February 28, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Dutch postal and logistics firm TPG NV (TP) said Monday it is looking to expand through acquisitions or distribution agreements in Spain, Asia and Eastern Europe. "We are actively looking at strategic opportunities in Spain and Eastern Europe," said Chief Executive Peter Bakker. "But Asia is also on our radar screen," he added."

February 28, 2005 -- AMEInfo has reported that "DHL, the region's dominant logistics and express operator, today released figures that reveal its Middle East express business could double in the next five years on the back of runaway growth that far outstrips world averages." See also Strategiy.

February 28, 2005 -- The Belfast Telegraph (U.K.) has reported that "Much has been made of the challenge facing the Royal Mail delivery monopoly, but it already has a rival in Northern Ireland. Regional Mail Services provides a business mail service within the province that has the backing of local industry watchdog Postwatch NI. John Hughes, managing director of Regional Mail Services, said the service was more cost effective than using Royal Mail. "We have secured the first Regional Access 9 contract with Royal Mail, which enables us to operate a range of new services that will revolutionise the way businesses use the post," he said. His company operates three services which cover next-day delivery, delivery on a designated day and delivery within three days. Mr Hughes said direct marketing and digital media meant customers now demanded a more cost-effective, user-friendly and flexible service."

February 28, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "TPG, the Dutch global mail, express and logistics group, today said net income soared 82 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago, driven by strong revenue growth and fatter margins in all three divisions."

February 28, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "Even as it hauls huge volumes of mail in a deal with the U.S. Postal Service trumpeted as a classic partnership, FedEx is in a struggle with a government agency and competitors over whether to disclose just what that partnership is worth to the company. In a letter that had been kept confidential, FedEx wrote to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics that releasing revenue and volume information about its lucrative postal contract would bring the carrier and the USPS "commercial harm" and would delay mail delivery. Attorney David Hendel said he believed the secrecy cloak is hiding potentially embarrassing information about the management of the contract. "I think the Postal Service is embarrassed about how much they are paying," he said. "They've really clamped down on any information about it. They treat it as a big success. But it actually is a very expensive proposition for them." USPS Vice President for Network Operations Management Paul Vogel told the BTS that his agency supports FedEx's refusal to provide the information." Traffic World has posted a complete copy of the FedEx letter on its web site.

February 28, 2005 -- The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum announced an agreement with the Museum für Kommunikation in Berne, Switzerland, to display materials from the renowned Charles A. Hirzel collection at the Postal Museum in 2008 and 2009. In his lifetime, Charles A. Hirzel of Geneva created a collection that is widely regarded as one of the finest in the world of early United States stamps. The Museum für Kommunikation, formerly known as the "Swiss PTT-Museum," houses the collection. The Hirzel collection has not been on view in the United States since 1966.

February 28, 2005 -- AFX has reported that "Peter Bakker, CEO of TPG NV, said he expects to hear from the Danish government within one month on the sale of a stake in the Danish postal operator. TPG is among several bidders for the 25 pct stake in Post Danmark put up for sale by the Danish government. TPG has also expressed interest in bidding for a stake in the Belgian postal operator. However, Bakker said he has had 'no clear indications' from the Belgian government yet on the timing of privatisation. TPG is looking to expand into foreign postal markets in order to help offset declines in domestic mail volumes and increasing competition in the Netherlands."

February 28, 2005 -- As Transport Intelligence has noted:

• In a wide ranging and apposite speech the Chief Executive of UPS has warned that it is becoming increasingly important to counter the voices of anti-globalisation. Addressing a business meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, Mike Eskew quoted a recent poll in the Wall Street Journal which had found that 54% of Americans thought that globalisation was bad for US workers and for the US economy. Behind this fear is the concern that jobs would be increasingly lost to China and India as the world’s trade regime gradually opens up. Eskew blames the fear of globalisation on a lack of understanding of its benefits. Instead of being afraid of the impact which it will have on jobs, he believes that it should be embraced in much the same way as new technologies were in the 1980s. At the time it was feared that the automation of manufacturing processes would result in widespread unemployment. However in the long term it led to the stimulation of the international economy, and he believes that globalisation would have the same effect.
• The UK’s national postal operator, Royal Mail, has published quality of service information for the period from October to December 2004. According to the company almost 92% of First Class letters were delivered the working day after posting, the best seasonal performance for almost ten years. All fifteen indicators for mail service against which it measures its performance showed significant improvements from the previous year. On a cumulative basis 12 of the fifteen were the same or better than last year. Second Class mail reached its target level with 98.5% of letters delivered within three working days. See also East Anglian Daily News.

February 28, 2005 -- AMEInfo has reported that "Emirates Post expects to boost its annual turnover by 10 per cent this year by continuing to diversify its range of services and the company believes postal services across the Gulf region can follow its example." See also MENA-FN.

February 28, 2005 -- Haaretz (Israel) has reported that "The workers at the Postal Authority have declared an official industrial dispute, a legal prerequisite for starting some type of protest action, including a strike, after a two-week period. The dispute centers around an agreement to allow the private company Aviv Shigur to increase its mass-circulation delivery business from a current NIS 10 million a year to NIS 40 million a year, in major competition with the state-owned postal monopoly."

February 26, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue: USPS CFO defends need for across-the-board rate case; information on USPS flats sequencing program; news on USPS customer service rulings regarding the use of "personal" information in Standard Class mailings; a new structure and focus for MTAC; USPS launches Deliver magazine; Potter to address CEOs at PostCom's "Hail to the Chiefs" executive postal briefing in Scottsdale; "The Bogeyman Doesn't Wear Brown;"other postal news from the U.S. and around the world.

February 26, 2005 -- The latest issue of PostCom's Post Ops Update is available online.

February 26, 2005 -- On this site you will find an index to presentations given at the February MTAC meeting.

February 26, 2005 -- As the Dallas Morning News has reported "The U.S. Postal Service has created its own magazine And what would you call a magazine from the post office? Deliver, of course. The slick bimonthly magazine will push the Postal Service's direct marketing message to decision-makers. About 350,000 copies of Volume 1, Issue 1 of Deliver will be mailed in March to chief marketing officers, vice presidents of marketing, directors of advertising, brand managers, loyalty marketing professionals, advertising agency staffers and people who report to them."

February 26, 2005 -- AllAfrica.com has reported that "The Managing Director of Posta Uganda, Mr Tom Kiwewa, has made a compelling case for re-licensing the company to continue rendering its services exclusively. He said in just three years, he had lifted a sick and crumbling government parastatal to a robust business entity with a strong market brand. Demonstrating his transformation of the company, Kiwewa said he initiated and implemented a series of managerial and operational reforms that redeemed Posta Uganda, formerly Uganda Post Ltd (UPL) - first achieving self-sufficiency financially and then registering a profit, modest as it might be."

February 26, 2005 --The Journal of Commerce has reported that "UPS, a day after announcing it would close its Dayton, Ohio, air hub in 2006, said it will build a 785,257-square-foot expansion at its Louisville, Ky., hub. The $82.5 million project would make Louisville the premier hub for sorting UPS's heavy-freight air shipments. Louisville was among seven cities contending for the expansion."

February 26, 2005 -- As the Lowell Sun (MA) has noted, "The post office has announced it is taking 65 big blue mailboxes out of circulation in Lowell, mostly in the downtown area, as part of its latest effort to streamline letter collection."

February 26, 2005 -- The USPS' chief public affairs and communications officer "sets the record straight" in a letter to the editor of Wired.

February 25, 2005 -- Modern Materials Handling has reported that "FKI Logistex® (www.fkilogistex.com)has announced that its recent $24.7-million contract with the United States Postal Service (USPS) was one of the largest material handling contracts awarded by the USPS last year and has been cited as the 14th largest contract of any kind granted by the USPS in FY 2004. The award covers the design and
implementation of a bulk- and tray-mail sorting and distribution system and an airline receiving concourse operation at the JFK International Service Center in Queens, New York. The new sorting and distribution system is one of the largest single-site material handling projects that the USPS has implemented in recent years and is part of an extensive operational upgrade at the JFK center."

February 25, 2005 -- The latest issue of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. legislative update is online.

February 25, 2005 -- In letters addressed to the chairmen and ranking minority members of the House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over the Postal Service, the USPS Board of Governors said: "We believe strongly that to be successful the reform package must incorporate the following elements:

• The escrow requirement for the so-called savings in payments to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) should be removed.
• The portion of the costs of CSRS benefits for USPS employees attributable to their military service should not be borne by USPS.
• We understand the concerns of Congress and the Administration over the current fiscal situation and also over the long-run cost obligations for USPS retiree health care. Accordingly, we have proposed an approach that we believe would address both concerns while mitigating customer uncertainties regarding future postage rates in the near- and mid-term.
• The legislation should incorporate improvements in the labor area- which accounts for nearly 80 percent of USPS costs. We believe that important employee benefit features that are part of total compensation strongly influence the USPS's future costs and thus should be subject to negotiation at the same table with wages.
• The USPS should be granted more rate flexibility and authority to introduce new postal services.
• It is imperative that an exigent rate case be provided for, to ensure the continued delivery of services in the face of serious adverse events.
• We believe that the USPS should be granted authority to change rates and introduce appropriate new postal services (both with Board approval) within a range (determined by the Postal regulator) without prior approval.
• We believe that CPI would be an acceptable, albeit very challenging, price cap on rates (that is, the top of the range). We also believe that the bottom of the range should be established sufficiently low to allow price competition while covering reasonable estimates of attributable costs. The cap should be applied at the aggregate level, and certainly no lower than each class, to allow the Board the requisite pricing flexibility.
• Any future changes in the scope of the postal monopoly should be considered within the context of the Postal Service's universal service mission and other social policy obligations. We believe that Congress and the Administration, not the regulator, are best positioned to set national policy striking a balance among these dimensions.
• We believe that we should be held fully accountable for the governance of the USPS, but also that we should be granted requisite authority. 
• We ask to be empowered to establish, without external review, levels of compensation, based on performance, for the chief officers of the organization rather than being limited to caps on federal pay. 
• We should also continue to be responsible for the retention of auditors, as well as the organization's Inspector General. Moreover, we should continue to be responsible for pursuing the efficiencies and cost control available from continuously rationalizing postal networks. 
• We would welcome inclusion of a provision in the reform legislation recognizing the ongoing need for network changes and the Board's responsibility to assure execution of an effective program. 
• We should be responsible for establishing appropriate levels of service and making sure they are maintained. Finally, we (rather than Congress) should continue to approve USPS budgets and requests for appropriations.

[Editor's Note: Absolutely right on! Dead on! And if you don't find a remarkable similarity between these principles and PostCom's Key Principles of Postal Reform and Q&As on the Precepts for Reform, then I'm your monkey's uncle. These principles make sense because they provide the ONLY sure path to successful reform.]

February 25, 2005 -- Business Mailers Review has reported that:

• As tandem efforts to automate the delivery function of flats move forward, the Postal Service is beginning to question exactly where to put its research efforts and dollars. The ultimate goal is to use technology to merge both letters and flats together in delivery point sequence so the carrier has one package of mail for each delivery point. But the Delivery Point Packaging (DPP) technology to do this does not yet exist. Vice President for Engineering Tom Day told the Mailers ' Technica (MTAC) last week that USPS had expected to award a test bed contract to one of four competing companies in February. But that timetable is slipping as discussions with vendors are ongoing.
• The Postal Service has filed with the Postal Rate Commission the fourth negotiated service agreement (NSA), with HSBC North America Holdings Inc. The filing states that this latest NSA is functionally equivalent to the first agreement the PRC approved with Capital One. Postal officials estimate the three- year arrangement will provide HSBC with direct economic benefits of up to $9 million in postage discounts and let the Postal Service capture costs savings and increased contribu- tion, which would minimize any potential risk to mailers not party to the agreement.
• The Postal Service will release its DMM 300 at the 2005 National Postal Forum, the country 's largest trade show, to be held March 20-23 in Nashville, TN. There will be four training sessions covering the latest DMM, which will be available in hard copy and CD Rom.
• The Postal Service is starting to drum up business for its new Centralized National Cases (CNC) office in an effort to give mailers who enter mailpieces at multiple USPS locations advance decisions concerning mailpiece design. Getting a ruling on mailpiece design upfront can save mailers a lot of wasted time, officials contend, and mailers can then plan their campaigns with confidence and stay on budget.
• Nonprofit mailers are questioning the logic of the slew of customer support rulings being issued to guide mailers before new rules go into effect defining what constitutes personnel information for purposes of qualifying for Standard Mail rates - particularly a ruling that will require a change in language that is commonplace in many nonprofit mail pieces. The controversial ruling, CSR PS-322, addresses mailpieces that contain a field that is completed by computer to show the total amount of donations for the previous year with instructions to "keep th receipt for tax purposes, " as we sider making a donation meeting or exceeding the amount contributed last year."
• Pitney Bowes Inc. is extending its international reach with the acquisition of assets of India-based Kilburn Office Automation Ltd. and the formation of a joint venture with Brazil-based Semco Participacoes Limitada (Semco). The two nations combined have mail volumes of about 23 billion pieces annually. In India, the new Pitney Bowes operation will provide mailing equipment and systems. The Brazilian operation will offer a wide range of mailing equipment, software and services, including production mail.

February 25, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has tentatively awarded new weekly cargo flights to four carriers currently serving the Chinese market under an agreement reached last year with the Chinese authorities. The new agreement provides for an increase in weekly U.S.-China flights for each country’s carriers from 54 to 249 over six years. Last year, the Department named Polar Air Cargo as the first new-entrant carrier under the agreement, and awarded additional all cargo flights to incumbent carriers FedEx and UPS."

February 25, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "FedEx Corp. and the largest U.S. pilot union are battling over the use of cockpit-voice recordings in employment disputes, with pilots accusing the company of misusing the information for disciplinary reasons."

February 25, 2005 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that:

• A report will criticise the government and Royal Mail for not doing more to secure the future of the loss-making post office network.
• Village post offices need to provide more services if the rural network is to survive, according to leading figures in the industry. While this could include serving as the village shop and bank, it could also include police and council services for which the government should pay, they argue. Rural post offices are threatened by the same long-term trends undermining other village businesses: migration to urban areas and a shift to supermarket shopping.

February 25, 2005 -- FedEx Freight, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., is making it easier for customers to access valuable shipping information through the Internet by enhancing its secure site for customer transactions with increased functionality and greater opportunities for customization.

February 25, 2005 -- DI-VE.com has reported that "A new International mail and parcel service offering speed and security has just been launched in Malta and Gozo by Maltapost plc. Aptly titled Maltapost Express International, this new service offers delivery to key worldwide destinations in the shortest possible time."

February 25, 2005 -- The Postal Service has issued two revised Customer Support Rulings (CSRs), PS-31 and  PS-91, in a series of new or revised CSRs that are intended to provide clarification concerning matter that may be eligible as Standard Mail or is required to be mailed as First-Class Mail.

February 25, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, said Thursday it plans to close its recently acquired freight sorting hub in Dayton in 2006, eliminating 1,400 jobs, in a move the company said would make its overall operations more efficient."

February 25, 2005 -- Nikkei has reported that "Postal privatization, which is set to begin in April 2007, will raise postal operations' annual profit by roughly 600 billion yen after 10 years, according to estimates the government provided during a meeting Thursday with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The estimates are aimed at allaying concerns among LDP lawmakers who oppose the postal privatization plans. According to the government's figures, the privatized postal entities will generate a pretax profit of about 1 trillion yen in fiscal 2016. This runs counter to some LDP members' contention that earnings will deteriorate after privatization and spur closures of regional post offices operated by independent contractors."

February 25, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "The government is considering keeping the number of post offices in less populated areas at the current level even after the state-backed postal services are fully privatized in 2017. The move is apparently in response to calls from Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers to maintain the scale of the nation's network of about 24,000 post offices at the current level after privatization."

February 24, 2005 -- The Postal Service filed its latest negotiated service agreement with the Postal Rate Commission. This is a functionally equivalent NSA with HSBC North American Holdings (MC2005-2). You can view the entire NSA at the PRC's web site under Daily Listings for Feb. 23.

February 24, 2005 -- PostCom members can access the Powerpoint presentations from this week's Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) meeting here.

February 24, 2005 -- USPS Chief Marketing Officer Anita Bizzotto this week announced at the MTAC meeting a new structure and focus for the MTAC organization. Bizzotto said that over the past year the Postal Service has been looking at all its mailer group activities and ways they can be improved. Read more about this and other news from MTAC in the PostCom Bulletin or the Post Ops Update, to be posted here soon!

February 24, 2005 -- USPS Vice President of Engineering Tom Day told MTAC attendees that the USPS is moving forward on schedule with its Flats Sequencing System (FSS) initiative. While Day did not say that the USPS has put on hold its Delivery Point Packaging (DPP) initiative, he said that the previous time line of a DPP production contract award in December 2008 likely is “a bit aggressive.” “We are now in a position,” Day told mailers, “where FSS is getting out in front of DPP.” “The development, schedule and timing for FSS are moving along as we anticipated,” Day reported, “but DPP is moving more slowly, which is causing us concern as to what the right next step for DPP is.” Read more about the USPS' status report on FSS/DPP in the next issue of PostCom's Post Ops Update -- to be posted here soon!

February 24, 2005 -- The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) has reported that "The government and the ruling parties have started considering greatly extending the current Diet session in order to pass a set of bills on postal privatization, sources said Thursday. As the submission of the bills to the Diet likely will be delayed to April or even later, they judged that it was necessary to have enough time for deliberations on the bills by extending the session, which is currently scheduled to close on June 19."

February 24, 2005 -- According to PostCom President Gene Del Polito, if there are any bogeymen haunting the halls of the 109th Congress as the postal reform debate gets under way, you can be sure that the "bogeyman doesn't wear brown."

February 24, 2005 -- As Reuters has noted, "Despite concerns rivals are gaining ground, United Parcel Service Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Eskew said on Wednesday he was optimistic about the package deliverer's growth prospects in 2005."

February 24, 2005 -- As Circulation Management has noted, "The US Postal Service sent out 350,000 copies of a custom 32-page bi-monthly magazine titled Deliver to a targeted circulation of CEOs, corporate marketers and their creative agencies. The new title focuses on the power of direct mail and the editorial targets corporate marketers at companies such as Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and WPP Group’s Ogilvy & Mather. The postal service owns the magazine and is responsible for editorial content. However, it will be published six times yearly by Campbell-Ewald Publishing, Detroit. It costs, on average, about 18 cents to send a letter at bulk rate, compared to an outbound e-mail which costs as little as half a cent to deliver. With this knowledge and being in the business of selling postage, Deliver is the Postal Service's tool to drive the technique. The launch comes at a time when companies have increased options of where they spend their marketing dollars. Advertising methods such as word-of-mouth and event marketing are taking off and USPS doesn't want to get lost in the mail."

February 24, 2005 -- The Belfast Telegraph has reported that "The decision to end Royal Mail's 350 year monopoly on mail delivery has raised concern for the future of the rural postal service in Northern Ireland."

February 24, 2005 -- As The Edge Daily has noted, "Last week, Pos Malaysia announced that it had been given permission to raise postal tariffs for commercial mail, effective March 2005 and the first increase since 1992. First, there will be a reclassification of the current letter, printed matter and small packets categories to standard mail, non-standard mail and periodicals. Definitions of aerogramme, postcard and parcel remain. The basic rate for standard mail remains at 30 sen (under 20g), but those weighing 20-50g have been raised from 35 to 40 sen (up 17%). Rates of local non-standard mail have been raised more significantly. The changes may appear small, but from their low base, the percentage changes are actually quite large -– from 14% to 50% for light commercial mail and up to 92% for bulkier ones. Commercial mail under 100g (example bank statements, bills) will be raised between five and 25 sen (14% to 50%), but those above 100g remain unchanged. Commercial samples, addressed catalogues and pamphlets are up between 15 sen and 50 sen (42% and 30%) while heavy items, such as books, weighing 0.5kg to 2kg – up between RM1.30 and RM2.30 (85% to 92%)."

February 24, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "Mike Eskew, chief executive of UPS, told business leaders on Wednesday that they need to do a better job promoting the benefits of global trade. Eskew, speaking to a Commerce Club gathering in Atlanta, said the anti-globalization movement has been able to one-up the U.S. business community by tenaciously pushing its message."

February 24, 2005 -- MalaysiaKini has reported that "It is never enough, it seems - especially when one is consumed by greed. Aliran is disturbed that Pos Malaysia has decided to increase postal rates despite sitting prettily on a huge cash stockpile and earning sizeable profits. This privatised firm actually has an astounding three-quarters of a billion ringgit stashed away in cash or near-cash assets. In addition, Pos Malaysia is believed to earn some RM90 million ringgit annually in commissions for acting as a collection agent for bill payments on behalf of various firms. Not surprisingly, Pos Malaysia posted a net profit of RM 61 million for the nine months ended September 2004 - an increase of more than 40 per cent from the corresponding period in the previous year. It is projected to earn a net profit of close to RM100 million this year based on existing postal rates."

February 24, 2005 -- ePolitix.com (U.K.) has reported that "The future of post offices remains uncertain despite continued financial support from government, a new report from the National Audit Office has revealed. The report looks at the problems facing post offices, particularly how changes to pension and benefit payments and customer shopping habits have left many struggling financially."

February 24, 2005 -- According to the Edmunton Sun (Canada), "Closing rural post offices could signal a death knell for small towns, warns the union that represents posties working in the countryside. "It's really important to rural Canada to have these places. It keeps us alive," said Lana Slowsky, vice-president of the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association, which represents 6,600 rural postal workers."

February 24, 2005 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he will work out a plan to reform the country's postal service with the ruling party. Koizumi and his own Liberal Democratic Party are proposing competing plans to privatize the postal service. Koizumi told a group of reporters in Tokyo that the government hopes to come up with a final plan as soon as possible."

February 24, 2005 -- The Financial Times has reported that "The Italian government yesterday made clear it would press ahead with the privatisation of Poste Italiane, the state-run postal services and banking group."

February 23, 2003 -- In an update on the USPS' preparation of its "PL-108-18 rate filing," USPS Chief Financial Officer Dick Strasser told MTAC attendees that if there were no escrow, the USPS would not need a rate increase in 2006.  "We forecast that we would break even in 2006 without the escrow," he said.  Strasser said that the proposed rate increase would be "across the board," with only minor adjustments for rounding.  The USPS is counting on a settlement by the parties, he said, and an expedited process.  Strasser said it is his understanding that the Postmaster General's promise of no rate increase until 2006 still holds.

February 23, 2005 -- Suddeutsche Zeitung has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, is planning to discontinue training for the traditional 'postman' with effect from the autumn of 2005. Instead, it will provide training for courier, express and parcel forwarding staff."

February 23, 2005 -- Die Welt has reported that "Deutsche Post, Germany's national postal services provider has lodged a complaint against the German anti-trust authority. The authority wants the postal market in Germany to become more liberalised and has therefore said that Deutsche Post can enjoy its current monopoly only until 2007. In order to open up the market, the authority has demanded that Deutsche Post allow competitors to carry out activities such as collecting, sorting and delivering letters that are under 100g in weight."

February 23, 2005 -- ACHRNews has reported that "Honeywell announced that the U.S. Postal Service in Southern California has awarded the company $20.6 million in contracts for building and energy-retrofit improvements, as well as the development of a cogeneration system. The projects began in late December and are expected to be complete in approximately 12 months."

February 23, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said his government is considering selling more shares in power company Enel SpA (EN) and privatizing postal service Poste Italiane to cut Italy's huge debt."

February 23, 2005 -- LibDems.org (U.K.) has reported that "Commenting on the news that the UK's postal services market is to be fully liberalised 15 months earlier than planned, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Malcolm Bruce MP, said: "In the face of viable competition the choice will be a simple one for the Royal Mail: improve performance or lose customers. In a liberalised market Royal Mail has a good chance of retaining its dominant position, but it is right that this is achieved through good performance instead of a centuries-old monopoly. "Royal Mail will have to become much more efficient if they are not to fall victim to cherry-picking by competitors. They will also need to invest in technology to ensure they are competitive and able to deal with restrictive practices such as the wildcat strikes that have been so damaging in the past. In the new climate of competition this could lead to an accelerated loss of jobs. "The priority of the regulator will be to ensure the introduction of competition does not jeopardise the universal service obligation or erode the provision of postal services to remote and rural areas."

February 23, 2005 -- According to the Associated Press, "Employees at a U.S. postal facility that processed anthrax-laced letters told researchers they failed to get adequate information during the 2001 attacks, several comparing themselves to blacks who were denied treatment during the government's notorious Tuskegee experiments."

February 23, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• As expected, Deutsche Post has appealed against the German Cartel Office's decision that Deutsche Post discriminates against competitors in the field of so-called consolidation activities (CEP News 07/05). CEO Klaus Zumwinkel said the appeal was directed mainly against the immediate execution of the Cartel Office decision. Summary proceedings meant that a decision by the Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court could be expected shortly. However, the Federal Council pronounced itself in favour of all postal service providers in Germany being allowed to collect, sort and feed mail into the postal system. An amendment to the Postal Act will make this possible.
• Last week's presentation of the German regulatory authority's (RegTP) annual report revealed a stagnant mail market turnover at around 10bn euros in 2004. Private competitors enjoyed a noticeable increase in turnover from 388m euros (2003) to 514m euros. RegTP said the figures did not indicate the presence of a functioning and equal competitive situation. `Germany - as well as all other European countries - is still far away from that situation', said RegTP president Kurth in Bonn last Wednesday. RegTP still acknowledged that private operators had made 'a considerable contribution to unemployment reduction' by creating more than 37,000 new jobs in the last few years.
• According to CEO Klaus Zumwinkel, Deutsche Post AG got off into the current year according to plan. On Tuesday Mr Zumwinkel told journalists there had been no major surprises. However, the loss-making business of DHL in the USA had improved at the beginning of the year. The first six weeks of 2005 had seen very `attractive growth rates' - partly two-digit figures - in terms of turnover and yield.
• UPS is launching a new marketing campaign, `Deliver More', which emphasises that the company can perform more than plain parcel services. On Monday, UPS announced that the campaign would start this week and advertise additional services in up to 104 countries worldwide.
• Magyar Hirek - Hungarian edition; this title represents a milestone in the history of the CEP News. For the first time this week, we will publish a separate Hungarian supplement, to be followed by fortnightly news from one of Eastern Europe's most important and expansive markets. The `CEP News - Magyar Hirek' will be published in a parallel Hungarian and English edition. Subscribers to the German and English versions of the CEP News can obtain the Hungarian edition at a reduced rate as part of their existing subscription. MRU managing director Horst Manner-Romberg is optimistic that the news letter, which is compiled in conjunction with a Hungarian partner, will offer items of great interest not only to companies and publishers in Hungary but to any West European operator with ambitions linked to the Hungarian market.

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..

February 23, 2005 -- Window Book, Inc., a company that specializes in postal shipping, manifest mailing and Delivery Confirmation® software, promoted Lisa Bowes of Old Saybrook, CT to Mailing Systems Product Manager and Teresa Tabor of Somerville, MA to Shipping Systems Product Manager. Both will oversee product direction, client interface, technical sales support, and training programs for mailing and shipping software, respectively.

February 23, 2005 -- The U.S. Postal Service has posted its January financial reports on its web site.

February 23, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice today announced the results of a joint investigation which generated more than 200 arrests and other enforcement actions against scam artists who turned the American dream of running a small business into a costly nightmare."

February 23, 2005 -- According to the News-Press, "They don't drive a mail truck. They don't wear a uniform. They don't have regular delivery routes, but they know all the faces behind the names on the letters they deliver. They are rural letter carriers and an important asset to the United States Postal Service and residents working very long hours and driving many miles to fulfill the U.S. Post Office's mission of delivering the mail come rain, snow, sleet or sunshine. "They are the backbone of the community," said David Barr, postmaster at the St. James City post office. "They tie it all together."

February 23, 2005 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation has tentatively authorized UPS to expand its air operations to and from China.

February 23, 2005 -- The Norway Post has reported that "The Norwegian Postal Service (Posten) more than doubled its pre-tax profits last year, from NOK 456 million in 2003 to NOK 1.1 billion in 2004."

February 23, 2005 -- Le Figaro has reported that "The management and unions of the French post office, La Poste, yesterday concluded a framework agreement concerning training for postal workers for the next three years."

February 22, 2005 -- The Washington Post has reported that "Three years ago, Postmaster General John E. Potter jettisoned a controversial bonus program for executives and began steering the U.S. Postal Service toward a pay-for-performance system. The first round of results is in, and Potter likes what he sees. "People understand their goals. They recognize that their performance affected the outcome. People are motivated to continue improving," he said in a recent interview at his office."

February 22, 2005 -- Brunei Online has reported that "In an effort to raise awareness on the proper way of labelling postal addresses, the Postal Services Department held a briefing at the Ministry of Communications yesterday afternoon. The briefing, which was the first of many programmes scheduled to take place during the 'Correct Mailing Address' campaign, was attended by around 30 representatives from both the public and private sector. In order to help the Mailing Service Department deliver letters or mail efficiently, the public should put down the correct address and postcode in legible handwriting with the right amount of stamps, according to Awang Haji Azahari bin Mohd Ali, the Acting Postmaster General of Postal Services Department. He also urged the public to place their post-box at suitable locations of the house where the postmen could put the letters in, adding that the post-boxes should be of proper size."

February 22, 2005 -- The Asahi Shimbun has reported that "The government will scrap or sell 120 money-losing hotels and leisure facilities operated by Japan Post within five years after the organization is privatized in April 2007."

February 22, 2005 -- ComputerWorld has reported that "German postal company Deutsche Post and software company Adobe Systems have teamed to develop a new Web-based postage service, Stampit Web, that allows users to prepay and receive mail postage online. After purchasing stamps online, users receive the postage in the form of a PDF document, which they can print out using Adobe Reader versions 6.02 and 7.0 and affix to letters or parcels. The service, to be available later this month, is built on Adobe's LiveCycle software for generating "intelligent documents." These documents have the same look and feel as static forms but can also include important enterprise data and business logic to allow for prefilled information such as customer names or account numbers and automatic calculations, according to Adobe's Web site. What makes these forms intelligent is the ability to define business logic within the form, it said."

February 21, 2005 -- MediaWeek has reported that "Publishers are breathing a sigh of relief--but just a small one--with the news that the U.S. Postal Service may be considering a 6 percent periodical rate hike to take effect next January, rather than the 15 percent boost that had been expected."

February 21, 2005 -- As Union Network International has noted, "The Argentine government will keep postal service Correo Argentino under state control, reversing an earlier plan to re-privatize the company."

February 21, 2005 -- Die Welt has reported that "German postal services provider Deutsche Post is to offer its customers the chance to send a parcel for free to mark its 10-year anniversary as a limited company. DHL, the group's parcel delivery subsidiary, is to provide all 35 million households in Germany with a stamp enabling them to send a parcel, weighing up to 20kgs, for free on February 25 only. Households will receive the stamps within the next couple of days."

February 21, 2005 -- New Strait Times has reported that "POS Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd is expected to deliver higher dividend in 2005 due to its good earnings prospects following higher mail usage and postal rates."

February 21, 2005 -- MENA-FN has reported that "A separate company that will offer mailroom, networking and express mail services to corporate clients in Qatar is proposed to be established by the General Postal Corporation (Q-Post)."

February 21, 2005 -- DI-VE News has reported that "The Union Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM) ordered the postal assistance at Maltapost not to use a number of faulty tools handed over to them by the management. As a reaction, the company suspended the workers as they were advised not to report to work until the issue is resolved. UHM section secretary Jesmond Bonello said that Maltapost management and representatives of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin are currently meeting in an attempt to solve the issue. He said that the workers were asked to use carriers without breaks, thus putting their health at risk."

February 20, 2005 -- The Jerusalem Post (Israel) has reported that "Domestic Postal Authority customers who want guaranteed delivery within one business day can now get that service, if they pay for it."

February 20, 2005 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail has said it should be given more freedom from regulations so that it can properly compete in a liberalised postal market. Adam Crozier, Royal Mail chief executive, said the group should be allowed to react to the new market without the "handcuffs" of regulation. The state-owned group gave a cautious welcome to the announcement by the regulator Postcomm yesterday that the postal market would be fully liberalised from the start of next year, bringing it forward from the original date of April 2007."

February 20, 2005 -- The Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock wrote: "In recent weeks, we've highlighted once again how double- and triple-parking, and illegal parking in curb lanes during rush hours, are major reasons for downtown gridlock. Although I've given up on the city's law-enforcement arms doing anything about illegal parking, perhaps we can make some progress with chronic individual violators. Now Let's start with the delivery vans. UPS, FedEx and the U.S. mail, you have told me over the years, are habitual violators, some blocking a lane in the same place every weekday. Those drivers seem to think nothing of blocking a lane of rush-hour traffic to make pickups and deliveries."

February 20, 2005 -- The Telegraph (U.K.) has reported that "Postwatch, the independent consumer watchdog for postal services, has warned that genuine competition to Royal Mail's monopoly will fail unless Postcomm, the regulator, takes a more active role in opening up the market."

February 19, 2005 -- As Investors Business Daily has noted, "Six years ago, retail gurus saw the Internet as the death knell of catalogs. Their thinking: Why bother issuing catalogs, which are costly to print and mail, when it's so cheap to showcase goods online? As it turns out, their reasoning was wrong. The Web has actually helped breathe new life into the direct mail-order retail business. And the catalog hasn't disappeared. Catalogers have embraced the Web as a complementary sales and marketing venue. They see it as a way to reach more consumers and drive incremental sales. By selling and promoting their goods both online and through catalogs, players have been able to connect more effectively and more often with existing consumers — and offer them a lot more convenience to boot. They've also been able to cut costs, provide better service and better manage customer relationships."

February 19, 2005 -- The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) has reported that "The government has unveiled its outline of bills for privatizing the country's postal operations, which will oblige the state to sell two-thirds of its stake in a proposed postal services holding company by the end of March 2017."

February 19, 2005 -- GovExec.com has reported that "The White House might compromise on postal overhaul legislation in time to avoid a looming double-digit rate increase, sources say. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., the chief proponents of last year's bill, are leaning toward backing administration requests intended to provide financial transparency, according to Senate aides. In exchange, they said, the White House might allow more flexibility in allowing the Postal Service to tap a retirement escrow account that the Postal Service contends is overfunded. The White House has opposed that approach, as well as the way the bill shifts the cost of military pensions to the Treasury Department."

February 19, 2005 -- The BBC has produced a question and answer piece on Royal Mail's upcoming deregulation.

February 19, 2005 -- icWales has asked: "Postal competition: choice of chaos?"

February 19, 2005 -- The Imphal Free Press (India) has reported that "Despite the advent of internet and e-mail and traditional mail being occasionally termed as snail mail, the importance of the latter is still enormous even in today’s IT enabled society. The importance of mail is often enhanced with the introduction of fast services such as the EMS speed post by the government postal services. Till date, the EMS speed post is the fastest service offered by the Indian Postal Service for fast delivery of mailed goods. And sure enough, the service provider should be availing the services of the best of its employees for the best service it provided to its citizens. However, incompetent and inefficient management of such important service by the agency, has subjected the public to dismal situations as deadlines are often missed due to late delivery."

February 18, 2005 -- ComputerWeekly has reported that "DHL Global Mail has implemented the Salesforce.com subscription-based customer relationship management (CRM) package for its international operations."

February 18, 2005 -- According to Hoovers, "Local unions, including those representing north country teachers, are urging members, families and friends to avoid using the U.S. Postal Service's "Automated Postal Centers," concerned that human tellers could be replaced by technology."

February 18, 2005 -- Direct has reported that "Mailer groups are more outraged at Congress than at the U.S. Postal Service for saying it would file a postal rate case to cover employee pension obligations that were previously lifted.

February 18, 2005 -- The Sun Sentinel has reported that "International delivery giant DHL, which runs its Americas operations from Plantation, on Thursday unveiled plans for a $107 million distribution hub in Pennsylvania for the U.S. East Coast."

February 18, 2005 -- Reuters has reported that "United Parcel Service Inc. Chief Executive and Chairman Michael Eskew said on Thursday the company still had some work to do on its new technology aimed at saving time and money by making package delivery more efficient."

February 18, 2005 -- ePolitix.com has reported that British "Unions have condemned as "ill advised" a decision to open the postal services market up to full competition from next January."

February 18, 2005 -- Politics.co.uk has reported that:

• Consumer group Postwatch today said the decision to fully liberalise postal services would re-enforce, not undermine, a universal delivery service, adding that the main threat to daily collection and delivery at a standard price was the inefficiency of Royal Mail.

• The Green Party said today that completely liberalising the postal market would provide “rich pickings” for big companies when all Britain really needed was one mail system that worked properly.

February 18, 2005 -- The Financial Times has reported that "the postal market is to be fully liberalised from the start of next year, more than a year earlier than planned, in an effort to force Royal Mail to improve its customer service. Postcomm, the postal regulator, said yesterday that any licensed company would be allowed to operate in the mail market from January 1 next year. Royal Mail currently has a market share of 99 per cent. The market was to be opened in April 2007, but last September the regulator indicated this would be brought forward. The country's parcel delivery market is already fully liberalised." See also The Independent, BBC,  ITV.com, Forbes and Bloomberg.

February 18, 2005 -- According to Forbes, "Pitney Bowes throws off lots of cash but hasn't yet figured out what to do with it."

February 18, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: 

• The nation's leading mailing industry trade show -- the National Postal Forum -- has dramatically increased the educational opportunities for those who will attend its 2005 event in Nashville, TN, March 20-23, at the Opryland Convention Center. The offerings include more than 100 workshops, 5 all-day symposiums, and a Postal Service-issued training certificate program with 11 areas of discipline.

• RightNow(R) Technologies, a leading provider of on demand CRM software solutions, today announced New Zealand Post's document solutions subsidiary, Datamail, has deployed RightNow Sales(TM) to streamline and optimize core sales processes -- from forecasting and opportunity management to proposal and bid generation. Datamail is a RightNow solutions distributor in New Zealand."

February 18, 2005 -- The Financial Express has reported that "In a move that will have serious implications for the Rs 2,500-crore courier industry, the United Progressive Alliance government has revived the Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill, 2002 that seeks to regulate private courier and express companies."

February 18, 2005 -- According to Aliran Online, "It is never enough, it seems - especially when one is consumed by greed. Aliran is disturbed that Pos Malaysia has decided to increase postal rates despite sitting prettily on a huge cash stockpile and earning sizeable profits."

February 18, 2005 -- According to the CommentWire: "Royal Mail, the state-owned operator of the UK's postal service, has posted one of its best service quality performances in years. The group has recently managed a remarkable financial turnaround but has had problems with deteriorating service, which has eroded public confidence in the institution. Royal Mail must keep improving though, with liberalization in the mail sector fast approaching."

February 18, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "An over-the-counter postal services company, to be created through the privatization of state-backed Japan Post, will operate post offices like convenience stores and will offer friendly services to local people, according to proposed government legislation made available on Thursday. Post offices will offer services on behalf of a mail delivery company, issue certificates for local governments and sell tickets for events."

February 18, 2005 -- The Worcester Telegram has reported that "Stamps.com Inc. shares climbed Thursday, boosted by strong fourth-quarter results reflecting a surge in the company's core PC Postage business."

February 18, 2005 -- NorthCentralOhio.com has reported that "Continuing the high standard of mail service and preventing the loss of jobs was the message that rang out loud and clear at the post office rally in Mansfield Wednesday. A proposal to move first class mail processing operations from Mansfield to Akron faced even more opposition as community leaders, postal employees and area residents took part in a rally outside the Mansfield Main Post Office on Diamond Street to protest the U.S. Postal Service moving ahead with the proposal."

February 17, 2005 -- At its open meeting in Florida today the Postal Service Board of Governors directed management to prepare a filing with the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) to cover an escrow requirement of $3.1 billion resulting from changes in the Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003. The escrow must be established by Sept. 30, 2006. In his comments BOG Chairman Jim Miller said the USPS would file this rate case as soon as possible. He gave no further details on when the case would be filed or what it would seek in a revenue requirement. In addition, the Board received the USPS' First Quarter results which included an increase in mail volume and net income of $1.7 billion. The largest increases in volume came from the financial and catalog sectors. The 5.5% increase is the highest quarterly volume growth in 15 years. November's volume was up 15% compared with the previous years. Volume growth in October and December were both less than 2% compared with 2003 volumes. For the First Quarter, revenues of $18.8 billion and expenses of $17.1 billion produced a net income of $1.7 billion, down from $1.8 billion last year. Revenue grew by 3.2 percent during the period. The Board approved the filing of the Postal Service's fourth NSA. The agreement has three main features: it provides incentives for the customer to send additional First-Class Mail, ensures that the customer will maintain superior mail quality practices, and produces cost savings for the Postal Service from the customer agreeing to receive electronic information about undeliverable mail instead of having pieces physically returned. The Board set an April 1 implementation date for NSA with Bank One Corporation. The Board will ask the PRC to reconsider its decision to limit the total amount of discounts available to Bank One under the NSA, and provide guidance as to what standards must be met to avoid a cap in future cases." See also the report by the Associated Press.

February 17, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that:

• FedEx Express has commenced operating regular flights into the new Central Japan International Airport located in Nagoya. The flights will enable FedEx to better serve the Chubu region, a major manufacturing centre.

• DHL has won a new contract with cosmetics manufacturer Caboodles for distribution in US, Canada and UK.

February 17, 2005 -- Logistics Management has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has reeled in two unlikely users for its "Parcel Select" service, the package-delivery program designed to take large-volume shippers and consolidators "the last mile" at an economical price. Over the past few months, UPS and FedEx have been testing Parcel Select and are now rolling out economy products of their own that incorporate the service for deliveries to the front door. That allows the carrier giants—acting as consolidators—to offer inexpensive products aimed at large-volume customers that don't need expedited delivery."

February 17, 2005 -- The agenda for the February meeting of the Postal Service's Mailers Technical Advisory Committee has been posted on this site.

February 17, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "DHL plans to establish a new state-of-the-art distribution center on the East Coast of the United States.\ The company, a unit of Germany's Deutsche Post World Net, said it would disclose details of the project at a news conference Thursday. DHL expects to lose more than $600 million in 2004 and $369 million in 2005 in the U.S., where it has launched a costly campaign to compete with UPS and FedEx Corp. in the domestic market."

February 17, 2005 -- Kyodo has reported that "The number of parcels Japan Post delivered between last April and early this month has reached a record-high 184.97 million, breaking the previous record set in fiscal 1970."

February 17, 2005 -- The Bristol Press has reported that "The Senate held the first of a pair of hearings Wednesday on the question of whether to let Americans, in particular senior citizens, mail order prescription drugs outside the country in order to save money. Citing a government study completed last year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona told senators that ensuring safety of foreign mail order drugs entering the U.S. would be expensive if not impossible."

February 17, 2005 -- New Strait Times has reported that "The new rates, which come into effect March 1, will see an increase of between five and 25 sen for bank statements, bills and direct marketing materials. Registered letters will see a 40 sen hike. Although Pos Malaysia managing director Datuk Ikmal Hijaz Hashim said the hikes would have minimal impact on the public as the base rate of 30 sen on standard domestic letters would remain the same, there was still the possibility that consumers would be affected. Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations adviser Datuk Dr Hamdan Adnan said anything that affected the business community would inevitably affect the consumers as well."

February 17, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "Japan Post said Wednesday its mail delivery service posted a 56.2 billion yen net loss in the April-September period of fiscal 2004. Japan Post blamed the sector's red ink on the growing number of people using email instead of ordinary postal services."

February 17, 2005 -- Brunei Direct has reported that "The Indonesian Postal Administration announced that postal services to Aceh and South Sumatra have been suspended until further notice."

February 16, 2005 -- AllAfrica.com has reported that "The Botswana Postal Workers Union (BPWU) has resorted to legal action to force management to address the grievances of its members. The BPWU resolved last week to engage lawyers to address issues, it said the Botswana Post management has been ignoring for a long time."

February 16, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "FedEx Freight, the regional and interregional less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiary of FedEx Corp. has expanded capacity at two key regional facilities in the mid-Atlantic region."

February 16, 2005 --The Manfield News Journal has reported that U.S. Representative Michael Oxley has asked for a second opinion on the recommendation to move first class mail processing operations from Mansfield to Akron. The Republican from Findlay wrote the Government Accountability Office on Tuesday, seeking its views on the report recently issued by the Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service, which endorsed a move. Oxley's letter requested an overall study by the GAO of Postal Service operations in the northern Ohio district.

February 16, 2005 -- The Financial Times has reported that "Few markets are harder to open than postal services. Slowly but surely, e-mail, regulation, competition and market fragmentation are forcing national operators to rethink their models. Europe's pace is about to quicken. Denmark will soon announce the winner of a 25 per cent stake in Post Danmark, with Dutch TPG and Germany's Deutsche Post among contenders. Belgium wants a minority partner to modernise its service: TPG and France's La Poste are rumoured to be considering bidding jointly."

February 16, 2005 -- Transcontinental Inc. has announced the acquisition of the operating assets of JDM, Inc., one of North America's premier direct mail companies, by its wholly-owned subsidiary Transcontinental Direct U.S.A. Inc. This transaction raises Transcontinental Direct U.S.A.'s production capacity to more than 5 billion direct mail pieces annually while also adding JDM's state-of-the-art production and control systems, mailing logistics, and strong management team.

February 16, 2005 -- The Bangkok Post has reported that "In 2003, the UK merged two of its key watchdog agencies, the Office of Telecommunications (OFTEL) and the Independent Television Commission (ITC), along with three other smaller regulatory agencies into one super-agency, the Office of Communications or OFCOM. This super-regulator has had an interesting genesis, often itself being the focus of media attention rather than regulating the media."

February 16, 2005 -- The New Straits Times has reported that "Malaysia's postal rates for international mail, one of the lowest in the region, has been taken advantage of for "mail dumping." Pos Malaysia Bhd managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Ikmal Hijaz Hashim said that some foreign companies were using Malaysia as a transit point before re-mailing their letters to other countries."

February 16, 2005 -- GovExec.com has reported that "When the Postal Service decided to add functions to employees' Blackberrys, it turned to Peg Weir to make sure it was properly securing the wireless devices. As a result, when the new gadgets are rolled out next month, they will have internal controls in place, including password requirements and automatic timing out."

February 15, 2005 -- Staff from the Postal Rate Commission reviewed with PostCom Board members data concerning the Postal Service's great gains in total factor productivity and their recent financial good news.

February 15, 2005 -- Les Echos has reported that "La Poste, the French national postal services group, has reportedly formed a consortium with Dutch group TPG to put in an offer for a stake in the Belgian national postal services group. The Belgian government aims to sell 49 per cent of the Belgian group's capital to a foreign investor, in order to guarantee its restructuring. A list of candidates will be announced in March."

February 15, 2005 -- From the Market Wire: "Ipswitch, Inc., the leading developer of network management, messaging and file transfer solutions for small and medium businesses, today announced that the United States Postal Service (USPS) has purchased Ipswitch WhatsUp® for deployment in 180 mail processing and distribution centers across the U.S. The USPS plans to roll out Ipswitch WhatsUp in April. The network monitoring solution will ensure more efficient service in delivering 206 billion pieces annually."

February 15, 2005 -- From the Federal Register: "The Postal Rate Commission has filed a document that initiates the third in a series of rulemakings on procedures related to Negotiated Service Agreements. This proposal addresses rules applicable to Postal Service requests to extend or modify previously recommended Negotiated Service Agreements that are currently in effect. The changes, if adopted, will assist in clarifying the type of requests that qualify as extensions and the type of conditions that constitute modifications. DATES: Initial comments: March 14, 2005; reply comments: April 11, 2005."

February 15, 2005 -- According to Transport Intelligence, "DHL is to open a 6,000 square metre, express logistics centre in Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), Dubai. Being built at a cost of US $3.5 million, the centre will be four times the size of DHL's current JAFZA facility. The new express logistics centre will act as a trucking hub, supporting DHL's Gulf-wide distribution network."

February 15, 2005 -- The Durham Herald Sun has reported that "Durham attorney Bill Olive doesn't like the U.S. Postal Service shredding mail it can't deliver. Olive recently got a letter from the Postal Service's Mail Recovery Center in Atlanta saying his letter could not be delivered and his check had been shredded "to protect [his] personal information." "When I read the letter, I said, 'Why did they have to destroy it?'" Olive said Monday. "Why didn't they just send it back to me? They had my address." "I think it is very dangerous," Olive said, "in permitting the federal government to make an accusation against a citizen and then have the audacity to destroy the only evidence that a post office customer has to refute the accusation. ... It sets a precedent for the federal government, in a much broader context, to destroy documents at will."

February 15, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "Starting this week, the U.S. Postal Service will begin sending out 350,000 copies of a custom magazine that ballyhoos the power of advertising mail. The targets: marketing executives and ad executives at companies such as Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Home Depot and WPP Group's Ogilvy & Mather. The direct-mailed plug for direct mail is part of the Postal Service's aggressive ad push to talk up the technique at a time when companies have more and more places to put their marketing dollars, as advertising methods such as word-of-mouth and event marketing begin to take hold. The Postal Service is ramping up its pitch to marketers because it wants deep-pocketed advertisers to make up for the decline of first-class mail, such as personal letters, which has been hampered by increases in stamp prices. In 2004, for example, the Postal Service shipped about 98 billion pieces of first-class mail, about one billion fewer than in 2003. By contrast, the service last year shipped 95.5 billion pieces of standard mail -- the class that includes direct-mail pitches -- up from 90.5 billion in 2003, according to the Postal Service's annual report."

February 15, 2005 -- The Washington Post has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service said it suspended shipments on American Airlines and US Airways because the mail consistently arrived late at its destinations. A spokesman would not give the dollar value for the contracts. American Airlines executives said they met with Postal Service officials yesterday to present a "detailed recovery plan," and US Airways said it was scheduled to meet with the agency today." See also the Los Angeles Times.

February 15, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that:

• Decision time is nearing for the next rate increase by the Postal Service. Postmaster General John Potter has promised that the price of mailing a letter won't go up until 2006. But with the complex procedures needed to raise prices taking 10 months or more, the agency will probably begin the process soon, perhaps in March or April. Complicating matters is the effort to get Congress to change the way the post office is regulated, including relieving the agency of billions of dollars in pension and escrow obligations. The board of governors of the Postal Service is likely to begin discussions of higher rates as soon as its monthly meeting, which occurs this week.
• The first round of sales of excess stamps at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum earned the museum $3.3 million, well above what officials had expected. The auction, held Saturday, sold about 35,000 revenue stamps. The museum had expected to bring in about $1.9 million from the event. Eventually the museum plans to sell 7.4 million revenue stamps, originally used to mark the payment of taxes on items like cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and playing cards. The stamps were donated to the museum by the Treasury Department when their use was discontinued. The museum is keeping the best stamps, donating some to other museums and selling the rest."

February 15, 2005 -- The Postal Service will unveil its new DMM 300 at the National Postal Forum, March 20-23. Look for four training sessions on the new DMM, which is the final chapter -- so to speak -- in the Postal Service's effort to rewrite the DMM in a more user-friendly format. Hard copies and CD Roms of the DMM 300 will be available at the Forum as will flat-rate Priority Mail boxes to ship them back to the office. Or, you can fill out an order form at the Forum to have a DMM sent to your office. In addition, postal officials will update mailers on the status of the new Pricing and Classification Service Center and the Centralized National Cases process at the session called "Understanding the New Pricing and Classification Service Center. See also the report by DM News.

February 15, 2005 -- The National Association of Postal Supervisors recently urged House and Senate Postal leaders to move expeditiously to pass postal reform legislation. NAPS joined with 131 other postal associations and companies in a February 5 letter from the “Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service” to Congress, calling for Congress to pass meaningful postal overhaul legislation.

February 15, 2005 -- The International Herald Tribune has reported that "The German cartel office has ordered Deutsche Post to stop hindering competitors from entering the pre-sorting business immediately, the competition watchdog said Monday, a decision that the mail and logistics giant said it would fight in court."

February 15, 2005 -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, is examining the possibility of submitting a formal offer for a stake in the Belgian postal service, which is still entirely state-owned. The Belgian postal service operator is searching for a partner in order to make progress with the modernisation of the company; Deutsche Post says that it will not be deterred by the fact that the state intends to maintain a majority stake in the company initially, and that issues such as the price and whether or not the acquisition would fit into the German group's strategy are more important."

February 15, 2005 -- The Jerusalem Post has reported that "Frustrated by long lines at the post office when you just want to pick up a package? The Postal Authority announced on Monday a new service, the Doar-mat, which will make your packages accessible outside 10 selected branches, with 100 more machines due to be purchased for other offices."

February 15, 2005 -- Tunisia Online has reported that "The Tunisian postal service has been recently awarded a grade "A" quality management certificate by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), writes Tunisian daily Le Temps. The newspaper says several UPU experts carried out audits in different Tunisian postal services including the use of Information and communication technologies during the previous year."

February 15, 2005 -- From the Canada NewsWire: "Canada Post today released the results of an independent evaluation of Lettermail delivery in Canada, and for the period between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2004, the corporation achieved an on- time service performance score of 96.79 per cent against a target of 96 per cent."

February 15, 2005 -- The Malaysia Star has reported that "POS Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd will announce a plan by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pos Malaysia Bhd, to reclassify its domestic and international mail products. In a statement yesterday, the company said the move was in line with international best practices and to facilitate greater automation of its operations."

February 15, 2005 -- AFX has reported that "Pos Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd said its wholly owned subsidiary Pos Malaysia Bhd is raising the postal rate for business mail by 45 to 140 pct."

February 14, 2005 -- Globes Online has reported that "The Israel Postal Authority is launching a new automatic delivery machine (ADM) that enables automated, computerized package collection, any time of the day or night. Post office branch customers simply swipe their package notification slips through the ADM's optical scanner, and their package comes out. It takes just seconds for customers to collect packages from the new automatic delivery machines. There are no fees to pay, no branch opening and closing times, and the ADM saves customers from having to wait in line."

February 14, 2005 -- America’s largest bi-partisan women’s business group, Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), announces a sponsorship agreement with UPS to further empower growth opportunities for women-owned businesses and elevate their voice in the halls of Congress and the Administration. The sponsorship affords both parties a variety of collaborative opportunities to understand and support public policy that impacts the running and expansion of women-owned businesses and women in business. UPS will participate in several WIPP initiatives, including annual conferences, White House events, its Advisory Council and congressional leadership meetings. In an effort to assist WIPP members in running their businesses better, UPS – via an interactive link on the WIPP Web site – will share its knowledge and resources to support these female decision makers as they develop new market opportunities, access capital and stimulate business vitality in the U.S."

February 14, 2005 -- Financial Times Deutschland has reported that "The monopoly currently held by Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, on the market for the delivery of letters in Germany could be ended sooner than originally planned. At present, this monopoly is due to come to an end at the end of 2007. However, the upper house of the German parliament is to decide on Friday whether or not to push ahead a legislative initiative put forward by the German states of Lower Saxony and Hesse, which would involve the abolition of the monopoly at the end of this year."

February 14, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Pitney Bowes Inc. has announced that it has completed two transactions that extend its penetration and reach outside of the U.S. -- the acquisition of certain assets of Kilburn Office Automation Ltd. (Kilburn) in India and the formation of a joint venture with Semco Participacoes Limitada (Semco) in Brazil. Through these transactions Pitney Bowes is establishing direct sales operations in two of the world's top fifteen mailing markets, whose combined mail volumes are approximately 23 billion pieces annually."

February 14, 2005 -- The Gaylord Herald Times has reported that "The Gaylord branch of the United States Postal Service (USPS) is currently undergoing evaluation for potential consolidation with Traverse City or Saginaw for cost-effectiveness that may result in closing the local processing and distribution center that employs about 90 people."

February 14, 2005 -- Business Mailers Review has reported that:

• More than a year after the extended deadline for converting federal agencies from the Official Mail Accounting System (OMAS) to commercial payments, a number of agencies have yet to make the move. The transition is going about as quickly as was expected, Postal and General Services Administration officials told the Federal Mail Symposium meeting in Washington, DC, last week.
• USPS is currently engaged in active discussions with 29 companies for NSAs that are comparable to the Capital One deal.
• The Board of Governors will hear the Postal Service’s first quarter finances at its monthly meeting next week, Feb. 16-17 in Sarasota, FL. The board is likely to hear that the early part of the first quarter showed strong volume growth, but the momentum was short-lived, with First Class Mail volumes below the same period last year (SPLY) and January likely to be below SPLY as well. But should a larger gain in the early part of the quarter and a sizable increase in Standard Mail offset First Class volume declines, the quarter could show an overall gain.
• The Postal Service is clearly seething over the Postal Rate Commission’s latest proposal for defining “postal service” in a way that would bring some electronic services offered by USPS under PRC’s rate recommendation authority.
• The USPS has outlined a case study that shows where a points program mailing, such as for an airline frequent flyer, can be found to be part of an explicit advertisement and can directly relate to that advertisement.

February 14, 2005 -- The Scotsman (U.K.) has reported that "Letter deliveries have reached the best level for almost 10 years, the Royal Mail announced today. New figures showed that 91.9% of first class post and 98.5% of second class letters were delivered on time in the last three months of 2004. The organisation said every one of its 15 performance measures for letter and parcel services showed 'significant improvements'."

February 14, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "German postal-services and logistics company Deutsche Post World Net AG will have to allow more competition in the mail-sorting industry, the German Cartel Office said Monday. The Cartel Office found Deutsche Post must "not discriminate or handicap competitors who prepare and sort mail," a statement from the authority said. The cartel office said more competition is needed in picking up and sorting letters and delivering mail to Deutsche Post's mail centers. The office said Deutsche Post, through its system of rebate and allowance payments, hindered middle and small mail companies from getting established in Germany's mail market."

Be sure to get a copy of the latest Postal Rate Commission paper on the success of mailer worksharing.

February 14, 2005 -- As Business Week has noted, "Now you can use a camera phone to send picture postcards the old-fashioned way -- by mail. Cingular subscribers with newer Motorola phones can snap a picture, type in a short note and an address, and zip it off. For $1.99, Fuji Photo Film prints the card, affixes a stamp, and mails it anywhere in the U.S. Verizon has a similar deal with online photo service Shutterfly, but it works only with a Kyocera KX2 phone."

February 14, 2005 -- As the Journal of Commerce has noted, "Fifteen years ago there wasn't much to distinguish between the German and French mail monopolies, Deutsche Post and La Poste, as they faced the distant prospect of deregulation of the Europe Union's postal industry. Today, with deregulation just a few years away, the two appear to have very little in common."

February 14, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "The Argentine government will keep postal service Correo Argentino under state control, reversing an earlier plan to re-privatize the company."

February 14, 2005 -- DM News has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is expected to announce today the launch of Deliver, a magazine targeted to C-level executives about direct marketing and advertising trends. The custom publishing vehicle has been in concept and development for six months. The 32-page magazine goes to a targeted circulation of 350,000 CEOs, corporate marketers and their creative agencies. It mails today. Deliver is published six times yearly by Campbell-Ewald Publishing, Detroit. The postal service owns the magazine and is responsible for editorial content. Research will be conducted during the first year to measure its success."

February 14, 2005 -- Asia Pulse has reported that "The [Japanese] government is proposing the establishment in fiscal 2006 of two firms that will serve as the core bases for privatization of the postal savings and life insurance services. Under existing basic guidelines for the privatization process beginning April 2007, Japan Post will be split into four entities that will each handle different functions: postal savings, postal life insurance, mail delivery and post office management. These guidelines also call for the full-fledged privatization of the postal savings and life insurance units by 2017. The government intends to include the contents of its latest proposals - which are based on the existing guidelines - in postal privatization-related bills scheduled for submission to the current Diet session."

February 14, 2005 -- According to International Freighting Weekly, "Parcel InterCity (PIC), a high speed rail freight project developed by DHL and Stinnes, has opened a new route between Unna in Westphalia and Wustermark near Berlin. Asimilar east-west PIC service between Cologne and Berlin was cancelled in October 2002 because of low demand. This time around DHL is adding the consignments of Optimus, a logistics group it is in the process of acquiring (IFW 10 Jan). The opportunity to combine loads made a "decisive contribution" to restarting eastwest services, DHL said. Optimus is the logistics subsidiary of retail group KarstadtQuelle."

February 14, 2005 -- Kent Online (U.K.) has reported that "Late delivery, earlier final collection times and unsorted mail being delivered to multi-occupancy buildings were just some of the concerns raised during an annual business briefing by the South Eastern Society of Chartered Accountants (SESCA)."

February 13, 2005 -- According to The Times (U.K.), "Direct marketing may not be as common here [Ireland] as it is in the UK or America, but that may soon change. Although there are no separate figures available for Ireland, anecdotal evidence points to the effectiveness of the medium. According to Euromonitor, the UK market for mail order and home shopping grew by 33% in 2003 to reach a value of nearly €17.55 billion. It considers direct mail the most effective form of marketing for this type of business."

February 13, 2005 -- Reuters has reported that "United Parcel Service Inc. will not limit itself to small acquisitions if the right opportunity to expand its logistics businesses arises, Chief Financial Officer Scott Davis said on Friday. Future growth at the world's largest package delivery company will be powered by its international business and its supply chain solutions, or logistics, group -- which helps companies manage their goods as they travel from the manufacturer to the consumer with technology, freight forwarding and customs brokerage."

February 13, 2005 -- The Mansfield News Journal (OH) has reported that "The only way to save Mansfield's postmark may be direct intervention by a member of Congress, the president of the American Postal Workers Union local said Saturday. Karen See said she believes local residents have two weeks at most to dissuade the U.S. Postal Service from finalizing a decision to move first-class mail processing operations to Akron. She urged postal workers Saturday to encourage people to press U.S. Rep. Michael Oxley and U.S. Senators Michael DeWine and George Voinovich to oppose the change."

February 13, 2005 -- Kyodo has reported that "Kaoru Yosano, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, said Sunday the government and the LDP will start discussions on postal reforms this week based on the premise of privatizing postal services."

February 13, 2005 -- According to Japan Today, "Twenty-one percent of Japanese polled believe Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi should seek to enact postal privatization bills during the current Diet session."

February 12, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In addition, a copy of the PRC paper on the benefits of worksharing is being distributed with the electonic and print copy of this Bulletin. 

February 12, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Make Valentine's Day very personal this year. Create and send your own card. Without leaving your home. When it's convenient for you. The United States Postal Service offers more than 50 different Valentine's Day cards, waiting online to carry individual messages and wishes. Cover designs are provided. The sender provides the sentiment. For those who may be a little tongue-tied, the Postal Service also provides some "suggested sentiments." Simply log on to http://www.usps.com/cardstore and start shopping. NetPost CardStore is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

February 12, 2005 -- Direct has reported that "If catalogers want to grow, they need to redefine themselves as multichannel marketers. Today's successful marketers are juggling a number of media channels -- including catalogs, e-mail, Web sites and e-mail -- as well as multiple order mediums, such as call centers, the Web, retail and mail."

February 12, 2005 -- Die Welt has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, is reported to be likely to face a prohibition decree by the country's antitrust authority this month to force it to begin opening up the market for preparation activities, such as collection and presorting, to rival companies. Neither Deutsche Post nor the antitrust authority has commented on the rumour."

February 12, 2005 -- The Bangkok Post has reported that "State-run Thailand Post Co has teamed up with the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (SMEP) to provide logistics and transport services for small and medium enterprises through its 4,000 post office nationwide."

February 12, 2005 --  The BBC has reported that "The postal service is suffering a "genuine crisis" and its future is under threat "as never before", the UK's biggest postal union has warned. The Communication Workers Union has called for an "honest" national debate on the future of Royal Mail, which it fears could be privatised."

February 12, 2005 -- From the Canada NewsWire: "The 2,500 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) working at Canada Post have accepted by a slim 55% majority the final offer tabled by their employer on December 17, 2004."

February 12, 2005 -- The Lakeland Ledger (FL) has reported that "Thousands of pieces of priority mail were destroyed in a truck fire on Interstate 4 Thursday night. A tractor-trailer, owned by Phoenix Transport and Services, was carrying about 3,600 priority packages mailed in areas of Tampa and Pasco County with ZIP codes beginning with 335, 336 and 346."

February 12, 2005 -- As noted by the Associated Press, among the spending programs that have been cut from the President's budget is the annual payment toward revenue forgone, the appropriation that compensates the Postal Service for providing free and reduced price services to the blind, nonprofit organizations, and local newspaper publishers.

February 12, 2005 -- The Cincinnati Enquirer has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service has asked a federal judge in Cincinnati to force uniform rental company Cintas Corp. to comply with a subpoena issued last year for records in an investigation into alleged overcharges."

February 12, 2005 -- The latest issue of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. legislative update is available on the NAPUS web site.

February 12, 2005 -- From the eMediaWire: "The Smithsonian Institution has contracted with Third Wave Digital, an interactive exhibit and digital media creation firm headquartered in Macon, Georgia, to provide creative services for the National Postal Museum’s new web site. The National Postal Museum was created by an agreement between the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Postal Service in 1990. Third Wave Digital was selected by the Smithsonian Institution to provide educational and entertaining information about postal history and stamp collecting in an intuitive, interactive, on-line format. The finished product also needed to adhere closely to the Smithsonian’s quality standards and be in keeping with the Postal Museum’s overall exhibit quality. Third Wave Digital responded with the development of an interactive, web-based, quiz game. The quiz game, entitled “Postmaster Challenge”, presents visitors with a popular game show quiz format complimented by postal images and custom graphics. The “Postmaster’s Challenge” can be played at www.postalmuseum.si.edu under the Activity Zone in the Game Room."

February 12, 2005 -- Since 1912, the United States postal system has fueled the public's keen interest in flight by issuing stamps with aviation themes. "Stamps Take Flight," an exhibition opening March 15 at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, uses stamps, original art, artifacts and other materials with air and space themes to illustrate the creative processes and printing techniques behind America's stamps. Materials from the extraordinary Postmaster General's Collection and other sources tell the story of several carefully selected stamps, each representing a major stamp printing method from engraving to holography. The Museum is located at 2 Massachusetts Ave. N.E., in the Old City Post Office Building across from Union Station, and is open daily, except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information visit www.postal.si.edu.

February 12, 2005 -- The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) has reported that "The government Thursday disclosed its plans to ensure the same quality of service throughout the country once the postal services are privatized, including establishing a requirement for setting up post offices in remote areas."

February 12, 2005 -- Increasing its emphasis on mailing knowledge and professional training, the 2005 National Postal Forum will offer more than 50 new specialized attendee workshops, six new USPS-issued professional certificate categories and three first-time business tracks.

February 12, 2005 -- Bloomber has reported that "Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he may call a general election if he fails in the current Diet session to pass legislation to sell the nation's postal service."

February 11, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "During a recent visit to Singapore, Klaus Zumwinkel, Deutsche Post World Net’s Chief Executive, has given an insight into AsiaPacific’s strategic importance to the company and its plans for China, the fastest growing market in the region. According to Zumwinkel, by 2010 the region is expected to account for 20% of DHL’s revenues, a rise from the 11% which it presently generates. He identifies the main driver behind this growth as the removal of barriers to international trade and the out-sourcing of logistics by governments and companies. In order to take advantage of this opportunity DHL has already invested $1.4bn in the market over the past few years."

February 11, 2005 -- The Independent (U.K.) has reported that "POST OFFICE bosses came under fire for having fee-charging cash machines in their branches, after it emerged that consumers spend about pounds 10m a year withdrawing money from them."

February 11, 2005 -- According to the News Journal, "A U.S. Postal Service inspector general's report confirms what local post office workers had expected -- first-class mail processing should be moved from Mansfield to Akron."

February 11, 2005 -- The Asahi Shimbun has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was the target of criticism at a meeting of lawmakers who had previously wasted no time in lambasting his postal privatization plan. But at the Monday meeting, these Liberal Democratic Party members refrained from ripping apart the privatization plan. Instead, they reserved their criticism for the prime minister's headstrong attitude toward the issue. Although Koizumi is still taking heat, postal privatization now seems to be going ahead as the government and LDP lawmakers are moving closer to a compromise."

February 11, 2005 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Deutsche Post AG: Europe's biggest postal service will hold an investor day discussing with analysts and investors the integration of its DHL Express unit."

February 11, 2005 -- The BBC has reported that "German postal staff ensured a postcard to Adolf Hitler sent from England got to its destination, despite the Nazi leader being dead for 60 years. It was sent to "Fuehrer Adolf Hitler, Reichstag, German Parliament, Berlin, Germany", from an undisclosed address. Deutsche Post marked on the card that the address was incorrect and that the unidentified sender should be informed. Without referring to Hitler directly, it added future mail should be sent to the German Bundestag, or Parliament."

February 11, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "An Irish call centre subsidiary of Deutsche Post World Net is to close with the loss of 70 jobs. The 24 hour contact centre operator, Pan European Communications, has been operating in the Shannon Free Trade Zone since 1998 but has been forced to shut down due to a difficult market environment and losses."

February 11, 2005 -- From the Canada NewsWire: "With the launch of fetch(TM), Canada Post addresses the problem with an original new approach. fetch is an innovative way to quickly seek the information a consumer wants while shielding them from other invasive advertising. Canada Post developed fetch to help consumers take control of how, when and where they interact with advertisers.

February 11, 2005 -- The Economic Times has reported that "Indian post offices are now looking at doing more than just selling postal stationary, booking registered articles or money orders. The department of posts has tied up with insurance, personal loan and mutual fund companies to sell their products."

February 10, 2005 -- The Inquirer has reported that "NEW ZEALAND Post has abandoned a trail that would mean that if kiwis suddenly found themselves spammed by paint companies, they could blame their postman. NZ Post created what amounted to a storm by wiring up their posties with wireless microphones to collect details on their customers as they do their rounds. In the end the PR storm was too windy and NZ Post pulled the scheme."

February 10, 2005 -- The Wharf (U.K.) has reported that "RESIDENTS are flocking to sign a petition calling for improved postal services on the Isle of Dogs. Tower Hamlets Councillor Alan Amos has collected hundreds of signatures from residents who are fed up with their post going missing." Wait, wait. Let me guess. "The dog ate my mail." Or, no, no...how about this? Mail on the Isle is going to the dogs.

February 10, 2005 -- According to Dow Jones, "Japanese postal reform minister Heizo Takenaka Thursday reiterated his view that the government's plan to privatize Japan Post is the best proposal available, but said he is willing to discuss maintaining universal services after privatization is complete."

February 10, 2005 -- The South Bend Tribune has noted that "Barbara Czarnecki, of South Bend, opened the envelope holding her license plate renewal form and was surprised to find that it included an advertisement for an auto insurance company. What gives? she wondered. The partnership is with Allison Payment Systems, an Indianapolis company, to produce and mail the vehicle registration notices to the state's motorists. "Advertising inserts from businesses owned and operated in Indiana will cover costs previously incurred by the bureau, generating savings to fund new programs and customer-service initiatives,'' according to a BMV news release."

February 10, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "The nation's largest mailing industry trade show, the 2005 National Postal Forum (NPF), will feature five day-long sessions specializing in marketing, packages, periodicals, printing, and mail research and intelligence. These cornerstones to the four-day Forum -- taking place at the Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, TN, from March 20-23 -- will feature expert panels, industry speakers and interactive discussions."

February 10, 2005 -- The CommentWire has reported that "United Parcel Service [UPS] has opened three new warehouse and distribution centers in China, and announced that it will open another 20 facilities in the country over the next two years. With its domestic package business currently stagnating, UPS is clearly determined to capitalize on the opportunities available in China - but it will not go unopposed by its closest rivals."

February 10, 2005 -- UPS has announced it will hire an additional 200 pilots to support the growth and expansion of its air business.

February 10, 2005 -- The Postal Service has issued another revised Customer Support Ruling (CSR), PS-159, in a series of new and revised CSRs that will assist in understanding the use of “personal information” in Standard Mail matter. This CSR provides a clear example as to whether the mailing meets the test for including personal information in Standard Mail or is required to be mailed as First-Class Mail.

February 10, 2005 -- PC World has reported that "If you think you're safe from identity theft, take your eye off your PC and make sure you know where your wallet is. That's because a new survey has found that you may have more to worry about from careless paper management than from evil online forces."

February 10, 2005 -- Reuters has reported that "Nearly half of all U.S. adult Internet users now manage their bank accounts online, making banking the fastest-growing online activity. Forty-four percent of U.S. Internet users bank online, up from 30 percent two years ago, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said. The nonprofit group said banking has grown faster than any other online activity since it began measuring Internet use in March 2000."

February 10, 2005 -- The Irish Independent has reported that "CASH-strapped rural post offices will be lost to their communities unless the Government steps in with a rescue package to ensure postmasters and mistresses earn the minimum wage."

February 10, 2005 -- The Freeman (Philippines) has reported that "The Philippine Postal Corporation in Cebu City has been conducting an investigation on partly-torn or opened mails reaching the Cebu center following reports of lost cash sent through the post."

February 10, 2005 -- MENA-FN has reported that "Qatar's General Postal Corporation (Q-Post) yesterday signed a three-year agreement with the Al Jazeera Channel to provide all the packing and mailing requirements of the country's pioneering Arabic TV news channel. The deal was said to be the third of its kind which provides a comprehensive range of mail services to any local company, signed by Q-Post."

February 10, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "PostNet World Headquarters announced today that all PostNet locations will become authorized shipping centers for DHL, a worldwide leader in express shipping. This makes PostNet the only major player in the postal, business and communications services industry offering customers the choice of four major express shipping and mailing services. In addition to DHL, PostNet is an authorized shipping center for FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service. PostNet has more than 500 locations throughout the United States, and more than 935 worldwide."

February 10, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi warned Wednesday of political upheaval if the Diet does not enact postal privatization laws during the ongoing session through June."

February 10, 2005 -- Government Computer News has reported that the "Industry Advisory Council and the American Council for Technology has named Online Customer Self-Service, a Postal Service program that lets users print postage-paid labels as one of the five top e-gov initiatives of the past year.

February 10, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• The upper house of the German parliament last week followed the initiative of federal states Hessia and Lower Saxony and advocated a complete opening of the German mail market from 1 January 2006. However, market experts are rather pessimistic about the chances of deregulating the market two years earlier than currently planned.
• Austria's Association of Local Governments has launched yet another attack on the planned closure of 357 post offices in March.
• Since the beginning of the year, Britain's Royal Mail has refused to accept mail from other post companies fed into its system via the disputed ETOE's (Extra Territorial Offices of Exchange). A company representative confirmed that the decision was based on a resolution by the 23rd UPU Congress, according to which consignments dispatched via an ETOE are not protected by UPU statutes, unless the receiving post company has explicitly agreed to receive them.
• EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes intends to pay more attention to the postal market.
• Wage negotiations have broken down between ExpressPost AG, a subsidiary of Schweizerische Post, and the trade unions. The union `Kommunikation' intends to call on the arbitration committee after the post refused to accept a proposed inflation adjustment corresponding to approx. 1.5% of the total wages and salaries, the unions announced on Friday.
• Schweizerische Post has declared its intention of maintaining its position on a deregulated market through performance improvement.

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February 10, 2005 -- The