmed that 64 postal staff have been suspended after refusing to carry out normal working practices."

March 19, 2004 -- According to PC World, "Time Warner has not engaged in any talks with Microsoft about selling its struggling America Online unit to the giant software vendor, a Time Warner spokesperson says, contradicting a New York Post story. 'The New York Post report is inaccurate. It isn't true,' says Tricia Primrose, a Time Warner spokesperson."

March 19, 2004 -- Microsoft Watch has reported that "the New York Post reported in its Friday edition that Time Warner has held discussions in recent months with Microsoft regarding a potential acquisition by the Redmond software company of America Online (AOL). Time Warner is denying the account. And a Microsoft spokeswoman said the company will not comment on rumors or speculation."

March 19, 2004 -- ZDNet has reported that "Swedish technology firm Cypak has been demonstrating what it claims is the world's first disposable paper PC at CeBIT this week. The company has developed a way of using radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips in packaging that also contains printable sensors and other embedded electronic circuits. This creates what Cypak calls a 'disposable paperboard computer', which could see widespread commercial deployment as companies in a range of sectors look to realize the potential of RFID. 'We are adding intelligence to packaging using RFID,' Stina Ehrensvard, founder and marketing director of Cypak, told ZDNet UK on Friday. Although nothing like a modern PC, Cypak says that its creation deserves to be called a paper computer because the product is capable of collecting, processing and exchanging data. The Swedish postal service is already testing Cypak's system, and Deutsche Post is also expressing interest."

March 19, 2004 -- The Economic Times (India) has reported that "the postal department plans to start issuing personalised stamps, probably by November. Almost a dozen postal departments, including those of the UK and the United Nations, issue 'personalised' stamps. All that one needs to do is provide one’s picture to be printed on a set of stamps."

March 19, 2004 -- RTE News (Ireland) has reported that "the Communications Workers' Union (CWU) has issued a stinging rebuke to An Post senior management following a meeting of the union's Executive Council to discuss possible strike action."

March 19, 2004 -- GovExec.com has reported that "for years, the House Government Reform Committee was known for its bitter partisanship. Much of the acrimony stemmed from the panel's high-profile badgering of Clinton administration officials, led by its hard-charging former chairman, Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. Compared with back then, relations between the committee's leaders these days seem practically harmonious."

March 19, 2004 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online.

March 19, 2004 -- Internet Retailer has reported that "though the web can do what other sales media like catalogs and magazines don't - actually take an order - the average conversion rate among retail sites is only about 3%, according to Forrester Research Inc. Boosting that number will require e-commerce site to boost both the usefulness and usability of site content, says Forrester analyst John Dalton, who evaluated content at 20 sites for a new report on 'Web content that sells.'"

March 19, 2004 -- The Associated Press has reported that:

• Americans are e-mailing less and trusting e-mail less because of the growing flood of junk messages, a survey finds. Twenty-nine percent of e-mail users have reduced their overall use of the medium, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The snapshot from last month is higher than the 25 percent recorded in June, though still within the margin of sampling error. Meanwhile, 63 percent of e-mail users say they are less trusting of e-mail overall because of spam. That's up from 52 percent in June.
• Online search engine leader Google Inc. is introducing a new system designed to make it easier for people to find things closer to their homes, paving the way for the company to make more money selling ads to small businesses. The new algorithmic formulas unveiled Wednesday allow Google to display more local information in response to search requests that include a ZIP code or a city's name. Google says these geographic queries are now more likely to generate phone numbers and specific addresses on its main results page. In many cases, Google also will display an icon of a compass that can be clicked upon to open another page containing a detailed map and directions to the location."

March 19, 2004 -- Air Cargo World has reported that "at least one major United States airline has told forwarders it will start random inspections of freight, including opening packages it deems suspicious, as carriers ramp up cargo security under growing pressure from the public, regulators and elected officials. The latest stowaway incident involved three men from the Dominican Republic who were found inside a DHL warehouse near Miami International Airport after apparently tearing their way out of a shrink-wrapped pallet. Authorities believe the men had flown into the U.S. on a Capital Cargo International Airlines 727 freighter chartered to DHL Aero Expresso."

March 19, 2004 -- Click. Print. Ship. Shipping packages from home or office online will be the focus of the U.S. Postal Service's "Click-N-Ship Week," which begins March 22. Two demonstrations are scheduled for Tuesday, March 23, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The Postal Service is conducting a nationwide awareness campaign targeted to home and small business owners with the message: mailing packages has never been more convenient. Click-N-Ship has been used more than 8 million times so far.

March 19, 2004 -- DM News has reported that "the U.S. Postal Service changed the standards for Customized MarketMail in response to direct marketers' request. CMM is a mail classification approved last year by the USPS that lets direct marketers mail nonrectangular pieces without having to enclose them in a package or envelope. Effective March 4, mailers have the option to use the Standard addressing format with CMM, which is a delivery address containing the name of the intended recipient. Previously, CMM customers had to use the Exceptional address format, where 'Current Resident' or 'Current Occupant' is used alongside the recipient's name."

March 19, 2004 -- Ireland Online has confirmed that "the executive committee of the Communications Workers Union is due to meet today to discuss whether to call a nationwide postal strike. The union's members at An Post have already voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over the company’s failure to implement a number of pay and reward deals and the Government's failure to implement an employee share ownership scheme."

March 19, 2004 -- According to HR Gateway (U.K.), "superunion Amicus has said that the possibility of a postal strike among the 14,000 managers at Royal Mail it represents has got a 'step closer' following the failure of talks over the issue of compulsory redundancies." See also The Scotsman.

March 19, 2004 -- IDEAlliance Address Data Interchange Specification (ADIS) Working Group and other interested parties about recent developments and to announce a meeting to be held Wednesday, April 7 in the Chicago area to review the latest version of the ADIS specification and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) S42 international addressing standard "International Postal Address Components and Templates" to which it is related. For further information, call Georgia Volakis, IDEAlliance at 703-837-1075 for the meeting details.

March 19, 2004 -- Gulfport, MS, Mailing Standards Specialist Jerry Hawk has been selected as the national winner of the 6th annual Benjamin Franklin Community Newspaper and Postal Service Partnership Award of Excellence. The award was presented today by Postmaster General John E. Potter; National Newspaper Association (NNA) President Bob Sweeney and NNA Postal Committee Chair Max Heath during the NNA's 43rd Annual Government Affairs Conference at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

March 19, 2004 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "FedEx Trade Networks Transportation and Brokerage has joined the growing list of non-vessel-operating common carriers that have petitioned the Federal Maritime Commission to allow them to enter service contracts with customers. The unit of FedEx Corp. joins rivals United Parcel Service, DHL Danzas, BAX Global, BDP International, Ocean World Lines, C.H. Robinson, and the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, which have similar petitions before the FMC."

March 18, 2004 -- JupiterResearch, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation, has announced that, according to its latest forecast, spending on e-mail marketing in the U.S. will rise from $2.1 billion in 2003 to $6.1 billion in 2008. The report finds three critical factors driving the market: the dramatic cost reductions of e-mail marketing, the growth of sponsored and acquisition e-mail campaigns and the ever-increasing challenges presented by spam. The report finds customer retention e-mail campaigns accounting for the greatest share of non-spam e-mail marketing spending, and will continue to do so over the near-term. Strong spending on retention is driven by the dramatic cost effectiveness of e-mail as compared to postal direct mail. But marketers must manage their campaigns with skill to obtain the full benefits of online direct marketing.

March 18, 2004 -- Pitney Bowes has unveiled the new Production Package available for the DI875 tabletop inserting system that offers mailers high-speed, versatile inserting for customized mail preparation. The DI875 Production Package's Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) capability and variable page processing coupled with an intelligent sheet feeder, which collates complete sets, enables businesses to better manage the contents of each mail piece, while increasing the document's integrity and reducing overall costs.

March 18, 2004 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online.

March 18, 2004 -- DM News has reported that "more than 1,300 postmasters are expected to travel to Capitol Hill the week of March 22 to urge Congress to support universal postal service. The effort, which is being promoted by the 42,000-member National Association of Postmasters of the United States, will close with a rally March 24 at the Capitol."

March 18, 2004 -- The Polish Bulletin has reported that "URTiP, the Office for Telecom and Postal Regulation, has coined a new strategy which is to make the postal services market in Poland modern and competitive by 2009. The statements included in the new strategy seem to meet the expectations of private operators. The realisation of the strategy has been divided into three stages. One of the main objectives of the strategy is the effective control of the state over the gradual liberalisation and development of the postal services market. The authors of the strategy want to provide customers with access to high quality postal services in accordance with the requirements of Polish and European Union law. URTiP promises to support the Polish Post's participation in the development of a competitive market. Moreover, the office plans to influence state policy in the postal services domain."

March 18, 2004 -- According to This Is Lancashire (U.K.), the Royal Mail has come upon an interesting way to deal with delivery service cutbacks. It said that "people who want their post early can collect it themselves. Customers who want their mail early will be able to collect it themselves from the delivery office at 8.30am. This is a free new service but customers need to apply in advance for security reasons."

March 18, 2004 -- According to the Kyodo News Service (Japan), "The government is considering gradually scrapping preferential tax treatment for Japan Post after its privatization in April 2007, a government source said Thursday. Japan Post, a public corporation set up in April 2003 to take over mail delivery, postal savings and insurance services from the Postal Services Agency, is now free of corporate tax and stamp duty on the three postal services. Banks and other private financial institutions have demanded such tax breaks be abolished to secure competition on an equal footing."

March 18, 2004 -- The Telegraph (U.K.) has reported that "customs officers are to use new technology to scan all mail bags arriving in Britain from Jamaica in a bid to beat cocaine smuggling." See also The Scotsman.

March 18, 2004 -- According to one economics scholar, "government can either deliberately subsidize by giving a service away free, or it may genuinely try to find the true market price, i.e., to 'operate on a business basis.' This is often the cry raised by conservatives—that government enterprise be placed on a 'business footing,' that deficits be ended, etc. Almost always this means raising the price. Is this a solution, however? It is often stated that a single government enterprise, operating within the sphere of a private market, buying from it, etc., can price its services and allocate its resources efficiently. This, however, is incorrect. There is a fatal flaw that permeates every conceivable scheme of government enterprise and ineluctably prevents it from rational pricing and efficient allocation of resources. Because of this flaw, government enterprise can never be operated on a 'business' basis, no matter what the government's intentions."

March 18, 2004 -- Business World (Ireland) has reported that "the prospect of industrial unrest at State-owned An Post is looming as the Communications Workers Union (CWU) prepares to discuss holding a national strike. A decision on whether to hold a national postal strike will be discussed by the biggest union in An Post tomorrow. Members have already voted by a six-to-one majority in favour of industrial action at the State company. Officially, the strike threat centres on union claims that the company has failed to implement a number of pay and reward deals. The union is also unhappy at the Government's failure to implement an agreement to establish an employee share ownership plan (ESOP) for An Post staff." See also Ireland Online and the Irish Examiner.

March 18, 2004 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• The German Association of Courier, Express and Postal Service Providers (BdKEP e.V.) has urged the German government to ensure that basic requirements for proper competition in the letter sector are put in place in view of the large ten-figure profit made by Deutsche Post AG.
• According to information gleaned by the CEP News, the European Union has officially demanded that Germany present a schedule for the introduction of letter consolidation services. The EU directive subjects so-called preparatory postal operations to competition. Implementing the directive means that e.g. American operators could collect, stamp and sort mail from various customers and hand it over to the post for delivery. In Germany, this procedure is currently only permitted where letters weighing more than 100 grams are concerned.
• The Polish parliament has reduced Poczta Polska's existing monopoly from 2,000 grams to 350 grams for letters and to 500 grams for parcels. Poland is thus taking advantage of a special EU regulation, which gives the so-called acceding countries time until 2006 to reduce their respective postal monopoly to the agreed EU level of 100 grams.
• Norway's regulatory authority Post- og teletilsynet (PT) does not accept the grounds for an increase in postage rates put forward by Posten Norge. In December, PT had voiced suspicions that Posten was using its monopoly in order to earn money. The PT decision states that the post must calculate costbased prices.
• All domestic letter boxes in Austria must be exchanged for new models by June 2006. The responsible government department has issued a 'Directive Pertaining to Letter Box Facilities', which marks the beginning of the end for Osterreichische Post's longstanding monopoly. From June 2006, private delivery services will be allowed to drop off consignments in letter boxes. Currently, many letter boxes in Austria are locked and accessible only to the owner and the postman. Private letter services are banned from using them and have to leave their deliveries in a bag on the door."
• The German express service GO! intends to move into the letter market, a company spokesman told the CEP News. At their latest general meeting, the 15 partners decided that letter services should in future be offered at the 60 GO! stations in Germany. The service can be launched as soon as the necessary licences have been obtained from the regulatory authority. Applications were already submitted, and GO! hopes to start operations in April. In addition to the nationwide dispatch of consignments over 100 grams, the company will also offer international mail services.
• FedEx has just launched 'Europe First', a new intra-European express service. 'Europe First' offers an over-night door-to-door service to 16,000 European post code areas, with delivery by 9.00 a.m., 9.30 a.m. or 10.00 a.m., depending on location.

Don't be satisfied with a less than complete report on the courier, express, and postal market in Europe. Get your subscription to CEP News, today..

March 18, 2004 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "FedEx Corp. has reported a better-than-expected increase in quarterly earnings, helped by cost savings and jumps in overseas and trucking shipments." See also Reuters and Motley Fool.

March 18, 2004 -- The Albuquerque Tribune has reported that "Z-Coil - the Albuquerque company that makes athletic and work shoes with a spring in the heel - is at odds with the Postal Service, which banned its employees from wearing the shoes to work. The Postal Service evaluated the shoe last year and says the heel is too high and there is a risk of slipping. It says it won't reconsider the decision despite complaints from Z-Coil."

March 18, 2004 -- DI-VE (Malta) has reported that "between 2002 and 2003, employment in the post and telecommunications sector decreased by 6.09 per cent, that is 108, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO). The national post, registered an increase of 8.21 per cent on 'registered parcels and other items received' between 2002 and 2003, from 827,074 and 895,008 respectively. An increase of 2.96 per cent was reported for the item under 'letters, printed paper, newspapers and postcards received' from abroad, having 9.0 million items during 2002 to 9.3 million during 2003. On the other hand, locally posted 'letters, printed paper, newspapers and postcards received' decreased from 57.7 million items during 2002, to 52.78 million items during 2003, a decrease of 8.52 per cent. Locally dispatched 'letters, printed paper, newspapers and postcards' dropped from 60.92 million items to 46.58 million items, a 23.54 per cent decrease."

March 18, 2004 -- The Kyodo news service has reported that "Japan Post is likely to register profits in all of its three major business fields mail delivery, postal savings and postal insurance in fiscal 2003 to March 31 this year, its president said."

March 18, 2004 -- The Peninsula has reported that "Qatar’s General Postal Corporation (Q-Post) has invited suggestions from the large, foreign courier companies operating in Doha about the proposed, new postal laws that are expected to be enacted shortly."

March 18, 2004 -- The Trinidad & Tobago Express has reported that "Independent Senator Prof Kenneth Ramchand said yesterday that nothing in the performance of the management of the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Corporation (TTPost) deserves any special exception such as tax reliefs for the company. Ramchand said when the matter came up in 1998 he had the "honour" to oppose the contract of the management company of the postal services to New Zealand Post. He said people were hardly writing letters these days because they have moved toward electronic correspondence, adding that any move to reform the postal service must include a plan to turn post offices into electronic cafes. Ramchand said the postal service has not improved."

March 18, 2004 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Australian Postal Corp. has launched A$230 million of fixed-rate medium term notes via lead manager National Australia Bank. The issue will be used to refinance Australia Post's A$230 million March 2004 notes, which were issued in 1999."

March 18, 2004 -- The Budapest Sun (Hungary) has reported that "state-owned Magyar Posta Rt has announced a pre-tax profit of Ft3 billion ($14.56 million) for 2003, Ft1 billion ($4.85 million) higher than expected and a huge improvement from a Ft9.08 billion ($44 million) loss suffered in 2002."

March 18, 2004 -- The New Zealand Herald has reported that "new Zealanders are spurning personal letter-writing far more quickly than scribes in other countries - and NZ Post is feeling the pinch as a result. The state-owned enterprise, which has a 95 per cent share of the domestic letter market, said yesterday that volumes of the humble stamped envelope had fallen 3.7 per cent in the second half of last year. Up until then, volumes had fallen at an average of 1 per cent annually for several years as email gained in popularity. NZ Post chief executive John Allen said that all postal companies globally were facing a challenge, but the local experience had been of a sharper decline than in other countries."

March 17, 2004 -- New Zealand Post Group has announced an unaudited net profit after tax of $21.7 million for the six months to December 2003, compared with $19.6 million for the same period last year. New Zealand Post Chief Executive John Allen said the result was ahead of expectation and included a strong performance from the International mail business and Kiwibank.

March 17, 2004 -- As the World Bank Group has noted, "A post office equals a postal code, which means a place on the map, which translates into growth and progress. In many remote areas in the world, the post office also doubles as the only government representation nearby. Historically, an effective postal system has been crucial to a modern country to disseminate information, encourage the growth of small businesses, and unify geographically distant people."

March 17, 2004 -- the BBC has reported that "people living in some of the most inaccessible areas of India are enjoying an improved postal service - thanks to the combining of e-mail with traditional 'snail mail'. Post offices in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh will take a customer's handwritten letter and computer scan it. Then the letter can be e-mailed to remote, high-altitude post-offices in this Himalayan region. From there, the e-mails are printed out and then taken by hand to their destinations - many of which are located in almost inaccessible mountain areas such as the Lahaul, Spiti, Kinnaur and Pangi valleys. At over 3,500 metres above sea level, some of them are the highest inhabited places on earth."

March 17, 2004 -- Dow Jones has reported that "the Argentine government-run postal service formerly known as Correo Argentino SA is on track to return to private ownership in May, keeping with the original decree that had revoked the concession in November, the government-appointed postal administrator said Tuesday. Eduardo Di Cola, a former congressional deputy now running the postal service, said the state is still planning to reprivatize Correo Oficial Argentino - as it is currently known - within the 180-day deadline set when the government revoked private company Correo Argentino SA's concession in November 2003. Di Cola also said he believes a mixed system - in which the state retains a partial stake - would be best."

March 17, 2004 -- According to Reuters, "top U.S. trucking companies are getting around rising diesel prices with relative ease because customers are paying fuel surcharges on top of increasing haulage fees and America's economy is driving more shipping."

March 17, 2004 -- Les Echos (France) has reported that "the SUD-PTT trade union has accused the French post office, La Poste, of having surreptitiously sold one of its subsidiaries, Someposte Logistique, to the French conglomerate Bouygues."

March 17, 2004 -- Firstlogic, Inc., a global provider of data quality and postal automation software, and Proxix Solutions, a Palm Harbor, Fla.-based market intelligence company, have recently inked a partnership agreement to offer advanced geographic solutions that help organizations manage and analyze location-specific business data. The partnership will allow Firstlogic to market and sell the Proxix-developed geo-spatial technology as an integrated component of the Firstlogic Information Quality Suite, a full-featured system for customer and operational data quality management.

March 17, 2004 -- Newsday has reported that "the Hamilton, NJ mail distribution center is now expected to reopen for business early next year, slightly later than previously projected. U.S. Postal Service officials had hoped the 300,000-square-foot building could be open by the fall."

March 16, 2004 -- CNET has reported that "AOL, the online unit owned by Time Warner, plans to unveil a new service called AOL Bill Pay that lets its subscribers pay nearly all their bills directly through its proprietary e-mail service. The company struck a partnership with Yodlee, a technology company that helps aggregate bills from vendors as diverse as Verizon to American Express, to provide the guts of the service."

March 16, 2004 -- Suddeutsche Zeitung (Germany) has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service, has been criticised by the German association for telecommunications and post (DVPT). The association claims that the company's monopoly on postal services for low-weight letters, which is due to continue until the end of 2007, will not allow significant competition on the market."

March 16, 2004 -- According to Le Figaro, "the French trade unions CFDT, FO and SUD-PTT have called on postal workers in Paris to begin an open-ended strike today in protest against job cuts and deteriorating working conditions. The SUD argues that, since the beginning of the year, 400 jobs have either been shed or earmarked to be shed in seven of the French capital's mail distribution centres, while working hours have become more anti-social." Domage de quelle.

March 16, 2004 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Providian Financial Corp. (PVN) received a subpoena from the U.S. Postal Service related to ineligible discounted bulk mailing postage rates, according to the company's annual report filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing said that a claim was made against Providian and one of its vendors alleging that the company or the vendor received discounted bulk mail postage rates on mailings between 1997 and 2001 which weren't eligible for the discounted rates."

March 16, 2004 -- According to Reuters, "the state-owned postal operator Royal Mail may face strike action by thousands of postal managers over possible plans for compulsory job cuts, a union spokeswoman says. "We have seen a top-secret document in which Royal Mail plans to renege on the current job security agreement made with us ... It may lead to compulsory redundancies for managerial staff," said a spokeswoman for the trade union Amicus on Monday. "We have called an emergency meeting of our members and there is a possibility that they will be balloted for industrial action." Plagued by wildcat strikes last year, Royal Mail announced in December that it had offered voluntary redundancy to up to 3,000 non-operational managers as part of a 30,000 job cull designed to help the former monopoly compete with leaner rivals. Royal Mail currently employs over 200,000 people."

March 16, 2004 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that "In April 2002, Allan Leighton, then newly appointed Royal Mail chairman, launched a three-year plan for the postal group in response to the Consignia debacle, a management rout and losses of as much as £1.7m a day. Through a restructuring of the postal network and 30,000 job cuts, Mr Leighton pledged to make £1.2bn of cost savings and return the group to profit by 2005. Almost two-thirds of the way into the plan, Royal Mail has confirmed that it is expecting to make an operating profit of £200m for the 2003-04 financial year, compared with a loss of £197m in 2002-03. About 12,000 jobs will go in the next few months, bringing the total staff reduction so far to well over 20,000, and more than half of delivery offices have agreed to make fundamental changes to working practices to improve productivity."

March 16, 2004 -- The Canadian Union Postal Workers has told the minister in charge of the postal portfolio that it was concerned "over recent media reports citing statements by Treasury Board President Reg Alcock that your government may be considering privatization of Canada Post."

March 16, 2004 -- GovExec.com has reported that "the Senate last week approved an amendment to the fiscal 2005 budget resolution that will help speed passage of postal overhaul legislation -- once the legislation is written. The amendment sets up a deficit-neutral reserve fund to enact postal changes. Under the amendment passed last week, if the committee reports a fully offset reform bill, Budget Chairman Nickles can allocate the direct spending authority needed to bring the bill to the floor, without the bill being subject to a Budget Act point of order.

March 16, 2004 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "in more bad news for the French express and logistics industry, 1,200 jobs are likely to be affected by a re-structuring deal agreed between DHL’s management and unions. The re-structuring process is part of the implementation of Deutsche Post’s STAR integration programme which is seeking synergies between the company’s many different networks in the country."

March 15, 2004 -- The BBC (U.K.) has reported that "postal workers have been delivering mail by torch light to one estate in south Wales because of staff sickness. Many are angry because their post is so late and have complained to Royal Mail."

March 15, 2004 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online.

March 15, 2004 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "Amtrak didn't meet its goal of three-hour train service between Boston and New York because neither the railroad nor the government managed or oversaw the project effectively, congressional auditors said on Monday. Congress in 1992 ordered the Transportation Department to come up with a plan for reducing the train trip between the two cities from four hours to three hours or less. A total of $3.2 billion was spent by Amtrak, state governments and other railroads for the project through March 2003. The trip now takes three hours, 24 minutes." Ah, yes....measurability and accountability.

March 15, 2004 -- The Independent (U.K.) has reported that "the Treasury is to come under pressure to introduce VAT on postage stamps in the run-up to the next general election. Postcomm, the postal regulator, is preparing to recommend that a special 5 per cent rate should be introduced, but this will go against the wishes of Government ministers, who are opposed to any increase in the price of stamps. Royal Mail is VAT exempt. However, The private companies entering the postal market have to charge the tax at the full 17.5 per cent rate. Postcomm is worried that this gives Royal Mail a competitive advantage when bidding to handle mail for companies which are themselves exempt from VAT. Because they are unable to claim back the tax, charities, banks, building societies and the Government tend to use Royal Mail for their deliveries."

March 15, 2004 -- The Times Colonist (Canada) has reported that "if you want to read a weekday issue of the Edmonton Journal at one of the Greater Victoria Public Library's branches, you're out of luck. The library now only carries the Saturday issue after learning annual subscription costs would total $3,600, up from $750. That's due to whopping increases in Canada Post's bulk mailing rate."

March 15, 2004 -- The BBC (U.K.) has reported that "managers at the Royal Mail could strike for the first time in two decades over feared compulsory jobs cuts. The union, Amicus, says it has seen a document prepared last month containing plans for big redundancies." See also The Times and Reuters.

March 15, 2004 -- The E-Commerce Times has noted that "China's postal service was not reliable, and there was no credible nationwide alternative like FedEx. To make sure the packages arrived safely, Dangdang arranged for a fleet of delivery men to zip around China's biggest cities on bicycles."

March 15, 2004 -- The Idaho Statesman has noted that "part of a day's work for an Idaho Falls man includes developing a postal zip code system for the people of Iraq."

March 15, 2004 -- The Journal News has reported that you "come home from work and what's the first thing you do as you pause at the foot of the driveway or climb the stoop? Get the mail. Curse the bevy of credit card offers or mourn the lack of birthday cards, but the "mail moment" is still a part of everyone's day - despite predictions that phone, fax and the Internet would replace mail. And that's a good thing, not just for the U.S. Postal Service, but for another enterprise that helps mail finds its way to your home."

March 15, 2004 -- Magazines continue to reel from a sustained ad downturn, with the industry posting ad page declines in January and February. Providing an inside to view to the beleagured industry is Hearst Magazines President Cathleen Black. Her publishing career spans newspapers (including a stint as publisher of "USA Today") as well asmagazines. "Advertising Age's" Jon Fine discussed the challenges faced by her company as well as magazines in general.

March 15, 2004 -- DM News has taken the Washington Post to task over its publication of a misleading article concerning advertising mail.

March 14, 2004 -- The Independent Pilots Association, the 2,500 member strong UPS pilots union, and United Parcel Service agreed today to extend interest-based bargaining until July 1, 2004. See also the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

March 14, 2004 -- Zawya has reported that "Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery in Jubail (SASREF) has awarded DHL, the world’s leading express and logistics company, an exclusive three year contract for the provision of fully integrated logistics services."

March 13, 2004 -- Senate Governmental Affairs committee chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE) jointly sponsored an amendment to the budget resolution that "sets up a deficit-neutral reserve fund to accommodate postal reform. Under the terms of the amendment, if the Governmental Affairs Committee reports out a postal reform bill that is fully offset, then the Budget Committee chairman can allocate to GAC the direct spending authority needed to bring the bill to the floor without it being subject to a Budget Act point of order." The resolution passed a Senate floor vote.

March 13, 2004 -- The New Orleans Times-Picay