October 30, 2004 -- According to AFX Europe, "The Italian government plans to cut its direct and indirect stake in the Italian post office Poste Italiane SpA to 51 pct through a private placement and an initial public offering. The post office is currently owned by the economy ministry and the state-owned financial group Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The economy ministry intends to keep a 30 pct stake in the post office and cut CDP's stake to 21 pct from 35 pct."

October 30, 2004 -- The BBC Monitoring Service has reported that Japanese "Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda admitted Friday  that he belongs to a group opposing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization drive as an opposition lawmaker grilled him in the Diet."

October 30, 2004 -- Asia Pulse has reported that "In preparation for the future privatization of Japanese postal operations, a panel of experts discussed the structure of the postal savings segment and proposed the transfer of the full balance of guaranteed pre-privatization accounts to the newly privatized entity in the form of a special deposit."

October 29, 2004 -- From the BusinessWire: "DHL hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction on the expansion of its Air & Ground Hub at the Wilmington Air Park, and announced details about the facility. Governor Bob Taft was the guest of honor at the groundbreaking, which was hosted by John Fellows, CEO of DHL Americas. Senator George Voinovich as well as federal, state and local elected representatives and leaders from the Wilmington community were present at the ceremony. The expanded Wilmington hub, which will provide hundreds of new jobs in addition to the 6,000 already provided by the facility, is part of DHL's $1.2 billion investment program to significantly increase the capacity of its North American network, enhance customer service and increase network efficiency."

October 29, 2004 -- PostCom Members: The latest copy of PostCom 's Postal Operations Update has been posted on this site. The topics addressed include: USPS moves to surface visibility system; POSTALONE workgroup in need of periodical mailers; More polywrap testing needed; Workgroup looks for ways to reduce sacks; USPS to introduce AECII service; Address quality barriers identified; Workgroup looking at packaging of machinable parcels; Compensating Confirm subscribers for service deficiencies; Service updates on USPS website; New MERLIN web site; New Search engine on USPS.com; PostCom intelligent mail workgroup formed.

October 29, 2004 -- The U.S. Postal Service has responded to comments submitted by PostCom on the USPS proposal to amend its purchasing regulations. A copy of that response has been posted on this site.

October 29, 2004 -- Information Week has done quite a spread on industry-leader Acxiom:

• Data Demands Respect
• True Grid: Acxiom Outgrows Symmetric Multiprocessing
• Acxiom Privacy Leader Jennifer Barrett: A Few Questions
• Taking Aim at Acxiom

October 29, 2004 -- The Postal Service's press release on the reorganization of its mail classification centers has been posted on this web site.

October 29, 2004 -- The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel has reported that "Global delivery giant DHL plans to add 600 jobs over the next three years at its Americas headquarters in Plantation, executives said Thursday at a ceremony attended by Gov. Jeb Bush and Broward County leaders. The expansion comes as DHL takes on domestic market leaders UPS Inc. and FedEx Corp. in the United States, unveiling plans in June to invest $1.2 billion in North American operations. DHL also began a six-month, $150 million marketing campaign in June to build its brand name among Americans."

October 29, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire: "The U.S. Postal Service has received the Alexander Hamilton Bronze Award for excellence in cash management from Treasury & Risk Management magazine."

October 29, 2004 -- Expatica has reported that "DHL workers have taken to the streets of Brussels in protest at planned job cuts at the courier firm's Belgian hub. They were joined by postal workers and Volkswagen staff, bringing the number of demonstrators to several thousand. The demonstration, dubbed 'the march for employment', began at 8am at Gare du Nord and proceeded to Rue de la Loi. DHL unions are demanding that Belgian jobs be guaranteed after 2008."

October 29, 2004 -- According to the Wall Street Journal, "United Parcel Service Inc. plans to impose a bigger increase for ground-delivery rates early next year than it did a year earlier, underscoring the heightened demand for delivery services. The move will push up prices for ground-based shipments by 2.9% on Jan. 3, compared with this year's unusually slim 1.9% rise in rates for those shipments. UPS is the king of the U.S. ground-delivery business, which generates about half the company's revenue and three-fourths of its package volume. UPS ground shipments have climbed in price by an average of 3.1% annually since 1997. UPS takes the lead on pricing for the $50 billion-a-year U.S. package-delivery industry, and its yearly increases generally are matched by rivals FedEx Corp. and the DHL unit of Deutsche Post AG. The U.S. Postal Service, ranking second behind UPS in ground shipments, is expected to begin seeking approval for its next rate increase in the spring. At any given time, UPS is transporting more than 5% of the total U.S. economic output in its planes and trucks, with an average daily load of nearly 14 million packages."

October 29, 2004 -- icDumfries (U.K.) has reported that "Postal deliveries out of Dumfries are set for a radical shake-up under plans announced by the Royal Mail. As of November 8, no deliveries will be made before 9am after the company decided to scrap the two-delivery a day system. But that has upset many people, who are used to getting their post before they leave for work in the morning but now the only commitment they will get is that mail will be sent out by lunchtime. But a spokesman for the Royal Mail hit back saying this was part of a nationwide three-year programme. The spokesman said: "Dumfries Delivery Office is due to move to single daily delivery around November 8, this is a necessary move to improve quality of service and drive down costs. Second deliveries account for just four per cent of the daily mailbag but cost us 20 per cent to deliver."

October 29, 2004 -- The News and Star (U.K.) has reported that "Egremont postal workers have called off industrial action which would have affected thousands of homes and businesses this weekend. Staff at the Egremont delivery office were planning a 24-hour walk-out on Saturday after voting four-to-one in favour of a strike in a dispute over bullying claims. That has now been scrapped following last-minute negotiations with Royal Mail."

October 29, 2004 -- DM News has noted that "A coalition of mailers (spearheaded by PostCom) has told the Postal Rate Commission that a decision on whether added costs should be charged for the use of "yellow stickies" on direct mail ought to be made as part of the upcoming postal rate case."

October 29, 2004 -- According to MadeForOne.com, "Avery Dennison, the adhesive products specialist, has entered the personalised stamp market with Avery Fun Stamps(TM). The new online postage label design service allows anyone to personalise official U.S. Post Office postage by simply going to www.funstamps.com, selecting the official postage stamp offered, attaching your own jpeg or pdf photo and placing your order. Orders are typically processed and shipped within seven to ten days via First Class Mail. Each sheet contains 20 personalised postage labels featuring a professionally printed, high-quality image of the selected photo next to an affixed official U.S. postage stamp."

October 29, 2004 -- According to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, "The same day postal officials publicly denied responsibility for 58,000 missing absentee ballots, an internal e-mail sent by the South Florida District Manager to his employees expressed concern that his staff was not handling ballots within the region properly....The same day the e-mail was sent out, Postal Service officials said they were not to blame for the backlog."

October 29, 2004 -- As DM News postal commentator Cary Baer has noted, "The lead business story Oct. 12 in The New York Times dealt with the business tax reduction bill that had just passed the Senate. According to the Times, "... the Senate passed a $137 billion corporate bill on Monday that gave something to almost everyone." Of course, one corporation that didn't receive any benefits from the bill was the U.S. Postal Service."

October 29, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire:

• The following is a statement by Azeezaly S. Jaffer, Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications of the U.S. Postal Service regarding Florida ballots: Postal Service employees throughout Broward County recognize the importance of handling election materials quickly, accurately and professionally. And that is exactly what they are doing. The Postal Service continues to deliver all absentee ballots as they are received to voters across Broward County. Allegations linking missing absentee ballots in Broward County, Florida to the Postal Service are groundless at best and, in fact, insulting to hard- working and dedicated postal employees throughout Florida.
• The U.S. Postal Service will soon provide customers with more shipping options just in time for the holiday mailing season. Using Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes, customers will be able to mail packages -- regardless of the parcels' weight or destination -- for just $7.70 each. The Governors of the Postal Service approved this new Priority Mail option as a two-year test, and it will be available Nov. 20, 2004 at most Post Offices and online at USPS.com. The new boxes don't have to be weighed, and there are no zone chart and rate calculations required.

October 28, 2004 -- If you haven't heard about topics such as MERLIN, PostalOne!®, or FAST (Facility Access and Shipment Tracking), then you won't want to miss this iSummit Web seminar on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time (10:30 a.m. Central). Join Anita Pursley, VP of postal affairs for Quebecor World, and Firstlogic's Chris Lien as they discuss modern improvements to mail acceptance. Register today at www.firstlogic.com/events to learn the benefits of these new technologies and how they will impact your organization.

October 28, 2004 -- The Argonaut has reported that "Picketers stood outside the Alla Vista Post Office in the Del Rey area for 12 hours Friday, October 15th, to indicate their opposition to U.S. Postal Service plans to close the post office and adjacent Marina Processing and Distribution Center. Members of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) combined forces in the informational picket, held from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in front of the Marina Center, 13031 Jefferson Blvd. The U.S. Postal Service has submitted a proposal to its headquarters in Washington D.C. to close the Marina Center facility and consolidate the distribution center into a larger processing center in South Los Angeles."

October 28, 2004 -- The Financial Times has reported that "Privatisation of Japan's postal service could be delayed two years by the technical difficulties of developing a new computer system needed to split the business into four units."

October 28, 2004 -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany) has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, is planning to reduce its charges by an average of 0.7 per cent next year. This is a result of the calculation process prescribed by law, according to which the company must reduce its average prices by the rate at which its productivity has progressed (1.8 per cent) minus the inflation rate (1.1 per cent). The reduction will apply to three different types of services."

October 28, 2004 -- The Scotsman (U.K.) has reported that "In the run-up to Christmas, when millions of Scots will be putting their faith in the Royal Mail, an organisation that this year failed every one of the 15 targets set by the government regulator Postcomm, The Scotsman teamed up with Postwatch Scotland, the consumers' mail watchdog, to conduct an exclusive survey of postal services. The major finding was that 45 per cent of second-class mail posted from London arrived in Scotland late - a failure rate 30 times the acceptable level. Under the government-set target, just 1.5 per cent of second-class mail is permitted to be delivered outside of three working days. However, items of mail posted in London to a variety of addresses in Scotland arrived six, eight and, in one case, nine working days later."

October 28, 2004 -- icBirmingham (U.K.)  has reported that "Around 1,500 workers at Birmingham's Mail Centre have won themselves a £26 a week pay rise after turning loss into profit at the Aston complex. All employees at the centre have been awarded the bonus after helping to drive the mail centre into the black, it was revealed today. The cash bonus comes as Royal Mail bosses revealed the Birmingham area had surpassed national targets forfirst classmail,with96.8 per cent of items delivered the next day across the area. Despite a flood of criticism over the new single delivery system, Birmingham Royal Mail area manager Dave Schofield said this was the city's best run of success for around eight years."

October 28, 2004 -- Cameroon-Info.net has reported that "The Cameroon Postal Services (CAMPOST) administration is bent on instilling in its workers a true spirit of entrepreneurship and a veritable culture of hard word. A letter addressed to the workers by the corporation's General Manager, Maurice Bayemi, warns against any recalcitrant behaviour that is capable of compromising output and efficiency."

October 28, 2004 -- The Guernsey Press and Star has reported that "After the trading difficulties in the financial year 2002/3 and 2003/4, Guernsey Post is expecting to break even and perhaps achieve a small profit for the current one."

October 28, 2004 -- UPS has announced package shipping rate adjustments and a change in the fuel surcharge that will take effect on Jan. 3, 2005.

October 28, 2004 -- As the Associated Press has reported, "Election officials are questioning how many of a batch of 58,000 absentee ballots reached Broward County voters who requested them more than two weeks ago. Hundreds of people have called the county elections office to complain that they never got their ballots. The county blamed the U.S. Postal Service. Postal officials said the post office was not to blame." Must be the handiwork of  "Postal Workers for Buchanan."

October 28, 2004 -- As the DataMonitor has noted, "TPG has released positive quarterly results, with its express and logistics divisions helping to grow its margins. The improvement will allow the company to pursue its expansion plans in China. However, with European postal deregulation just around the corner, it must not miss opportunities closer to home."

October 28, 2004 -- As Computer Business has noted, "The .post application, filed by the Universal Postal Union, would map the database of standardized global postal codes into the domain name system."

October 28, 2004 -- From the Federal Register: "This proposed rule would amend the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) to require an endorsement requesting forwarding or return on certain mailpieces containing checks sent at Standard Mail postage rates, including ``convenience'' and ``balance transfer'' checks. Written comments must be received on or before November 26, 2004. Written comments should be mailed or delivered to the Manager, Mailing Standards, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Rm 3436, Washington DC 20260-3436."

October 28, 2004 -- Direct has reported that "Mailing industry observers gave mixed reactions to the U.S. Postal Service's new rules for standard mail eligibility and centralized structure for making pricing and classification decisions." Also, on this site you will find two "fact sheets" issued by the Postal Service on this matter. The first is the Eligibility for Standard Mail Fact Sheet and the second is the Consistency Fact Sheet.

October 28, 2004 -- The Prague Post (Czech Republic) has reported that "The Chamber of Deputies economic committee voted Oct. 20 in favor of granting Ceska posta a price advantage over potential competitors. If signed into law, the decision would fortify Ceska posta's monopoly over home delivery of direct mail by requiring lone competitor Mediaservis to charge a higher rate. The move would effectively cost Mediaservis its 10 percent share of the market. The proposed amendment to the law regulating postal services would require competitors of state-run Ceska posta to charge 19 Kc (80 cents) for delivering addressed mail weighing less than 100 grams. Ceska posta delivers the same mail for 6.50 Kc."

October 28, 2004 -- According to the BBC Monitoring Service, "The Tonga Government Printing Department and the Post Office will become corporatized bodies in January 2005."

October 28, 2004 -- AllAfrica.com has reported that "NIPOST's Area Postal Manager for Lagos Island territory, Mr. Babatunde Fajinmi, has revealed that the advent of GSM business in Nigeria has had some adverse effect on postal services. Fajinmi who spoke in Lagos last week, revealed that in Lagos Island where he is in charge, a survey by his company indicated that NIPOST lost about 85% of its business to GSM services between 2002 and 2003. He said that with GSM which gave subscribers the ability to send quick text messages and make calls easily, much of NIPOST's local mail delivery services were affected adversely. But he assured that NIPOST was introducing some services which involve quick delivery to tackle the challenge."

October 28, 2004 -- WJLA has reported that "Two new Internet domain names - ".post" and ".travel" - could appear online as early as next year as the Internet's key oversight board announced preliminary approval on Wednesday. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, in advancing the applications for postal services and the travel industry, said they were still considering eight other proposals including ".asia," ".jobs," and ".xxx." Separately, ".eu" for the European Union also is in the works."

October 28, 2004 -- The Governors of the U.S. Postal Service have accepted the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) Recommended Decision in the Discover NSA case. A copy of the decision may be found on the PRC's website.  

October 27, 2004 -- According to Government Computer News, "When the 109th Congress convenes next year, an application will be available to help representatives track and manage contacts with constituents."

October 27, 2004 -- From the Business Wire: "Newgistics, Inc., the leader in returns management solutions for direct retailers, has announced Intelligent Returns Management (IRM), the first suite of services aimed at streamlining the entire returns process from customer satisfaction to operational efficiencies. The newest IRM service, Returns Marketing, will extend the services currently offered with Newgistics SmartLabel(R) and SmartLabel Returns Center, which was launched in September."

October 27, 2004 -- From the Federal Register: "The Postal Service adopts an amendment to Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) standards concerning material eligible for mailing at Standard Mail postage rates. The revised standards clarify the circumstances in which mail containing ``personal'' information may be eligible for Standard Mail, rather than First-Class Mail, rates. The amendment also reorganizes and renumbers other standards for First- Class Mail and Standard Mail to better describe the service provided under each class. EFFECTIVE DATE: June 1, 2005."

October 27, 2004 -- Also from the Federal Register is the agenda for the November 4 meeting of the USPS Board of Governors.

October 27, 2004 -- The Washington Post has published a piece on House Government Reform Committee chairman Tom Davis (R-VA).

October27, 2004 -- WFTV (FL) has reported that "Broward County officials blamed the U.S. Postal Service Tuesday for misplacing nearly half of the absentee ballots requested in the county, as frustrated voters trying to find out what happened overwhelmed phone lines at the elections office. The Postal Service denied responsibility for the missing ballots, but Broward officials said they sent about 58,000 ballots more than two weeks ago, on Oct. 7-8. As of Tuesday, 126,220 absentee ballots had been requested." 

October 27, 2004 -- WBRZ News has reported that "J.R. Madden's a confused voter, and his confusion doesn't involve the candidates. Because he's working in southern New Jersey, he got an absentee ballot for the Nov. 2 election from the East Baton Rouge Parish Registrar of Voters' Office. He filled it out as instructed and sent it "priority mail with delivery confirmation" from Mount Laurel, N.J., on Oct. 19. But on Oct. 22, when he checked on his ballot's status by using the Postal Service's Web tracking tool, the response was "Your item was delivered at 8:57 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2004, in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802."

October 27, 2004 -- The Atlanta Business Chronicle has reported that "United Parcel Service Inc. Chairman and CEO Michael L. Eskew will join the IBM the board on Jan. 1, 2005."

October 27, 2004 -- As SwissPolitics.org has noted, "In a continued effort to adapt to market liberalisation, the Swiss Post Office is restructuring further to increase efficiency and profitability. This includes the closure of several local post offices. The initiative "postal services for all" called on the government to guarantee basic postal services and to include the communes in decisions affecting the network of post offices. The initiative was supported by the trade unions, consumer organisations and representatives of the leftist parties. The government and a majority in parliament opposed the initiative."

October 27, 2004 -- The Borneo Bulletin has reported that "Postal Services Department has appointed nine postal representatives in the country with the intention of providing better facilities to the rural population, especially those residing in places which are difficult to be reached by postmen."

October 26, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire: "Globally Boundless, the leading marketing solutions provider for franchisors, today announced the successful launch of Marketing Engine for Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE), Canada's largest chain of neighborhood business service centers. MBE is using Marketing Engine Brand Control to ensure consistent use of high quality marketing tools across the network. With Marketing Engine, the corporate marketing department at MBE, can ensure that creative campaigns are deployed nationwide in both official languages while allowing users to input store specific information like phone number, address and locator map."

October 26, 2004 -- The Fina ncial Times has reported that "TPG, the Dutch postal group, yesterday said it was eyeing three or four acquisition candidates in China to boost its logistics activities, but noted with concern the poor performance of its French transportation operations. The Danish government will announce on November 15 the outcome of a process to sell a 25 per cent stake in Post Danmark. TPG is among the European postal companies that have bid for the stake, which would offer a valuable first-mover advantage in the consolidation of the European mail market."

October 26, 2004 -- As the Wi chita Eagle has reported, "For more than three years, Eureka Scales has prayed and waited for her daughter, Jaquilla, to come home. Her little girl --the one who loved McDonald's, hair barrettes, wearing dresses, and singing and dancing to R&B music -- disappeared from her bed on Sept. 5, 2001. Jaquilla's photo is on more than 85 million postcards being distributed nationwide by Advo Inc., a direct-mail advertising company. The cards should be in mailboxes in the Wichita area within the next week, said Vince Giuliano, a company senior vice president."

October 26, 2004 -- According to The Everett Herald, "Just because you order something from a catalog, it doesn't mean you should have to be bombarded with unsolicited catalogs to the point that you can't get your first-class mail. I think this is such a shame, because apparently you can't just get the ones you care about without getting a dozen more that you don't care about."

October 26, 2004 -- Bloomberg has reported that "The German government won't assume the pension liabilities of Deutsche Telekom AG and Deutsche Post AG in exchange for the companies' pension reserves, the Finance Ministry said in an e-mail to news organizations. Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Post have about 18 billion euros ($23 billion) in remaining pension liabilities until 2090."

October 26, 2004 -- The Portland Press Herald has reported that "A sprawling mail-processing plant planned for the Scarborough-South Portland line is moving forward after a two-year delay. In recent weeks, the U.S. Postal Service has started to discuss the multimillion-dollar project with officials in the two communities."

October 26, 2004 -- The New York Daily News has reported that "Budget cutbacks are accomplishing what neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night could do: making the mail late and a mailbox harder to find. That's according to officials with three unions, who charged yesterday that Postal Service cutbacks have led to slower deliveries and fewer collection boxes on Manhattan sidewalks. Letters dumped in Manhattan boxes after 1 p.m. aren't picked up or processed until the next day, eliminating two later-day pickups."

October 26, 2004 -- According to GovExec.com, "The first case brought brought to the Merit Systems Protection Board involving a federal agency accused of violating the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act will set an important precedent for federal agencies and managers, according to Office of Special Counsel chief Scott Bloch. The case, which is being brought by the special counsel against the U.S. Postal Service, was initiated in June and is set for an MSPB hearing in early January."

October 26, 2004 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "TPG's financial figures for the third quarter of 2004 show its ‘TNT Express' parcels division driving growth, with a modest improvement by its logistics division and a decline in both profits and revenue in its mail business. TNT Express European home market was particularly strong showing over 10% growth over the quarter despite higher fuel costs. Revenue at the Mail business drifted lower by 1.8%, to €881m from €897m. Despite cost cutting, margins deteriorated to an operating profit of €155m, down from a Q3 2003 of €163m. The core Netherlands market remained flat but cross border revenues saw a steep decline."

October 25, 2004 -- According to the Federal Times, "The U.S. Postal Service and leaders of postal management organizations are considering tougher standards for pay-for-performance raises in fiscal 2005."

October 25, 2004 -- The Financial Times has reported that:

• It is no wonder that TPG is mentioned whenever other European postal services are looking for a partner. In the third quarter, the Dutch postman delivered 13 per cent underlying growth in net income, with revenues up 5 per cent, mostly because of organic increases. That was one of TPG's weaker quarters lately, largely because of lower profitability in its domestic business. Like its rivals, it suffers from increasing competitive pressures, especially in direct mail. But in terms of operational efficiency and capital discipline, it remains far ahead of the likes of Britain's Royal Mail and Germany's Deutsche Post.
• TPG, the Dutch postal group, on Monday said it was eyeing three or four acquisition candidates in China to boost logistics activities, but struck a note of concern over the poor performance of its French transportation operations. Jan Haars, chief financial officer, said TPG was mulling acquisitions priced at €150m-250m. In August it completed the €257m purchase of Wilson Logistics, a Swedish freight forwarding company. The world's second-largest logistics operator cautioned that it faced challenging conditions due to higher-than-anticipated costs resulting from price pressure in France.

October 25, 2004 -- AzerTaj (Azerbaijan) has reported that "Delegation of the state company Azerpocht has taken place at the All-Ukrainian Postal Forum held in Kiev to mark the 130th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union. The two-day forum dealt with cooperation in postal matters. During the forum, Azerbaijani delegation read out Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and IT Ali Abbasov' congratulation letter. According to Ukrainian Minister of Communications and Transport Georgiy Kirpa, such meetings pave the way for further cooperation among the countries in all spheres including communications."

October 25, 2004 -- As Fortune magazine has noted, "FedEx's Anchorage hub, which has become a heaven on earth for the $25 billion transportation giant. As the market for FedEx's signature product, overnight express delivery in the U.S., has flattened, Anchorage has come to represent a big part of the company's future. That's because it is the gateway to FedEx's booming business with China, which is up 50% (by volume) over last year. Revenue for FedEx's international priority unit, of which China is a key part, soared 25% in the most recent quarter and now accounts for one-fifth of the company's overall sales."

October 25, 2004 -- An update on news and activities from the Mail and Jobs Coalition has been posted on this site.

October 25, 2004 -- As the Federal Times has noted, "President Bush's re-election campaign is concerned that letter carriers will not deliver ballots and election materials to Republican homes. Campaign general counsel Thomas Josefiak told Postmaster General John Potter in an Oct. 20 letter the campaign has received anecdotal reports that letter carriers are considering withholding election materials. Josefiak asked Potter for reassurance that all carriers will do their job regardless of voters' political affiliation. The National Association of Letter Carriers the next day released a statement from President William Young that called the allegations unsubstantiated and demanded an apology."

October 25, 2004 -- The Guernsey Press and Star has reported that "Guernsey Post has been given extra time to tell the regulator why or if its service obligations are too tough."

October 25, 2004 -- The Asahi Shimbun has reported that "Japan Post will inform the government today that it will be difficult to split the postal corporation into four entities by April 2007, citing the need for more time to install new computer systems."

October 25, 2004 -- Reuters has reported that "Dutch postal and logistics group TPG has reported a smaller-than-expected rise in third-quarter core profit, sending its shares lower as benefits of a cost-reduction programme receded." See also Dow Jones.

October 25, 2004 -- As the Financial Times (U.K.) has reported, "Anoto, a Swedish start-up that has developed a digital version of an ancient product - paper. Digital paper looks and feels like ordinary paper - it even makes the same noise as ordinary paper if you scrunch it into a ball. The most intriguing Anoto licensee is the Swedish Post Office and its digital postcards. Say you're a sun starved Swede about to fly to Mexico. Before you go, visit your local post office and purchase some digital paper postcards, complete with scenes of Cancun. In Cancun, with your digital pen, write a few lines on one of the postcards for Auntie Ingrid back in Uppsala. Be sure to include her address. Via your mobile, send what you've written to a printing plant outside Stockholm. The plant prints the card; picture on one side and text in your handwriting on the other, along with a first class stamp. The post office delivers the card and Auntie Ingrid knows you're thinking about her."

October 25, 2004 -- The Times of India has reported that "The Bihar postal circle has planned to launch its new service, Logistic Post, by January for sending heavy parcels with a minimum weight of 50 kg."

October 24, 2004 -- According to the Tri-Valley Herald, "A growing chorus is suggesting American voters don't necessarily need to go to the polls Nov. 2 but rather elect the leader of the free world from the comfort of their own homes. Most Americans apparently don't need telling: Nationwide, elections officials are seeing a remarkable surge in voters signing up to vote by mail."

October 24, 2004 -- According to the Jerusalem Post, "The average Israeli receives 109 pieces of mail each year compared to 662 received by his American counterpart, according to the latest Postal Authority statistics. This is so even though postal rates (NIS 1.30 for a regular letter compared to NIS 1.62 in the US and NIS 3.35 in Sweden) are the cheapest in the Western world."

October 24, 2004 -- Symbian One has reported that "Cardmine, Inc. today announced the introduction of its Wireless Paper Postcard, a real paper postcard service that allows users to send picture postcards directly from their wireless camera phone to anyone in the world via regular postal mail."

October 24, 2004 -- The Independent (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail is facing potential strike action over the issue of Christmas working hours. Management and the Communication Workers Union met last week to discuss deliveries, but both sides remain at loggerheads over Christmas Day. One insider said: "The 25 December is a Saturday so the bank holiday is transferred to Monday. Royal Mail is saying that Christmas Day is not a bank holiday - it's a non-service day - and we don't get a day off for it. The hours have got to be put back." Industrial action is likely if the two sides cannot agree."

October 24, 2004 -- The Shropshire Star (U.K.) has reported that "You could be forgiven for thinking that one of Britain's longest-running institutions, the Post Office, has got that sinking feeling. For more than a century it has been a much-loved feature of the very communities which, in turn, it has helped to thrive. Colin Doyle from the Knockin Post Office: 'It feels like we're fighting a losing battle' But government moves to regenerate the service has seen the axe fall on thousands of subpostmasters, with another nine on "commercial death row" after an announcement this week."

October 23, 2004 -- According to Direct magazine postal commentator Gene Del Polito, "State taxing authorities want to impose a sales tax on a "tax" (postage) you already pay to satisfy the requirements of a federal government agency. A tax upon a tax! This is nuts."

October 23, 2004 -- According to Linns Stamp Washington correspondent Bill McAllister, "If the photo-stamp experiment is not revived, Vermont stamp collector John A. Lutz thinks his idea for a form of personalized postage could be a likely replacement, especially for bulk mailers."

October 23, 2004 -- From the U.S. Newswire: "A statement has been issued by William H. Young, president of the 300,000- member National Association of Letter Carriers, in response to a letter by Thomas Josefiak, general counsel of Bush-Cheney '04, to Postmaster General John E. Potter charging that letter carriers may be failing to deliver election mail in Florida and other states "from homes that appear Republican."

October 23, 2004 -- The letter from the Office of Personnel Management to the Postmaster General in which OPM said that the Board of Actuaries reaffirmed OPM's decision regarding the calculation of the USPS' retirement-related obligations has been posted on this site.

October 23, 2004 -- As the Delta Democrat Times has noted, "If there's one government entity that needs some serious overhaul it's the U.S. Postal Service. This quasi-public/private corporation, with its own board of commissioners, is a money-losing proposition and more so each year — as in the billions of dollars — while FedEx, United Parcel Service and several other regional carriers chip away at what once was a monopoly on mail and package delivery. And now as the Internet, e-mails, wireless communications, text messaging and other technological advances become more prevalent, the U.S. Postal Service is fast becoming an anachronism. To say that it needs reform would be an understatement."

October 23, 2004 -- Mori.com has reported that "New research carried out by MORI jointly on behalf of Royal Mail, Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for postal services, and Postcomm, the industry regulator into the current perceptions and requirements of the postal service is released today. This survey is part of a larger review process undertaken by Postcomm to ensure that the new Royal Mail Quality of Service targets, to take effect from April 2006 as part of the new price control, encourage the operator to reach and maintain an acceptable level of service relative to price and customer expectation."

October 23, 2004 -- News Today (India) has reported that "TNT India Private Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary of logistics major TNT Post Group (TPG), has launched TNT Scholar Pak for 2004 a tailor made service for students planning to study overseas. Through this service, the company offers a reliable option for students sending applications to universities abroad. As most universities mention only postal box addresses, there have been several instances where deliveries have been delayed. With Scholar Pak, applicants can rely on a speedy service that delivers directly to the relevant universities an efficiency that is backed by a network of over 200 countries, a superior consignment tracking system and 24-hour customer service support."

October 22, 2004 -- PostCom Members: Jack Kirkwood has posted in the PostCom Forum a note that "If anyone is interested, I have four Kirk-Rudy 535 tabbers for sale. They are 4 months old and come with the base, conveyor and friction feeder. I need to get $18,500 each." Check it out!

October 22, 2004 -- PostCom Members: The latest copy of PostCom's Postal Operations Update has been posted on this site. The topics addressed include: MTAC Drop Shipment process improvements, bundle integrity issues, common MERLIN errors, redesign of the MERLIN web site, address accuracy verification, BMC pallet bundle shrinkwrap requirements, envelope reflectance meter, business mail training courses, and the new flats automation template.

October 22, 2004 -- WebIndia123 has reported that "Come Ramadan, the holy month of Muslims and the aroma of "haleem", a delicious non-vegetarian dish, pervades Hyderabad. Instead of the usual restaurant waiter serving the delectable dish, it is the city's postmen who do the job. To cope with the heavy rush during the Ramadan month, the city's restaurants have enlisted the services of the state-run postal department to supply the dish. The service, which was started last year has been a huge hit with both the hotel-owners and customers."

October 22, 2004 -- . "On the Road," an exhibit opening Nov. 15 at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, explores the history of city mail vehicles from the first tests in 1899 to the present. Visitors will learn how the "horseless wagon," at first a novelty, became essential to city mail delivery. Visitors to the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum have a new way of exploring the museum. Hand-held computers, similar to Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), enhance the visitor's experience through interactive features, bonus information and audio and video components that complement the museum's exhibitions. The National Postal Museum's Personal Digital Assistants are made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund, which also supported the creation of the Ford Education Center.

October 22, 2004 -- UTV has reported that "The main postal union in the Irish Republic is urging the government to ensure retired staff get their pension increases. The CWU says former workers have not received a five per cent increase due since last November. It`s claimed pensioners, some who worked for the Department of Post and Telegraphs are paying the price for poor decisions by management."

October 22, 2004 -- Business Mailers Review has reported that:

• The Postal Service looks to have lost a battle on another front in its efforts to fix inequities in the law that changed how it funds the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The Board of Actuaries of the U.S. Civil Service Retirement System has sided with the Office of Personnel Management in the Postal Service's challenge of the methodology OPM used to determine the amount of Postal Service obligation to the CSRS and the amount of potential overfunding to the system. 
• The best advice for planning your 2006 postage budget seems to be "plan for the worst and hope for the best." The worst-case scenario appears to be an average rate increase of 12%-15% in 2006. Most pundits expect the Postal Service to file its rate case with the Postal Rate Commission in spring 2005. Standard mailers could see slightly larger-thanexpected increases due to the paradigm change in mail volumes. For the first time ever, Standard Mail volumes are expected to surpass First Class volumes in 2005. This means that Standard Mail might have to absorb a greater share of institutional costs.
• In early 2005, a new financial contractor will facilitate electronic funds transfers for postage payment through the Centralized Account Processing System (CAPS), marking the genesis of CAPS' migration to PostalOne!, which will allow the Postal Service to expand electronic payment options to all Permit Mail customers.
• The Postal Service stopped taking credit cards as a payment method for bulk mailings "two treasurers ago," Pedersen said. It is not being contemplated again, as it is not cost effective for the USPS due to the transaction fees. Many mailers enjoyed paying for bulk mailings with credit cards because they were able to earn frequent-flier miles or cash-back equivalents on various credit cards.
• If Congress does not pass postal reform legislation, it could result in a loss of tax revenues of $2 billion to $3 billion, the white paper, "Postal Reform: An Investment in Jobs and the Economy," says. The analysis calculates the tax revenues that would be lost when jobs are affected by raising postal prices. The deficit problem is actually made worse by the impact that higher postal prices would have on the revenue side of the federal budget, the white paper says, as opposed to the Congressional Budget Office's analysis showing increased costs associated with postal pension reform and its impact on the cost side of the budget.

October 22, 2004 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Japan Post, the state-run postal, savings and insurance group, said its alliance with convenience store chain Lawson Inc. to distribute parcels doesn't violate the nation's anti-monopoly law. Japan Post said at a Tokyo court hearing it doesn't have an unfair advantage over commercial services because it must operate nationwide, while private companies can ignore unprofitable areas. Yamato Transport Co., Japan's No. 2 delivery company, filed suit last month against the postal system's tie-up with Lawson."

October 22, 2004 -- Khaleej Times has reported that "Qatar's Commercialbank and Qatar General Postal Corporation (Q-Post) have recently signed an outsourcing agreement, enabling Q-Post to take over the printing, storing and despatching of the bank's Customer Statements."

October 22, 2004 -- According to the Canton Repository, "Three times, the U.S. Postal Service has accused Benjamin Suarez of making false or misleading representations in his direct mailings and, according to court records, state attorneys general in Indiana, Idaho, Washington, Connecticut and West Virginia have filed civil lawsuits against him. In several of the cases, Suarez agreed to stop the ads and paid penalties or refunds, court records show. Suarez maintains that most of the complaints against him were made for political reasons. Every company has scrapes with regulators and most of his ads have not been challenged, he said. "It's a subjective thing to say that an ad is misleading," Suarez said. Suarez Corporation Industries hasn't been the target of a consumer complaint in the last 10 years, he said. The company didn't change the way it did business, he said; it showed that it was willing to fight."

October22, 2004 -- The Associated Press has reported that "UPS Inc. violates anti-discrimination laws by barring the deaf and hearing-impaired from driving parcel delivery trucks, a federal judge ruled Thursday. In a class-action case here representing as many as 1,000 would-be drivers, Henderson said those with poor hearing should "be given the same opportunities that a hearing applicant would be given to show that they can perform the job of package-car driver safely and effectively." The company said it was considering appealing."

October 22, 2004 -- Canada.com gave its postal situation a: "Thumbs Down: To the backlog of 150,000 parcels at Vancouver's main postal depot -- and we're not even into Christmas season. Frankly, we don't know whether to blame Canada Post management, postal workers, the U.S. or mean dogs for this mess. But we can offer a tried-and-true solution: Hire Celine Dion to introduce new mailman uniforms and a post-office theme song. After all, it's the Canadian way, n'est-ce pas?"

October 22, 2004 -- DM News has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is evaluating whether it will let Stamps.com continue offering PhotoStamps, according to deputy postmaster general John Nolan. Nolan said the USPS is examining every aspect of the product. For example, it is ensuring that the PhotoStamps barcode is situated in the best possible spot. "We want to get it right the first time," he said. "We don't want to have to keep tweaking it." Security is another USPS concern, Nolan said, citing The Smoking Gun Web site. That site this fall tried to get stamps processed featuring Lee Harvey Oswald, the Unabomber and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano. Though these were rejected, the Web site successfully ordered stamps featuring Monica Lewinsky's blue dress, Slobodan Milosevic and others. "This is the kind of thing we are looking into as well," Nolan said."

October 22, 2004 -- Les Echos (France) has reported that "French postal service operator La Poste has announced plans to invest 30m euros in the construction of a new national, state of the art industrial platform in the northern city of Lille. The platform is part of La Poste's 3.4bn-euro 2004-2010 program to transform its French industrial equipment in the context of the liberalisation of the French postal services sector. The new platform will be equipped with the latest technology, and be able to sort more than 400,000 letters per hour. It will commence operation in 2007."

October 21, 2004 -- From the Market Wire: "Envelope Manager Software announces the availability of the Mac version of its leading Endicia Internet Postage™ service. Endicia™ for Mac V1.0 is the first software-only Internet Postage service designed for the Macintosh platform. This native Mac software lets users print USPS mailing and shipping labels for domestic and international destinations, and comes loaded with premium shipping features such as integrated private insurance, hidden postage amounts, electronic Delivery Confirmation, automatic e-mail shipment notifications, a convenient Express Mail solution, integration tools, electronic refunds/reprints, label customization, and support for popular thermal printers and postal scales. Endicia for Mac is offered at the same service fees as its PC counterpart."

October 21, 2004 -- The Business Standard (India) has reported that "Though there is no official decision yet, the department of posts is discussing the proposal internally. In case the proposal is cleared by the department, it will approach the finance ministry with a formal plan to be allowed to lend to individuals and corporates."

October 21, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire: "OfficeMax® announced today that it has been selected as a 2004 U.S. Postal Service Quality Supplier Award winner. The awards program recognizes suppliers that have made a difference in helping the Postal Service by adding value to its services, improving efficiencies and reducing costs. OfficeMax provides office supplies to Postal Service facilities nationwide."

October 21, 2004 -- The U.S. postal reform saga à la Shari Lewis: "This is the song that doesn't end Yes it goes on and on my friend Some people started singing it Not knowing what it was And they'll continue singing it Forever just because This is the song that doesn't end Yes it goes on and on my friend Some people started singing it Not knowing what it was And they'll continue singing it Forever just because This is the song that doesn't end Yes it goes on and on my friend Some people started singing it Not knowing what it was And they'll continue singing it Forever just because This is the song that doesn't end Yes it goes on and on my friend Some people started singing it Not knowing what it was And they'll continue singing it Forever just because This is the song that doesn't end Yes it goes on and on my friend...."

October 21, 2004 -- According to the Grimsby Telegraph (U.K.), "Postal workers across the Grimsby area may strike as Christmas approaches. A ballot will be held in the next two weeks, with any walkouts likely to take place in late November and early December. The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) claims that its full-time workers have not been paid weekly staff bonuses of £26.28 and part-time workers payments in the region of £18, promised by Royal Mail in January when round lengths were extended to three-and-a-half hours across the county."

October 21, 2004 -- Asia Pulse has reported that "Korea Post, South Korea's postal service agency, lost 166.2 billion won (US$145 million) last year after buying stocks in two troubled companies, LG Card Co. and SK Global Co., the Ministry of Information and Communication said Thursday. Last year, the postal service also reported an investment loss of 22 billion won in managing some derivative products, the ministry said in a report to an annual parliamentary audit."

October 21, 2004 -- The Financial Times has reported that "A new competition law that Singapore plans to introduce in 2006 has been criticised for exempting some government businesses that dominate local services in the city-state of 4m people. Some key industrial sectors, such as telecommunications, media, postal services, transport, power generation, water and waste management, would be exempt from the competition law."

October 21, 2004 -- According to The Telegraph (U.K.), "If this were adventure fiction, Heyrick Bond Gunning would be the perfect name for the ill-equipped, under-prepared protagonist who bumbles into a war zone on a mission impossible, and, after a series of improbable scrapes, somehow comes home covered in glory. It has exactly the right ring of oddity, pedigree and old-fashioned derring-do. But Bond Gunning is the real thing: a contemporary adventurer, cannily disguised as a quiet businessman. At the end of the official conflict in Iraq, he was on the first civilian plane to Baghdad after the airport had been secured, charged with establishing a foothold for DHL, one of the world's biggest postal companies."

October21, 2004 -- The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has reported that "Calling security a top priority for business, FedEx Corp. Chief Executive Fred Smith appealed Wednesday in Miami Beach for tough legislation against e-mail tampering, identity theft and other offenses on the Internet. He also urged Washington to work more closely with companies on security programs that both facilitate business and thwart threats, rather than imposing regulations or hoarding access to databases. The appeals came at an air-cargo industry conference, where more than 400 people also are discussing such topics as the pain of soaring oil prices and the boom in China trade."

October 21, 2004 -- From the Business Wire: "FedEx Corporation has announced a new brand identity for recently acquired national parcel consolidator Parcel Direct -- FedEx SmartPost(SM). The New Berlin, Wisconsin-based subsidiary of FedEx Ground, the small-package ground delivery unit of FedEx Corporation, will begin operating under the new brand immediately."

October 21, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire: "Stamps.com(TM) has announced that third quarter net income was $0.7 million, or $0.03 per fully diluted share, in the first ever profitable quarter in the Company's history. In addition, the Company announced that third quarter total revenue was $10.7 million, up 101% versus the same quarter last year -- the highest quarterly year over year growth rate ever for the Company." But what impact with the cancellation of pictures on stamps have on the company's viability and bottom line?

October 21, 2004 -- UPS has reported solid third quarter growth with revenues rising 7.7% and net income increasing 20.4%. Total worldwide average daily volume increased by 445,000 packages per day to 13.7 million, a 3.4% increase. Total international export package volume grew 13.2%, while UPS Supply Chain Solutions posted strong growth with revenue up 10.1%.

October 21, 2004 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "DHL Worldwide Express decided to pull its international hub from Brussels because of an unresolved dispute with the government over night flights over the Belgian capital, a move that is likely to cost 1,300 jobs. DHL's unions reacted immediately with a strike that paralyzed work at the international parcel service Thursday."

October 21, 2004 -- The Winston-Salem Journal has reported that "RFD and house-to-house delivery of mail in towns has become one of the greatest services offered by the Postal Service. When we built inside the town limits of Kernersville 40 years ago, I recall the postmaster telling me that now they could begin delivering to our front door on Harmon Court. Over the years, this has been a distinct advantage for town residents. Unfortunately, delivery is no longer assured."

October 21, 2004 -- The following ad comes from the postalnews.com web site. This must be what Jack Potter is doing with redundant staff.

October 21, 2004 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "The European Commission has decided to authorise a subsidy of €503m by the French government to state owned express parcels company Sernam despite non-adherence to many of the original conditions. The money will be provided to allow the loss making subsidiary of SNCF, the French Railways, to re-structure. However the Commission also decided that a later unlawful subsidy of €41m will have to be repaid."

October 21, 2004 -- WSTM.com has reported that "Lockheed Martin plans to add up to 100 jobs at a facility near Binghamton. Company officials this afternoon announced a primary support center will be opened for a US Postal Service program."

October 21, 2004 -- Author Christopher Corbett will be lecturing on the facts and fiction of the Pony Express legend at Smithsonian's National Postal Museum Museum from 1 - 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6.

October 21, 2004 -- Associated Press has reported that "The European Union Commission on Wednesday banned parts of a German law preventing private mail sorting companies from competing against Deutsche Post. Present German law breaks the rules by discriminating against different types of operators, according to the EU Commission. Specifically, it bars private mail preparation companies from receiving discounts granted to bulk mailers who feed self-prepared mail directly into Deutsche Post's sorting centers. The law "induces Deutsche Post to abuse its dominant position thereby putting commercial operators at a considerable disadvantage," said EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti." See also AFX Europe.

October 21, 2004 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "DHL Worldwide, a unit of German mail and express provider Deutsche Post, has opened a new regional sort center in Phoenix. The facility is part of a $1.2 billion investment program to significantly increase the capacity of DHL's North American network, enhance customer service and enable greater connectivity within DHL's pickup and delivery network and between ground and air services. The Phoenix hub will employ approximately1,900, and joins DHL's neighboring Global Data Center in Scottsdale, a customer call center in Tempe and three local pickup and delivery centers, as well as an air shipment facility at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport."

October 21, 2004 -- According to Asia Pulse, "A six-person panel in charge of drafting postal reform recommendations gave an in-principle endorsement on Monday to a plan to move postal workers who provide over-the-counter customer service to the payroll of a new entity to be set up to manage the post office network. Their endorsement so far concerns only about 60,000 employees at post offices that do not handle mail delivery operations."

October 20, 2004 -- The U.S. Postal Service is alerting customers mailing items to Canada they must comply with strict Canadian Customs and postal administration addressing requirements. All postal items (except postcards) that do not display the complete name and address of both the sender and the recipient -- in roman letters (A, B, C) and Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) -- are being denied entry into Canada.

October 20, 2004 -- According to one South Florida letter-shop owner, she's mad as hell at the Postal Service's ham-handed approach to marketing its services with absolutely no regard to what they're doing to her business...and she's not going to take it anymore!

October 20, 2004 -- Catalog Age has reported that:

• You need to dig deep to determine whether a second George W. Bush presidency or a John Kerry presidency would be best for catalog businesses. The key political issues of concern to catalogers — use taxes, postal affairs, privacy regulation — obviously aren't commanding the same attention as the war in Iraq, terrorism, or unemployment rates.
• The good news in the fight for postal reform is that there has been more legislative progress during the current session of Congress than there has been since John McHugh started the crusade in 1995. This important achievement is the result of a great deal of effort by many individuals and organizations. Now for the bad news: It is clear that passage of any bill by this Congress, much less a bill good for the mailing community, is by no means a sure thing. Congress does not move quickly until there is a clear and present crisis.

October 20, 2004 -- Expatica has reported that "The European Commission on Wednesday gave the German government a two-month deadline to comply with European Union legislation on opening up its national postal services. Officials said the Commission - the European Union's executive arm - was prepared to take Berlin to the European Court of Justice if postal laws, which currently protect Deutsche Post from competition in the handling of pre-sorted mail, remained unchanged."

October 20, 2004 -- As the Wall Street Journal has noted, "Night flights by expanding express-delivery companies are causing turbulence throughout Europe, calling into question the expansion of congested airports on this crowded Continent."

October 20, 2004 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• In a joint statement the German Confederation of Industry and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce advocate a more rapid opening of the country's postal market than planned.
• In the context of growing criticism of the regulatory framework for the German mail market, press reports exposing an ever poorer performance from Deutsche Post are on the increase.
•  
• The Swedish post is now facing the prospect of a strike. The bone of contention is the employers' attempt to shorten the period of redundancy notice and to slacken the cushioning measures connected with redundancies.
• Ulrich Gygi, CEO of Switzerland's post, would like his fellow countrymen and women to fall in love more often - and to use pink letters to express their love. Mr Gygi, who spoke at a press conference last week, said that SMS and e-mails were increasingly substituted for letters and that the number of letters handled by the Swiss post would have dropped by 16% in 2010.
• Austria's Supreme Court has reached a decision - which may act as a guideline in similar cases abroad - in the dispute concerning the yellow colour used by post companies. Osterreichische Post (OP AG) had filed a suit against Schweizerische Post and its use of the colour yellow in Austria, claiming that yellow was its own registered trademark . In its decision (40b136/04k), the Supreme Court argued that the `post yellow' was not the sole property of Osterreichische Post. Yellow - which is also the colour of the Thurn and Taxis family's coat of arms - had been a postal symbol from the very beginning, along with the postman's horn. This was the case not only in Austria, but in Germany, France, Spain and Sweden, among other countries. Yellow was therefore to be considered a background colour, which merely indicated a link with the post.
• DHL Worldwide Express and American Airlines Cargo have agreed to extend their co-operation. Last Thursday, the two companies said the move was intended to open up further possibilities on the US market.
• Osterreichische Post wants to extend its parcel network further into Eastern Europe before the end of the year.

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..

October 20, 2004 -- Reuters is bullish about Pitney Bowes.

October 20, 2004 -- Quad Graphics postal affairs director Joe Schick tells mailers what to expect in the next rate case in an article printed in PrintWriter.

October 20, 2004 -- Business World has reported that "The European Commission is likely to take a case today against Germany to force it to open its postal system to more competition, the Financial Times Deutschland reported citing Commission sources. The reason for the action is the German government's refusal to give competitors of Deutsche Post access to the so-called "post-preparation services market", the paper said. The commercial collection, sorting and franking of letters under 100 grams is currently exclusively guaranteed to Deutsche Post under postal laws."

October 20, 2004 -- Chuck Muth, president of Citizen's Outreach, wrote in a UPI release that "The bad news, according to Postmaster General John Potter (no relation to Harry, unfortunately -- the post office could use some magic), is that if Congress doesn't pass significant postal reform legislation this year you and I are looking at a new hike in postal rates in 2006. The good news is, if Congress does pass significant postal reform legislation this year -- in the lame duck session -- Potter says we'll still need a postal rate hike in 2006. Thus is the nature of the government-enforced monopoly over mail delivery in these United States: Taxpayers just can't win no matter what they do."

October 20, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire:

• Postmaster General John E. Potter has recognized eight companies the United States Postal Service considers "the best of the best" in supplying its employees with the equipment, tools and services they need to deliver superior products and services to the American public.
• USPS Vice President of International Business, James Wade, has been elected chairman of the Postal Operations Council of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). Wade was selected for the post at a recent meeting of the Council held during the 23rd UPU Congress, a three- week gathering of 175 member countries whose common goal is to improve worldwide mail service. The meeting was held in Bucharest, Romania. Newly appointed to work with Wade in Postal Operations Council action groups are USPS colleagues Chief Postal Inspector, Lee Heath, who will head the UPU Postal Security Action Group, and Senior Vice President of Intelligent Mail and Address Quality, Charlie Bravo, who will lead the UPU Standards Board.

October 20, 2004 -- As the Cleveland Plain Dealer has noted, "One piece looks like an express envelope sent overnight, complete with a tracking number and the signature of the sender: Democrat John Kerry. Another has a voter-registration application folded inside a card featuring an image of Ronald Reagan, the popular Republican president who died this year after a long battle with Alzheimer's. In another, a mother living in New York City offers a personal two-page anti-President Bush letter tucked into a handwritten envelope. Voters here and in other key battleground states are likely receiving a record number of political enticements. And like mortgage brokers and insurance and credit-card companies, Kerry and Bush and their supporters have been dressing up their mail to win the attention of Ohio voters." Hope they all remember that when postal reform is discussed again next year.

October 20, 2004 -- According to Information Week, "Outsourcing logistics operations can make sense when small and midsize companies grow larger or have special needs. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, a unit of United Parcel Service Inc. that now handles all customs brokerage and ground, air, and ocean transportation using its UPS Trade Direct Cross Border software. The proprietary software compiles and consolidates orders, routing them for transport and expediting customs clearance."

October 19, 2004 -- The EMA Foundation has released its final report on "The Intelligent Document Task Force"  and its "White Paper on Postal Reform."

October 19, 2004 -- According to Business Week, "Surfers are increasingly sharing passwords to gain access to online content, threatening ad revenue at registration-only sites. To boost ad sales, many content providers require viewers to answer questions about their gender, age, and income level before allowing access to their site. With that information, they can tell their advertisers exactly what kind of demographic groups they would be reaching and then charge a premium to advertise to those readers. Take away such registration, and the future of the $6.6 billion online advertising market begins to look fuzzy. Advertising typically accounts for 85% to 90% of an online content provider's revenues, so this has got to be troubling." Think MAIL!!

October 19, 2004 -- DM News has reported that "The Universal Postal Union's 190 member countries adopted a five-business day international standard for priority letters at their recent 23rd Universal Postal Congress in Bucharest, Romania."

October 19, 2004 -- As the Amarillo Globe Mail has noted, cities have "ordinances that prevent parking in front of fire hydrants, Dumpsters and access points for people with disabilities. But nothing is on the books to prevent blocking mailboxes. When one is blocked, the postal carrier will put a notice on the resident's door that the mail won't be delivered until the box is cleared. Amarillo is one of the last Texas cities not to have an ordinance prohibiting mailbox blocking."

October 19, 2004 -- Reuters has reported that "FedEx Corp., the world's largest air-express shipper, on Monday said it was building the nation's second largest private solar power system atop its hub in Oakland, California. The 904-kilowatt system will be second in size only to Fala Direct Marketing's solar system in Long Island, New York, which is 1.02 megawatts. FedEx's project, to be built at its hub at Oakland's international airport, is scheduled to begin operations in May, 2005."

October 19, 2004 -- Midi Libre (France) has reported that there is considerable consternation over La Poste's planned reorganization of its retail postal services in rural France.

October 19, 2004 -- Dow Jones has reported that "French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that it's "high time" the country's state-owned postal company La Poste is reformed."

October 19, 2004 -- As Air Force Link has noted, "In a deployed environment, morale is very important and comes in many forms, shapes and sizes, but often by mail."

October 19, 2004 -- According to Information Week, "The U.S. Postal Service has hired government contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. to deliver the next phase of a project to create an organizationwide network that ties together voice, data, video, and other services, saving the government money and providing high-speed data access to 15,000 field offices. The 18-year contract is valued at as much as $3 billion. Moving from networking company MCI--which has provided the Postal Service with network services since 1997 and will continue its service through 2008--to Lockheed Martin will take the Postal Service at least two years, says Bob Otto, chief technology officer. The Postal Service spends as much as $200 million each year on a variety of telecommunications services, including data, LAN, voice, and wireless functions, and Otto says it can save 20% to 30% of those costs by using Lockheed Martin."

October 19, 2004 -- The Poughkeepsie Journal has reported that "A letter carrier who was arrested Friday for allegedly dumping mail will resign, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said."

October 19, 2004 -- ABC Queensland has reported that "Customs officers are to go on strike on Friday, threatening delays at airports, seaports and in postal Centrex in every Australian state."

October 19, 2004 -- The Edmunton Sun (Canada) has reported that "Canada Post is battling an onslaught of complaints and a massive backlog of stinky mail from Asia. The huge cache of parcels - some packed with perishable goods - is piling up in Vancouver due to a staff shortage at the Canadian Border Services Agency. "There's a health issue now, because a lot of this stuff is perishable, and it's starting to go bad," said Canada Post spokesman John Caines. "It stinks."

October 19, 2004 -- BCC Software, a developer of high-performance PC-based solutions for professional mailers, this week announced that Mail Manager 2010 and Mail Manager 2010 LE, the company's flagship products, have earned Zone Analysis Program (ZAP) certification from the United States Postal Service® (USPS®). A new USPS standard, ZAP certification determines whether a presorting product complies with current USPS zone designations used in Periodical mailings, and automatically assigns the correct zones using the most up-to-date zone data.

October 19, 2004 -- The Japan Times has reported that "The government will restrict the right of mail delivery staff to strike after postal privatization begins in April 2007, government sources said Monday. The measure follows concerns by members of the Liberal Democratic Party over possible work stoppages by mail delivery staff, the sources said. Postal privatization will spell the end to Japan Post workers' national public servant status, giving them the right to engage in labor disputes."

October 18, 2004 -- PostCom Members: The minutes of the October 12, 2004 meeting of the PostCom Postal Operations Committee has been posted on this site. 

October 18, 2004 -- According to the Belfast Telegraph (U.K.), "A survey has found that many of Ulster's post offices are not user-friendly for disabled customers and fall behind current legislation."  

October 18, 2004 -- 4NI (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail has been told to "tighten" its procedures in an effort to try to stop fraudsters using the postal system to get to consumers. The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) made the calls after statistics revealed that 67% of complaints about scams aimed at consumers relate to items delivered through the post." 

October 18, 2004 -- Wickwire Gavin LLC will be holding its next seminar on "Contracting with the U.S. Postal Service" on November 16, 2004 at the Tysons Corner Marriott. The goal of the seminar is to provide practical advice on how to work successfully within the Postal Service's unique procurement environment. More information concerning the seminar is available at www.postalservicecontracting.com, or by calling our Seminar Coordinator Beth Hughes at (703) 790-8750. 

October 18, 2004 -- According to the Federal Times, "Seven agencies have been cleared by the administration to pay their senior executives up to 15 percent more in salaries and bonuses under a new pay-for-performance system. The Interior and Transportation departments, the Social Security Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Federal Trade Commission can all move ahead with new pay reforms worth up to $28,700 for top executives, officials at the Office of Personnel Management said. For 2004, total income under the performance-based system is capped at $203,000, compared with $175,700 under the old system. Before agencies can pay the higher salaries, OPM and the Office of Management and Budget must first certify each agency's appraisal system." No, the Postal Service isn't among them. This is something that requires the Governors' attention.

October 18, 2004 -- According to New York Newsday, "Progress in growing the number of women serving on boards of top companies in this country may seem remarkably slow. As of last year, women held just 13.6 percent of board seats on the Fortune 500. But, when compared with other companies in the world - Fortune magazine's Global 200 - U.S. firms make the best showing by far. The four global firms with the most impressive showings: Albertson's, a U.S. retail food and drugstore chain, where women hold 50 percent of the seats; Statoil, Norway's petroleum company, 44.4 percent; Wells Fargo, 35.7 percent; SBC Communications, 35.3 percent; and tied for fifth place, all with 33.3 percent: Hewlett-Packard, J.C. Penney, Royal Ahold of the Netherlands and United Parcel Service. 

October 18, 2004 -- eMediawire has reported that "Recent court papers filed by United Parcel Service, Inc. have asked a federal judge in Pittsburgh to dismiss an ADA class action lawsuit." 

October 18, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire: "Group 1 Software, a wholly- owned subsidiary of Pitney Bowes Inc. has announced that NovaLIS Technologies is integrating Group 1's data quality technology to provide important value-added functionality within their product offerings. This additional functionality will give NovaLIS' customers verified and enriched customer data for use in their applications. NovaLIS, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a leading provider of land information management products to government entities." 

October 18, 2004 -- From the Business Wire:  

• IONA(R) Technologies, a world leader in high-performance integration solutions for mission-critical IT environments, today announced that Deutsche Post AG has selected Artix(TM), IONA's extensible enterprise service bus (ESB), as the foundation for the German postal and logistics company's major IT integration projects. Artix is a key component in Deutsche Post's Service Oriented Platform infrastructure, a next generation platform that will allow seamless and efficient Web and enterprise services-based integration of the IT systems supporting the global operations of the Deutsche Post Group, including DHL. 
• Melissa Data, a leading provider of data quality software and services, today announced the release of SmartMover, an add-on to its best-selling MAILERS+4 presort software. SmartMover was designed to support NCOALink(TM), the new change-of-address technology from the United States Postal Service (USPS(R)). Melissa Data is certified by the USPS as a NCOALink Interface Developer and Interface Distributor. With a subscription to SmartMover, mailers can apply to the USPS for their own certification as a NCOALink end-user or service provider. One of the criteria set by the USPS is that applicants must have a monthly subscription to CASS-certified postal software from a licensed Interface Distributor for NCOALink. Melissa Data's MAILERS+4 fulfills that software requirement. MAILERS+4 software with SmartMover will allow mailers to update their in-house lists with the most recent address changes from the USPS. The data is updated monthly and delivered directly to the end user for list cleansing.

October 18, 2004 -- The Washington Post has reported that "Consumers are constantly pitched new products and services through direct mail, telemarketing calls, e-mail spam, and television and radio spots. But how effective are the ads? Which ones actually make people want to buy a new cell phone or sign up for digital cable? Are advertising campaigns targeting the right audiences? Upper Quadrant says it can help companies answer those questions more effectively. Reston-based Upper Quadrant, founded in January 2002, offers a subscription-based, Web-hosted application that enables companies to compile and share marketing information in a central database." 

October 18, 2004 -- The Financial Post (Canada) has reported that "U.S. firms such as Massachusetts-based Navic Networks are marketing specialty software designed to allow cable companies to deliver what they call "addressable advertising," via the digital set-top boxes used by digital cable subscribers. And advertisers are salivating over the possibilities. Forrester Research, the Boston-based technology research company, found in a recent study that 93% of U.S. advertisers are interested in targeting their television ads to individual households." 

October 18, 2004 -- Arab News has reported that "The Saudi Postal Corporation will start distributing letters, parcels and money orders at the addressees' doorsteps from next month as part of its efforts to modernize postal services."

October 18, 2004 -- Japan Today has reported that "The government plans to impose some restrictions on the right of those engaging in mail delivery services to strike after postal privatization starts in April 2007." 

October 18, 2004 -- The American Postal Workers Union told its members that "Postal workers may remember Gallagher as the chairwoman of the Workforce Subcommittee of the President's Commission on U.S. Postal Service, which recommended that Congress: Create a Postal Regulatory Board that would determine the "comparability" of postal pay to private-sector pay and eliminate any "postal premium;" Require postal unions to bargain for federal pension and healthcare benefits, which currently are guaranteed by law; Consider severing postal workers from federal pension and healthcare programs; Change the ground rules for contract negotiations, reducing the time period for negotiations and mediation and employing a "final offer" mechanism; and Limit the rights of injured postal workers. President Bush is expected to make the appointments while Congress is in recess, bypassing the Senate confirmation process that is normally required of Board of Governor nominees. The White House announcement of the appointments, issued Oct. 8, made no mention of Gallagher's role on the President's Commission. APWU President William Burrus said Gallagher's appointment was bad news for postal workers. "If postal reform is considered by Congress again in 2005 as we expect, Ms. Gallagher's presence on the Board could be an important factor when new legislation is drafted," he said."

October 18, 2004 -- The Lawrence Journal-World has reported that "Neither snow, nor rain nor workplace gloom will keep the nation's post office employees from getting the mail delivered on time. Advertisement But low morale and verbally abusive supervisors are common in post offices across the nation, including Lawrence, according to a book self-published by a retired Oregon letter carrier." 

October 18, 2004 -- According to AFX Europe, "The merchant bank Mediobanca SpA is interested in buying a significant stake in the state-owned post office, Poste SpA, the newspaper La Repubblica said citing financial sources. However, the government still has to decide whether and how to privatise the post office, which is 65 pct owned by the economy ministry and 35 pct by the government-owned financial group Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The government is studying the option of selling part of the ministry's shares in Poste in a global offering, or breaking up the company into two, one entity containing the post office business and the other the banking operations of Bancoposta." 

October 18, 2004 -- The Times (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail is having to recalculate the pension entitlements of more than 120,000 employees after sending out wrong information in virtually all of the annual statements for its workforce." 

October 17, 2004 -- According to the Nordic Business Report, "The Swedish national union of postal workers has reportedly threatened to go on strike over pay and conditions at the end of October. If the union's demands are not met, 2,000 postal workers would reportedly walk out of their posts on 25 October 2004." 

October 17, 2004 -- After the state-run Japan Post is privatized and split into four entities in April 2007, the postal savings and kampo life insurance companies will each have several thousand employees, while mail delivery and over-the-counter service network management companies will have 260,000 workers in total, according to the government's blueprint obtained Saturday by the Yomiuri Shimbun. 

October 17, 2004 -- The Kyodo News Service (Japan) has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party would lose in an election if he dissolved the lower house to give voters the power to decide on his plan to privatize postal services, Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Sunday." 

October 17, 2004 -- According to the Lafayette Journal and Courier, it was an Indiana balloon flight that was the first try at air mail. 

October 17, 2004 -- The Duluth News Tribune has reported that "When a community's post office is somehow endangered, residents can become upset over the issue." 

October 17, 2004 -- The Evening Standard (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton is on course for a showdown with the Government over his plans for the partial privatisation of the business. Leighton, whose contract with Royal Mail ends next March, has been told bluntly by the Department of Trade and Industry that his ideas for a workers' buyout are dead in the water." 

October 16, 2004 -- SitNews has reported that "Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski announced Friday that he regretfully accepted the resignation of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Ernesta Ballard, who leaves state service on October 25th to accept a position as a senior vice president at Weyerhaeuser Company. She was appointed in 1997 by President Clinton to serve on the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service where she chaired the Audit Committee." 

October 16, 2004 -- More on the story about the Tacoma postmaster who ended the program by which UAA Cds, books, and other items were "donated" rather than having them go directly to a mail recovery center. 

October 16, 2004 -- According to B2B magazine, "Direct marketing spending is on the rise for many in the industry, which is welcome news, but the real excitement is centered around good old-fashioned direct mail. Despite indications that direct mail has taken a hit the past few years, including mail volume declines year over year cited by the U.S. Postal Service, the medium is experiencing a resurgence with marketers. Fifty-six percent of marketers report they intend to increase spending on direct mail this year, beating out search engine marketing, print advertising, e-mail and e-newsletters, according to a direct marketing trend survey published in late September by Kern Direct, a direct marketing advertising agency. The key factor that could slow down direct mail's growth is a postal rate increase." 

October 16, 2004 -- Workday Minnesota has reported that "By almost 3-to-1 margins, Postal Workers voting by mail re-elected their top two officers, President William Burrus and Secretary-Treasurer Terry R. Stapleton." 

October 16, 2004 -- According to El Pais (Spain), "The chairman of Spanish postal services provider Correos, Jose Damian Santiago, has said that the company plans to request permission from the Spanish finance ministry for a 2.8 per cent increase in charges for postal services, effective from next year."

October 15, 2004 -- Virtual Systems Corp.® joins Window Book, Inc.® in announcing the release of Window Book's Interface to Mail-Shop™, the popular business management information system for Direct Mailers. This strategic partnership allows Mail-Shop users to create and edit their postage statements and to bring final postage data into Mail-Shop quickly and easily. The added ability to access data electronically saves users tremendous time and money that they would have spent manually entering data into Mail-Shop. This also provides Mail-Shop users with greater accountability—the Window Book Interface to Mail-Shop provides users with the postage usage data necessary to proper invoicing, better accounting and advanced budget planning.

October 15, 2004 -- According to the union group, Uni Asia, "Pressures to privatise and de-regulate postal services in the Asia Pacific region are being spread by two viruses - the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation."

October 15, 2004 -- Traffic World has reported that "UPS opened its new operations centre in Kwai Chung. Located at the ATL Logistics Centre in the Kwai Tsing district of Hong Kong, the 36,421 sq.ft package-sorting facility will expand the company's infrastructure and strengthen its operations in Hong Kong."

October 15, 2004 -- According to postal commentator Gene Del Polito, "Being a participant in this past year's postal reform efforts has been akin to being on the receiving end of a Chinese water torture. The slow drip, drip, drip of missteps, empty promises, barely warmed left-over proposals, and an the lack of interest of those who should have been fully engaged has been a real trip."

October 15, 2004 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that "The value for money of Energywatch and Postwatch, the consumer watchdogs, was challenged yesterday by the National Audit Office. The NAO report has implications for a range of other consumer bodies and comes amid signs of government concern over their cost and effectiveness."

October 15, 2004 -- The Kyodo News Service (Japan) has reported that "The state-backed postal entity said it will make available on its website from next Monday guidelines for the exams that applicants will take and the criteria it will adopt to select qualified people. The move is intended to recruit promising personnel and strengthen post offices' operations ahead of the government's postal privatization due to start in April 2007, Japan Post officials said."

October 15, 2004 -- The Amarillo Globe News said in an editorial: "The U.S. Postal Service has announced that the cost of a first-class stamp is going to remain at 37 cents in 2005. The Postal Service was able to cut costs sufficiently to avoid an announced rate increase. This is great news for Americans who have grown weary of the rising - in some cases, skyrocketing - cost of virtually everything. With that, the Postal Service has managed to stave off an increase, at least for the time being. No promises are forthcoming about 2006 and beyond, but Americans ought to rejoice in the knowledge that the cost of snail mail will stay the same."

October 15, 2004 -- The latest National Association of Major Mail Users (NAMMU) update concerning the latest meetings between the NAMMU leadership and the leadership of Canada Post has been posted on this site. Thanks to NAMMU for permitting this courtesy.

October 15, 2004 -- The History of Air Cargo and Airmail by Camille Allaz is the first and so far only comprehensive work on this subject over a 200 year period in the English language. There is no aspect of mail or cargo transport by air that has not been thoroughly researched and documented by Allaz, from the first brief transport of animals by balloon in France in 1783 to the vast global networks of the integrated express carriers in the 21st century.

October 15, 2004 -- Traffic World has reported that "FedEx appears to be on a roll whether or not shippers speed up the movement of their goods. The numbers from the world's largest express operator suggest the company and its market are undergoing dramatic change. Demand for international airfreight is strong but the slowing U.S. domestic business reflects shippers' increasing preference for time-definite ground services. FedEx says the growth of FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight is allowing the company to bid for business across various modes, and pick up freight even though industrial shippers in the domestic market remain focused on keeping costs lower through cheaper ground services."

October 15, 2004 -- According to Le Figaro (France), "A French employment tribunal has ruled that the Indre regional division of the French post office, La Poste, abused the system of fixed-term contracts by signing 345 of them with one employee over seven years. The worker in question, a woman, performed tasks such as counter service and cleaning during the period in question in various post offices in the Indre region."

October 15, 2004 -- The Ironwood Daily Globe (Canada) has reported that "It's been over a year and a half since the post office in Gile closed. Curbside delivery is increasing, and now Montreal officials are concerned about placement of mailboxes. Placement of mailboxes in both Montreal and Gile came under attack at Tuesday's city council meeting."

October 15, 2004 -- The Independent (U.K.) has reported that "Complaints about lost, damaged and late post have rocketed by more than 300 per cent in two years and are likely to reach 40,000 by the end of the financial year, according to new figures from the independent postal service watchdog. Postwatch, the organisation set up to monitor Royal Mail, handled 28,000 complaints last year, up from just 6,300 in 2002, and says complaints this year are already on course to reach 40,000 by April. Of the 28,000 complaints handled by the watchdog last year, only 88 were about companies other than Royal Mail."

October 15, 2004 -- Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Josette Sheeran Shiner presented a lengthy list of recommendations for regulatory and economic structural reform to the government of Japan on October 14, according to a press release issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) the same day. The United States placed special emphasis on Japan's plans to privatize important government entities, such as the country's postal businesses, which heavily influence financial and insurance industries. "Japan Post privatization should be market-oriented and carried out in a transparent way that establishes a level playing field for all participants in the market," said Shiner. Shiner praised an October 12 statement by Prime Minister Koizumi before the Japanese Diet. The premier said that Japan's development depends on structural economic reforms.

October 15, 2004 -- CNET has reported that "Amazon.com plans to enter the DVD rental business in a move that will put the online retail giant in direct competition with Netflix. Netflix, which rents DVDs on the Internet and delivers them via the U.S. Postal Service, plans to introduce a movie download service in 2005 in partnership with TiVo, which sells personal digital video recorders."

October 15, 2004 -- According to the Tullahoma News, "The Tullahoma Area Chamber Business Development Committee is hosting a seminar on "Exploring New Services Through the U.S. Postal Service" on Thursday, October 28, 2004."

October 15, 2004 -- Japan Times has reported that "A former Cabinet minister demanded Thursday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reach a compromise with the Liberal Democratic Party over his plan to privatize the nation's postal services. Toranosuke Katayama, a former posts and telecommunications minister and the current secretary general of the LDP's Upper House caucus, made the demand during the day's plenary session of the House of Councilors. It is rare in the party-oriented Diet system for a member of the ruling party to criticize the government in this fashion during a plenary session."

October 15, 2004 -- UPS will announce its third quarter results on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004, at approximately 8 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. At 10 a.m. EDT, UPS Chief Financial Officer Scott Davis will conduct an investor conference call. This call will be open to reporters and the public, on a listen-only basis, via a live Webcast. To listen to the live Webcast: Go to UPS Investor Relations and click on "Earnings Webcast." The Webcast audio then will remain accessible on the Investor Relations Website for a limited time.

October 14, 2004 -- As the Was hington Post has noted, "As lawmakers straggled out of town for the final three weeks of their campaigns, a bitterly divided 108th Congress left behind a huge stack of unfinished business -- and dead bills -- on issues that had been top priorities for both parties." Quick! Name one legislative issue that was unanimously approved by congressional authorizing committees in their respective chambers that never came up for a full floor vote. Riiiight! Postal reform! Now comes the endless Washington bleating: "Don't blame you. Don't blame me. Blame the man behind the tree."

October 14, 2004 -- And one bright note we overlooked...."The U.S. Postal Service has gained international recognition for on-time delivery performance and customer care for its Global Express Mail (GEM) service. Paul Vogel, USPS vice president of Network Operations Management, accepted an award for GEM in Bucharest, Romania, at the 23rd Universal Postal Union (UPU) Congress, a gathering attended by members of postal services worldwide. GEM, one of the Postal Service's expedited international mail delivery offerings, provides fast service to 18 countries."

October 14, 2004 -- Borsen-Zeitung (Germany) has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German post office group, has confirmed that it intends to spin off its post offices into a separate subsidiary from 1 January 2005. The resulting entity will consist of 13 divisions and will be managed by four board members. The group argues that the reorganisation will result in leaner management structures and speedier decision-making processes. Meanwhile, Deutsche Post is planning to close 1,000 of its 13,000 post offices across Germany by the end of 2005. German law obliges the group to operate at least 12,000 post offices across the country. At present, Deutsche Post operates 6,000 fully-controlled post offices, while the remaining 7,000 ones are operated by partners."

October 14, 2004 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that:

• Post Office executives are to be grilled by MPs overt he future of the 550 high street crown offices, some ofwhich are facing closure, relocation or being taken over. Crown post offices are directly owned by the Post Office, unlike smaller sub-post offices, and lose almost £70m a year thanks to soaring rents, inefficient use of space and labour-intensive working practices. Options being considered to make the offices more commercially viable are closure, relocation to nearby but lower-cost premises, and franchising out to convenience store groups.

• Post comm, the UK's postal regulator, has appointed Sarah Chambers as chief executive following Martin Stanley's departure to the Competition Commission. Nigel Stapleton, Postcomm chairman, is the postal industry's regulator but Ms Chambers will help make regulatory policy as one of Postcomm's seven commissioners. As chief executive, she will take over the day-to-day running of the organisation.

October 14, 2004 -- AFX Europe has reported that "French state-owned postal service La Poste said it is seeking government approval to raise the price of stamps for its basic domestic and European deliveries to 0.55 eur from 0.50 currently, as of Feb 1 2005. If the increase is implemented, it will be La Poste's second price hike since 1996. In May last year, the company raised the price of stamps to 0.50 eur from 0.46 previously."

October 14, 2004 -- Kyodo news service (Japan) has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi faced questions Thursday from his Liberal Democratic Party about his postal privatization drive in a House of Councillors plenary session."

October 14, 2004 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "A new survey has been released on trends and needs in the global logistics industry. The survey, consisting of more than 650 logistics and supply chain executives in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America, was undertaken by consulting company Cap Gemini in conjunction with the Georgia Institute of Technology and FedEx."

October 14, 2004 -- The Charlotte Observer has reported that "Stallings officials learned last week that the post office they've lobbied for won't be built. A letter dated Oct. 4 from the U.S. Postal Service states that Stallings residents are adequately served by the Indian Trail post office, which is two miles away, and the Matthews post office, which is three miles away. But Stallings residents can use "Stallings" as their address if their ZIP code is 28104."

October 14, 2004 -- KIRO-TV has reported that "A local Postal Service program that salvaged books, merchandise and CDs from piles of dead mail has been killed by a new manager, the News Tribune of Tacoma reported. The program, created in 1998 by employees at the Tacoma Processing and Distribution Center, generated thousands of dollars in donations to nonprofit agencies and saved thousands of dollars in landfill fees, columnist Kathleen Merryman wrote."

October 14, 2004 -- Le Monde (France) has reported that "The French post office, La Poste, and the French division of Dutch bank ABN Amro have set up a private equity firm specialising in consultancy."

October 14, 2004 -- The Hindu Business Line wants to know: "What would you do if volumes of nearly all the major products you sell, as a monopoly of sorts, crashed year after year by 10 per cent? Resign yourself to becoming extinct? Wait for a takeover? Diversify? If so where would you go if you have been pretty much in the same business, carrying on merrily, well acclaimed as a success, for over a century? If you were a family-led enterprise, the answer might well depend upon the dynamics of the choices made at family conclaves, the shifting power equations or the word of the founder or patriarch. The story is very different when it is a public service managed and run by the State, as with mail services, now branded as India Post."

October 14, 2004 -- From the Business Wire: "American Locker Group Incorporated announced that its current contracts with the United States Postal Service (USPS) have been extended through February 28, 2005. On October 8, 2004 the Company and the USPS agreed to contract modifications that extend the current contracts for both polycarbonate and aluminum Cluster Box Units (CBUs) through February 28, 2005 and also lowered prices on all styles of CBU by approximately one percent (1%). All other terms and conditions of the contracts remain unchanged."

October 13, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire: "As part of its ongoing drive to optimize efficiency and conserve natural resources, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) today announced that Chevron Energy Solutions has completed major energy efficiency upgrades and one of the largest federal solar power installations in the nation, at the USPS's West Sacramento Processing & Distribution Center."

October 13, 2004 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• The German government does currently not see the need for an opening of the mail market to partial mail services. In a letter addressed to the European Commission, the Department for Economy and Employment (BMWA) stated that the amendment to the Postal Act, which is expected this autumn, would not include ‘the opening of the mail market to so-called consolidators'.
• Österreichische Post intends to save around 22.7m euros by 2007 through restructuring measures in post office branches.
• The Belgian government will be hunting for a partner for La Poste next year. According to media reports, the Dutch TPG is the most likely candidate.
• DHL Worldwide Express has apparently transferred several million euros from its organisations in different countries to tax haven Bermuda over many years. The German weekly news magazine ‘Der Spiegel' (11.10) reports that the money was transferred to the DHL International Ltd Bermuda headquarters, going first to Brussels or Amsterdam and then via detours, such as the Dutch Antilles and the Cayman Islands, and using a complex system of profit transfer agreements, licence fees and cost accounting involving many subsidiaries. Such transactions are reportedly not illegal and have been checked and approved by the financial authorities in question.
• FedEx Express says it is planning to establish a Polish subsidiary.
• FedEx is one of the biggest political sponsors in the USA. A recently published survey shows that the integrator has donated a total of 8m USD. FedEx thus ranks third on the list of sponsoring companies, after AT&T and SBC Communications.

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..

October 13, 2004 -- The Louisville Courier-Journal has reported that "United Parcel Service said yesterday it plans to hire at least 100 additional pilots, most of whom will be based in Louisville. Spokesman Mark Giuffre said new airplanes and expectations of more international flying created the need for additional flight crews. The pilots will be added through next year."

October 13, 2004 -- The President of the National League of Postmasters has told his members that he "attended a meeting at Postal Headquarters on October 6, 2004, for a briefing on a new program that will involve connecting Postmasters with small- to medium-sized businesses in their local communities. He comments: USPS is launching a new program that will reward Postmasters for connecting with their local businesses. The effort is an extension of Customer Connect and seeks to educate local businesses on USPS.com and how it can serve all business segments. The new program intends to use Postmasters and station managers to create awareness of USPS.com with businesses and business leaders. Postmasters can participate in a voluntary competition that will run from January 17 to March 11, 2005. The effort will include post offices that are on the "MyPO" network (primarily delivery offices.) Marketing hopes to touch 1 million small businesses during the eight-week period. You will be getting further details in December and will receive your training materials in January."

October 13, 2004 -- The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service will host a series of orientation sessions, beginning today, for people interested in processing mail temporarily during the holiday season."

October 13, 2004 -- The Associated Press has reported that "Shipping company FedEx has signed an agreement with the Bosnian postal services to open 150 branches in the Bosnian Serb half of the country, officials said Wednesday. The contract foresees FedEx opening branches in 150 post offices in Bosnia's Serb republic, said Milutin Pejic, the general director of the republic's postal service. FedEx official Faruk Sahinagic said his company would handle international shipments, while the post office would handle the fast delivery within the republic."

October 13, 2004 -- As the Trenton Times has noted, "Three years after Mercer County learned it was the starting point for the nation's first bioterrorism attack, the Route 130 mail facility where at least four anthrax-laced letters were processed slowly is returning to life."

October 13, 2004 -- The Jamaica Observer has reported that "The Postal Corporation of Jamaica (PostCorp), in a drive for profitability, is to offer occasional mail delivery primarily to business clients, and in the process, strengthen a market segment that is still in its infancy. With this new service, the PostCorp believes it can enable corporate Jamaica to reach targeted audiences efficiently by distributing their brochures and fliers."

October 13, 2004 -- Business World (Ireland) has reported that "Communications watchdog, ComReg, today launched a new Website aimed at answering the general public's queries on the sectors that it regulates (including postal)."

October 13, 2004 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "Postwatch is seeking opinions on what Royal Mail's performance targets should be from April 2006 and, to kick off the three-month consultation period, it has published a document setting out its views to encourage public comment and to stimulate debate. The consumer watchdog for postal services believes meeting Royal Mail's current 16 current licence targets -- including that at least 93% of 1st class letters should arrive next day -- should be the priority, but looking ahead the watchdog says customer service levels should be more clearly defined."

October 13, 2004 -- Brunei Online has reported that "With the fasting month of Ramadhan around the corner, a religious talk was held in conjunction with the Universal Postal Day 2004 at the Ministry of Communications building yesterday. The talk was presented by Ustaz Dr Haji Ismuhadi bin Haji Abdullah from the Islamic Dakwah Centre, who discussed issues related to 'Amanah'. Haji Azahari bin Haji Mohd Ali in his capacity as the Acting Post Master General was among those present at the talk yesterday. He encouraged staff members to put what they have learnt during the religious talk into practice at the workplace. After the talk, a doa and a bertahlil was held."

October 13, 2004 -- The Viet Nam News Agency has reported that "The 34th Universal Postal Union (UPU) letter writing competition for teenagers with the topic of "A letter to my favourite fairytale character" was launched in Ha Noi on Wednesday. All entries by Vietnamese teenagers must be sent to Viet Nam's organising board for the UPU contest before January 15, 2005."

October 13, 2004 -- The South African Star has reported that "The Communication Workers Union has agreed to suspend a countrywide Post Office strike scheduled for today. About 20 000 union members were preparing to embark on the largest strike action in the postal services for the past 11 years, to demand an initial 3% increase effective from July last year, plus an additional 7% increase this year. The strike has been averted following negotiations which led to an interim agreement between the SA Post Office and the CWU."

October 13, 2004 -- SAB C has reported that "Zimbabwean police were holding three trade unionists over a pay strike at the country's state- owned post and telecommunications firms, union officials said today. "No reasons for the arrest were given," the ZCTU said in a statement. Workers at Zimbabwe Post (Zimpost) and telephone company TelOne went on strike last week over what they said was failure by management to deliver a pay increase awarded in June after arbitration. It has also demanded better management of the economy, mired in a crisis which critics blame on president Robert Mugabe's government. Mugabe denies mismanaging the economy and says it has been sabotaged by domestic and foreign opponents angry over forcible redistribution of white-owned farms to blacks dispossessed when Britain colonised the country more than a century ago."

October 12, 2004 -- The Federal Times has reported that "lawmakers of both parties are frustrated by the White House's inaction on legislation to overhaul the way the U.S. Postal Service operates. House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., is frustrated that the White House does not appear to recognize the urgency of reforming the Postal Service and has not lent its clout to advance the bills, said Davis spokesman David Marin."

October 12, 2004 -- The U.S. Senate has received the following nominations: Carolyn L. Gallagher, of Texas, to be a Governor of the United States Postal Service for the remainder of the term expiring December 8, 2005. Louis J. Giuliano, of New York, to be a Governor of the United States Postal Service for a term expiring December 8, 2009. 

October 12, 2004 -- UniAfrica has reported on "Major events in the postal sector in Africa in 2004."

October 12, 2004 -- According to AFX, "The Belgian government has given the country's postal service La Poste/De Post the green light to find an industrial partner, according to a report in Le Soir daily newspaper, citing unknown sources."

October 12, 2004 -- "My parcel grew legs at South African customs." So complained one reader of Cape Argus.

October 12, 2004 -- Poor quality customer address data costs American businesses a staggering $611 billion per year! How? Wasted printing and postage costs from undeliverable mail, depressed direct marketing ROI, inflated shipping and fulfillment costs, exposure to fraud and delayed collections are some examples of the way invalid customer addresses can impact your bottom line. Join QAS for a FREE 60-minute webinar The address data quality experts at QAS will show you why the costs and inefficiencies caused by invalid customer addresses are not "just another cost of doing business."

October 12, 2004 -- Harte-Hanks has been named for the third consecutive year to the Software Magazine 500, the industry-leading publication’s annual guide to the top software companies in the industry. Harte-Hanks achieved a ranking of number 69, ranking among the leading "CRM" providers on this year's list.

October 12, 2004 -- UsingRFID.com has reported that "The Swiss firm Giulen has released details of a new RFID-based 'smart stamp' that can be attached to conventional envelopes, offering the option of carrying electronic data and tracking information on postal mail items. According to Giulen, the new smart stamp concept provides the ability to store text, data, audio and even video with a mailed envelope extends mailing information to other contents (text, data, audio and video)."

October 12, 2004 -- ThisDayNews has reported that "A new lease of life will soon come to subscribers of the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST), nationwide, as the Federal Government has given a fresh mandate to NIPOST to deliver interstate mails within 48 hours."

October 12, 2004 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said his plan to sell state-run Japan Post in 2007 is the nation's ``biggest reform'' in more than a century and is crucial to extending the nation's economic revival."

October 12, 2004 -- Japan Today has reported that "Japan Post had 30 billion yen in hard-to-recover receivables as of Dec 31, 2002, due mainly to mistakes, embezzlement and theft, the Board of Audit of Japan said Tuesday in a survey."

October 12, 2004 -- From the Business Wire: "ADVO, Inc. has announced that its Board of Directors has elected Scott Harding as Chief Executive Officer, effective October 15. Harding was also appointed to the Company's Board of Directors, effective October 15. Harding, 56, co-founded Newspaper Services of America (NSA) in 1991 and since then has served as the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. NSA, the nation's largest print media planning and buying agency, was sold to the Interpublic Group of Companies in 1995."

October 12, 2004 -- Suddeutsche Zeitung (Germany) has reported that "The head office of DHL, the express and logistics subsidiary of German postal service operator Deutsche Post, is reported to have been transferred from the Bermudas to Germany. This forms part of an extensive restructuring programme that has been commenced by Klaus Zumwinkel, the head of Deutsche Post. The reason for the restructuring plan is reported to be that an increasing number of problems have been experienced with the integration of DHL, which was taken over in 2003. Other parts of the company, which has sites around the world, are also to be transferred to Germany over the next few months."

October 12, 2004 -- According to the Financial Times, "Few people in Japan can quite understand Junichiro Koizumi's obsession with privatising the post office. Why is Mr Koizumi investing so much political capital in this? The answer is that the post office – an enormous institution once run by the prime minister's grandfather, Matajiro, and which employs one in three of all public servants – has become a symbol of all that is wrong with Japan for Mr Koizumi. Richard Katz, a US economist, describes the post office as nothing short of the nexus of politics and money that has sustained Japan's corrupt post-war political system."

October 11, 2004 -- From the Concord Monitor: "I'm all for the Red Sox, but I don't want the post office spending money on their games. L ike all morally right people in the world, I am willing the Red Sox to go all the way this year, from annihilating Anaheim to doing away with the A-Rod of Evil and his minions. But that's not really what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about is a few words I heard on the radio the other night as I was listening to the Sox-Angels game. The words were, roughly, this: This broadcast brought to you by the United States Postal Service. The post office. The Red Sox were being brought to me by the post office. Well, not just the post office. It was the post office and some office furniture store and an herbal product that sounds like Viagra but isn't. The post office is a government agency, funded by taxpayers. Taxpayers get hit twice by the post office, through the direct funding it receives from our tax dollars and, more obviously, the user fee we pay every time we mail a letter, package or postcard."

October 11, 2004 -- According to the Journal of Commerce, "FedEx Corp. may be having second thoughts about moving its Asia-Pacific hub to China from the Philippines. The Beijing Morning Post quoted Eddy Chan, regional vice-president for the China region at FedEx, as saying the decision to move the hub from its base at Subic Bay would be compromised higher fuel and landing costs at China's new Guangzhou international airport."

October 11, 2004 -- Jones Day has reported that "In Virginia, the heat is off the taxpayer and on the Department of Taxation to prove it delivered a written notice of assessment under Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Commonwealth of Virginia, Dep't of Taxation, No. LR-1204-3, 2004 Va. Cir. LEXIS 223 (Va. Cir. Ct. July 29, 2004). It would be impossible for a taxpayer to prove the opposite, that a document was never delivered, a Virginia court found. The Court of the City of Richmond found that the burden of proof rests on the Department of Taxation to show that a written notice of assessment has been delivered. The court held that the Department failed to meet its burden in Circuit City Stores, Inc.'s challenge of a sales and use tax assessment. The burden of proof rests on the Department because it is the party with the last control over the document. To prevail, the Department of Taxation must show that it delivered the document by some means, the court said." 

October 11, 2004 -- New Kerala has reported that "Increasing use of mobile phones, penetration of private courier companies and easy accessibility to e-mails have resulted in revenues of the Kerala Postal Circle declining. Despite the fall in revenue, the Kerala Postal Circle leads country with the highest density of post offices."

October 11, 2004 -- The latest update from the Mail and Jobs Coalition on its activities has been posted on the PostCom Weblog.

October 11, 2004 -- Michael Critelli, Pitney Bowes CEO, has said in a perspective published in DM News: "Quick, rank the world's most dynamic industries, with market presence, growth potential in core offerings and new products and services and the infrastructure to accommodate new growth. Did you list the global mailing industry? If not, you're overlooking a sector wherein market dynamics, new technologies and regulatory change are poised to reinvigorate the value of mail and related services."

October 11, 2004 -- The Fina ncial Times (U.K.) has reported that "Headhunters are telling candidates for a Royal Mail boardroom job that the loss-making postal service is likely to be privatised during the term of the next government. The approach, made this month, is contentious as the government says it has no plans to sell off the Royal Mail. The Department of Trade and Industry said: 'Privatisation of Royal Mail is not on the government agenda.' One private sector executive approached for the post of marketing director said it was made clear that the main appeal of the job was the opportunity to earn large sums during a sale. 'It was all about the share options,' said the executive. 'They made clear there was a chance to become a millionaire in the next three or four years. The job is to prepare the company for a possible sale.'"

October 11, 2004 -- The New Zealand Herald has reported that "Former New Zealand Post chief executive Elmar Toime, 56, has quit as deputy chairman of Britain's Royal Mail, after losing a power struggle with its chief executive, the Times newspaper reports in London. But though Mr Toime is reported to be leaving the British postal group with its worst service record in the organisation's history, he will walk away with severance pay of over £775,000 ($2,062,816) after working there for just 18 months."

October 11, 2004 -- The Berkshire Eagle has reported that "A resident's protest of a change in parcel delivery policies at Berkshiretown Apartments on Columbus Avenue has prompted U.S. Postal Service officials to review the policy."

October 11, 2004 -- From the Business Wire: "Alpine Air Express, Inc., and its subsidiary, Alpine Aviation Inc., which is the third largest regional cargo airline and transportation logistics company in the U.S., with a fleet of 30 airplanes and projected annual sales of $20M+, announces that Universal Express, Inc. has reached an agreement with the Company to purchase 80% of its outstanding shares. Multiple documents setting forth the terms and conditions of the agreement have been presented to and accepted by Universal Express. Alpine Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alpine Air Express Inc., provides competitively priced scheduled air cargo flights throughout the western and southwestern United States. The Company has an established client base that includes various contract operations and the U.S. Postal Service."
  
October 11, 2004 -- Did you know that 5.7 billion mailpieces were reported Undeliverable as Addressed (UAA) by the USPS (United States Postal Service) in just one year? To confront this challenge, the USPS and the mailing industry have joined together in creating new data and tools to reduce UAA mail. However, if you haven't heard about them or are unsure how they can improve your mailings, then you won't want to miss this iSummit Web Seminar on October 18, 2004 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

October 11, 2004 -- As the Washington Post has noted, "Lockheed Martin Corp. won a contract potentially worth $3 billion to provide managed network services to the U.S. Postal Service. Under the Universal Computing Connectivity program, Lockheed will provide data, voice, video, wireless and managed security services to the Postal Service's 37,000 locations and integrate all its data communication networks, including wide and local area networks, into a single network service. The company also will supply all related hardware and software." iSummit Web seminar on October 18 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time.

October 11, 2004 --  The Business Report (South Africa) has reported that "Postbank, the savings institution that is a division of the South African Post Office, is taking on the country's big four commercial banks by competing for the business of the country's 13.2 million unbanked."

October 11, 2004 -- Ealing Times (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail has refused to accept claims that its service is "poor" despite numerous complaints from a customer about missing mail."

October 11, 2004 -- News From Bangladesh has reported that "The government plans introduction of an automatic letter sorter for the postal department."

October 11, 2004 -- The Harare Herald (Zimbabwe) has reported that "Government has given Zimpost $6,29 billion for postal network expansion and computerisation under the Public Sector Investment Programme, the Deputy Minister for Transport and Communications, Cde Andrew Langa, said at the weekend. In a speech read on his behalf to mark World Postal Day in Harare by the ministry's acting secretary, Mr Amos Makarau, Cde Langa said under this programme, Zimpost was establishing 20 new post offices and eight sub-post offices, which were at various stages of construction and with completion due by the end of the year. This year's theme at the commemoration was "Reaching Everyone Everywhere"."

October 10, 2004 -- NepalNews has reported that "The remote mid-western district of Mugu have been cut off from the rest of the world, with the postal system in rural areas collapsing under violent attacks by Maoist guerrillas on mail carriers and postal offices. The Maoists have attacked post offices and ordered postmen not to deliver mail in remote villages for the past two years, reports said. The Maoists banned the movement of postmen in the district suspecting that security men could spy against them."

October 10, 2004 -- MaldivesInfo has reported that "The Minister of Communication, Science and Technology has said that postal services play a vital role in the country's economic development and communication system. He made the remarks in a supplement published on daily newspaper on the occasion of the World Post Day. In his speech the Minister said that several countries share the common view of making the Post Office similar to that of a place operating in a competitive market and considerable success has been achieved in this regard. He noted that with established goals for postal development and input for its achievements, countries are enjoying its associated economic developments and added that this is the same for Maldives."

October 9, 2004 -- MENA.FN has reported that "From Fred Smith's perspective, one of the great walls of protectionism will tumble any day now. It will happen when the U.S. government formally awards FedEx, the company Smith founded 33 years ago, the authority to more than double its overnight air freight service to China in the next six months. A dozen more flights a week might not seem like much. But Smith promises that's just the first wave of new trading opportunities that will yield big benefits for the USA and China and, in the process, FedEx, too. FedEx is hardly alone among transportation companies -- or U.S. companies in general -- in eyeing the profit potential in China. When the government grants authority for expanded service to China, other carriers, including rival United Parcel Service, will get similar rights. But FedEx is better positioned than its competitors to take advantage of China's economic awakening."

October 9, 2004 -- As the DM Bulletin has noted, "Royal Mail's deputy chairman Elmar Toime has quit the company with a £775,000 pay-off after a bust-up with chief executive Adam Crozier and the group's worst service record in history. After just 18 months in the post, Toime is expected to walk away with £775,000. By contrast, postal workers do not receive any severance pay if they take redundancy with less than two year's service. Toime's move comes as Royal Mail nears the end of 30,000 job cuts among its postal workers."

October 9, 2004 -- Star of Mysore (India) has reported that "You have seen postmen coming to your doorstep to deliver letters. In future, he will extend his walk to your house one step further — he will collect the letters too, which you want to post, thus freeing you from the trouble of walking to the post office. The Postal Department has launched several reforms to improve its revenue and tackle the competition posed by the e-mail and private courier companies. Just give a call to the Post Office after your letter is ready, and the postman will rush to your house to collect it."

October 9, 2004 -- As Direct has noted, "Readers who haven't ordered personalized stamps featuring photos of their loved ones, prized possessions or former vice president Spiro Agnew yet are out of luck: Stamps.com, a privately held firm, voluntarily ended PhotoStamps, a joint offering with the U.S. Postal Service. The program allowed customers to upload personal photographs onto live postage stamps.  At a time when first-class mail use has been declining, and is facing further declines in the years to come, if a few miscreants want to spend more than twice the cost of a stamp to put controversial figures on 'em, power to them. Yes, the potential for abuse was there. But unlike mass media, the number of people who are going to be exposed to these images is relatively small -- the sender, the recipient, and a few postal employees along the way. And I doubt that most letter carriers have the time -- or the inclination -- to scrutinize stamps on every letter they carry carefully enough to be offended."

October 9, 2004 -- According to the Financial Times, "The privatisation of Japan's post office, the centrepiece of prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's political agenda, could disrupt public debt management and unsettle investors by erasing one pillar of the government bond market. Japan Post, the world's biggest financial institution, currently owns just under 25 per cent of outstanding Japanese government bonds (JGBs) - total issuance is estimated at Y483,000bn by the Ministry of Finance - through the postal savings and postal insurance systems. But once privatisation kicks off in 2007, that proportion is likely to shrink."

October 9, 2004 -- Dubai Interact has reported that "Emirates Post celebrated the World Post Day by felicitating the winners and participants of two postal competitions held during the year, as part of the worldwide celebrations to mark the 130th anniversary of the founding of Universal Postal Union (UPU)."

October 9, 2004 -- News Today (India) has reported that "Issuing of photo identity cards and voter's list verification will be soon undertaken by the Department of Post, Vatsala Raghu, Chief Post Master General, Tamilnadu Circle has said."

October 9, 2004 -- Catalog Age has reported that "The Internet is moving up as the preferred channel for sales spurred by catalog recipients. Only 43% of purchases spurred by catalog mailings were done at the catalog's call center, while one third occurred online and just under one quarter were made at retail outlets, according to the 2004 Abacus Annual Catalog Industry Trend Report. The trend toward Web purchases is an ever-increasing one: In 2003, 32% were conducted online, compared with 28% percent in 2002. And four years ago, catalog order sizes were 13% higher than online orders. But this year order sizes have reached parity as consumers have become more comfortable with websites and marketers have become more effective in up-selling and cross-selling online, according to the report."

October 9, 2004 -- The Daily News (Sri Lanka) has a nice piece on "Postal transmission in Sri Lanka, two centuries ago."

October 9, 2004 -- Xinhua has reported that "The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) said Saturday it would continue encouraging the private participation in the postal sector."

October 9, 2004 -- Saturday Nation (Kenya) has reported that "Kenya will host the 2008 Universal Postal Union congress. It beat the United Arab Emirates in a hotly contested election during the 23rd talks in Bucharest, Romania, from September 15 to October 5, Information and Communications minister Raphael Tuju said yesterday. Kenya, he noted, would immensely benefit from the prestigious international meeting. "It is estimated that $15 million (Sh1.2 billion) will be brought into the country as foreign earnings from delegates for services and goods, including revenue from visa fees and a special commemorative stamp issue to be sold to world philatelists during the congress." This will be the first time in 75 years for an African country to get the honour."

October 9, 2004 -- Traffic World has reported that "In an agreement with Bellevue, Washington-based ChemPoint.com, an Internet enabled distributor for specialty and fine chemicals, DHL will provide the small package warehousing and delivery needs for one of ChemPoint's premier product lines across North America. Utilizing and integrating DHL's full-service capabilities will provide more shipping options and flexibility for ChemPoint's customer base. ChemPoint's fulfilment and shipping operations will be managed from DHL Logistics' facilities in Fresno, California and Columbus, Ohio. Both facilities support ChemPoint's nationwide customer base. Deliveries will be made in two business days to most customers via DHL's guaranteed ground service."

October 8, 2004 -- Expatica has reported that "Workers at Belgium's post office and public transport companies are threatening to strike later this month."

October 8, 2004 -- The Telegraph (U.K.) has reported that "Elmar Toime, the deputy executive chairman of Royal Mail, is leaving the board by mutual agreement, the organisation said yesterday. Mr Toime, who formerly headed the New Zealand Post Office, joined 18 months ago at the same time as chief executive Adam Crozier. He was paid £500,000 a year basic salary and deferred half of his £300,000 bonus this year after Royal Mail missed all its performance targets. It is understood that Royal Mail will honour his one-year contract. Sources close to Royal Mail said that Mr Toime, who is 56, had been quietly sidelined. He was moved from controlling the letters business to the parcels business in May - with Mr Crozier taking over the high-profile letters division. There have been rumours of difficulties between the two."

October 8, 2004 -- As DM News has reported, "Most mailers are aware that the size of a postage rate increase in 2006 could grow heavily if postal reform legislation is not signed into law during this session of Congress. What they might not know is that the current lack of funding in both the House and Senate postal appropriations bills could force postage rates to rise even higher."

October 8, 2004 -- The Washington Post has reported that "A former purchasing specialist for the U.S. Postal Service pleaded guilty yesterday to accepting nearly $800,000 in bribes from businesses that received preferential treatment on printing contracts. Daniel J. Williams Jr., 62, of Accokeek took the payments over 12 years and used the money to buy a Prince George's County home and such luxuries as a Corvette and a diamond-studded Rolex watch, prosecutors said."

October 8, 2004 -- The BBC (U.K.) has reported that "A postman who hid nearly 25,000 items of mail at his home has been given an eight month suspended sentence at Newport Crown Court."

October 8, 2004 -- Sunnetwork.org (India) has reported that "Faced with fierce competition from courier companies and cyber advances, the Department of Posts is embarking on a modernisation drive. Launching of customer-friendly products is the hallmark of the new initiative. After having launched e-post and gift schemes, the Department is keen to launch Demat facility for National Savings Certificate. The facility available in some North Indian cities will now be extended to Kerala soon. Eventually, the Certificate could be offered for trading as in the case of shares, according to official sources."

October 8, 2004 -- The Pretoria News (South Africa) has reported that "Postal services could be disrupted on Monday when members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) embark on protest action against wage increases. The protest action is set to involve work to rule, lunch-hour pickets and protest marches, as well as a complete stayaway by the estimated 11 000 CWU members." See also the Mail and Guardian.

October 8, 2004 -- DMA President John Greco has told his members that "neither of the committee-approved postal reform bills has been scheduled for consideration by the full House or Senate, and it appears very unlikely that postal reform is going to happen this year. The DMA remains committed to work with all involved parties to preserve the future of the USPS as a vehicle for affordable, reliable, and universal postal services for many years to come. It remains urgently necessary for Congress to sufficiently address the problem facing the USPS pertaining to its Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) escrow account requirement before the USPS files the rate case at the PRC. As long as our friends in Congress push for postal reform, we remain committed to them. However, we will continue to stress to them that if reform does not occur, a CSRS "fix" – likely a two-year elimination of the escrow – is mandatory because higher than necessary postal rate increases are clearly unacceptable. We will continue to work closely with other stakeholders who share our position on the escrow account in order to avoid a larger-than-necessary rate increase in 2006.

October 8, 2004 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?  Send us by email your name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance to see what you've been missing.
 

October 8, 2004 -- Deutsche Post World Net has announced the launch of DHL Smart & Global Mail, uniting domestic and international mail industry leaders Deutsche Post Global Mail, SmartMail Services and QuikPak under the premier DHL umbrella brand recognized around the world for excellence in shipping and logistics. While DHL Smart & Global Mail shares the DHL umbrella brand with DHL Express, the two companies will remain separate business units under the parent company, Deutsche Post World Net.

October 8, 2004 -- A new study from Andrew Lester & Associates' PacTrac © research programme covering the German parcels and packets market found that Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) still faces strong competition in international parcels and express services.

October 8, 2004 -- Business Mailers Review has reported that:

• A call to arms has gone out in these waning days of the congressional session, and last-ditch lobbying on postage rate relief will go down to the wire, including through a lame-duck congressional session after the November elections. The meeting certainly spurred some groups to action. The congressional newspaper Roll Call carried a full-page advertisement on Oct. 6, urging Congress to address the unfair stamp tax that looms. of its member newspapers for emphasis. But the emergency meeting also highlighted the resignation among some parties that Congress simply will not act on postal issues until a crisis is staring it in the face.
• The Postal Rate Commission recommended approval of the Discover Financial Services negotiated service agreement with the Postal Service, which gives Discover volume-discount incentives to send more pieces as First Class Mail.
• Some attendees at the recent National Postal Forum attributed the energy on the exhibit floor to the general feeling that a nice recovery is occurring in some segments of the mailing industry. Companies are starting to think about expansion, and/ or hiring for sales, marketing or development positions – things that were not happening the past few years as the economy struggled.
• Address management and move update has entered the NCOALINK era. The new National Change of Address (NCOA) technology became effective on Oct. 1. NCOALINK replaces legacy NCOA, using a more secure method for storing the data. It has no human-readable components, instead uses a data encoding technique that produces a mathematical formula value unique to every name/address combination. Users will see bits and bytes of data only, not textual addresses. The transition to the new technology has been a bumpy one for vendors and even for mailers, as some have had to reconfigure processes to accommodate the changes. NCOALINK as a replacement for FastForward Mailing List Correction can transition for another year. It becomes effective Oct. 1, 2005.
• Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems (Siemens L&A) is applying its Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS) technology to the list processing environment, where it expects to create the most accurate and updated addresses possible — before a list is even printed. Siemens L&A, the new name of Siemens Dematic Postal Automation, unveiled a demonstration of the technology, which it is calling Fusion, at the National Postal Forum. Fusion uses a name-address database to enhance the address matching and validation process. Siemens is working with Experian, using Experian's commercial names database. Siemens has hired NGI Solutions LLC to work on the project. Former USPS manager of addressing Mike Murphy has been hired by NGI Solutions and demonstrated the Fusion technology at the Siemens booth.
• The Postal Rate Commission recommended approval of the two-year experiment to test Priority Mail flat-rate boxes, at a rate of $7.70. The relatively quick action by the rate commission, and parties to the case who reached a settlement agreement, allows the USPS to offer the flat-rate boxes — and presumably launch an advertising campaign — during the upcoming holiday season.
• It's a new name for the Siemens organization that handles its postal automation. The company is now known as Siemens Logistics and Assembly Inc., with Postal Automation a distinct division within the company. Siemens has finalized the integration of Siemens Dematic Corp. of Grand Rapids, MI, and Siemens Dematic Postal Automation of Arlington, TX, as well as Siemens Dematic Electronic Assembly Systems of GA.
• United Parcel Service's mal division, UPS Mail Innovations is offering international mail services through relationships with a portfolio of global postal authorities.

October 8, 2004 -- iBerkshires.com has reported that "Residents of The Spruces mobile home park, many of them frail and disabled — not to mention old, — say they would be endangered by walking up to a quarter mile to retrieve their mail from the newly installed cluster boxes at the park's recreation hall. Saying they don't want to make the trek — some with walkers, some in wheelchairs, some with oxygen tanks — they have enlisted U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, to plead their case with the U.S. postmaster general."

October 8, 2004 -- The Business Report (South Africa) has reported that "No work, no pay and lock out policies will be implemented if its employees embark on strike action next week, the Post Office said on Thursday in Pretoria. Following failed wage negotiations, the Communications Workers Union representing 11 000 postal workers has threatened a week of strike action starting with "work to rule" on Monday. But Sipho Nkese, group executive of human resources for the SA Post Office (SAPO), felt there were very little grounds for striking and said that the post office was in the process of having the right to strike overturned."

October 8, 2004 -- CHL.ca has reported that "The Canadian Hockey League today announced the continuation of the Canada Post Cup three stars program for the 2004-05 CHL season."

October 7, 2004 -- As WhatTheyThink has noted, "It's here! If you're not in the mailing business, now is the time to take a closer look. The National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) has told us that more than 58% of you view direct mail and direct marketing as a growth market. So now is the time to dig in and find out more about mailing and meet some of the folks who can help you be successful at it."

October 7, 2004 -- The Cincinnati Enquirer has reported that "Pitney Bowes, the nation's largest mail-processing and presorting firm, plans to expand its Cincinnati presence. It will move to a new building that would more than double the size of the Chesterdale Road site now used by its PSI Group division. The move is expected in 2006."

October 7, 2004 -- The Globe and Mail (Canada) has reported that "The Canada Revenue Agency will conduct an audit of Canada Post to determine whether the Crown corporation wrongly declared more than $2-million that former CEO André Ouellet claimed as business expenses."

October 7, 2004 -- The National Business Review (New Zealand) has reported that "Shoeshine enjoyed the theme of this year's annual report from New Zealand Post. The catchphrase is "More than meets the eye." The cover shows a barechested surfie shading his eyes and checking out the waves, carrying an ironing board under his arm. The theme is continued on the page two seaside shot, which shows a picnic of bread, sausages and salad laid out on the same ironing board. As Shoeshine ploughed on through the report, however, NZ Post's catchphrase seemed more than a little ironic. The irony would only have been immediately apparent to those who had had the benefit of previously reading the annual report of the postie's banking subsidiary, Kiwibank. Kiwibank reported a June-year loss of $490,000, down from $8 million in 2003. This performance was a year ahead of schedule, NZ Post crowed."

October 7, 2004 -- As The Scotsman (U.K.) has reported that:

• To some, it's unsolicited junk mail whose dull thump on the hall floor in the morning wakes you up, or it's unwanted spam that clogs up your e-mail inbox. But to the direct marketing industry's practitioners it's an ever-evolving industry that uses state-of-the-art data capture techniques - using tools like predictive programming to root out behavioural buying patterns - and packages future offerings in increasingly sophisticated ways that can make product or service offerings seem almost personal. And whatever your view is, it works. In fact, with a 2003 annual spend of £13.66 billion - up ten per cent on 2002 - in the UK alone, it is one of the country's top ten industries.
• A former union leader, who was one of the most prominent women trade unionists in her time, was today appointed to the board of Royal Mail. Baroness Margaret Prosser, ex-deputy general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, has become a non-executive director of the postal organisation. Royal Mail said that Baroness Prosser, who stood down from the union two years ago, would bring a wealth of experience in employee relations.

October 7, 2004 -- DM News has reported that "Seventy-six percent of adult consumers read direct mail advertising, according to the Vertis Customer Focus: Direct Marketing 2005 survey, released at a media luncheon here yesterday. Vertis, Baltimore, a targeted advertising, media and marketing services company, commissioned Customer Focus, a study that tracked consumer behavior across various industry segments. The survey was first conducted in 1998 and, in subsequent years, has been expanded and modified to identify emerging consumer behavior patterns and track shifts in consumer practices and motivations. The survey of 2,000 adults, conducted in August and September by Marshall Marketing and Communication, Pittsburgh, measured general and industry-specific shopping trends."

October 7, 2004 -- According to Bloomberg, "Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he won't change a plan to split up and sell state-run postal services in 2007 in the face of opposition to the proposal from some members of his ruling party."

October 7, 2004 -- According to Transport Intelligence, "In Germany competition to buy the logistics divisions of one of the country's biggest retailers, KarstadtQuelle, is intensifying with three of Europe's largest operators now in the frame. In last Wednesday's Logistics Briefing it was reported that DHL was interested in buying Optimus Logistics and Servicelogiq which together have combined revenues of €625m. It now appears that rival operators Kuehne & Nagel and Fiege Logistik are also in talks with the company."

October 7, 2004 -- Haaretz (Israel) has reported that "Motorola Israel will provide the U.S. Postal Service with $300 million in scanning and tracking systems in the next three years. USPS reported the deal and stated it is expected to get final approval at a November board of directors meeting."

October 6, 2004 -- VNUnet.com has reported that "DHL says it will reduce its costs and improve its delivery services by equipping its couriers with handheld computers. The company will give PDA devices to some 700 couriers within its Express Sameday division early next year, following a deal with Siemens Communications. DHL will use the devices, which will operate over the O2 GPRS network, to automate the dispatch of delivery data sent to couriers, reducing mobile phone costs and cutting the time control centre staff spend calling drivers."

October 6, 2004 -- Kyodo has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will express his resolve before the Diet next week to privatize Japan's postal system, the centerpiece of his structural reform drive, saying postal privatization is a means to revitalizing the nation's economy."

October 6, 2004 -- XTVworld has reported that "eMediacy, Inc. has announced that it has received United States Patent number 6,788,769 B1, detailing it's method and system for using telephone numbers as a key to directly address emails and website URLs without the use of a lookup database. Using this system, a phone number can be typed into a web browser to access a website, or into an email client to address an email, in exactly the same way it is used to dial a telephone."

October 6, 2004 -- The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) told its members that "President George W. Bush drove a spike through the heart of postal reform legislation this week, ordering Republican leaders in the House and Senate to stop floor action on the H.R. 4341 and S. 2468 so the bills will die when the 108th Congress adjourns for the year. In so doing, Bush virtually ensured that the Postal Service will be forced to seek a 6 cent postage increase."

October 6, 2004 -- The BBC (U.K.) has reported that "The Post Office is in the process of closing 3,000 post offices. But the National Pensioners Convention says the elderly rely on them "as a lifeline to the wider community" and on Tuesday around 100 pensioners protested about the closures. BBC News Online looks at the issues."

October 6, 2004 -- According to the Slovak Spectator, "The ruling Slovak Democratic and Christian Union of PM Mikuláš Dzurinda has asserted its dominance over the state-owned postal company Slovenská Pošta (SP), reported the SME daily. Following the transformation of the state firm to a 100 percent state-owned joint stock company on October 1, SP's management was also changed, and members and associates of the SDKÚ now have a major say in the company. The Transport Ministry has a decisive influence on the composition of SP's board of directors. The ministry is led by Pavol Prokopovič from SDKÚ. The Transport Ministry, however, denies the allegation that its nominations to the SP's boards were politically motivated."

October 6, 2004 -- The Globe and Mail (Canada) has reported that "Revenue Minister John McCallum will allow opposition members to scrutinize the appointment of Canada Post's new chairman, capitulating to criticism that rules to prevent cronyism were broken when he gave the job to a former colleague. But opposition members counter that Mr. McCallum's concession does not go far enough. They say the appointment of Gordon Feeney, who worked with Mr. McCallum at the Royal Bank of Canada, should be revoked and the process started anew if the Liberals are to obey the guidelines they put in place last spring under the heat of the sponsorship scandal."

October 6, 2004 -- A copy of the report of the International Mailers Advisory Group (IMAG), of which PostCom is a member, on the proceedings of the UPU Congress at Bucharest has been posted on this site. See also the report in DM News.

October 6, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire: "United States Postal Inspectors unleashed a two-pronged attack on fraudulent telemarketers, particularly those who target older Americans. The nation's Chief Postal Inspector Lee Heath announced the results of a law enforcement clampdown on scammers, "Operation Roaming Charge," and the unveiling of a new consumer protection campaign, "Dialing for Dollars."

October 6, 2004 -- According to Todd Butler of Butler Mailing Services, the fact that the Postal Service is "mining data from the information collected by their acceptance units...should strike terror in the hearts of all service providers." 

October 5, 2004 -- According to the Federal Times, "The US. Postal Senice hopes its new advertising campaign will lure small businesses to use its overnight, twoday and packagedelivery services. Rod DeVar, the Postal Service's manager for advertising and promotions, said the campaign will promote options that let customers schedule a time for a letter carrier to pick up mail or a package. Known as Canier Pickup, or Click-N-Ship, these options let customers print postage and labels for Priority, Express or international mail and buy insurance online."

October 5, 2004 -- KFMB.com has reported that "An international investigation of telemarketing fraud schemes has resulted in the arrests of more than 135 people in cases involving more than 5 million victims, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and U.S. Postal Inspection Service also took civil actions against people accused of telemarketing fraud."

October 5, 2004 -- UPS and CNF Inc. has announced UPS has agreed to acquire Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, Inc., a subsidiary of CNF, for US$150 million in cash and the assumption of approximately US$110 million in long-term debt. Menlo Worldwide Forwarding is a global freight forwarder that provides a full suite of heavy air freight forwarding services, ocean services and international trade management, including customs brokerage. It had US$1.9 billion in gross revenues in 2003.

October 5, 2004 -- Read more on the Postal Service's contract award to Lockheed in the Ithaca Journal. See also the Press and Sun-Bulletin and Dow Jones.

October 5, 2004 -- At the UPU's Congress in Bucharest, the members of the Consultative Committee unanimously elected Mr. Charles Prescott, the Vice President for International Direct Marketing at the Direct Marketing Association as its first chairman. Prescott's election was lauded by PostCom President Gene Del Polito.

October 5, 2004 -- Be sure to check the DM News article by former Kappel Commission executive director Murray Comarow on whether  the USPS has lived up to its mandate.

October 5, 2004 -- The U.S. Postal Service has posted its August 2004 financial report online.

October 5, 2004 -- The Evening Standard (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail is to destroy all undelivered business post that does not have a return address on the envelope. The new policy comes into force from today and will affect millions of letters. It has sparked outrage among companies which claim they were not told of the change and fear it will cost them heavily in lost business.It is the latest in a series of costcutting measures by Royal Mail that have angered customers."

October 5, 2004 -- Business Credit Management (U.K.) has reported that "Experian®, the global information solutions company, has acquired QAS Ltd, the developer of the QuickAddress range of international address management software, for £106 million, which includes £16 million of cash reserves. With revenues of £49 million in the year to June 2004, 8,800 customers worldwide and 370 people, QAS is the largestmost significant acquisition that Experian has made to date in the UK. QuickAddress software enables organisations to accurately validate callers' addresses from their postcode and house number, ensuring that this vital information is correct at the point of initial contact. QuickAddress captures, cleans, and enhances address records by validating address data against records of national postal authorities. QAS will trade as 'QAS, an Experian company', within Experian's Marketing Services division and continue to be led by Simon Worth, currently Chief Executive Officer of QAS."

October 5, 2004 -- From the Federal Register: "The Postal Service has announced the issuance of Issue 30 of the International Mail Manual (IMM), and its incorporation by reference in the Code of Federal Regulations."

October 5, 2004 -- Dow Jones has reported that:

• Major convenience store chain am/pm Japan Co. plans to start handling parcels for Japan Post's door-to-door delivery service at all its 1,400 outlets across Japan next spring, company officials said Monday, Kyodo News reported. Am/pm Japan has already started testing the service at 10 outlets, the officials said, according to Kyodo. The company has been handling Nippon Express Co.'s (9062.TO) Pelican parcel-delivery service. The convenience store chain plans to handle Japan Post parcels in parallel with the Pelican service, they said. Earlier in the day, officials at Daily Yamazaki Co., an operator of 2,000 convenience stores across Japan, said the company plans to start handling Japan Post parcels at all of the outlets next spring.
• Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated his determination to privatize Japan's postal system at the first meeting Tuesday of a Cabinet-level task force charged with that job, Kyodo News reported. He urged the task force to compile bills for the 10-year privatization project to be conducted in stages from April 2007. He heads the task force and all Cabinet members belong to it. The task force is expected to coordinate efforts to submit the bills in March to the Diet during its ordinary session.

October 5, 2004 -- According to ComputerWorld, "More than one-third of the largest transportation and logistic companies shared customers' personal data with third parties without their permission, according to a survey released today by The Customer Respect Group Inc. And one-fifth of the companies studied didn't even have privacy policies in place."

October 5, 2004 -- Ireland Online has reported that "More than 100 postal staff were kept at work for medical checks today after white powder was found in an envelope at a sorting office in central Switzerland. An alarm was raised when white powder leaked out of a letter at a sorting office near Lucerne's rail station, Four people who were in the room at the time were treated with antibiotics, said Heinz Steiner, who is in charge of the police operation. He said staff were nervous because of memories of a series of anthrax attacks on the United States three years ago."

October 5, 2004 -- The Sudan Tribune has reported that "An organization of Hungarian Muslims said Monday it would donate thousands of doses of hepatitis vaccine to aid Sudan's troubled Darfur region. DHL, a shipping company owned by Deutsche Post, the German postal service, offered to deliver the vaccines without charge."

October 5, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire: "Stamps.com (Nasdaq: STMP) announced today that on September 30, the final day of the market test for PhotoStamps(TM), it received an overwhelming customer response with more than 600,000 PhotoStamps ordered in the final 24 hour period. Overall customer response to the market test of the new PhotoStamps product has been very positive, with more than 130,000 sheets, or 2,600,000 individual PhotoStamps, ordered during the market test, which began with a public launch on August 10 and lasted 7 1/2 weeks through September 30. 'Customers embraced PhotoStamps from the very first day of launch of the market test. The momentum grew rapidly and the response on the final day of the test was simply phenomenal,' said Stamps.com president and CEO Ken McBride. 'In a very short period of time, this product became extremely popular with consumers and businesses. We also think PhotoStamps is a great program for the US Postal Service, generating over $1 million in USPS postage revenue -- the majority of which we believe is new revenue -- in only 52 days. It is clear that consumers and businesses want this product.'"

October 5, 2004 -- Category.net has reported that "Public sector customers around the world are voting for HP with their pocket books. HP today announced a significant number of new customer wins totaling more than $1 billion in new revenue as the company continues to build market momentum in the public sector, health and education market. HP, the leading technology supplier to China's postal market, has been selected by the State Post Bureau to provide the adaptive information technology (IT) infrastructure to renew its older IT frameworks across the country. The project includes the implementation of HP Superdome servers, HP StorageWorks Disk Array xp128 and HP StorageWorks MSL6030 Tape Library forming the new IT engine to enable the State Post Bureau to better serve its customers."

October 5, 2004 -- The Business Standard (India) has reported that Indian "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the postal department should examine the possibility of getting outsourcing contracts for mail sorting services. He said the postal department must focus on value addition and cost control at the same time. "Meeting the twin challenges of technology and competition would require the department to look minutely at the users to ensure they get substantial value from its products and prevent them from migrating to other communication channels," the prime minister said." See also Deepika and 123Bharath.com and the Government of India press release.

October 4, 2004 -- In his latest article, DM News postal commentator Cary Baer gave an update on a recent meeting of the Continuity Shipper's Association.

October 4, 2004 -- The latest issue of the Group One Report is available on the company's web site.

October 4, 2004 -- As the Motley Fool has noted, "The United States Postal Service asked Stamps.com (Nasdaq: STMP) to not accept any more orders on its innovative PhotoStamp program until it has a chance to review the results of the test run. By all accounts, the test was a popular success."  Let's see. Success, money, cancelled project, revenue forgone. Sooo, exactly WHO'S the fool?

October 4, 2004 -- NetworkWorldFusion has reported that "The most famous person on the U.S. Postal Service's payroll - six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong - is known for his singular focus, a trait that appears to be rubbing off on his colleagues who handle the government agency's IT services. The focus in IT isn't on a bicycle race, but on single sign-on (SSO), a way to ease password management for IT staff and end users alike, and help slash by 10% the monthly slog of password reset calls to the help desk. The USPS' IT department is enjoying the first fruit of a nearly two-year effort that has resulted in the rollout of SSO capabilities to nearly 150,000 users who access nearly 1,000 applications on the agency's network. "We believe single sign-on improves our user experience. It reduces costs and it actually improves security," says Wayne Grimes, manager of customer care operations for IT at the USPS. Grimes is based in Raleigh, N.C., the hub of the USPS' distributed infrastructure."

October 4, 2004 -- PostInsight.com has reported that "At a dinner to celebrate the creation of the Consultative Committee, members of the three bodies of the UPU gathered for the first time in Bucharest October 1, 2004. Sponsored by Pitney Bowes on behalf of the external stakeholders, the event included the heads of delegation of the newly elected country members of the Council of Administration (CA) and the Postal Operations Council (POC). Also attending were the current and newly elected executives of the UPU, foreign dignitaries and members of the private sector. Over 120 guests from 40 countries joined in a toast to celebrate the creation of the new body of the UPU that formally includes the "third sector" of stakeholders."

October 4, 2004 -- From the PR Newswire:

• Pitney Bowes Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a substantial portion of the assets of Ancora Capital & Management Group LLC, for approximately $35 million net of cash and assumed liabilities. Ancora is a provider of first class, standard letter and international mail processing and presort services with five operations in southern California, Pennsylvania and Maryland. It will become part of the company's PSI operation and its national presort network.
• The United States Postal Service has selected a team led by Lockheed Martin to provide managed network services across the entire Postal Service enterprise, encompassing more than 37,000 locations. Services include data, voice, video, wireless and managed security. The Universal Computing Connectivity (UCC) award is a six-year contract with four, three-year options and a potential value of $3 billion. Under the UCC program, the U.S. Postal Service will integrate all postal data communication networks, including the wide area network (WAN) and local area networks (LAN), into a single, ubiquitous network service that will provide enterprise data transport, voice, wireless, remote access, network management and managed security services. See also Red Herring.
• Delta Air Lines has announced its annual baggage policy for flights to select Latin American cities during the holiday travel season. From Nov. 15, 2004, through Jan. 15, 2005, Delta is limiting the total number of both checked and carry-on items, as well as the size and weight parameters for these items. Delta recommends that passengers traveling to these Latin American cities make arrangements with FedEx, United Parcel Service or the United States Postal Service to ship any items that exceed the number, size and weight restrictions. Detailed information on Delta's baggage policies can be found on http://www.delta.com/baggage." Go to Latin America. Enhance the USPS' fiscal viability.

October 4, 2004 -- As DM News has noted, "Some mailing association executives still hold out hope that legislation to revamp the U.S. Postal Service will pass this session. Part of the reason for the optimism is extra time. Congress changed its targeted adjournment from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8. Also, insiders said a lame-duck session probably would begin a week or so after the election. Congress then hopes to leave before Thanksgiving, but could stay on until Christmas. In addition, the Senate and House committees that oversee the USPS -- chaired by Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, and Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA -- are determined to pass reform."

October 4, 2004 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Europe's largest postal service, Deutsche Post, will convert all business operations outside its home market of Germany to the DHL brand."

October 4, 2004 -- The Media Bulletin has reported that "Aegis advertising agencies, including Vizeum in the UK, look set to retain the estimated £100m global Deutsche Post account. This follows the decision by Starcom MediaVest Group to pull out of the pitch. The German postal service kicked off the review in August in an attempt to drive down costs. DHL spends £4 in the UK and uses Ogilvy & Mather as its creative agency."

October 4, 2004 -- The Financial Express (India) has reported that "The postal department has started marketing of Oriental Insurance Company's (OIC) 15 non-life insurance products under the second phase of a pilot project in Madhya Pradesh on Monday to mark its 150th establishment day."

October 4, 2004 -- As the Kyodo news service has noted, "The day after the inauguration of the cabinet, dubbed as a cabinet to realize postal privatization, one of Koizumi's stated goals, Yamato Transport Co. filed a suit with the Tokyo District Court against the postal organization. Yamato, a major parcel-delivery company, said Japan Post's full entry into the parcel-delivery market through the national network of convenience store chain operator Lawson Inc. is unfair under the Antimonopoly Law as long as it receives preferential tax treatment. Lawson will begin handling Japan Post's Yu-Pack parcels in direct competition with Yamato's swift parcel-delivery service at its outlets in mid-November."

October 4, 2004 -- Japan Today has asked: "Will postal privatization really have such a major effect on people's lives and economic activity? Private companies are already busy entering the postal business in the field of parcel delivery, and deregulation in the field of letters is a possibility, too. It is surely worthwhile, but suggestions that the national economy will suffer a damaging blow unless the nation carries out all-or-nothing privatization are way off the mark."

October 4, 2004 -- The Valetta Times has reported that "The Malta Philatelic Society will be holding its annual philatelic exhibition, Maltex, at Le Meridien Phoenicia Hotel, in Floriana from Friday to Sunday. The numerous displays will range from First Day Covers and other issues by various EU countries on May 1, to heraldry on stamps and correspondence by a Knight of Malta in the 18th century."

October 3, 2004 -- Japan Today has reported that "Postal services privatization minister Heizo Takenaka said Sunday the recent lawsuit against Japan Post by parcel delivery provider Yamato Transport Co underscores the need to privatize the state-run corporation as soon as possible so that it can start competing with private firms on a level playing field." See also the Kyodo news service report.

October 3, 2004 -- Ever want to know what U.S. postal workers are thinking? Then check into the PostalForum.com web site.

October 3, 2004 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Japan Post, the world's biggest savings bank, will start paying taxes after it's sold off in April 2007, said Heizo Takenaka, the minister overseeing the breakup and sale of the state-run company."

October 3, 2004 -- The Toronto Star has reported that "The first-term report cards haven't even been issued, but already Canada Post is pulling down a "D" in that new course it's taking, the one we will call Good Governance. With the late-week stealth announcement of Gordon Feeney's appointment to the position of Canada Post chair, both the government and the corporation have signalled that they are tone-deaf when it comes to even the basic principles of modern-era governance."

October 3, 2004 -- As the New York Times has noted, "it used to be safe to assume that dialing 212 made a phone ring in Manhattan. Press 212 these days, and someone may answer in Tokyo. Calling 914 could lead to Westchester County, New York, as always. But it might also get you Baghdad. In this era of mobile telecommunications, calls now connect people, not places. Cellular phones, changing governmental regulations and new Internet technology have torn area codes from geography, allowing people to have phone numbers with area codes distant from where they live....The question is how long before North Dakotans can order a vanity ZIP code like 90210?"

October 3, 2004 -- Payvand's Iran News has reported that "The Expediency Council, the top policy making body, on Saturday passed another part of a general plan to rescind articles 43 and 44 of the Constitution which advocate state monopoly of the economy. Foreign trade, banking, insurance, power generation for domestic consumption and export, telecom and postal service, railway, airlines, and shipping have been singled out by the Expediency Council as the areas that the body prefers not to remain under state monopoly."

October 2, 2004 -- From the Business Wire: "Over the next 90 days, UPS employees around the globe hope to set a new record -- 80,000 volunteer hours -- giving back to the communities where they live and work. A part of UPS's Neighbor to Neighbor employee volunteer program, the annual Global Volunteer Challenge starts in Atlanta on Oct. 2 during "Hands On Atlanta Day" at Fickett Elementary School. Volunteers from UPS and other Atlanta-based companies will tutor children and assist the school with a number of renovation and beautification projects including painting benches, mowing grass, refurbishing play areas, removing debris and planting flowers. UPS CEO Mike Eskew will join nearly 100 UPS employees helping with the improvements at Fickett Elementary while another 150 UPS employees tackle other projects in the Greater Atlanta area as part of Hands On Atlanta Day. .'"As we grow our business around the globe, our desire to support our communities worldwide also grows, said Eskew. 'This effort not only addresses critical needs in our global community but also strengthens the UPS culture, which recognizes the impact volunteerism can have on training and team-building.'"

October 2, 2004 -- Knight-Ridder has reported that "Federal authorities arrested a Tennessee man Friday, saying he mailed 25 powder-laced envelopes to city administrators around Broward County and threatened to bomb several schools."

October 2, 2004 -- The Associated Press has noted that "Jefferson Davis had difficulty finding someone to become postmaster-general of the Confederate States of America. His selection, John H. Reagan, twice declined the offer and was the third choice for the job. Reagan turned out, however, to be one of Davis' best appointments. Reagan had good reason for his reluctance. Spoiled by regular mail delivery, Southerners would not tolerate the disruption of service, and the task of re-establishing a postal department seemed insurmountable."

October 2, 2004 -- The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has posted the nations that have been elected as members of its Council on Administration and its Postal Operations Council on the UPU web site.

October 2, 2004 -- According to DM News postal commentator Bob Swick, "Delivery Point Packaging was of keen interest to the U.S. Postal Service and those attending the spring Mailers Technical Advisory Committee meeting. Since then the silence on the subject has been deafening."

October 2, 2004 -- PC World has reported that "Netflix and TiVo have signed an agreement to let TiVo subscribers access Netflix's library of movies over broadband Internet connections. TiVo subscribers will be able to visit Netflix's Web site and either stream movies over a broadband connection or download them to their TiVo boxes." And for the mail? Will it be "Asta la vista, baby?" A double-digit rate increase? You bet it will!

October 2, 2004 -- CNET.com has posted on its site an update on the reactions to last year's "Do Not Call" legislation. Think this can't happen with mail? Better think again! Check out Mail & Jobs.com

October 2, 2004 -- TheSanDiegoChannel has reported that "Postal officials say a series of stamp machine burglaries have occurred over the past month at post offices throughout San Diego County."

October 2, 2004 -- The Texarkana Gazette has reported that "Texarkana residents can take care of their postal needs in the comfort of their homes, thanks to the Post Office on Wheels program provided by United States Postal Office rural carriers."

October 2, 2004 -- In response to the destruction from last month's hurricanes, The UPS Foundation is donating US$225,000 among three relief organizations including the American Red Cross of Charlotte County, Fla.; the American Red Cross – Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter, and the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.

October 2, 2004 -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, has entered into a strategic partnership with SePoMex, the Mexican postal service. The agreement will provide Deutsche Post Global Mail, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post, with a partner for the delivery of letters to Mexico, while SePoMex will gain access to Global Mail's international network."

October 2, 2004 -- The Hindustan Times has reported that "India's postal department entered a new era on Friday when its huge army of postmen and Group D field staff donned the blue uniform, instead of the khaki one, marking 150th year of formation."

October 2, 2004 -- Japan Today has reported that "Executives of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan agreed in a meeting Friday to support the privatization of the savings and life insurance businesses of Japan Post, which have been proposed as part of the government's plan to privatize the entity by 2007, participants said."

October 1. 2004 -- PostCom Members: The latest copy of PostCom's Postal Operations Update has been posted on this site. The topics addressed include: USPS 4-state barcode test, delivery point sequencing, flats sequence sorting, other flats processing matters, USPS permit system and PostalOne!, USPS tray sorters, LACSLink.

October 1, 2004 -- The NALC e-Activist Network has instructed its members to "Take Action! Contact your Senators and Representatives immediately and urge them to remove the White House block! Support our Republican and Democratic members and ask them to schedule H.R. 4341 and S. 2468 for floor action now!"

October 1, 2004 -- Die Welt has reported that "KarstadtQuelle, the German retail and mail order group, is due to take a decision in the coming days regarding a candidate to take over its logistics activities. According to a press source, DHL, the logistics subsidiary of German postal service operator Deutsche Post, is seen as a likely choice."

October 1, 2004 -- Asia Pulse has reported that "South Korea's national postal service agency said Friday that it will charge its customers an average 11.8 per cent more for domestic mail services from Nov. 1. Korea Post said the price of an ordinary postage stamp will increase to 220 won (19 cents) from 190 won, and the "fast-delivery" stamp will increase to 310 won from 280 won. The increase is the first in nearly three years and is aimed at compensating for mounting losses from the mail-delivery service, it said. The size of the price-hike takes into account the government's wish to curb inflationary pressure, the agency added."

October 1, 2004 -- DM News has reported that "Postal employees soon can go online to inform mailers when a problem has occurred with processing their mailings, the U.S. Postal Service said last month. The eMIR system, or Electronic Mail Improvement Reporting, is part of the USPS' PostalOne System, an electronic suite of services that links a customer's mailing information with the postal service's acceptance, verification and payment systems. The USPS, working with the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee, created eMIR. The system lets the USPS report almost instantly if problems have occurred after a mailing has been prepared and dropped at a postal facility for processing and delivery. Oftentimes bundles come apart, barcodes are unreadable, magazine covers come off, trays are mislabeled or sortation errors occur. The system lets USPS employees photograph problem mail, scan it and transmit that information directly to either the USPS' Business Service Network, USPS business mail entry units or the mailer. It is designed for reporting significant problems."

October 1, 2004 -- As the Financial Times has noted, "Edouard Dayan of France's La Poste, elected thisweek as director-general of the Universal Postal Union, will take over the venerable United Nations agency at a challenging time for the world postal industry. In rich nations, "snail mail" has lost ground to email and the web, and national posts face stiff competition from private operators in the parcels sector, where they now have only a quarter of the domestic market. Instead, posts have responded to privatisation, deregulation and the explosion in communications technologies by turning themselves into high-tech commercial enterprises offering a range of mail, logistics, financial and other services, often internet-based."

October 1, 2004 -- PostCom Postal Operations Committee chairman Joe Lubenow (who is representing PostCom at the Universal Postal Union Congress) has reported that "The UPU Congress has voted by about a 60/40 margin to have the next Congress in Kenya in 2008."

October 1, 2004 -- Don't miss your chance to have your work get the recognition it so rightfully deserves at the NAMMU Mailing Industry Awards. Enter your piece(s) by October 8, 2004 no later than 5:00 pm.

October 1, 2004 -- According to Reuters, "United Parcel Service Inc.  is betting its logistics group will be a major growth engine as it benefits from companies expanding abroad. The company, known for its brown uniforms and trucks, has been expanding beyond its package delivery roots into logistics, using its network to help shippers navigate customs, manage traffic flows, reduce inventory to free up cash, warehouse parts and revamp distribution networks."

October 1, 2004 -- As Forbes has noted, "Deutsche Post said it might take longer than expected to beef up DHL to compete more successfully against UPS and FedEx. Right now FedEx and UPS control about 90 percent of the U.S. market, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. "The announcement that breakeven of DHL in the U.S. has been postponed illustrates how challenging it is for a small newcomer to establish a sustainable business model in a market arch-dominated by a powerful duopoly such as UPS and FedEx," the rating agency said in a report. Fitch said DHL still doesn't have the size that would enable it to maintain profitability, while its two bigger rivals should continue to see strong financial results. The agency also that customer demand for more ground services - where DHL has to build a network almost from scratch - makes matters worse."

October 1, 2004 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Japan should pass its postal privatization law by the end of 2005, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said. The law should follow the basic plan, approved last month, to split and sell the state-run postal service into four units, Koizumi said in a speech at the headquarters of Kyodo News in Tokyo. Koizumi said he plans to submit the bill to parliament in March next year."

October 1, 2004 -- As the Asahi Shimbun has noted, all is not perfectly well with Japan's efforts to privatize its postal system.

October 1, 2004 -- ExpressComputer Online (India) has reported that "In an effort to make technology available to people in remote areas and demonstrate the suitability of handheld devices (the Simputer) in meeting the communication needs of rural folk, Encore has committed to run a pilot project called 'e-post' in Bhutan. Along with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Universal Postal Union (UPU), Encore has been running e-post and other development services such as public services through post offices. ITU and UPU are in the process of implementing projects providing e-post and other development services in different parts of the world. The projects will be monitored and evaluated and lessons learned will be disseminated widely. Through e-post, anyone with access to the Net can send messages to a post office to be delivered as local post. In one case this will bring down the time taken from 28 days to two days. This project will cover 38 post offices - 8 of which are located at an altitude of 3,000 meters."

October 1, 2004 -- WebIndia has reported that "The Post Office is universally recognised as a facilitator of communication. The origin of postal system in India dates back to the Mauryan Age, which has the roots of the elements of system, established later by the British, the Princely States, the District postal systems and the Zamindari dak. The postal services in India commenced with a skeletal network of 701 post offices under the control of a Director General on 1st October, 1854. Today, the postal network has 1,55,000 outlets in the country which is the largest in the world. India Post, as we call it today, is launching several functions to coincide with its 150 years service to the Nation. The celebration will begin with the main function at Siri Fort Auditorium on 4th October, 2004 which will be presided over by the Hon'ble President. The celebrations will go on for a year through out the country."

October 1, 2004 -- The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) has reported that "'Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi feels that he will have achieved a historic mission if he successfully privatizes the postal services,' according to a close aide who spoke to me shortly after the House of Councillors election in July. The way his aides see it, Koizumi wants little more than to complete postal privatization, and after that will let the young generation build a new Liberal Democratic Party. Monday's reshuffle of the Cabinet and the LDP leadership, and the lineup of his teams for that matter, reflected such sentiments."