April 30, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?  Send us by email your name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance to see what you've been missing.
 

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April 30, 2005 -- From the Business Wire: "FedEx Freight, the less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiary of FedEx Corp., will implement a 5.6 percent general rate increase effective May 16, 2005. The increase will apply to interstate and intrastate traffic, and selected shipments between the United States and Mexico and Canada. FedEx Freight is a leading U.S. provider of regional and inter-regional LTL freight services. This general rate increase applies only to the LTL companies within the FedEx Freight Segment. Rates for other subsidiaries of FedEx Corp., including FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, and FedEx Kinko's, are not affected."

April 30, 2005 -- The Guardian (U.K.) has reported that "How to reward staff. How to support them. How to retain them when the pool of young talent is declining all the time. These are just some of the issues faced by human resources departments every day. Royal Mail, one of Britain's largest employers, confronts all these issues and more in its struggle to fight off increasing competition for postal services. This week, the state-owned organisation found itself in controversial territory after directors reintroduced a scheme rewarding good attendance by postal workers with prizes of cars and holiday vouchers. Unions said the scheme was a gimmick. Royal Mail, on the other hand, argued it was a genuine effort to boost staff commitment and morale."

April 30, 2005 -- Le Figaro has reported that "The French post office, La Poste, yesterday entered into a framework agreement to provide financial support for the 1,800 post offices in France which are operated by local authorities. The deal, which has been concluded after more than a decade of talks, doubles the amount paid to municipalities (900 euros) to run post offices in what are termed sensitive rural or urban areas and offices under the control of more than one local authority. In return, the post office in question must be open for 60hrs a month."

April 29, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "Cost cutting proved to be a key strategic move for UPS to offset weakness in the U.S. market as the company rebounded from a disappointing fourth quarter to post double-digit profit growth so far this year."

April 29, 2005 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

April 29, 2005 -- As Direct has noted, "Industry watchers are hoping Congress can get postal reform bills moving even as the Bush administration seems to be hardening its position in at least one key area."

April 29, 2005 -- The Washington Post has reported that "Congress passed a five-year, $14 trillion budget last night that will pave the way for oil drilling in parts of an Alaskan wildlife refuge, a new round of tax cuts and the first curbs on entitlements for the poor in nearly a decade. The House approved the plan by a vote of 214 to 211, and the Senate voted 52 to 47. Under the hard-fought agreement, the federal deficit, which reached a record $412 billion in 2004, would fall to $383 billion in 2006 and $211 billion by 2010. Congress would be expected to shave $35 billion off the growth of entitlement programs through 2010, the first such savings since the 1997 balanced budget agreement."

April 29, 2005 -- The Aspen Daily News has reported that "Local residents are facing extra delays to their mail; staff morale is at an all-time low at the Aspen post office; and some letters are being left in piles on the floor instead of being placed in their correct post office boxes, two postal workers claimed Thursday. "They are deliberately delaying the mail to avoid paying too much overtime," said one of Aspen's postal employees. "They refuse to work people to the maximum to ensure delivery." The U.S. Postal Service denies the allegations and says some employees are simply disgruntled at recently implemented changes. A new postmaster started at the post office in January."

April 29, 2005 -- According to DM News postal commentator Cary Baer, "The biggest problem that the USPS and mailing community have with Congress is its oft-repeated propensity to put its hand into the postal service’s wallet and extract huge sums of cash, usually with the administration’s (both Democratic and Republican) approval. It has done so with a variety of rationales, usually provided with a straight-faced explanation, of why the postal service really owes the money to the Treasury."

April 29, 2005 -- Asia Pulse has reported that "The postal privatization bills that have been submitted to the Japanese Diet sticks to the basic reform framework hammered out last autumn, Heizo Takenaka, minister in charge of postal privatization, said Wednesday. The government "repeatedly discussed the matter with the ruling coalition based on the framework drawn up last September, and it came up with the legislation's final version that is still within the framework's scope," Takenaka told reporters. "My understanding is that the bills are not watered down."

April 29, 2005 -- Dow Jones has noted that "Germany's regulator for telecommunications and postal services, RegTP, Friday said it has cut last-mile rental charges for fixed-line connections leased by Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) to competitors by 9.75% to EUR10.65 a month." Hmmm....Could changes for the "last mile" of the postal network be far behind?

April 29, 2005 -- NewIndPress (India) has reported that "Adapting itself to meet the demands of a changed scenario, the Department of Posts on Thursday launched Logistics Post, a customer-friendly endeavour for transporting high-volume cargo. ‘‘This service is a natural extension of the 150 years of experience we have in small cargo transportation. Logistics Post takes care of the complete supply chain from pick-up to transportation to delivery,’’ Postal Services director Shibu M.Job said. There are five Logistics Post booking centres in Kerala at Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur. Other centres will be opened subsequently, he said."

April 29, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "A survey undertaken by Harris Interactive on behalf of UPS has provided an insight into the views of senior corporate leaders regarding their companies’ supply chains. According to the findings, an increasing number of senior corporate leaders surveyed in Europe and the United States recognize the success of their businesses is tied very closely to the effective management of their supply chains. Overwhelmingly, by a margin of 79% to 21%, the business leaders agreed that effective management of their supply chains would have "a large impact" on the ability of their companies to achieve their strategic objectives in the future. 70% of those surveyed stated their CEO now views supply chain management as either "very" or "extremely" important. Furthermore 80% of the executives surveyed stated that China would be playing an important role in their company's growth objectives within the next three years, even though few think their supply chains in China are effective right now."

April 29, 2005 -- The Kodiak Daily Mirror has reported that "In an open community meeting Wednesday, U.S. Postal Service officials from Colorado answered questions about their search for a new post office in Kodiak (AK), gave the preferred area of the new post office and outlined how they will proceed to select a new site. The community meeting was the second step in a rigid federal process for finding a solution to the current space problem at the Kodiak Post Office."

April 29, 2005 -- The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) wants to know: "The Cabinet's endorsement of the postal privatization bills Wednesday provides the opportunity to ask a few questions about the proposed reforms. How will the nation's postal services change under the reforms? Can we expect better service at post offices?"

April 29, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "Senior members of the governing Liberal Democratic Party decided Thursday to seek an extension of the ongoing regular Diet session beyond its scheduled end June 19 to enable the passage of a postal privatization package."

April 29, 2005 -- Be sure to check out on PostInsight "The Effects of EU Accession on the Polish Postal Market and the Resulting Political Consequences," a paper presented by Mr. Wojciech Halka, Undersecretary of State for Telecommunications, Ministry of Infrastructure at the April, 2005 BvDP conference titled "Going East - Coming West - Internal Postal Markets in Europe?"

April 29, 2005 -- As the New Zealand Herald has noted, "New Zealand Post still makes its bread and butter from the 45c stamp - it says it processes a stack of mail as high as Mt Cook every day. But the company, which in March reported a much-improved profit of $40.4 million for the second half of last year, is making more money from packages these days. In fact, it put the profit down to growth in its Express Couriers operation, which runs packages all over the country to tight delivery deadlines. The trend is the same worldwide. Postal services are sending more packages, which means more airfreight and couriers. It's a boon for the likes of FedEx and DHL. The internet is partly responsible for this parcel explosion."

April 29, 2005 -- The UN News Centre has reported that "Migrant workers around the world will soon be able to send money back home by efficient and reliable electronic transfers, eliminating the paper and manual work now involved with traditional postal money orders, under a joint project announced today by the United Nations postal agency."

April 29, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Pitney Bowes Inc. has reported first quarter performance that exceeded previous revenue and earnings guidance."

April 28, 2005 -- POSTCOM MEMBERS: A summary of the transactions from today's PostCom Postal Policy Committee teleconference has been posted on this site.

April 28, 2005 -- Handelsblatt has reported that "Reg TP, the regulatory body for the telecommunications and postal services market in Germany, has said that the postal market is gradually becoming more competitive, with many new companies waiting in the wings. Deutsche Post, the German postal services group, loses its state monopoly in 2008. Matthias Kurth, chairman of Reg TP, said that Deutsche Post was coming under more pressure, but that the many smaller competitors together accounted for just 5 per cent of the market."

April 28, 2005 -- NonProfit Times has reported that "Six nonprofit umbrella organizations with members that fundraise via the mail have banded together in an attempt to blunt new United States Postal Service (USPS) rules that could force charities to mail at the more expensive first class rate as of June 1. The groups are trying to stall the implementation of the new personalized mail rules by using the USPS’s own poison, the mail. They want nonprofit mailers to send a personalized package to the USPS for approval, thus swamping the system. The next step would be litigation against the USPS, according to emails being passed between the leaders of the organizations and obtained by The NonProfit Times."

April 28, 2005 -- As The Guardian (U.K.) has warned, "Firms who attempt to copy a Royal Mail scheme rewarding employees for attending work could face compensation claims, employment advisers warned today. The postal group's scheme rewards workers who have good attendance records by entering them into prize draws. Royal Mail first ran the scheme six months ago, rewarding staff with prizes of 37 Ford Focus cars, 75 £2,000 holiday vouchers and 90,000 £150 vouchers. The firm claimed attendance soared by 10%, and this week reintroduced the scheme for a year with more than 800 prizes of cars and holiday vouchers up for grabs."

April 28, 2005 -- Letter carriers from more than 1,300 NALC branches—assisted in many areas by their rural carrier counterparts and other postal employees— will gladly lift extra loads on Saturday, May 14. That’s when they will collect food donations from families along their postal routes to help feed the less fortunate in their communities. Kudos! NALC. "Carriers care."

April 28, 2005 -- As the Associated Press has noted, "After an initial test marred by computer pranksters, Stamps.com Inc. and the U.S. Postal Service are again offering people a chance to put their personal photos on postage stamps. A new one-year test period will begin on May 17, the Santa Monica-based company said Tuesday. Stamps have also been redesigned to provide more room for images, with a sheet of 20 first-class stamps selling for $16.99."

April 28, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Futuremedia plc (Nasdaq: FMDAY), a leading European e-learning content and benefits services provider, today announced it has signed an agreement with Royal Mail Group plc, the UK's postal authority, to make bicycles available to all of Royal Mail Group plc's 190,000 eligible employees under the UK government's expanded Green Travel Plan program."

April 28, 2005 -- The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service will meet in Atlanta, GA, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 265 Peachtree St., N.E. The Tuesday meeting is in closed session. The public is welcome to observe the Wednesday session in the Hong Kong/Cairo rooms of the hotel.

April 28, 2005 -- According to UPS, "An increasing number of senior corporate leaders surveyed in Europe and the United States recognize the success of their businesses is tied very closely to the effective management of their supply chains, a new poll shows. Moreover, a remarkable 80% of the executives surveyed say that China will be playing an important role in their company's growth objectives within the next three years, even though few think their supply chains in China are effective right now."

April 28, 2005 -- The Community NewWire has reported that "The Institute of Fundraising has today hit out at Royal Mail proposals to introduce a size-based pricing structure on postage claiming charities will be hardest hit. The national representative body believes the new structure could cost charities millions of pounds in lost income and force many organisations to choose between paying out on increased postage costs or reducing their direct mail and donor marketing activities." See also The Scotsman.

April 28, 2005 -- President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate Donald E. Booth, of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Liberia. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Mr. Booth currently serves as Director of the Office of Technical and Specialized Agencies at the Department of State's Bureau of International Organization Affairs. He previously served as Director of the Office of West African Affairs. Prior to this position, Mr. Booth served as Deputy Director of the Office of Southern African Affairs. He earned his bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and his master's degrees from Boston University and the National War College. Don is the person at State who has been in charge of its international postal responsibilities. Congratulations Don!

April 28, 2005 -- AllAfrica.com has reported that "NAMPOST (Namibia) Courier workers, mainly long-distance drivers and cargo handlers, are preparing for industrial action in protest against the new employment contracts they have signed."

April 28, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• The Swiss "KEP & Mail" association demands that all obstructions to competition be removed and that private service providers be given access to the post's network. The association's president Peter Sutterluti criticised that the post was still benefiting from numerous privileges.

• German postage rates are still much too high. During Tuesday's round-table discussion at this week's 11th European CEP Congress in Bonn, Dr Ralf Wojtek, chairman of the German Association of International Express and Courier Services (BIEK e.V.) said that "prices are too high as long as the post continues to make a 17% profit in the mail segment".

• The Swedish regulatory authority Post- och telestyrelsen (PTS) does not see Posten AB's leading position on the mail market as threatened within a foreseeable future. In its most recent report ("Service och konkurrens 2005"), the authority states that there is only one serious rival among 36 licensees (in 1977 there were over 100 licensees): CityMail holds a 7.5% market share (6.6%). All other licensees together hold 0.5% of the market (0.44%).

• A spokesman for Deutsche Post denied press reports, according to which the post had stopped its programme of closing small post office branches. The post was still aiming to optimise the running of the branch network on profitable principles. By the end of the year, the number of Deutsche Post branches and private agencies should have settled down at the legally stipulated number of "over 12,000".

• Businesses competing with Deutsche Post intend to gain as comprehensive an access to the postal delivery network as possible by litigation. Their declared aim is to be able to drop consignments straight into the postman's bag in order to be able to expand their own business. Competitors base their claim on the partial access decreed by the Cartel Office and argue that the postal delivery network was set up with public funds. In a similar way to the energy supply industry and telecoms industry, competitors are now seeking direct access to the last mile.

• Slovakia seems prepared to open its postal market to competition sooner than originally planned.

• The Irish republican party Sinn Fein has urged An Post to remove around 1,000 post boxes, which bear the insignia of the British crown. The post has apparently rejected the suggestion and pointed out that the post boxes were part of Irish culture.

• Red Parcel Post (RPP) intends to break open the German parcel market next year with a completely new transport and handling concept. RPP points out that all the logistics and information systems currently in use on the market are structurally more than ten years old. RPP intends to achieve better quality and cost advantages by implementing transponder labels, modular transport box systems and satellite supported delivery.

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. CEP News is a product of Manner-Romberg Unternehmensberatung, one of Europe's foremost consultancies dealing with courier-, express-, logistics- and post-related issues.

April 28, 2005 -- The NorthWest (Indiana) Times has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is confident that it can detect any attempts at insurance fraud. But it would speak with more authority if it would change its procedures. The postal service doesn't scan packages sent through its much-ballyhooed Click-N-Ship service that allows customers to purchase postage online and print their own labels."

April 28, 2005 -- According to the Deseret News, "Meth addiction and mail theft fit neatly together. Meth addiction has reached epidemic proportions in Utah. It is the fastest growing illicit drug in the state, outpacing marijuana. More than a quarter of men and nearly 40 percent of women in treatment programs are meth abusers. The Postal Inspection Service financial crimes database lists 96 mailbox "attacks" in Utah in the past two years. Postal inspectors estimate the thieves are meth addicts 80 percent to 90 percent of the time."

April 28, 2005 -- Here's the latest from the Universal Postal Union Direct Mail Advisory Board:

• Australia Post now offers a new service called Impact Mail, allowing Direct Marketers to send mail items of virtually any shape or design, ranging from shaped postcards, form-cut brochures, die-cut booklets, or multi-dimensional folds, and all without the need for an envelope. The news was highly acclaimed in Australia, and more information about the new service can be found at http://www.auspost.com.au/IXP/0,1083,CH4063%257EMO19,00.html.

• La Poste (France) is also offering new DM products through its subsidiary Maileva (http://www.maileva.com). One of its new products, Mastrea, offers all the resources necessary to launch a DM campaign: address rental, creative assistance, personalization and delivery – not only by mail, but also e-mail, fax or multi-channel. Mastrea allows mailings of up to 30,000 items, and is therefore mainly for the use of SMEs, and is available 24 hours a day on Maileva's website.

• La Poste de Côte d’Ivoire is also planning to launch a Direct Mail product as soon as possible. With ideas born during the workshop held by the DMAB in Abidjan in 2002, La Poste is building a database which will serve as the basis for the first campaigns. There are plans for a publication aimed at raising the awareness and teaching how to use the mail to grow the business of its customers, and plans for the creation of the Ivorian Direct Marketing Association, bringing together professionals of the industry.

• One successful technique for marketers in many countries is the use of unaddressed mail, also called "door-drop". This technique has had exponential growth especially in countries where the list industry is not yet well developed – the distribution of advertising items to every mailbox in a given area may be an effective tool to collect information and start building mailing lists, from the responses received to the offers. However, unaddressed mail is also widely used in highly industrialized countries, such as in Western Europe. Here, there are a number of organizations who collect and keep valuable geo-demographic information for marketing purposes, and make it available in clusters according to postal codes or even according to the postman's route. Among current members of the DMAB offering unaddressed mail services are France, Tunisia and Brazil.

• The UPU International Bureau recently conducted a survey with all member countries to describe their national legislation or policy that makes the operation of extraterritorial offices of exchange (ETOEs) on their territories legitimate or authorized. Not all countries have replied so far, but a summary of the received answers, as well as the UPU documents on the issue can be found at http://www.upu.int/etoe/en/index.shtml. This page is regularly updated.

• A new section, “UPU News Centre”, now available on the UPU website, accessible from our homepage (http://www.upu.int). It features short news items about the UPU that are of interest to external stakeholders. It also includes an agenda of UPU and other postal sector events, information for the media, papers on the postal sector, as well as information on the Director General and the Deputy Director General.

The Direct Mail Advisory Board (DMAB) is a group of postal and industry organizations, and its mission is to "foster the growth of Direct Mail as a factor of economic and market expansion by increasing market knowledge and by developing the expertise of stakeholders at all levels". The UPU Direct Mail Advisory Board is open for new members. Companies and associations from the industry who have an interest in the development of Direct Mail markets worldwide can become members. Members of the DMAB can participate in a number of activities programmed for the next four years, such as our development workshops, conferences and seminars, access to important information and research, and methods and tools we are going to develop to help posts measure their DM volume growth and quality of service. If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to email raquel.ferrari@upu.int. PostCom President Gene Del Polito serves as one of the DMAB's three vice chairmen along with colleagues from Russian Post and Saudi Post.

April 28, 2005 -- As Catalog Age has noted, "Now that postal rates are likely to be going up next year (see cover story), it's more important than ever to negotiate or renegotiatiate your parcel-carrier contract."

April 28, 2005 -- Business Week has reported that "Advo Inc. shares dropped as much as 22 percent Wednesday as investors fled from the direct marketing company. Analysts also listed a possible 5.4 percent increase in postal rates in January 2006 as a reason enthusiasm might be tempered for Advo's business going forward." Soooo, postal rate increases don't hurt businesses...right? Think again.

April 28, 2005 -- TMCnet.com has reported that "In conjunction with Arbor Day 2005, Unmailme.com today announced the beta availability of its new Internet service that seeks to significantly reduce the 100 billion pieces of unsolicited -- and ignored -- advertising mail sent to U.S. homes and businesses each year." See also the Portland Business Journal.

April 28, 2005 -- AMEInfo has reported that "Emirates Post has won the first International Stevie Award for an Arab country, in the second annual International Business Awards."

April 28, 2005 -- Gulf Times has reported that "THE General Postal Corporation (Q-Post) is improving its services to help meet the goals set by the government for the complete implementation of e-government services, its chairman and chief executive Ali Mohamed al-Ali said."

April 28, 2005 -- The Nikkei News Service has reported that "Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta said Wednesday that he welcomed the fact that the postal privatization legislation suggests it may be possible for the privatized postal firms and their holding company to maintain capital relationships with one another. "Existing businesses in the private sector have partnerships and cross-shareholdings with firms in different sectors," Ikuta told reporters, adding: "Then, why not for Japan Post?" The legislation seems to have reflected most of Japan Post's demands, he said." One wonders if and when U.S. mailers will ever hear similar words of approval for any particular postal reform measure out of the mouths of the USPS' leadership.

April 28, 2005 -- According to Japan Times:

• The Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi finalized a package of postal privatization bills Wednesday night after executives of his Liberal Democratic Party rammed the bills through a series of internal meetings. See also Japan Today.

• Almost 60 percent of respondents to a recent poll want Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to stay in power until his term as Liberal Democratic Party president expires in September 2006. According to the survey, the public appreciates Koizumi's structural reform policies and the achievements of his Cabinet.

April 27, 2005 -- The Nikkei News Service has reported that:

• The Japanese government on Wednesday night approved and submitted to the Diet a package of six bills to privatize the country's postal services, setting the stage for deliberations from early May. But whether the bills will be smoothly endorsed remains uncertain as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is divided over whether its lawmakers are allowed to vote independently on the legislation. See also Kyodo News.

• Japanese business leaders on Wednesday welcomed the government's submission of legislation to the current Diet session to privatize postal services, saying that the move will add fuel to Japan's structural reform.

April 27, 2005 -- Suffolk Life has reported that "On Saturday, May 14, Long Islanders are asked to participate in the 13th Annual National Association Letter Carriers and United States Postal Service Food Drive."

April 27, 2005 -- As noted in the San Francisco Chronicle, "the Center for a New American Dream is lobbying Congress for the creation of a national "do not junk" list that would allow people to block all unsolicited mail to their addresses. The concept is based on the wildly successful Do Not Call Registry, which has largely deprived households across the land of dinnertime interruptions of ringing telephones. The center reports that more than a quarter million people have gotten involved in efforts to reduce junk mail."

April 27, 2005 -- Forbes wanted to know, "What's in a ZIP? In this case, some of the priciest real estate in the country. From Beverly Hills to TriBeCa, from notorious enclaves of mansions and lush lawns to little-known niches of wealth, we looked at ZIP codes around the country to find the ones where home prices were the highest last year."

April 27, 2005 -- The Business Standard (India) has reported that "Andhra Pradesh Postal Circle of the Postal Department has achieved a turnover of Rs 96.84 crore for the year 2004-05, registering a whopping 60 per cent growth as compared to the previous year. The Andhra Pradesh Circle has also surpassed the revenue target of Rs 94 crore for the year, according to T S Govindarajan, chief postmaster-general of Andhra Pradesh Circle. The Department of Posts had set up a separate business development directorate in 1996 to design, monitor, develop and market value-added premium products of the department such as EMS Speed Post and Express Parcel Post."

April 27, 2005 -- Computerworld has noted that "When ponies delivered mail, fleet management meant keeping everyone in line at the hitching post. Today, the ponies are gone, and the U.S. Postal Service uses wireless technology to manage industrial vehicles that sort the mail. New security applications can now monitor and lock down vehicles. In January, the Postal Service contracted with I.D. Systems Inc. and Unisys Corp. to develop an enterprisewide wireless asset tracking system dubbed PIVMS, or Powered Industrial Vehicle Management System. The tracking technology will help the service manage industrial vehicles such as forklifts and secure 460 postal facilities nationwide."

April 27, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "On April 21, FedEx Express put two hybrid diesel electric trucks to work in Washington, D.C. The company-wide total of hybrid trucks is now 18. The company plans to add as many as 75 of the clean air vehicles to its fleet within the next 12 months, depending on pricing and availability."

April 27, 2005 -- The Akron Beacon Journal has reported that "Are 420 U.S. Postal Service jobs leaving Akron or not? U.S. Rep. Timothy J. Ryan, D-Niles, is drafting a letter to the postmaster general asking him to reconsider closing the remote-encoding center on Exeter Road. However, the USPS spokesman for Northern Ohio said he is unaware of any closing and said there is no indication the USPS will close the facility near Akron Fulton International Airport. But if such a closing is in the works, Ryan's office is trying to stop it."

April 27, 2005 -- As the Nikkei News Service (Japan) has reported that:

• The government's postal privatization plan is problematic in that the government will likely continue to exercise significant control over the entity even after the privatization; the split among the mail service, postal savings and insurance operations will not be thorough enough; and the pace at which privatization proceeds will be too slow. So should the plan be abandoned for another one that would more thoroughly privatize the postal operations? That may not necessarily be a wise thing. It would be probably better to make constant efforts to improve upon the measures called for by the government plan during parliamentary deliberations and after passage of the legislation.

• Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday entered his fifth year since taking the national helm in 2001. Koizumi has persistently committed himself to privatizing the postal services, underscoring that the initiative remains on the top of his agenda and is the biggest driving force for him.

• The package of bills to privatize postal services that has emerged from lengthy political dickering between the government and the Liberal Democratic Party is a mere ghost of the original vision. After many major concessions by the government to win the support of the ruling party, the blueprint no longer seems to be a serious plan to achieve the main objectives of reform: stopping the flow of money from the postal savings and insurance systems into state coffers, and ending costly taxpayer support of postal businesses.

April 27, 2005 -- WFMY has reported that "People across the country have tapped into eBay's ability to help them sell their products to the world. Now, the United States Postal Service is getting in on the act. Welcome to eBay Day at the post office. Workshops are popping up at post offices across the Piedmont explaining the ins and outs of selling and shipping on-line. It's a deal that may translate into shorter lines at the post office, but thanks to eBay no shortage of business."

April 27, 2005 -- GovExec.com has reported that "Postmaster General Jack Potter told a House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday that Congress must finance its security and other costs left out of the administration's fiscal 2006 budget request or the agency's tenuous financial situation could get worse. Transportation-Treasury-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Knollenberg, R-Mich., said in a tight budget year, "you might not get everything you ask for." The panel approved a similar request last year when the same costs were omitted from the president's proposed budget. In addition to $51 million for homeland security costs, the agency is seeking $29 million in reimbursements for allowing nonprofits free mailing and $109 million for fulfilling federally mandated obligations, including providing special materials for the blind and absentee ballots for overseas voters."

April 27, 2005 -- According to the Polish News Bulletin, "Nearly 70 members of the trade unions of the Poczta Polska (PP) Polish state-owned postal service staged a 24 hour sit-down protest at PP's headquarters in Warsaw. They are protesting against plans to restructure the service without the prior signing of a benefits package for employees."

April 27, 2005 -- According to Science Daily, "The anthrax letter attacks in 2001 are not the first time an infectious agent has been spread through the mail. A recent article in a scientific journal describes two outbreaks of smallpox in 1901 that were attributed to infected letters, and bioweapon experts said it is possible terrorists could spread the deadly disease in this manner today."

April 27, 2005 -- This from Forbes: UPS CEO Michael Eskew received $3,057,000 in total compensation. This from testimony: Postmaster General John Potter received $174,000 in total compensation. Conclusion: UPS clearly knows what incentives are all about and molds Eskew's behavior accordingly. Congress, on the other hand, is more than delighted to cap the PMG's income and warp postal executive incentives.

April 27, 2005 -- AKA.TV has asked: "What’s in a name? Ad dollars, according to Michael Davies, VP of emerging media at Chicago marketing agency Draft, part of The Interpublic Group. Non-interactive networks can work well too, added fellow Draft VP Mark Stojack. Pointing to Draft’s network for the United States Postal Service (USPS), he said that network had increased operational efficiencies – for example by persuading people who leave a queue to use self-service machines instead, rather than abandoning the post office altogether. Customer satisfaction was also improved, with a decrease in perceived wait time.

April 27, 2005 -- The Union Network International has reported that "Close to 1,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) gathered in Quebec City to attend their 22nd National Triennial Convention. National President Deborah Bourque was re-elected for a second three-year term. Also elected to national office were 1st Vice-President Lynn Bue, Secretary Treasurer George Kuehnbaum, 2nd Vice-President Denis Lemelin, 3rd Vice-President George Floresco, 4th Vice-President Donald Lafleur, and Grievance Officer Phillipe Arbour. CUPW delegates reaffirmed that union activists must rally to the cause of fending off postal deregulation, privatization and keeping public post offices open."

April 26, 2005 -- The New York Times has reported that "Newspapers find national ads a tough sell. Company executives wanted to try a more targeted local-newspaper approach - inspired, perhaps, by the narrowly focused ads proliferating online."

April 26, 2005 -- Techweb has reported that "Bank of America led a list of the largest U.S. consumer banks in the number of customers using its online-banking services and in the intensity with which customers use those services, an Internet research firm said Monday. Coming in second in ComScore's E-Servicing Index was Wachovia, followed, in order, by Chase/Bank One, Well Fargo, Citibank, US Bank, Washington Mutual and SunTrust."

POPQUIZ: From which Internet domain does PostCom.org get the greatest number of its daily visitors? Check your answer.

April 26, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Personal photos on postage could return as early as next month as the Postal Service moves into the second phase of an extensive test of this popular product that debuted last year. Customized postage allows a customer to personalize postage with pictures or images using PC Postage(R) technology. The United States Postal Service today began looking for qualified PC Postage(R) vendors able to produce customized postage to be used on First-Class Mail, Priority Mail and Express Mail for personal use only."

POSTCOM MEMBERS: A summary of the proceedings of yesterday's meeting of the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service has been posted on this site for your review.

April 26, 2005 -- The Los Angeles Business Journal has reported that "In a potentially huge victory for Santa Monica-based Stamps.com Inc., the U.S. Postal Service plans to relaunch a personalized stamps program that had to be suspended last summer. The relaunch is the second phase of the Postal Service’s PC Postage program and will last one year, until May 2006. In the few months that the service was available, PC Postage sold 2.7 million stamps.

April 26, 2005 -- A PostEurop Customer Forum will be held in Brussels on 11 May 2005 at the Sheraton Brussels Hotel & Towers. The central theme will be “Adapting postal products to customers’ needs.” 

POPQUIZ: PostCom.org is visited more times by readers from the United States than anywhere else. But, can you name the country that scores as Number Two in readership right behind the United States? Check your answer.

April 26, 2005 -- Gulf Times has reported that "THE General Postal Corporation (Q-Post) has showcased its success in introducing electronic payment points at a meeting of Arab postal officials in Cairo. The meeting of the Arab Permanent Committee for Postal Affairs was hosted by the Arab League in association with the Universal Postal Union (UPU)."

POSTCOM MEMBERS: PostCom's Post-Ops Library has been updated. Check out what's new.

April 26, 2005 -- According to the Pioneer Press, "It's been more than a year since the U.S. Postal Service said it would consider moving its process and distribution center from downtown St. Paul to Eagan — but the federal agency has made no final decision on the proposed relocation. St. Paul wants to redevelop the riverfront site that houses the mail-sorting facility and is anxious to speed up the process. And while Eagan also backs the move — mainly for the 1,400 or so jobs it could bring — the city's excitement is considerably tempered by traffic-gridlock fears prompted by the facility's heavy trucking volume."

April 26, 2005 -- CNET News has reported that "Fake checks have been the stock in trade of online fraud artists for years. Now authorities are noting a surge in schemes involving sophisticated counterfeiting of a different form of payment: United States postal money orders. And the fleecing of victims often begins in an e-mail in-box."

April 26, 2005 -- From eMediaWire: "Travelocity.co.uk offers a postcard service where travelers can send personalized postcards directly from their mobile phone. Developed by InAMobile, a leading mobile imaging company, it allows camera phone users to take a picture, add a greeting and address and send a high quality physical postcard to friends and family. The postcards, which will cost £1.50 incl vat, can be sent from any MMS enabled location, dependent on the network operator. Cards sent before 3pm UK time will be printed and posted via first class mail on the same day."

April 26, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "The government on Tuesday postponed by one day a cabinet decision on submitting a set of bills to parliament to privatize Japan Post, due to lingering opposition within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party."

April 26, 2005 -- As GovExec.com has noted, "Lawmakers and administration officials who worked together to enact a quick-fix bill putting the U.S. Postal Service on stronger financial footing two years ago now disagree on how that law aimed to finance pensions."

April 26, 2005 -- As Cayman Net News has reported, "New regulations from the Canadian postal service, Canada Post, mean that anyone wanting to send a parcel for business or personal reasons to the country will need to declare the contents."

April 26, 2005 -- The Telegraph (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail yesterday described its watchdog as 'scaremongering' and 'opportunistic' after Postwatch complained that the organisation was not reinstating collection tabs on postboxes."

April 26, 2005 -- As Federal Times has noted, "The Bush administration said it remains opposed to a provision in each of two U.S. Postal Service reform bills that would relieve the organization of billions of dollars in military pension obligations.The White House earlier was reportedly willing to compromise on another provision in the reform bill — to repeal a requirement that USPS overpayments into CSRS go into an escrow fund. The administration has “no objection to the use of escrow to fund postretirement health,” an administration spokesman said April 22. “The problem arises when money is taken for military service to pay down health costs.’’ The two co-sponsors of the Senate Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, S 662, the reform version preferred by USPS, said that doing away with the military pension obligation and with the escrow fund “are critical to true and comprehensive reform."

April 26, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider the case of an injured postal customer who slipped and fell on mail delivered to the porch of her home instead of to her mailbox."

April 26, 2005 -- The Economist has noted that "Rupert Murdoch, the boss of News Corporation, one of the world's largest media companies, told the American Society of Newspaper Editors that too many of us editors and reporters are out of touch with our readers. Mr Murdoch's argument begins with the fact that newspapers worldwide have been—and seem destined to keep on—losing readers, and with them advertising revenue. The decline of newspapers predates the internet. But the second—broadband—generation of the internet is not only accelerating it but is also changing the business in a way that the previous rivals to newspapers—radio and TV—never did.” 

April 26, 2005 -- The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) has reported that "The government and the Liberal Democratic Party reached a basic agreement on postal privatization bills Monday evening, with the government accepting some requests from the ruling coalition party, including one to allow crossholding of shares among privatized firms. The government also agreed to the LDP's request to increase to 2 trillion yen the planned fund to cover possible losses from making the financial services of the postal savings bank and postal life insurance firm available at post offices across the country, sources said. The LDP leadership intends to seek the approval of party members at the party's General Council meeting Tuesday. The bills are likely to be finalized at a Cabinet meeting the same day."

April 26, 2005 -- As Hoovers has noted, "Some of the nation's largest transportation companies are still living in 1999. That's the last time diesel fuel sold for an average price of $1.10 a gallon or lower. But that hasn't stopped some trucking companies and even some members of the U.S. Congress from using that price as a baseline from which today's ubiquitous fuel surcharges are calculated. Federal experts are projecting that average fuel prices won't be falling significantly anytime soon. The U.S. House of Representatives included a mandatory fuel surcharge in its version of the transportation bill, but the Senate declined to follow suit."

April 26, 2005 -- According to Traffic World, "DHL is investing $130 million on a new parcel center, high-rack warehouse and renovations at its Bremen, Germany, logistics facilities. "Bremen will become one of the most modern locations within the DHL network," said Peter Kruse, member of Deutsche Post World Net's Board of Management responsible for express business in Germany and France."

April 25, 2005 -- Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle joined Quad/Graphics Chairman & CEO Tom Quadracci at the company’s Sussex plant to launch a campaign with national business and non-profit partners aimed at increasing recycling of magazines and catalogs in metropolitan Milwaukee, with a focus on the City of Milwaukee and Waukesha County. This innovative partnership was created by national partners that include the National Recycling Coalition, Time Inc., International Paper and recyclers FCR and Recycle America Alliance (RAA). Locally, the partnership includes Quad/Graphics as well as the City of Milwaukee and Waukesha County.

POP QUIZ: How many Senators does the Administration need on its side of the S.662 CSRS Escrow-Military Retirement debate to bring that bill to a screeching halt? Check out your answer.

April 25, 2005 -- According to postal commentator Gene Del Polito, "if you think R2005 is a simple rate case, you 'ain't seen nuthin' until you get a gander at what R2006 will be like."

April 25, 2005 -- The Scotsman (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail stayed tight-lipped today about a claim that postal trains are set for a permanent return to the railways. The state-owned group declined to comment on a report that it is poised to sign a one-year rolling contract with railfreight company GBRf to run mail trains between London and Scotland."

April 25, 2005 -- Ever want a handy place to access and review every report ever done on the Postal Service by the General Accountability Office (GAO) since 2001? Well, it's here on this web site. 

April 25, 2005 -- The American Postal Workers Union has signaled that the union "is troubled by the Postal Service’s recent request for an across-the-board rate increase,” said union President William Burrus. “We are studying the proposed rates, and reviewing thousands of pages of data the USPS submitted to support its case. “Based on an initial review, we are concerned by what we are finding,” he said, noting that the rate application proposes to increase the size of the discounts offered to companies that pre-sort their mail." A word of advice: Hold that thought until R2006. Leave R2005 alone!

April 25, 2005 -- AFX Europe has reported that "At least two competitors of Deutsche Post World Net AG want to have more access to the mail sorting, consolidating and delivery business, according to Financial Times Deutschland, citing Post rival GLS. GLS chief executive Rico Back said he is confident GLS would be able to force Deutsche Post to open up its monopoly in this area."

April 25, 2005 -- The BBC has reported that "Royal Mail is to repeat a scheme which rewards postal workers with new cars and holiday vouchers if they do not take any sick leave. Attendance levels have risen by 11% - some 1,000 workers a day - since it was launched last August, the firm said."

April 25, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "San Francisco buyout firm Hellman & Friedman LLC has agreed to buy Internet-advertising concern DoubleClick Inc. for about $1.1 billion. Hellman has experience with the advertising industry. The firm was among the bidders for Grey Global Group Inc., the large independent advertising holding company acquired earlier this year by WPP Group PLC. Hellman also invested in Young & Rubicam, which had an initial public offering in 1998 before being purchased by WPP. Hellman invested in Digitas Inc., a digital- and direct-marketing company, before Digitas went public in 2000."

April 25, 2005 -- The Charlotte News-Observer has reported that "U.S. Rep. Brad Miller's office has been contacted by people who live in Raleigh, Reidsville, Greensboro and Garner who all say they have also been told to move their mailboxes to the curb. Constituents who have contacted Miller's office wanted to know whether they have any choice in the matter. Despite the tone of the letters, like the one Grandjean received, Brown said mailbox relocation requests are just that -- requests. The Postal Service cannot force a mail recipient to relocate a mailbox unless its location poses a safety risk for a letter carrier."

April 24, 2005 -- The Independent (U.K.) has reported that "Postal workers are to share a £200m windfall after annual profits at the Royal Mail surged to a record high."

April 24, 2005 -- According to USPS vice president for public affairs and communications Azezz Jaffer, "a writer for a defense and foreign affairs think tank portrayed the exploits of the 40 riders as a prop to suggest there are others out there like them just waiting to fill in for the "troubled" and "mismanaged" U.S. Postal Service. To that I say: Hold your horses!"

April 24, 2005 -- The Daily Yomiuri  (Japan) has reported that "Postal workers' jobs are to be safeguarded in the privatization planned for 2007, with the new postal entities to keep the same employment levels, government sources said. The measure is stipulated in the six bills related to the privatization that are to be submitted to the current Diet session."

April 23, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue are reports on: USPS to change periodicals sack rules. PRC adopts USPS premium forwarding service agreement. Postal service works toward vision for large customers. To settle, or not to settle the R2005 rate case. Ways to mitigate the rate increase. USPS area execs echo industry concerns about communications. ATA forecasts tough times ahead for trucking industry. Postal Service, White House continue fight over postal retirees’ military benefit pay. A self-supporting Postal Service?--A commentary by Murray Comarow. Delivering some healthy truths about the mailing industry -- A perspective by Pitney Bowes Chairman Michael Critelli. Another rate increase: An editorial by DM News editor Tad Clarke. USPS taps employee resources to grow business. GAO backs Senate proposal allowing USPS to negotiate air rates for international mail. Supply chain finance transformation on the horizon. DHL Global Mail expands U.K. B2B service. TNT claims success in RFID effort. Polish postal providers plan protests. Universal service might be th big issue in Japanese postal privatization. Intramural LDP battles will shape Japan’s postal privatization bill.

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

April 23, 2005 -- Les Echos has reported that "La Poste, the French postal service operator, increased its turnover by 3.7 per cent to 18.7bn euros last year. This improvement in the company's results has partly been attributed to the modernisation of the company's equipment: three new platforms for dealing with letters were opened last year, along with a further two for parcels. German rival Deutsche Post and Dutch rival TNT both have a net margin of between 4 and 5 per cent, compared with 2 per cent for La Poste. The French company intends to continue to modernise its equipment and to focus on sales and marketing measures in 2005."

April 22, 2005 -- POSTCOM MEMBERS: The lastest issue of the PostCom Post-Ops Update is available on this site.

April 22, 2005 -- In a “news and comment” piece, PostCom Vice President Kate Muth considers the administration’s position on a key sticking point in the postal reform bills: responsibility for the military service costs of postal retirees.

April 22, 2005 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

April 22, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "DHL Logistics has become the latest beneficiary of the continued growth of the world’s economy and in particular soaring air and sea freight volumes. In a press briefing it revealed that revenues for its logistics division had jumped by 15.4% to €6.8 bn. Its operating profits grew even faster by 36.4% to €281m, with margins increasing from 3.5% to 4.1%. Regionally, Asia Pacific and the Americas proved the strongest growth drivers with revenue increases in the double digits."

April 22, 2005 -- Join Chris Lien, Firstlogic's commercial mail market director, and Gene Del Polito, Ph.D., president of the Association for Postal Commerce, for a Web seminar on the proposed Rate Case. They will discuss what Postal Reform means and how Congress can still act now to stop a rate increase that could raise your postage and potentially stifle postal growth.

April 22, 2005 -- Business Mailers Review has reported that:

• It’s way too early to throw in the towel on postal reform legislation, but it’s more clear than ever that treatment of postal workers’ military-service related retirement costs is the issue that could kill the effort. S. 662 would return payment of pension obligations for military service of postal employees back to the Treasury Dept., which funded this payment before Public Law 108-18 changed how the USPS funded the Civil Service Retirement System, as of April 2003. Backing this provision are the Postal Service Board of Governors, PMG Jack Potter, the business mailing community and postal reform leaders in Congress. But the Bush administration wants this money, and isn’t offering any room for negotiation.
• The Postal Service plans to impose a 24-piece minimum for use of “skin “sacks in order to reduce the use of sacks by smaller-subscription Periodicals and hold down Periodicals processing costs. The change, expected mid-year, will require that customers can no longer optionally prepare 5-digit, 3-digit and ADC sacks with fewer than the 24-piece minimum, rather than the current 6-piece minimum.
• The 5.4% average rate increase won’t completely go away even if postal reform legislation is enacted this year,although PMG Jack Potter made it clear in his recent testimony before the Senate oversight committee that the agency might modify its rate increase slightly if legislation becomes law. Or, another possibility not mentioned by the PMG but widely discussed in postal circles is that implemen­tation of the rate hike could be delayed for some months. Both of these scenarios hinge on legislation being enacted. While both S.662 and H.R.22 eliminate the requirement that USPS pay $3.1 billion into a Civil Service Retirement System escrow, both bills add an additional financial obligation – annual payments designated to pre-fund postal retiree health benefits. The House and Senate bills differ on what the FY 2006 price tag would be, although they both amount to additional costs and that means a rate increase for 2006 is inevitable.

April 22, 2005 -- As the Washington Post has reported:

• In the face of Democratic threats to bring most Senate business to a halt, GOP leaders face conflicting pressures from their constituencies. Conservative groups want action as quickly as possible to change the Senate rules, before there is a possible vacancy on the Supreme Court. Business lobbyists, on the other hand, prefer a delay to give the Senate more time to deal with legislative priorities." Postal reform? What's postal reform?
• Several senators yesterday criticized President Bush's proposal to give Amtrak no money next year, while the railroad submitted a request to Congress for $1.82 billion. "How did the administration come up with such a ridiculous proposal?" asked Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the subcommittee's chairman. Ohhh, I imagine in the same way it determined the Postal Service should pick up postal employees' military service retirement obligations.

April 22, 2005 -- According to the Financial Times:

• The run-up to the French referendum on Europe's new constitution promises to be a busy time for La Poste. Not only is France's state-owned post office preparing to deliver 43m copies of the constitution to voters before they go to the polls on May 29, but at the same time parliament will be voting on a law designed to allow La Poste to compete in Europe's liberalised postal markets. Jean-Paul Bailly, chief executive, says La Poste is "badly understood" by the French. He complains they do not see it as an industrial business, like other state-owned companies, such as SNCF, the railway operator, or EDF, the power utility. Although it is the second largest employer after the state, with 300,000 staff, of whom two-thirds are civil servants, La Poste is viewed as the "friendly, local and simple" face of its postmen. Although it stopped hiring civil servants three years ago, it is still saddled with a €57bn (£39bn, $75bn) pension deficit.
• Alex Batchelor is moving from Orange, the mobile phone operator, to become marketing director at Royal Mail. The appointment comes at a key time for Royal Mail as it prepares for full competition in the UK postal market from January 1.
• DHL Global Mail opened its first distribution centre outside London yesterday as part of its plans to be a national network rivalling Royal Mail for business post. The German postal operator, which is one of eight companies licensed to handle UK mail, already has a contract to use Royal Mail's extensive delivery network for "the final mile"."

April 22, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Ordering home delivery of rented DVDs via the Internet will continue to be a growth market for at least the next five years, with two major players dominating the business, said Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix Inc. Asked if a proposed postal rate increase would affect the company's results, McCarthy said cost reductions the company can get out of its fulfillment operations as it increases subscribers should "more than offset" any postal rate increases."

April 22, 2005 -- Computing (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail is to sign a major IT security contract to safeguard its systems across the UK. The deal will involve the protection of 80,000 servers and 50,000 PCs at Royal Mail, the Post Office and Parcelforce against vulnerabilities such as viruses, intrusions and spyware."

April 22, 2005 -- According to the Asahi Shimbun (Japan), "Postal privatization is the prime minister's long-cherished dream that he has likened to ``the inner citadel of reform.'' But with his strongest weapon-public support-weakening, can Koizumi protect ``the substance'' of reform in his negotiations with the LDP? Or will he give in to opponents again to gain ``fame'' as the achiever of postal privatization? At any rate, we don't want to see a repeat performance of ``Koizumi theater'' with a disappointing ending."

April 22, 2005 -- American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President William Burrus reported that "The Senate panel also heard from Postmaster General John E. Potter and Government Accountability Office Comptroller General David M. Walker, who renewed their support for proposals the union adamantly opposes. “The unwavering advocates of postal reform may be losing an important ally,” observed APWU President William Burrus. “After itemizing the elements that he considers essential to a balanced approach to postal reform, the postmaster general concluded by saying if the proper balance is not achieved, ‘We are better off with no bill at all.’ “This raises the interesting possibility that postal management and the Board of Governors could oppose postal reform as defined in the pending legislation,” Burrus said. “Groups that have been staunch allies on postal reform in the past may end up on the opposite side.”

April 22, 2005 -- Approximately 170 APWU truck drivers who work for Mail Contractors of America have concluded their nearly three-week strike, going back to work for MCA in Des Moines, Kansas City, KS, and Jacksonville, FL, but vowing to press on for fair contracts. The APWU-represented motor vehicle operators, back on the job April 11, are seeking an end to unfair labor practices and policies the privately-owned MCA imposed last September that reduced the pay of some of them as much as $10,000 per year. They held out the option to strike again if MCA refuses to bargain.

April 22, 2005 -- AFX has reported that "The Slovak ministry of transport, post and telecommunications has proposed that the liberalisation of the postal market should be brought forward by two years to start from Jan 1, 2007, rather than from 2009 under the original plan."

April 22, 2005 -- WhatTheyThink has reported that "R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company today announced the opening of a new logistics facility in suburban Chicago. The 661,000 square foot building is designed to house the Logistics Control Center, a mail consolidation center, as well as the company's rapidly expanding co-mailing, co-palletization, co-mingling, and fulfillment operations.

April 22, 2005 -- The Wichita Eagle has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is dramatically expanding its Wichita Remote Encoding Center, creating 1,100 new jobs averaging $18 an hour. The service has 17 encoding centers nationwide, down from 55. Two more centers -- in Duluth, Minn., and Princeton, N.J., --will close this summer. New technology has made the process more efficient."

April 22, 2005 -- WebIndia123 has reported that "India's good old postal system, celebrating the 150th year of its operation, is facing losses for the last two years as it finds itself overtaken by the Internet and growing reliance by people on the private courier system. The volume of mails handled by the Department of Posts went down from 9,096 million in 2002-03 to 8,635.2 million in 2003-04, while only 11 of the 43 services it offered actually earned profits, the standing committee on IT said in its report tabled in parliament."

April 22, 2005 -- DM News has reported that "The stalemate over funding pension benefits involving the military service of postal retirees showed no sign of abating yesterday as a Bush administration official reiterated its stance that the U.S. Postal Service must continue to pay. Requiring the USPS to pay the military service portion of benefits to retirees under the Civil Service Retirement System is not unfair, said Dan Blair, acting director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The postal service and its supporters have claimed that the USPS is being singled out to fund military service benefits on its own while other federal agencies use tax money."

April 22, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "DHL has announced the introduction of two new direct overnight express services between Shanghai and the United States and between Beijing and Hong Kong. The daily Shanghai-U.S. flight will be operated by Northwest Airlines with a Boeing 747-200 freighter aircraft, while the four times weekly Beijing service will utilize a Cathay Pacific A330-200 passenger aircraft from DHL's Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong. With the addition of these new flights, DHL can provide later pick-up, cut-off, and earlier delivery times. Management commented that the Chinese market registered an annual growth rate of 50-60% in 2004."

April 22, 2005 -- If you do business in Canada, then you should give serious thought to joining the National Association of Major Mail Users (NAMMU). A copy of a recent communique from its executive director has been posted for your information on this site.

April 22, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will arrange a top-level meeting next Monday with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to end the protracted bickering over the premier's plan to privatize Japan Post, party executives said Thursday. The executives expect the meeting will clear the way for the party to approve a set of postal privatization bills which the government plans to unveil later Monday if an accord is reached, and adopt them at a cabinet meeting Tuesday."

April 21, 2005 -- KATU-TV has reported that "Two Salem (OR) post offices were shut down after a suspicious envelope containing a white powder was discovered. FBI and HAZMAT teams were called in to investigate and remove the suspicious envelope, as well as to decontaminate the area. Both the envelope and the mailbox it was found in were sent to Portland for testing where it was concluded that the powder was not Anthrax or Ricin and posed no threat to employees or customers."

April 21, 2005 -- Paced by its growing international package operation, UPS today reported a strong 16.2% gain in net income for the first quarter of 2005. Consolidated revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2005, rose 10.8% to $9.89 billion, reflecting in part the addition of revenue from the recently acquired Menlo Worldwide Forwarding. International package revenue climbed 13% while U.S. package revenue rose 2.8%.

April 21, 2005 -- According to long-time postal guru Murray Comarow, "On April 14, 2005, Postmaster General Jack Potter told a Senate committee that the Postal Service was "self-supporting," and that it has "broken even over its 34-year history." The Postal Service’s last annual report claims that "we receive no tax dollars," and that it has "not received a public service appropriation since 1982." The U.S. Treasury disagrees. In the same hearing, Assistant Secretary Timothy S. Bitsberger testified that "The Postal Service should be self-financed. This was the intent of the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act, but thus far it has never been accomplished." Policy differences are normal and expected. The stark factual differences between Potter and Bitsberger, however, are astonishing." Bitsberger is wrong...FLAT WRONG!

April 21, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that:

• The developing Russian market has led to an increasing number of western logistics companies investing in the country. The latest, Frans Maas, has acquired 20% of a local Russian company. Prospects for growth have been helped by the conclusion of an agreement between Russia and WTO members. When Russia finally fully accedes to the WTO, and demonstrates that a stable and secure environment exists for business, an increasing number of multinational manufacturers, retailers will relocate to the country. This will increase the need for more sophisticated logistics services and favour those companies which have taken the risk of establishing operations in the market at an early stage.
• TNT has announced that it has successfully finalized the first phase of its Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) programme.

April 21, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "DHL Global Mail has expanded Smartmail Citispeed, its business-to-business mail collection and delivery service, from London to the North West following the opening of a hub in Warrington. DHL claims that it will ensure that the service, which offers mail collection from any organisation within the UK with optional sorting and next day or two-day delivery by DHL, is at least 99% reliable. The service is being offered within designated postcodes in London and the North West area, which includes Manchester, Liverpool, Stockport and Warrington. Customers will also be offered larger volume direct mail and publication distribution services, for either next day, two- to three-day or three- to five-day delivery. Smartmail Citispeed will eventually be expanded to provide delivery to all areas of the UK."

April 21, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Last night the United States Postal Service along with a number of prominent companies won excellence awards for their deployment of interactive self-service applications. Former CNN Headline News Anchor Bob Losure presented the awards to a jubilant crowd of over 250 industry professionals. The awards ceremony took place during the 9th annual KioskCom.com Trade Show and Conference, which is being held this week at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas."

April 21, 2005 -- According to The Street, "The big question for UPS this week is whether it will return to solid earnings growth in the first quarter after a holiday stumble. Analysts generally expect that the company will do just that by combating domestic competition from rivals FedEx and DHL and expanding international package volume. Some are starting to worry, however, that the economy is slowing enough to hurt UPS' results."

April 21, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Wednesday he would not budge on a plan to submit a set of six bills on the full privatization of postal services by the end of this month despite ongoing wrangling with senior ruling party lawmakers. "There is no change in the cabinet's plan to adopt the bills and present them to parliament by the end of this month," Koizumi told reporters."

April 20, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• A decision reached last Wednesday by the Higher Regional Court in Dusseldorf has paved the way for a comprehensive system of partial access to postal services in Germany. The court confirmed a decree issued by the Cartel Office, which orders the post to open its network to competitors. Deutsche Post's appeal against the Cartel Office decree did not have a deferring effect, said the court. A statement issued by the Association of International Express and Courier Services (BIEK e.V.) said that service providers and retailers could now begin to hope for lower shipment costs.
• In Switzerland, a heated dispute is developing between the trade union "Kommunikation" and Schweizerische Post. The union accuses the post's finance director Jurg Bucher of violating the corporate governance guidelines in his role as member of the post's pension fund board, and the union is currently looking into the possibility of instituting legal proceedings against Mr Bucher.
• Germany's regulatory authority is to be renamed. The second reading of an energy bill draft, which was passed last week, contains the proposed name Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telephone, Post and Railway, in short the Federal Network Agency. Thus, the above-mentioned functions will all come under the control of one authority.
• Elmar Toime, for many years CEO of New Zealand Post and deputy CEO of Britain's Royal Mail from February 2003 to the autumn of 2004, is back in business again. According to the German trade magazine "DVZ", Mr Toime - who left the British post with more than 1m euros in compensation after an internal power struggle - is currently working for the American Escher Group. Mr Toime's task is to explore new turnover sources as well as finding and marketing strategic customer solutions for Escher, which provides automation solutions and is a supplier to the postal industry.
• GLS has operated under its own brand name in Spain since the beginning of March, when the Spanish subsidiary Extand Sistema SL was renamed GLS Spain.
• Apparently, DHL is not planning to buy into the logistics operator Exel.

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..

April 20, 2005 -- The Universal Postal Union is holding today a conference on “Intelligent Mail” in Bern, Switzerland. The conference looks at the mail pipeline from the receipt of mail items to delivery with special focus on where the intelligence is today and where it should be in the future. It covers operational and technical processes such as the management of street letter box collections, the management of mail through franking machines, address quality, customer access to mail location data, interoperability with UPU ID-tags, postage rates and customs needs for security and electronic clearance.

April 20, 2005 -- The Irish Independent has reported that "HUNDREDS of post offices nationwide will be forced to close if customers on social welfare are obliged to receive their payments through the banks."

April 20, 2005 -- The Gulf Times has reported that "US AMBASSADOR Chase Untermeyer and General Postal Corporation (GPC) chairman Ali Mohamed al-Ali have held talks on strengthening co-operation between the postal authorities of the United States and Qatar."

April 20, 2005 -- Federal Computer Week has reported that "New procurement rules at the U.S. Postal Service will go into effect May 19, replacing previous rules and affecting all future contracts, according to an announcement today in the Federal Register. USPS officials say they received permission from the agency's Board of Governors to revise procurement regulations and allow corporate-style purchasing decisions. The new regulations will permit USPS officials to pursue best-value acquisitions and to use supply-chain management, an approach in which corporation executives typically select a limited number of preferred suppliers to receive the bulk of their purchasing dollars."

April 20, 2005 -- According to the Financial Times, "Japan's post office sell-off could prove hard to deliver. In Tokyo, “universal service” has become the rallying cry of politicians opposing postal privatisation, which will start in 2007 if Junichiro Koizumi, the prime minister, gets his way."

April 20, 2005 -- According to the Rockford Register Star, "United Parcel Service announced late Monday that it will add 60 jobs in Rockford during the next two years as part of a $7.4 million plan to expand its existing operations at Greater Rockford Airport. The expansion, scheduled to be completed in spring 2006, will support a new UPS service transporting heavy freight by air."

April 20, 2005 -- Commercial Property News has reported that "The REIT industry could gain access to a possible $150 billion in investment funds, thanks to a new bill being reviewed today by the Congressional Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce & Agency Organization. The bill proposes that a REIT investment option be added to the federal Thrift Savings Plan, a 401k-type retirement plan for 3.4 million federal workers, military personnel and postal service employees. Currently, the Thrift Savings Plan includes only five investment choices, as opposed to 16 for the average private 401k program. The choices are for a short-term government bond fund, corporate bond index fund, large-cap stock index fund, small-cap stock index fund and international stock index fund."

April 20, 2005 -- According to the Times-Union, "Third District Congressman Mark Souder talked about national issues and related them to local concerns during Monday’s Kosciusko County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Tippecanoe Country Club. Souder discussed progress on four OSHA bills, government reform and postal reform."

April 20, 2005 -- The Austin Business Journal has reported that "Austin businesswoman Carolyn Gallagher is the new independent member of the board of directors of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Gallagher is a member of the board of governors of the U.S. Postal Service. She was president and CEO of Texwood Furniture Corp. in Taylor from 1988 to 2000. She is a member and past chairwoman of the St. Edward's University Board of Trustees, and sits on the board of the Employees Retirement System of Texas. She is president of the Headliner's Club of Austin."

April 20, 2005 -- The Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan) has reported that "Leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday obtained consent from LDP members at a joint meeting of party subcommittees related to postal services reform to give them a free hand in negotiating on postal privatization bills with the government." See also Japan Today.

April 19, 2005 -- As the Business Intelligence Network has noted, "To improve customer service, employee productivity and operational efficiency, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that it has expanded the size and scope of its Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) from Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation. The USPS engaged Teradata in 2000 to develop its Retail Data Mart, which included the consolidation of all point-of-sale data into a single data repository. Since then, USPS has grown its Teradata system into a corporate EDW including a number of other business areas, such as financial management, operational decision support and marketing, in addition to the original retailing purpose."

April 19, 2005 -- According to the National Association of Letter Carriers, "There are no merger talks underway with the APWU. NALC did receive a communication suggesting discussions be held on combining the NALC and American Postal Workers Union, but that’s as far as it went. NALC President William H. Young said he isn’t interested, even if it meant NALC would have the presidency of a merged union. “NALC continues to believe that the interests of its members are best served by remaining a union that represents only city letter carriers,” he said."

April 19, 2005 -- According to Traffic World, "Spurred by massive LTL mergers and the quickening pace of commerce, next-day service is fast becoming trucking's new norm."

April 19, 2005 -- Speaking at the IDEAlliance conference, USPS Chief Marketing Officer Anita Bizzotto reported that the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) has issued its recommended decision on the USPS'premium forwarding service proposal, which the USPS Board of Governors will review at its May meeting. Under the service, the local USPS delivery unit would collect all mail for a customer filing a temporary change of address order, then once a week would put it in a Priority Mail envelope and forward it to their temporary new address for $10.00 per week. Bizzotto said that if all goes well, the USPS would implement the service in late summer/early fall in order to be ready for the winter "snow bird" season when many customers file temporary address change orders.

April 19, 2005 -- The Hindu Business Line has reported that "Pitney Bowes Inc, the US-based $5 billion global mailing and document management solution major, sees Rs 2,200 crore potential market in the country and is talking to the Postal Department for its products that could significantly reduce costs and prevent pilferage. India holds more potential and estimates a business prospect of over Rs 2,200 crore market ($ 500 million), while China is yet to open up its mail system to private competition."

April 19, 2005 -- M2 has reported that "Ipswitch WhatsUp to be installed in 180 mail processing and distribution centres Ipswitch, the leading developer of network management, messaging and file transfer solutions, today announced that the United States Postal Service has purchased Ipswitch WhatsUp for deployment in 180 mail processing and distribution centres across the U.S."

April 19, 2005 -- The Polish News Bulletin has reported that "Employees of Poczta Polska (PP) national postal services provider have backed in a referendum the possibility of holding protests including strikes. The referendum was organised after PP's director general announced an organisational shake up in the company. According to the unions, the plan was not discussed with employees and was revealed before a social package for employees was signed. "The referendum was called because our demands were ignored by both the director general and the minister of infrastructure, who want to comercialise and then privatise the company," reads the official statement of the WRZ, a confederation of ten labour unions operating within the company."

April 19, 2005 -- The AP Worldstream has reported that "Some 35,000 striking Romanian postal workers Tuesday agreed to return to work after reaching an agreement with management for a 4% wage rise. Under the agreement, 9,200 postal employees will earn the minimum wage of 3.3 million lei ($117) starting May 1. Other employees will get a 3% wage hike. Employees have agreed to work the Saturday before Orthodox Easter to compensate for the one-day strike."

April 19, 2005 -- The Postal Service is moving apace with its plans to implement delivery point sequencing of flats sometime this fall.

April 19, 2005 -- The Dayton Daily News has reported that "The American Postal Workers Union said Monday it wants to unionize 5,000 ABX Air Inc. workers at the DHL hub here. Tools Top 5 stories Shoe chain's customers' credit card IDs stolen Glimcher appoints Loeb VP, COO Postal union targets DHL hub Martha on the air LexisNexis notifies ID theft victims >RSS headlines available Workers who support joining the union said they want more respect on the job, including adequate breaks, overtime pay, safer working conditions and seniority privileges. The company responded by saying the decision to form a union is up to the workers, but they should be warned that customers prefer dealing with union-free operations. As part of its $1.2 billion U.S. expansion plan, DHL, a package sorting and delivery company, chose the former Airborne facility in Wilmington as the hub for its U.S. operations. ABX Air runs this hub for DHL."

April 19, 2005 -- Kyodo has reported that "The government reiterated its readiness Tuesday to make more concessions over its plans to privatize Japan's postal system as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party continued last-ditch efforts to come up with specific compromises to demand."

April 19, 2005 -- The Pittsburgh Business Times has reported that "FedEx SmartPost, the new business arm of Memphis-based FedEx Corp., is negotiating with the owners of the Leetsdale Industrial Park to lease 100,000 square feet of warehouse space at the industrial park that borders the Ohio River, sources told the Business Times. FedEx SmartPost will operate as a unit of FedEx Ground, which is based in Moon Township and employs 2,000 in the Pittsburgh area."

April 19, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "Norway Post and TNT N.V. have signed an agreement outlining the two parties' continued cooperation. The agreement between Norway Post and TNT is based on a deal both companies entered into in May 2004 to jointly provide international express products to Norwegian customers. The companies now intend to extend their cooperation to include other product areas. Norway Post has sought an international partner in order to meet its customers' needs for global solutions whilst TNT wishes to expand its network with a partner in the Norwegian and Nordic market for its business customers."

April 19, 2005 -- MCOT (Thailand) has reported that "Postal authoritities have equipped their facilities offices across the country's deep South with bomb detecting devices to inspect all parcels heading to the region, while adding closed-circuit cameras as extra security to its premises in three southernmost border towns plagued with violence."

April 19, 2005 -- PostCom Members: Check here to see how you can get access to the presentations give at the IDEAlliance conference in Las Vegas.

April 19, 2005 -- According to Hoovers, "United Parcel Service (UPS) has planned to arrange 24 flights weekly in Shenzhen airport in handling international express mails since April 11, 2004. Over 30 domestic and international express companies have made inroads into Shenzhen. Fedex has set up an over 2,000 square meter storehouse in the airport for 12 flights weekly. DHL is constructing a storehouse there also, and it is likely to be brought on line soon."

April 19, 2005 -- As CIRAP has noted, "The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says federal agencies may not be able to reliably rule out the presence of anthrax contamination in a building because their sampling and detection methods have not been adequately tested. The GAO's conclusion is based on an examination of the approaches used by three agencies—the US Postal Service (USPS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—to hunt for anthrax in 286 postal facilities after the anthrax mailings in 2001."

April 19, 2005 -- Haaretz (Israel) has reported that "Postal workers decided yesterday to continue their sanctions into a second week, despite having caused damage estimated in the millions of shekels."

April 19, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party tried Monday to come up with six proposals to change the government-sponsored bills to privatize the nation's postal system as the government said it will formally adopt the bills in a Cabinet meeting next week." Now if only the U.S. Congress would move with such alacrity.

April 18, 2005 -- The San Jose Mercury-News has reported that according to Pitney Bowes CEO Michael Critelli, "As Congress approaches the overhaul of the Postal Service, the right way to view new digital communications technology is not as a substitute for mail, but as complementary to it. The combination, each with its unique value to users, can give the United States the most nimble communications system in the world."

April 18, 2005 -- The Buffalo News has reported that "The former Wellsville physician whose homes were searched in connection with the anthrax killings has visited Wellsville recently, and is living on unemployment in New Jersey, according to a friend. Dr. Kenneth M. Berry lost his job as an emergency room doctor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in McKeesport, Pa., last year after his name surfaced in the anthrax investigation. Berry was never charged in the anthrax case."

April 18, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Pitney Bowes Inc. has acquired selected mail stream and presort assets of Fala Sorting Services, Inc. (FSS) a subsidiary of Fala Direct Marketing, Inc. FSS provides domestic and international presorting and commingling mailing services for mail produced in the greater New York area. The FSS assets will be integrated with the company's Mail Services operations which include PSI Group specializing in first and standard class domestic letter mail, and International Mail Express (IMEX) which provides international outbound mail services. Fala Direct Marketing will continue to provide lettershop services with a greater emphasis on its core business and its expanding graphics and printing solutions. Fala Direct Marketing and the company have also signed a long-term marketing agreement to provide Fala's customers with access to pre-sort and international mail services through the Pitney Bowes Mail Services national network."

April 18, 2005 -- From the Federal Register: "By law, beginning in 1997, the Postal Service is required to publish a five-year plan outlining its goals, targets, and strategies, and to update and revise its five-year plan at intervals of no less than 3 years. In support of its strategic planning process, the law requires the Postal Service to solicit and consider the ideas, knowledge, and opinions of those potentially affected by or interested in its Five-Year Strategic Plan. In addition, at the request of Congress, in 2002 the Postal Service prepared a comprehensive plan for the structural transformation of the postal system to meet the challenges of serving the American public. This first Transformation Plan covered the years 2002-2006. A major component of the next Five-Year Strategic Plan, covering 2006-2010, will be the extension of the Postal Service's Transformation Plan through the same period. This notice asks for public comment concerning the development and drafting of the Postal Service's combined document, the Strategic Transformation Plan 2006-2010. Comments must be received by May 15, 2005."

April 18, 2005 -- TheWall Street Journal has reported that "R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. unveiled Monday the $990 million purchase of closely held Astron Group, a United Kingdom-based company with operations in printing, mail services and marketing support. Chicago-based Donnelley has been pushing to expand both its geographic reach and mix of services in recent years, after its 2003 purchase of rival printing concern Moore Wallace Inc. for $2.8 billion."

April 18, 2005 -- The Day (CT) has reported that "A 2-cent increase on first-class mail (from 37 cents to 39 cents) is being sought by the Postal Service because it has to establish a $3.1 billion escrow fund for some reason or other. It said: 'Stamp Out A Penny-wise, Pound-foolish Proposal.'"

April 18, 2005 -- News Today (India) has reported that "Indian Postal Department will soon introduce aircraft services for delivering mails in North-East regions in the country, U Srinivasa Raghavan, member (operations and marketing), Postal Services Board, New Delhi, has said. Launching the new Logistics Post service at St Thomas Mount Head Post Office Complex in Chennai yesterday, Srinivasa said postal services had large network areas and the department would introduce aircraft services to compete in the modern era to deliver mails quicker."

April 18, 2005 -- FirstLogic has posted on its web site its latest issue of Mail eAutomation News.

April 18, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "US mail order and retail lingerie giant Victoria's Secret has been targeted by environmental campaigners, who are accusing it of using paper sourced from endangered forests in the 395m catalogues it sends annually. According to the pressure group ForestEthics, 25% of the catalogues use paper originating from endangered forests in Canada and the southern US. ForestEthics started a campaign against six catalogue companies in March 2004: Victoria's Secret; Sears/Lands End; JC Penney; LL Bean; J Crew; and William Sonoma."

April 18, 2005 -- The Peninsula (Qatar) has reported that "A postal exchange centre between Qatar and China is proposed to be developed at the Doha International Airport in collaboration with national carrier Qatar Airways."

April 18, 2005 -- The Independent (U.K.) has reported that "Internet shopping overtook purchases from mail order catalogues for the first time last year. The domination of 'big-book' buying has been replaced with online retail therapy, according to market analysts."

April 18, 2005 -- AP Worldstream has reported that "A union leader said Sunday that some 35,000 Romanian postal workers would begin a 10-day strike this week to demand a 16-percent wage increase, which the post office says it cannot afford." See also The Star.

April 18, 2005 -- The Island Sun (British Virgin Islands) has reported that "Since August 2004 several pieces of registered mail sent from the British Virgin Islands to Europe and transiting in London have gone missing without anyone being able to obtain one single word of explanation from the postal authorities in the United Kingdom. Despite correspondence exchanged between the person/s who suffered the loss and the BVI Postal Authorities there has been no response yet from Royal Mail."

April 17, 2005 -- Arutz Sheva (Israel)  has reported that "Postal Authority sanctions continue today around the country. As a result, postal branches nationwide will close their doors at 2:30pm today. Strike leaders announced that tomorrow, Monday, postal branches will close at 12:30pm.

April 16, 2005 -- Bloomberg has reported that "DBA, British Airways Plc's former German unit, will take over Deutsche Post AG's mail flights between Munich and Berlin for the next two years as the carrier aims to make a profit this year."

April 16, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "Thirteen cargo handlers at San Francisco International Airport were charged Friday with stealing $200,000 worth of computers, cameras and other goods from mail bound for U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan, authorities said. The 13 defendants, employees of cargo staffing company Aeroground, were arrested Thursday and Friday and appeared in federal court on charges of stealing and conspiring to steal U.S. mail, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco said."

April 15, 2005 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

April 15, 2005 -- GovExec.com has reported that "Senate supporters of postal overhaul legislation contend they have changed their bill to accommodate White House concerns, but administration officials say they are not budging from their opposition because several benefit provisions are still too expensive. During the hearing, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who championed the 2003 law, said it was never intended to shift payment for military pensions back to the Postal Service. Stevens, who recently signed on as a co-sponsor of the postal bill, said he might, "ask to meet with the president" personally to discuss the issue, since the administration's proposal might be a significant disincentive for the postal service to hire veterans."

April 15, 2005 -- AFX Europe has reported that "Portugal's Competition Authority has asked for a copy of the marketing agreement between Iberdrola SA and Portugal's CTT post office. The request indicates that the authority suspects a violation of competition rules. Under the agreement, Iberdrola will market electricity through Portugal's 3,500 post offices."

April 15, 2005 -- According to New Straits Times (Malaysia), "POS Malaysia's brochure on the new postal rates tells consumers "Gunakan Surat Standard Ke Arah Perkhidmatan Yang Lebih Baik"; that is, use standard letters towards better service."

April 15, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday the government can make concessions on privatizing Japan Post if they concern details not covered in the outline of bills to realize the policy. One of the envisaged compromises is extending the scope of a planned 1 trillion yen fund to be established to make up for losses from maintaining postal services in sparsely populated areas to also cover money-losing post offices in urban areas, government sources said."

April 14, 2005 -- The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held its last hearing on the issue of postal reform. Appearing as witnesses were: The Honorable Timothy S. Bitsberger, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets , U.S. Department of the Treasury (Accompanied by: Roger Kodat , Deputy Assistant Secretary for Government Financial Policy , U.S. Department of the Treasury), The Honorable Dan G. Blair, Acting Director , U. S. Office of Personnel Management, The Honorable John E. Potter, Postmaster General , United States Postal Service , Washington, DC, and The Honorable David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States , United States Government Accountability Office.

• Timothy Bitsberger told the Committee that the "President has consistently articulated the need for comprehensive reform to set the Postal Service on sound, long-term operational and financial footing....The Postal Service should be self-financing, should operate transparently, have sufficient flexibility to operate more as a business, be accountable, and implement best practices...Recognizing the importance of the Postal Service to our nation’s citizens and commercial enterprises, the Administration is committed to ensuring the long-term financial and operational success of the Postal Service....Productivity at the Postal Service has lagged the private sector by large margins since 1972 and therefore significant opportunities for a more productive Postal Service exists and this would enable it to operate within CPI....We support the Committee’s intent to establish a hard cap at CPI, and further support the Senate’s version of an “escape clause,” or exigency rate case, which establishes a very high bar to increase rates above CPI....The Administration believes that comprehensive postal reform must require the Postal Service to cover all of its financial obligations, including its on and off-balance sheet unfunded liabilities....The decision in the Postal CSRS Funding Reform Act to allocate the $27 billion in retirement costs for the military service of the Postal Service retirees was justified for many reasons." The real reasons for the 2006 rate case, he said, is directly related to the USPS' inability to reduce its costs not the escrow.
  
  

• Dan Blair told the panel that requiring the Treasury to pay for the military portion of a postal retiree's benefits would constitute "a taxpayer subsidy of Postal operations." He noted that "Congress enacted legislation according similar pension treatment to the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”). Pursuant to that legislation, PTO, which is also a self-funded agency, is required to pay the full costs of CSRS benefits, including those associated with military service."
  
  

• Jack Potter told the Committee that "there will come a time when the efforts of the Postal Service alone will not be enough. Declining First-Class Mail volume, coupled with a market shift from higher-margin to lower-margin products, will result in insufficient revenue to support our infrastructure and the costs of an ever-expanding delivery network. We will reach a point when our ability to continue reducing costs reaches its limits. At that point, our options will be limited, and those options, by their very nature, will simply exacerbate the crisis....Electronic diversion continues to erode First-Class Mail volume, this product will become more price-sensitive than ever. Higher rates will likely increase the pace of change, accelerating the volume decline, resulting in falling revenue and the need, again, to increase rates. It is an economic model that is not sustainable in the long term and could lead to the proverbial death spiral that many have predicted." He said that "The portion of the costs of Civil Service Retirement System benefits for Postal Service employees attributable to their military service should not be borne by the Postal Service....We strongly believe we should be granted more rate flexibility and authority to introduce new postal services....If the Postal Service had the authority to adjust rates within a predetermined range, we believe that the CPI could serve as an acceptable – though extremely challenging – price cap....It is imperative that a reasonable exigency provision be included, particularly in a bill providing for a rate cap tied to the Consumer Price Index. He said all benefits and wages should be subject to collective bargaining.
  
  

• David Walker told the Committee that "The Postal Service has made significant progress since its transformation efforts and long-term outlook were added to GAO’s High-Risk List in 2001, including achieving record net income, repaying most debt, increasing productivity, and downsizing the postal workforce. However, the Service’s financial progress was largely due to a transitory boost provided by 2003 pension reform legislation that reduced the Service’s pension costs in fiscal years 2003 through 2005, but also benefited from increased Standard Mail volume and revenues, and certain cost-cutting and efficiency initiatives....Key elements for postal reform include clarifying the Service’s mission and role so that the Service remains focused on universal postal service and competes appropriately; enhancing the Service’s flexibility to operate in a businesslike manner with a governance structure suitable for a $70-billion entity, balanced by enhanced transparency, accountability, and oversight; making needed human capital reforms; and moving toward prefunding retiree health benefits....Comprehensive postal reform legislation continues to be needed to address the fundamental financial, operational, governance, and human capital challenges that continue to threaten the Service’s long-term ability to remain self-supporting while providing high-quality, universal postal service at affordable rates." Walker said that the Postal Service should not be required to pick up military-related expenses, and that the escrow should be abolished. He said that S. 662 was a reasoned and reasonable basis for reform. He said that the rate cap must take into account that future postal health retiree benefits must be paid. He urged the committee to look again at pay comparability and the negotiation of benefits.
  
  

• Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) took strong exception to the provision to require the USPS to pick up the military portion of postal retiree benefits. He said he strongly opposed doing this, and would speak directly to the President about this.
  
  

• Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) echoed the concerns raised by Stevens. Collins said a great deal already has been done to accommodate the views of the Administration, and that the Administration needed to do much more to find compromises that would facilitate passage of this legislation. She said that the existence of an escrow account looks like a shell game designed just to have postal ratepayers pick up other nonpostal, federal costs. She said if the Treasury should not subsidize the Postal Service, then the Postal Service should not be required to subsidize the Treasury.
  

April 14, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "Draft Worldwide has restructured its London management team, bringing in the