Postal News from December 2005:

December 31, 2005 -- According to Barrons, "ask Michael J. Critelli, CEO of Pitney Bowes, the world's largest maker of postage meters, why his company's stock has stalled, and you'll hear an answer tinged with exasperation. "There are some things in business, as in life, that we can't control, especially the stock market, no matter how well we might perform," he says. Particularly frustrating to Critelli is that the malaise of the stock has come while the company has been enjoying solid results and, more important, boasts much improved prospects."

December 31, 2005 -- The Fina ncial Times has reported that "Ministers are to open talks with Royal Mail over its demands for up to £2bn of investment after the postal operator agreed to tough new targets for improving efficiency. The negotiations, which will run well into the new year, are expected to focus on several options, all of which would involve the government, which is the state-owned postal operator's sole shareholder, putting public money into the company."

December 31, 2005 -- The Yorkshire Post has noted that "when the Royal Mail loses its 350-year monopoly this weekend, it will signal the biggest upheaval in this country's postal services since the reign of Charles II. As a result, private companies will now be able to collect, sort and deliver mail in direct competition to the Royal Mail. And while the shake-up may not see rival post boxes being erected on every street corner, it already appears that the long-overdue changes will serve as a force for good for consumers."

December 31, 2005 -- The Sioux City Journal has reported that "A district manager of the U.S. Postal Service said Friday that it is "pure speculation" that Sioux City's mail processing will be moved to Sioux Falls. "All of that is false and totally speculation," said Doug Morrow, Hawkeye District manager for the U.S. Postal Service in Des Moines. Members of the American Postal Workers Union Local 186 have said Sioux City's mail processing could be moved to Sioux Falls after a feasibility study the U.S. Postal Service is conducting."

December 31, 2005 -- According to MCOT.org, "Personal deliveries of greeting cards and presents at the New Year have increased dramatically due to the worldwidfe cost of fuel, depersonalising the traditional holidays for many, according to Thailand's privatised postal service. More Thais have gone 'back to the basics' by returning to using traditional 'snail mail' --that is, the postal services -- rather than in-person deliveries and the hi-tech e-mail deliveries, which are far less personal and quite inaccessible for much of the population." See also the Bang kok Post.

December 30, 2005 -- According to the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, "The U.S. Postal Service is studying if some mail-processing in the city should be moved about 45 miles away to Indianapolis. The goal is to make mail service more efficient, said Bloomington Postmaster Larry Jacobs.Postal workers union leaders fear the change will slow delivery. "We think service is going to suffer greatly," said Kevin McCaffery, maintenance and craft director with Local 2122 of the American Postal Workers Union."

December 30, 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.

December 30, 2005 -- The Guardian has reported that "Royal Mail said today that it needed to invest £2bn in modernisation as it braces itself for an onslaught of new competition from January 1. Starting next year, Britain's postal system will be opened up so that rival companies can collect, sort and deliver mail for the first time since the reign of Charles II. No less than 14 companies have registered with regulator Postcomm to handle post in the UK, including German firm Deutsche Post and Dutch postal service TNT." See also The Independent and the Internationa l Herald Tribune.

December 30, 2005 -- The BBC has reported that "The postal service in Chile is investigating whether a woman cheated Santa Claus into giving her family more presents than they deserved. Every year, the post office encourages poor children to write to Santa. Other Chileans then pick up a letter and send the child the requested gift. The grandmother is accused of getting her family to send about 100 letters. The alarm was raised after neighbours saw bicycles, blankets and even a TV, arriving at the woman's home."

December 30, 2005 -- Logistics Management has reported that "Driven by customer demand and a potentially promising way to expand its business, airfreight transportation provider Kitty Hawk has started taking steps to expand its ground freight transportation network. The network, which will comprise 46 North America-based business centers by the end of next quarter, will offer coast-to-coast, scheduled LTL service and better serve the logistics needs of shippers."

December 30, 2005 -- Outlook India has reported that "Assam tea will now be sold through post offices across the country with the launching of a new unique business package `Tea Mail' by the Assam postal circle here today. Chief Postmaster General Assam Circle, S D Das told reporters that tea approved by the Tea Board would be sold through postal network under retail post service "for tea connoisseurs to buy genuine garden fresh Assam tea from the nearest post officies in their states". The pioneering effort was to popularise the state's tea through the vast postal network to other parts of the country upto the district level initially before targetting the rural market later."

December 30, 2005 -- The Caymanian Compass has noted that "A love for people has earned one East End resident correspondence with 315 pen friends from around the globe. Florett shows of a miniature tea–set sent to her by one of her pen friends. Even though her hobby is very costly, housewife Florett Dixon said it is what she loves and to her the money spent is not important. Racking up a postal bill of over $600 in one mailing list, Florett has pen pals from as far as Russia."

December 30, 2005 -- ThisIsMoney has reported that "Royal Mail today vowed to 'fight for every letter' following the New Year's Day postal revolution in which it will lose its 350-year monopoly on deliveries." See also The Scotsman.

December 30, 2005 -- The MidHudson News has reported that "Congresswoman Sue Kelly has added her name to the list of those urging the U.S. Postal Service to preserve the Purple Heart postage stamp in the New Year by issuing a 39-cent version when postal rates increase in 2006. Kelly is pressing the Postal Service to reissue the stamp in 2006, saying it provides the public a valuable way to honor and support U.S. troops and veterans alike. "This stamp should be a continued source of pride for all of those who have worn the uniform, as well as those who support them and their efforts," Kelly wrote today in a letter to U.S. Postmaster General John Potter. State Senator William Larkin and US Senator Hillary Clinton have been leading the charge to save the stamp."

December 30, 2005 -- The United States Postal Service Board of Governors will hold a meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2006; 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. in Washington, DC, at U.S. Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., in the Benjamin Franklin Room. Among the topics discussed will be:

Tuesday, January 10 at 8 a.m. (Open)

1.   Minutes of the Previous Meeting, December 6, 2005.
2.   Remarks of the Postmaster General and CEO Jack Potter.
3.   Holiday Mailing Recap.
4.   Committee Reports.
5.   Consideration of Board Resolution on Capital Funding.
6.   Annual Report on Government in the Sunshine Act Compliance.
7.   Fiscal Year 2005 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations, including the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2007
      Annual Performance Plan--GPRA.
8.   Capital Investment--Northeast Metro Michigan Processing & Distribution Center.
9.   Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors.
10. Tentative Agenda for the February 7-8, 2006, meeting in Washington, DC.

Tuesday, January 10 at 10 a.m. (Closed)
1.   Filing with the Postal Rate Commission for Extension of Market Test for Repositionable Notes.
2.   Strategic Planning.
3.   Financial Update.
4.   Rate Case Planning.
5.   Labor Negotiations Planning.
6.   Personnel Matters and Compensation Issues.

December 30, 2005 -- The Topeka Capital-Journal told its readers that "Postal rates are going up 5.4 percent on Jan. 8 as a result of a law that will raise money for military pensions. The new law transferred to the Postal Service, and in turn all postal ratepayers, the obligation to make payments to the Treasury for the costs of civil service pensions related to military service and other government service of postal employees."

December 30, 2005 -- The Sioux City Journal has reported that "Members of the American Postal Workers Union Local 186 continue to rally support for the preservation of Sioux City's postmark."

December 30, 2005 -- According to Traffic World:

• The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose 5.3 percentage points in December after another month of economic growth, more jobs and lower gas prices. The second month in a row of increased confidence puts the Index at 103.6 (1985=100), up from 98.3 in November. Two other measures rose also. The Present Situation Index surged to 121.5 from 113.2, and the Expectations Index increased to 91.6 from 88.4 last month, the Conference Board said.
• Dutch telecom carrier KPN plans to track the distribution and return of individual mobile phones in a trial it is calling "Tellitrace" with the cooperation of its logistics provider, TNT Logistics.

December 30, 2005 -- CNET News has reported that "Online holiday spending rose 25 percent to 30 percent this year from a year ago, with hot items being computer hardware, consumer electronics and clothing, according to two reports released on Thursday. Clothing was the top seller in terms of dollar amount, at $5.3 billion total, up 42 percent from last year's revenue, the report said. Computer hardware and peripherals showed the most growth, 126 percent, at $4.8 billion. Consumer electronics was the second fastest growing category garnering $4.8 billion, up 109 percent. People spent $3 billion on books online, up 66 percent, and $2.3 billion on products in the toys/video games category of hardware and software, a drop of 9 percent from last year, the study found." See also "Holiday Shopping Soars 30% in 2005; Toy Sales Plunge: Study" and "Half of Consumers Holiday Shopped Online: KPMG" as reported by Direct magazine

December 30, 2005 -- Tr ansport News Network has reported that "The leading express and logistics subsidary of Deutsche Post World Net says the acquiring of the shares is a major coup as PPL is the leading private player in the Czech domestic parcel market, serving customers chiefly from the IT, electronic and pharmaceutical industries. PPL operates more than 450 vehicles from eleven depots across the Czech Republic. Pavel Horak, chief executive officer said the shares being acquired in his company will allow the firm to expand its business in eastern and central Europe, combining DHL's powerful international business with a strong domestic market."

December 29, 2005 -- The Angola Press has reported that "Angolan Minister of Post Offices and Telecommunications, Licínio Tavares, said Thursday in Luanda his sector in 2006 will continue with the programme of recovery of the country`s postal network and expansion of its services."

December 29, 2005 -- Business Mailers Review has reported that:

• Relatively strong mail volumes in November 2005 helped the Postal Service overcome a sluggish October and nudge closer to meeting financial projections for the all-important first quarter of the fiscal year.
• November 2004 saw a major jump in mail volume, particularly in Standard Mail, which was 16.8% higher than in November 2003 and First Class, up 12.9% in November 2005 from the previous November.
• Postal officials are hoping to find another way to get the Transportation Dept. (DOT) to give up its regulation of fees for international mail transportation so USPS can competitively bid for airlift on international mail to domestic and international carriers.
• Look for Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA., to hold an oversight hearing on the Postal Service in the winter or early spring in the House Government Reform Committee. This oversight hearing is likely to look more closely at other issues, such as the facility consolidation activities that are moving ahead quickly across the country or the issue of service standards, measurements of standards and communication of those measurements for various mail products.
• The Office of Personnel Management has declined to let USPS take advantage of a provision in the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act that lets employers seek federal rebates if they offer retiree prescription drug benefits that exceed Medicare's offering. OPM is not applying for the rebate for the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, in which USPS is a participant.
• With members of the Board of Governors in short supply, postal officials are getting a bit nervous that the White House has yet to nominate someone to fill one of the five vacancies.
• Comments on the first negotiated service agreement (NSA) show a mix of support and opposition to Bookspan's volume estimates to determine Bookspan's plan.
• The Postal Service is changing its preparation requirements for bundles of Periodicals, Standard Mail and Package Services flat-size mail or irregular parcels on pallets although implementation has been pushed back from the originally proposed March 1 date to May 11.
• Contingency allowances, historically in the 1-3% range, provide for unex- pected occurrences, says IRET Senior Economist Michael Schuyler, are not necessary and can cause the Postal Service to understate certain costs. He thinks the better approach is to draw from cumulative surpluses or engage in short- term borrowing from the U.S. Treasury if a shortfall occurs in between rate cases.
• IRET says that back-to-back rate cases – with one expected to be filed this spring – will take a toll on the Postal Service, which has had to work hard to keep up with the increasing labor costs – costs that all but offset the 10% reduction in the workforce and impressive productivity gains.

Business Mailer's Review is an award-winning, independent biweekly newsletter covering issues of importance to the business mailer. It is regularly cited as among the best sources of postal information. For subscription information, check the BMR web site.

December 29, 2005 -- Newsday has reported that "the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Corporation (TTpost) has made another stride in its quest to secure all incoming mail at Piarco International Airport. TTpost now has access to the airside to meet and retrieve mail from incoming flights. The mail will now be off-loaded directly into TTpost's mail vans and taken to the Customs area for processing and subsequent release to TTpost to sort and deliver to customers. Managing director Ray Philpott said, "A key focus of TTpost is to ensure the mail is delivered safely and in a timely manner to our customers."

December 29, 2005 -- The Memphis Commercial-Appeal has reported that "Most people identify the U.S. Postal Service as the outfit that delivers mail and packages to their homes and businesses, but the U.S. Postal Service in Memphis has been doing more than just delivering mail for many years. One way they give back throughout the year and especially during this joyous season is through the Memphis City Schools Adopt-A-School program. Individual post offices around Memphis have special programs to help less-fortunate people in their communities but the entire Memphis Postal Service adopted Manor Lake Elementary School in Southwest Memphis several years ago. Each year, funds are collected to provide food and toys to the more than 300 children attending the school and the program recently expanded to assist area residents who need help."

December 29, 2005 -- According to UsingRFID, "The future market for inks, substrates and other materials used in printable electronics is expected to reach some US$1.9 billion by 2010, rising to US$8.9 billion in 2013. Over the next eight-years, NanoMarkets expects paper and card to become an increasingly important substrate for printable electronics. This will be required as printable electronics quickly finds its way into smart packaging, greetings cards and other novelties. Printable electronics on a paper substrate may even be the ultimate in electronic paper. To make this happen, however, paper manufacturers will have to come up with special coated papers suitable for taking electronic inks."

December 29, 2005 -- As the Washington Post has noted, "text messaging -- like its older cousin instant messaging -- is giving rise to a new, electronic written culture. A text message sent via mobile phone is usually confined to 160 characters or less and takes several seconds to send. About 7.3 billion text messages are sent within the United States every month, up from 2.9 billion a month a year ago. Text messages feel more personal because the cell phone is always physically close."

December 29, 2005 -- The Las Cruces Sun-News has noted that "A town hall meeting with U.S. Postal Service officials has been canceled. The meeting had been scheduled for 10 a.m. today at City Hall, and Council Chambers had been reserved for the meeting. Postal Service officials in Washington, D.C., apparently had plans to attend, but the meeting was up in the air until the officials' schedules could be confirmed."

December 29, 2005 -- The Ch osen Ilbo has reported that "The Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Thursday that two new kinds of narcotics, narcotic mushrooms and 2C-B, have been intercepted while smugglers were attempting to sneak them into Korea this year. An official at the customs office said they had uncovered 111 cases of drug smuggling this year, and three types of drugs, including narcotic mushrooms, were found for the first time in Korea in a parcel of international mail sent from Canada in November. Smuggling through airports and harbors, which constituted 49 percent of the uncovered drug-trafficking incidents in 2003, dropped to 31 percent this year, whereas smuggling through international postal services and expedited freight services soared from 44 percent in 2003 to 59 percent this year."

December 29, 2005 -- The Financial Times has reported:

• Mini sters are to open talks with Royal Mail over its demands for up to £2bn of investment after the postal operator agreed to tough new targets for improving efficiency. The negotiations, which will run well into the new year, are expected to focus on several options, all of which would involve the government, which is the state-owned postal operator's sole shareholder, putting public money into the company.
• Roya l Mail, the state-owned postal service, expects to lose "billions" of mail items to its rivals over the next 12 months, following the opening up of the market to full competition on January 1. And in the change that will follow the New Year's day revolution in the postal services market, it is business customers that are expected to be in the lead. Companies account for more than 80 per cent of the licensed market: mail costing less than £1 and weighing less than 350g. It is the public's custom, rather than the letters they send, that Royal Mail's 14 rivals will be fighting for. (See also Mail Market Postings.
• The land mark opening of the UK's £6.5bn ($11.2bn) postal services market to full competition on January 1 will take five years to have its full impact, the postal regulator has said. But Nigel Stapleton, chairman of Postcomm, stressed the "pace of change" should be faster than the liberalisation of the UK telecoms and energy markets.

December 29, 2005 -- According to Kyodo, "Major Russian economic daily Vedomosti on Thursday picked Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as its politician of the year. Koizumi "refused to compromise with the opposition bloc (in his postal privatization drive) and won a landslide victory after dissolving the House of Representatives," it said. "He showed the qualifications that are required of a capable politician."

December 29, 2005 -- The American Postal Workers Union has been informed by the Postal Service that the Bronx P&D Center is under review for possible consolidation.

December 29, 2005 -- The U.S. Postal Service has posted on its web site its financial and operating statements for November 2005.

December 29, 2005 -- The Times of Malta has reported that "A total of Lm3,000 were yesterday distributed among 12 charitable institutions. The money was handed out by Censu Galea, Minister for Competitiveness and Communications, on behalf of Maltapost. Mr Galea said that although this year the stamp Christmas surcharge was not issued, Maltapost, in collaboration with the postal services regulator, allocated Lm3,000 to be shared by a number of institutions. Maltapost's chief executive officer, Joe Gafà pledged his company's commitment to this event for the future."

December 29, 2005 -- In a letter to the editor of the Elmira Star-Gazette, Elmira postmaster Bernard Czechowski wrote: "On any given day, the business and residential customers of Elmira and the surrounding areas deposit approximately 100,000 first-class letters in postal collection boxes, their mailboxes or at a local post office. While some of the letters are staying within the immediate area, the rest are going throughout the country. Instead of having each of the 85 post offices in the 148 and 149 ZIP codes keep their local mail separate from their nonlocal mail, it is far more efficient to send all the mail to the highly automated Rochester Processing and Distribution Center and let machines separate the mail. The machines sort mail at approximately 30,000 pieces per hour. Once the local mail is isolated, it is returned to Elmira to be machine-sequenced in the exact order the carrier delivers the route. For this process to be effective, we need to keep as much of the mail in the automation mail stream. Consolidating the mail in one location and then maximizing the amount of mail sequenced for the carrier reduces manual handling. Sorting the mail by hand is not as efficient and more costly."

December 29, 2005 -- The Frederic ksburg Free Lance-Star has reported that "A Stafford County man's 87-year-old mother, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, wrote more than 150 checks to various mail-order companies over a two-month period before her son realized what she was doing. Martin Davis, an inspector with the U.S. Postal Service's Washington Division, investigates such operations. These junk-mail companies are very profitable, he says. "It's a science," Davis said. "They identify people who fall for this stuff, some people just can't throw it away."

December 29, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "The National Mediation Board on Wednesday rejected a bid by pilots for UPS Inc. to be released from federal mediation over contract talks with the company. The pilots union had threatened to go on strike within 30 days, if the request had been granted. The union said the board's decision does not decrease the likelihood of a strike, while the company said it believes the two sides can still resolve their differences in mediation."

December 29, 2005 -- GovExec.com has reported that:

• The New Year brings a new pay system for employees at the Government Accountability Office. The GAO, which has been a leader in federal personnel reform and holds an exemption from most civil service rules, is introducing market sensitivity to its pay scale.
• President Bush issued an executive order Thursday evening formally granting wh ite-collar federal employees a 3.1 percent average pay raise in 2006.

December 29, 2005 -- According to the Federal Times, "Most federal employees will receive pay raises ranging from 2.83 percent to 5.62 percent in 2006."

December 29, 2005 -- As The Economist has noted, "outside a 14th-century cottage on the edge of a muddy track, five miles from the nearest town, a little red van stops six days a week. Its driver calls out a greeting and occasionally passes over a letter. This is Royal Mail at its finest and its least cost-effective. Rain or shine it visits each home in these rugged hills on the border between England and Wales, delivering letters for the same 30p stamp that it charges to carry mail across London. Soon it won't just be little red vans. Accompanying the broken resolutions and hangovers of New Year's Day will be the end of a 350-year monopoly and the opening of Britain's mail market to competition."

December 29, 2005 -- According to Lloyd's List, "GLOBAL logistics operators look increasingly like Russian dolls: inside every supply chain giant lurks a series of smaller takeover trophies."

December 28, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "Mortgage lender ABN AMRO Mortgage Group has extended its 90-day free credit monitoring service to one year after DHL lost and then found a computer tape containing sensitive customer information."

December 28, 2005 -- According to Capitol Hill sources, recommendations from the following reports of studies of the U.S. Postal Service conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) are still considered "open":

• U.S. Postal Service: Purchasing Changes Seem Promising, but Ombudsman Revisions and Continued Oversight Are Needed
• U.S. Postal Service: Guidance on Suspicious Mail Needs Further Refinement
• U.S. Postal Service: Physical Security Measures Have Increased at Some Core Facilities, but Security Problems Continue
• U.S. Postal Service: Better Guidance Is Needed to Ensure an Appropriate Response to Anthrax Contamination
• U.S. Postal Service: USPS Needs to Clearly Communicate How Postal Services May Be Affected by Its Retail Optimization Plans
• Contract Management: Postal Service's National Office Supply Contract Has Not Been Effectively Implemented
• U.S. Postal Service: More Consistent Implementation of Policies and Procedures for Cash Security Needed
• United States Postal Service: Opportunities to Strengthen IT Investment Management Capabilities
• Diffuse Security Threats: USPS Air Filtration Systems Need More Testing and Cost Benefit Analysis before Implementation
• Postal Service: Progress in Implementing Supply Chain Management Initiatives GAO-04-540 May 17, 2004
• U.S. Postal Service: The Service's Strategy for Realigning Its Mail Processing Infrastructure Lacks Clarity, Criteria, and Accountability

December 28, 2005 -- Ananova has reported that "The German post office has started giving mail workers lessons in canine psychology. Official say the number of dog attacks on postmen this Xmas were the lowest in 10 years after the lessons."

December 28, 2005 -- As the USPS has put it, "The results are in – the U.S. Postal Service ended 2005 with a record sixth consecutive year of growth in productivity, wiped out its debt and delivered fifty percent more mail to 32 million more homes and businesses than it did 20 years ago while doing it at 1985 staffing levels. These results are highlighted in the just released 2005 Annual Report of the U.S. Postal Service. The report is available online at http://www.usps.com/history/anrpt0 5/. "These remarkable results reflect the strong efforts throughout the entire organization to remain focused on the transformational strategies we identified in 2002," said Postmaster General John E. Potter and Board of Governors Chairman James C. Miller III." A complete copy of the report in a .pdf file format is available on the USPS web site.

December 28, 2005 -- The Twin Falls Times News has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is currently making a study into certain operations at the Twin Falls post office. USPS officials notified labor officers for the American Postal Workers Union about the four- to six-week study earlier this month. The Postal Service's search for greater efficiencies could mean consolidating certain mail process operations. Among the 10 locations around the U.S. possible for belt-tighening is the Twin Falls station, which could move processing tasks to Boise. Whether in the private or public sectors, you can't quarrel with a need for efficiency and streamlining operations. As a federal agency and government-owned corporation, the U.S. Postal Service can and should use the same methods to cut costs while maintaining services. But without sounding too territorial, the pattern of population growth in Twin Falls and surrounding areas should support a postal office station with processing operations, and possibly expanding them in the future. It's worth questioning whether a shift of those duties to Boise would result in some delays for local mail customers."

December 28, 2005 -- The Exeter Express Echo has noted that "Post bosses have admitted paying out thousands of pounds in compensation to Exeter householders for mail which never turned up. According to new figures released by Royal Mail, thousands of residents in the EX postal area had to be compensated for lost or very late post. The company, which is due to lose its monopoly on postal services on Sunday - January 1 - paid out a total of £98,382 to customers in the city during 2004 and 2005. The figures show that Royal Mail received 3,898 complaints about lost post from people living in the EX postcode between April, 2004, and March, 2005."

December 28, 2005 -- According to the Associated Press, "Richard Davis gets a little embarrassed when he's called the poster child of the post office. Not that he minds being a representative of the U.S. Postal Service. He's worn the blue uniform for almost 19 years and was "really touched" to be named one of the best retail clerks in the nation. He believes the honor - and the title of retail ambassador - belong to all those employees who'd like to stamp out the image of someone going postal."

December 28, 2005 -- AS the Nor theast Mississippi Journal has noted, "Mississippians, like all other U.S. Postal Service customers, will pay more for everyday mailings, starting Jan. 8, 2006. This time, the increase isn't driven by postal service losses or inefficiencies. It's the law. Nobody is what could be described as happy about the rate hike, but USPS isn't the only carrier increasing costs to consumers. UPS and FedEx also will raise rates next month."

December 28, 2005 -- The Wiscon sin State Journal has noted that ""Mailings can be a very effective way of doing business," said Terri Bouffiou, customer relations coordinator for the Madison branches of the U.S. Postal Service. But she added, "as well as a big cost to a company." Mailing-services companies' assistance may be more important and timely beginning next month, when postal rates rise by about 5 percent."

December 28, 2005 -- The Oak Park Journal has wondered: "What would Christmas be like, if Christmas cards had never been invented? Prior to the year 1843, any greetings given for this holiday would have been letter-written. The first Christmas card was created that very year, 162 years ago, in England. That greeting was printed on postcard-size paper stock, but delivered in an envelope."

December 27, 2005 -- According to Linn's postal aficionado Bill McAllister, the U.S. Postal Service, which historically had nothing to do with the Pony Express, other than having to endure its existence as an express competitor, is busy trying to trademark as many "Pony Express" logo variants as it can. Apparently, it has other commercial designs in mind.

December 27, 2005 -- The Parkersburg News and Sentinel has noted that "The orders come in and the shipments go out. Flowers, teddy bears and keepsake and collectible items are shipped out daily from Sandy's Florist. The items go to locations all across the nation from the store's Marietta and Belpre locations. The items are followed shortly by their paper bills, all courtesy the United States Postal Service, where most postal rates and fees will increase by approximately 5.4 percent starting Jan. 8. "This affects us quite a bit," Joe Flaherty, owner of Sandy's Florist, said about the upcoming increase. In addition to shipping merchandise and mailing bills, the shop sends out mailing advertisements."

December 27, 2005 -- From the Federal Register: "The Postal Service proposes a new marking requirement for Bound Printed Matter machinable parcels consisting of multiple pieces secured with transparent shrinkwrap. Under our proposal, mailers must use a firm optional endorsement line or apply a pressure-sensitive firm bundle Label F. The new marking will enable our automated equipment to recognize that a Bound Printed Matter parcel is intended for a single address. Comments must be received on or before January 26, 2006. The USPS proposes to implement these changes on May 11, 2006."

December 27, 2005 -- The Marine Corps News has noted that "For the vast majority of Marines and sailors in the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), e-mail and internet access is a rare luxury few can enjoy, especially as the unit begins conducting combat operations in Iraq's Al Anbar Province. Therefore, it is still the hand-written letter, often dog-eared and stained by constant reading and rereading, that links deployed Marines and sailors to their lives outside a combat zone. Unfortunately, the time it takes for mail to travel from the United States to Iraq often means that the information in letters, notes, and cards is a bit dated by the time it reaches its addressee. To combat this problem and provide a much-appreciated morale boost for deployed Marines and sailors, MotoMail, short for ‘Motivational Mail,' was introduced. MotoMail provides a direct link to the service member. Although hosted on a commercial web domain, MotoMail is a Marine Corps-sponsored, internet-based letter writing system that often puts letters and notes of encouragement in the hands of Marines and sailors within 24 hours."

December 27, 2005 -- According to the Arizona Republic, "The holiday crunch came to a head Saturday as hundreds of people waited in line to pick up packages at a UPS distribution center in Phoenix."

December 27, 2005 -- The Slovene Press Agency has reported that "Apart from holding talks with several potential strategic partners we are also considering acquiring a postal service in one of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Ales Hauc, director of the Post of Slovenia told the daily Vecer on Wednesday, 21 December. According to Hauc, the liberalisation of the Slovenian postal market after 2009 will enable any company, if approved by the telecommunications watchdog APEK, to enter the postal services market in the country. He told the Maribor-based daily that the Post of Slovenia will link up with a foreign strategic partner to be fully prepared when that time comes. Hauc, however, did not specify the company that the Post is negotiations with on partnership. He explained only that he has held talks with "the biggest players in the sector", such as the postal services in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and others."

December 27, 2005 -- According to the Slidel l Sentry-News, "Covington Postmaster Dale Goff has been elected president of the National Association of Postmasters of the United States. After a two-year national campaign following his term as secretary-treasurer for NAPUS, Goff garnered endorsements from every state postmaster, then ran unopposed for the term to be served from 2006-2008. Hehttp://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20051226004225&Page=Q&Title=O RISSA&Topic=0 is eligible to serve in the office for two terms, if re-elected."

December 27, 2005 -- NewIndPress has reported that "The stalemate between the State Government and the Postal Department over payment of commission on sale of revenue stamps has finally come to an end with the former agreeing to the new commission rate."

December 26, 2005 -- TMCNet has reported that "The government Monday named Naoki Tanaka, president of the 21st Century Public Policy Institute, as head of a committee to be created on April 1 to supervise the process of the privatization of Japan's postal services."

December 26, 2005 -- According to Newszap:

• Mail problems can be resolved: Postal officials need residents' input.
• More than 25 U.S. Postal Service letter carriers gathered outside Cactus Postal Station, 2901 E. Greenway Rd., Dec. 15, to let the public know why snail mail is crawling slower than ever around the Valley, including some parts of Northeast Phoenix. "The problem is: staffing," said Doug Sage, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers branch 576."

December 26, 2005 -- As the Trenton Times has noted, "More than 100 of those iconic blue U.S. Postal Service mailboxes we've all used have disappeared from sidewalks throughout central New Jersey this year, but neither thieves nor pranksters are to blame for the vanishing act. Rather, the Postal Service itself has taken the mailboxes out of commission after determining their locations didn't drum up enough business to justify their continued use. "The economic situation is what's driving it," said George Flood, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service in New Jersey. "We're looking at every possible way to cut costs."

December 27, 2005 -- According to Linn's postal aficionado Bill McAllister, the U.S. Postal Service, which historically had nothing to do with the Pony Express, other than having to endure its existence as an express competitor, is busy trying to trademark as many "Pony Express" logo variants as it can. Apparently, it has other commercial designs in mind.

December 27, 2005 -- The Parkersburg News and Sentinel has noted that "The orders come in and the shipments go out. Flowers, teddy bears and keepsake and collectible items are shipped out daily from Sandy's Florist. The items go to locations all across the nation from the store's Marietta and Belpre locations. The items are followed shortly by their paper bills, all courtesy the United States Postal Service, where most postal rates and fees will increase by approximately 5.4 percent starting Jan. 8. "This affects us quite a bit," Joe Flaherty, owner of Sandy's Florist, said about the upcoming increase. In addition to shipping merchandise and mailing bills, the shop sends out mailing advertisements."

December 27, 2005 -- From the Federal Register: "The Postal Service proposes a new marking requirement for Bound Printed Matter machinable parcels consisting of multiple pieces secured with transparent shrinkwrap. Under our proposal, mailers must use a firm optional endorsement line or apply a pressure-sensitive firm bundle Label F. The new marking will enable our automated equipment to recognize that a Bound Printed Matter parcel is intended for a single address. Comments must be received on or before January 26, 2006. The USPS proposes to implement these changes on May 11, 2006."

December 27, 2005 -- The Marine Corps News has noted that "For the vast majority of Marines and sailors in the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), e-mail and internet access is a rare luxury few can enjoy, especially as the unit begins conducting combat operations in Iraq's Al Anbar Province. Therefore, it is still the hand-written letter, often dog-eared and stained by constant reading and rereading, that links deployed Marines and sailors to their lives outside a combat zone. Unfortunately, the time it takes for mail to travel from the United States to Iraq often means that the information in letters, notes, and cards is a bit dated by the time it reaches its addressee. To combat this problem and provide a much-appreciated morale boost for deployed Marines and sailors, MotoMail, short for ‘Motivational Mail,' was introduced. MotoMail provides a direct link to the service member. Although hosted on a commercial web domain, MotoMail is a Marine Corps-sponsored, internet-based letter writing system that often puts letters and notes of encouragement in the hands of Marines and sailors within 24 hours."

December 27, 2005 -- According to the Arizona Republic, "The holiday crunch came to a head Saturday as hundreds of people waited in line to pick up packages at a UPS distribution center in Phoenix."

December 27, 2005 -- The Slovene Press Agency has reported that "Apart from holding talks with several potential strategic partners we are also considering acquiring a postal service in one of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Ales Hauc, director of the Post of Slovenia told the daily Vecer on Wednesday, 21 December. According to Hauc, the liberalisation of the Slovenian postal market after 2009 will enable any company, if approved by the telecommunications watchdog APEK, to enter the postal services market in the country. He told the Maribor-based daily that the Post of Slovenia will link up with a foreign strategic partner to be fully prepared when that time comes. Hauc, however, did not specify the company that the Post is negotiations with on partnership. He explained only that he has held talks with "the biggest players in the sector", such as the postal services in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and others."

December 27, 2005 -- According to the Slidel l Sentry-News, "Covington Postmaster Dale Goff has been elected president of the National Association of Postmasters of the United States. After a two-year national campaign following his term as secretary-treasurer for NAPUS, Goff garnered endorsements from every state postmaster, then ran unopposed for the term to be served from 2006-2008. Hehttp://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20051226004225&Page=Q&Title=O RISSA&Topic=0 is eligible to serve in the office for two terms, if re-elected."

December 27, 2005 -- NewIndPress has reported that "The stalemate between the State Government and the Postal Department over payment of commission on sale of revenue stamps has finally come to an end with the former agreeing to the new commission rate."

December 26, 2005 -- TMCNet has reported that "The government Monday named Naoki Tanaka, president of the 21st Century Public Policy Institute, as head of a committee to be created on April 1 to supervise the process of the privatization of Japan's postal services."

December 26, 2005 -- According to Newszap:

• Mail problems can be resolved: Postal officials need residents' input.
• More than 25 U.S. Postal Service letter carriers gathered outside Cactus Postal Station, 2901 E. Greenway Rd., Dec. 15, to let the public know why snail mail is crawling slower than ever around the Valley, including some parts of Northeast Phoenix. "The problem is: staffing," said Doug Sage, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers branch 576."

December 26, 2005 -- As the Trenton Times has noted, "More than 100 of those iconic blue U.S. Postal Service mailboxes we've all used have disappeared from sidewalks throughout central New Jersey this year, but neither thieves nor pranksters are to blame for the vanishing act. Rather, the Postal Service itself has taken the mailboxes out of commission after determining their locations didn't drum up enough business to justify their continued use. "The economic situation is what's driving it," said George Flood, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service in New Jersey. "We're looking at every possible way to cut costs."

December 24, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "The union representing United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) pilots said Thursday it will ask for release from federal mediation so it can strike, citing three years of contract negotiations with the world's largest shipping carrier that have failed to reach an agreement. The comments by the Independent Pilots Association weren't unexpected after talks between the two sides concluded Thursday without reaching a deal."

December 24, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "As part of sustained efforts to introduce efficiency and speed of mail to members of America's Armed Forces serving overseas in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, the U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Defense today announced a contract award that will provide an end-to-end network solution for all mail to civilian and military personnel deployed in the Middle East and Persian Gulf areas."

December 24, 2005 -- The Periodical Publishers Association has reported that "Royal Mail has confirmed that it will not be making an announcement regarding the 2006/7 tariff before Christmas. The intention is to make an announcement in mid-January. With Royal Mail yet to confirm whether it intends to accept Postcomm's price control proposals, the implications in terms of likely price increases for 2006/7 are still very uncertain."

December 24, 2005 --  Gulf Times has reported that "THE 16th meeting of GCC postal officials has recommended the establishment of a Gulf postal company and set up a team to study its feasibility in collaboration with the GCC general secretariat. Participants at the meeting, which concluded on Thursday, also recommended the establishment of a company for land transport of postal parcels among GCC countries with a view to alleviating financial burdens on customers and increasing postal corporations' revenues."

December 24, 2005 -- The Peninsula has reported that "The Universal Postal Union (UPU) is developing an electronic network to link some 120 countries across the globe that would facilitate speedier remittances of money orders from migrant workers, Edouard Dayan, Director General, UPU, said here yesterday. The organisation's fund to help underdeveloped countries to establish a modern postal system, he said, had witnessed a 250 per cent increase in revenues this year."

December 24, 2005 -- UPS< /a> has said the federal mediator in charge of negotiations between UPS and the Independent Pilots Association (IPA) has put the talks in an indefinite recess.

December 24, 2005 -- The Guernsey Press and Star has reported that "GUERNSEY POST'S ‘watchdog' could cut back on its monitoring because the utility is working so well."

December 24, 2005 -- MSNBC has noted that "a standard card needs a 55 cent stamp in Germany. Across Europe, only Denmark's 58 cent postage is more expensive, according to a study this month by the Free and Fair Post Initiative, an association of postal users and private-sector postal operators. Then there is the challenge of sticking the right stamp on your missive. Deutsche Post has 64 different postal tariffs. Some of the rates are quirks of a bygone age. Deutsche Post still charges lower postage for the delivery of books, on the grounds that the dissemination of the printed word, and more widespread literacy, is a moral crusade that should be encouraged."

December 23, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

• As consumers hurry to use up those 37-cent stamps, business mailers are working on more complex preparations for the looming postal rate change early in the New Year.
• The Association for Postal Commerce believes the USPS must provide incentives, such as negotiated service agreements, to encourage direct mailers to use Standard Mail.
• In a December report, the Government Accountability Office said although the Postal Service has implemented many positive changes to streamline its regulations and structure, it is concerned about the USPS's regulatory change related to its new ombudsman.
• In his latest paper, economist Michael Schuyler of the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation says back-to-back postal rate increases could create greater financial pressure on the Postal Service than would a larger increase followed by several years of stable prices.
• Canada Post and UPS are embroiled in a legal battle over the North American Free Trade Agreement.
• Columnist David Andelman talks about his experiences with the U.S. Postal Service, and how the USPS shapes up, or doesn't.
• A national consumer group takes a look at the merits of package delivery services and their prices.
• One of the latest in the series of background papers being prepared as part of the Pitney Bowes research project on Electronic Substitution for Mail.
• New bundle prep rul. USPS releases six-month RPN data. Postal Service denied Medicare drug subsidy. Internet use shortens holiday lines at post offices. UPS, pilots still at odds over labor contract. Share of unionized workforce in U.S. continues to fall. United Nations partners with DHL for disaster relief. Hiersteiner receives Envelope Manufacturers' top honor.
• CheckFree, others could benefit from rate increase as more Americans look to bank online.
• Russia Post's profits plummet for 2005. Lawmakers say Royal Mail's pension deficit needs government action. German couriers file EU complaint against Deutsche Post for VAT exemption. French banks file EU complaint against La Poste. TNT acquires German delivery firm. TNT names new CFO. U.K. online sales up.

Who handles the distribution of the PostCom Bulletin?
 Why, it's NETGRAM, of course. Read more about it.

December 23, 2005 -- According to the Daily Breeze, "Young buyers view physical mail differently than their parents. They've grown up with computers, e-mail, cell phones and text messaging and hardly ever use mail to write personal letters or other correspondence. As a result, nearly all of the mail they receive has a commercial purpose. They look forward to receiving it and rely on it as a source of new products, services and other opportunities they might be interested in. A variety of new studies by research firms such as InnoMedia, comScore Networks and NuStats are showing that young consumers love getting snail-mail. They seem to appreciate and respond to the physical connection that instant electronics don't provide. About 70 percent to 80 percent of younger consumers sort their mail immediately and nearly two-thirds say they read some type of advertising mail each week."

December 23, 2005 -- The Amarillo Globe News has carried a story, "U.S. Postal Service is right on the money," which shows the spirit of Christmas is still alive.

December 23, 2005 -- The Naples News has reported that "three sites — Zazzle.com, Stamps.com and Endicia.com — report that sales have increased substantially with holiday orders."

December 23, 2005 -- Business News Americas has reported that "Brazil's national post office (Correios) is planning a tender for a five-year data transmission contract worth up to 420mn reais (US$181mn)."

December 23, 2005 -- Les Echos has reported that "La Poste, the French public post office, will be headed by chairman Jean-Paul Bailly for a further term following parliament's ratification."

December 23, 2005 -- Les Mondes has reported that "French banking groups BNP Paribas, Banques Populaires, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale are putting pressure on the European Commission to reach a decision on the postal bank to be created by La Poste, the French national postal service group."

December 23, 2005 -- the Irish Times has reported that:

• The performance of An Post in delivering mail has deteriorated, with only 74 per cent of postal items delivered by the next working day, a new survey has found.
• Up to 500,000 pieces of mail destined for Ireland were stranded in London yesterday, according to a statement issued by An Post.

December 23, 2005 -- ThisIsMoney has noted that "Britain's mail service is poised for a revolution that will see 'independent' post boxes for letters appearing for the first time. Royal Mail's 370-year monopoly on stamped letter delivery finishes on New Year's Eve. And for the first time since the reign of Charles II, rival companies will have the legal right to collect, sort and deliver first and second class letters."

December 23, 2005 -- NewIndPress has reported that "The Citizens' Voice Club has appealed to the Central government to retain postcard as the cheapest medium of communication of the poor."

December 23, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that:

Global express company FedEx has reported its latest quarterly results. Its revenue increased to $8.09 billion, up 10% from $7.33 billion the previous year whilst operating income rose to $790 million, up 32% from $600 million. This resulted in an operating margin of 9.8% compared with last year's 8.2%. Management put the strong performance down to its broad portfolio of transportation services, a disciplined pricing approach and strong productivity gains. The company is also benefiting from solid economic growth in the U.S. and Asian economies, which it expects to continue in 2006.
DHL, DPWN's logistics subsidiary, is developing a 43,000 square feet (4,000 m2) regional hub at the Queen Alia Airport, Jordon, to be operational before the end of 2006. The hub will act as a link between the Middle East, Europe and North Africa facilitating trade for DHL express services, with onsite customs clearance.

December 22, 2005 -- From the C anada NewsWire: "Last week a private trade tribunal in Washington D.C. concluded its hearing into a complaint filed by United Parcel Service (UPS) against the federal government under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). UPS claims Canada Post has an unfair advantage when delivering parcel, express and courier services that compete with private courier services. It has consistently failed to persuade Canadian politicians or regulators that its complaints have any merit. Now it is hoping for a different result before an international tribunal established under NAFTA investment rules. Both the American and Mexican governments have an opportunity to file briefs by January 28, 2006. The federal government and UPS have one final chance to file material on February 24, 2006. Then the three-person tribunal will begin its deliberations. A decision is expected later next year."

December 22, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "UPS and its unionized pilots today were concluding three days of contract negotiations as pilots claimed they will seek a release from mediation if no settlement is reached. The Independent Pilots Association said the chance for a settlement "is in UPS's court."

December 22, 2005 -- RIA Novosti has reported that "Russian mail company Pochta Rossii said Thursday its net profit would fall by 73% in 2005 year-on-year to 244 million rubles (about $8.5 million). General Director Igor Syrtsov said that the drop in net profit was attributable to a doubling of worker's salaries and an almost five-fold rise in investment in the development and modernization of the postal service. According to Syrtsov, the company received most of its profit through non-postal services like money transfers, rent and utility payments, and subscription services."

December 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.

December 22, 2005 -- UsingRFID has noted that "The future market for inks, substrates and other materials used in printable electronics is expected to reach some US$1.9 billion by 2010, rising to US$8.9 billion in 2013, according to a new report from market research firm NanoMarkets."

December 22, 2005 -- La Tribune has reported that "The district court in Nanterre, near Paris, has suspended the restructuring plan of Chronopost, the express parcel subsidiary of the French post office, La Poste. The court found irregularities in the way in which the Chronopost works council was informed about the plan, which includes 540 job cuts."

December 22, 2005 -- According to D ow Jones, "On the busiest shipping day of the year, U.S. package shippers said Tuesday that, due to the New York City transit strike, they had suspended guarantees on when they could deliver packages to businesses and consumers in the city. To cope with extra car traffic during a transit strike by the Transport Workers Union Local 100, the city restricted delivery trucks' access to bridges and tunnels that connect Manhattan to area airports. United Parcel Service (UPS) said thousands of parcels were stranded early Tuesday at Newark's Liberty airport, the UPS hub for New York City. The city restricted trucks' access to Manhattan during the morning rush hour, between the hours of 5:00 am and 11:00 am."

December 22, 2005 -- News.com.au has reported that "The Marshall Islands have been literally bombarded with air mail when a cargo door popped open on a Boeing 727 as it was taking off from the central Pacific state. Hundreds of kilos of letters and packages spilled from the Asia Pacific Airlines plane on Wednesday into people's backyards and a lagoon near Majuro International Airport. Majuro airport manager Art Coburn said the plane banked seconds after takeoff and a trail of mail floated from the door."

December 22, 2005 -- This Day has noted that "The postal sector is one of the core infrastructure sectors of the economy. Improved efficiency and customer responsiveness in this sector has the potential to stimulate growth, to promote globalization and to facilitate the rise of e-commerce. Across the organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) of which Nigeria is a member, traditional state owned and regulated public utility industries have been transformed by reforms, which have fundamentally changed the way these industries are regulated. The former reliance on State control and regulation has given way to greater reliance on competition and market forces, which has lead to greater focus on efficiency, innovation and meeting the needs of consumers."

December 22, 2005 -- From Business Wire: "Research and Markets (http://www.researchand markets.com/reports/c30021) has announced the addition of Courier & Express Services Market Report 2005 to their offering. In 2004, the value of the UK courier and express services market increased by 2.6% to GBP 14.4bn. The national post sector lagged behind the rest of the market, with growth of 2.1%, and the strongest growth was seen in the other courier and express services sector, with a 3.5% increase. The market covered in this report is the UK market for courier and express services, defined as the business sector that supplies the need for rapid collection and delivery of documents and packages, including the national post. Items covered by this definition include mail, parcels and other items with a high value-to-weight ratio and a time-sensitive delivery requirement."

December 22, 2005 -- A sia Pulse has reported that "Postal service PT Pos Indonesia, telephone cellular operator PT Telkomsel and PT Gapura Angkasa have engaged in strategic cooperation in fulfilling their respective commitment to guarantee the quality of their public service, comprising the telecommunications service, the postal service and the cargo transport service. Cooperation between PT Pos Indonesia and Gapura Angkasa is focused on the sending of highly valuable goods by aircraft so as to expedite the transport of goods in various areas, which is required to support the acceleration of national development, according to information from PT Pos. PT Pos Indonesia and PT Telkomsel have agreed to cooperate in the provision of the warehousing service for equipment to be used in the construction of Telkomsel infrastructures, especially in the locations of the assets of PT Pos throughout Indonesia. Cooperation between PT Pos and Telkomsel also includes the provision of service applying the cellular network by giving auto-refill service to Telkomsel's customers and allowing bank transactions through all post offices."

December 22, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "DHL, the express and logistics subsidiary of DPWN, has acquired Czech based express company PPL CZ. Based in Prague, PPL is the leading private player in the Czech domestic express parcel market, serving customers mainly from the IT, pharmaceutical and electronic industries. PPL operates more than 450 vans and 11 depots across the Czech Republic."

December 22, 2005 -- The BBC has reported that "The postal services watchdog has urged the Royal Mail to introduce tighter controls after a postman was convicted of stealing chequebooks in a £20m scam. Postwatch wants the firm to shore up its recruitment, vetting and training procedures among all staff coming into contact with post."

December 21, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that:

• FedEx Corp., saying its business surged along all its major service lines, saw profits jump 33 percent to $471 million in its fiscal quarter ending Nov. 30 and forecast gains ahead under what the company called a strong shipping economy.
• FedEx says it handled a one-day record 8.9 million express and parcel shipments on Monday, and that 1.1 million shipment orders came through the Internet. The National Retail Federation said this week that more than half the country's online retailers this month reported growth of greater than 20 percent over last year.

December 21, 2005 -- Xinhua has published "Figures of First National Economic Survey: income, profits of enterprises in transport, storage, postal service sector."

December 21, 2005 -- The Register has reported that "Belgian daily De Tijd is to be distributed electronically in what is claimed to be the first complete solution for portable electronic reading and writing. Available from April 2006, the Iliad platform allows for customised versions of an electronic reader that can be created for special markets. Tomorrow's paper will be digital."

December 21, 2005 -- CNET News has reported that "Time Warner on Wednesday said it has named former HBO chief Jeffrey Bewkes its new president and chief operating officer. At the same time, the company announced that Don Logan, chairman of Time Warner's Media & Communications Group, which oversees America Online and the company's publishing and cable ventures, would be retiring at the end of the year."

December 21, 2005 -- The European Commission has approved, under the EC Treaty rules on state aid, the transfer of the banking and financial business of the French Post Office (La Poste) to its subsidiary, Banque Postale. Following a thorough analysis, the Commission has found that the operation as such will not confer an economic advantage on Banque Postale. The French authorities have entered into commitments ensuring this outcome. The associated issues, not directly linked to the transfer, such as the special right to distribute the "livret A" (a tax-free savings account for which La Poste has enjoyed a special distribution right since 1881), the unlimited state guarantee granted to La Poste and the welfare schemes for La Poste employees reassigned to Banque Postale, will be examined separately.

December 21, 2005 -- The Postal Service has distributed a 2006 PostalOne! rate case implementation document to help mailers prepare for the upcoming rate change.

December 21, 2005 -- The Olympian has reported that "A story praising the productivity of a Tumwater mail processing plant has been withheld from publication because it could have undermined the U.S. Postal Service's efforts to transfer mail cancellation services to Tacoma, a union official charged Tuesday. Clint Burelson, president of the American Postal Workers Union's Olympia local, said the Postal Service had planned to run a story in an employee publication in December on productivity levels at the Tumwater plant, according to a hard copy of an e-mail Burelson received during the weekend."

December 21, 2005 -- Eyefortransport has reported:

As London prepares to double the city's congestion charging zone by extending it westwards in 2007, Tom Bell, managing director of TNT Express Services UK & Ireland, argues that businesses will suffer an intolerable financial burden unless such schemes are standardised.
As the world's trade ministers meet in Hong Kong this week for the WTO's sixth Ministerial Conference, FedEx Corp is pushing for negotiators to conclude the Doha Round successfully in 2006, as scheduled.

December 21, 2005 -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has launched a new web site call Fe dEx Watch. Teamsters vice president and parcel division director Ken Hall told his members that "The Teamsters support the FedEx Express workers who have found themselves with no other way to address the discrimination by FedEx but through the class-action lawsuit now before the U.S. District Court for Northern California. FedEx is making promises to its customers this holiday season. But according to the hard working FedEx employees in this lawsuit, FedEx daily breaks its promise to its African-American and Latino workers who work hard all year for lower pay, work under insults and racist comments and work to get ahead but are denied opportunity."

December 21, 2005 -- As Forbes has noted, "At many points along the way, logistics and the supply chain are still encumbered by paper documents. Now, IBM's Global Logistics, after looking at their trading system, has decided to take on this paper trail with all its complexities and inefficiencies."

December 21, 2005 -- The Sioux City Journal has reported that "Carol Boellstorff, a member of the American Postal Workers Union Local 186, pickets in front of Sioux City's Main Post Office on Tuesday. "I'm out here because I serve Siouxland for the United States Postal Service, and I think it's important to keep our postmark and to keep our community's identity," Boellstorff said. Sioux City postal workers delivered a message along with the mail on Tuesday. Members of the American Postal Workers Union Local 186 picketed in front of the Main Post Office in an effort to preserve Sioux City's postmark."

December 21, 2005 -- According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "So far, e-commerce shoppers have spent 16 percent more during the first six weeks of the holiday season in comparison to last year, tallying $18.6 billion in online sales, according to a report by Goldman, Sachs & Co. A Jupiter Research study predicted that online shopping in November and December would increase 18 percent over last year and eventually hit $26 billion. In virtually every sale, the work of shipping the goods falls to UPS, FedEx and other delivery companies, many of which have added thousands of workers and ramped up their operations to handle the growth. Both UPS, which delivers about 60 percent of the Internet purchases, and FedEx have surpassed internal holiday goals due mostly to the rise of e-commerce."

December 21, 2005 -- RTE Business has noted that "Dublin-based ChangingWorlds has been selected as a finalist in the 2005 DHL Export Awards. The awards recognise Irish small and medium sized enterprises who demonstrate excellence in their exporting efforts."

December 21, 2005 -- The Bohol Chronicle has reported that "Two investigators from the office of the postmaster general arrived here yesterday afternoon to dig deeper into the reported mail pilferages."

December 21, 2005 -- Daiji World has reported that "‘Postal Finance Mart' a facility offering all banking solutions under one roof, will be shortly initiated at the Balmatta post office."

December 21, 2005 -- The Times of Malta has noted that "We are meant to feel upbeat about the government's privatisations. They are intended to roll the government back from areas where the private sector can perform better. They will provide the financial resources by which the government could cut the national debt. Not only will privatisation make Malta more efficient; new investment will emerge, thereby generating new jobs. The "privatisation" of the postal service went spectacularly wrong. In double quick time, the Gonzi administration had to acknowledge that the passage to New Zealand ownership and management was a total flop."

December 21, 2005 -- From PR Leap: "BCC Software, a BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Company and a leading developer of high-performance solutions for professional mailers, announces an upcoming addition to BCC's family of TrayMate thermal sack- and tray-tag printers. Among the advantages of the new TrayMate 3 over its predecessor, the original (and now discontinued) TrayMate printer, are improved speed, added barcode functionality, optional accessories, and a more competitive price."

December 21, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:

The German Association of Courier, Express and Postal Service Providers (BdKEP e.V.) has filed a complaint with the EU commission against Deutsche Post AG's exemption from VAT.
TNT Post has extended its German mail network by means of a further acquisition. On Monday, a TNT spokesperson announced that the Stuttgart-based MailXpress (2004 turnover: 0.7m euros) had been taken over.
According to the German government's monopoly committee, the aim of creating a both fair and functional competitive situation as laid down in the Postal Act has still not been fulfilled. In the eyes of the committee, abolition of the exclusive license must take first priority.
Schweizerische Post and the regulator PostReg have settled their differences on the subject of universal service costs. In future, the post will show its profit in a more transparent way.
Austria's Osterreichische Post AG has reported in increase in both turnover and profit for the first nine months of the current financial year. Despite these figures, Austrians are likely to be facing an increase in postage rates. [Sounds like they've learned something from the USPS.]
The Spanish government wishes to speed up postal market liberalisation and reduce the dominance of Correos y Telëgrafos and is now acting as a role model in this context.
The French parcel service Exapaq (2004 turnover: 192m euros) appears to have become the acquisition target of both La Poste (France) and Royal Mail (Britain).
Due to Deutsche Post's persistent problems in the express segment, the company is forced to carry out a considerable downward adjustment of its profit expectations for the segment.
Continuous losses have caused Osterreichische Post to decide to wind up its Slovenian parcel service Yellogistics. Instead, the post intends to develop the Slovenian market via a joint venture with TNT. The post has reconfirmed its expansion plans, including Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic.
Experts unanimously consider RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) a good and expedient consignment tracking and tracing tool for special uses. TNT has recently produced another example to prove its value: last week the integrator presented a new system developed on behalf of a worldwide manufacturer of medical diagnostic products, in which transponders control the set and constant temperature of the consignment. TNT had already employed the technology for the controlling of a computer manufacturer's supply chain.
Karl Kern, Schweizerische Post board member with responsibility for the branch network, has handed in his resignation.
TNT has appointed Henk van Dalen to succeed Jan Haars as financial director.
Helen Weir has joined the board of Royal Mail from the banking world. The post further announced the creation of a new position on the board: Stephen Agar, currently Royal Mail's Regulatory Affairs Director, has been appointed Director of Wholesales, dealing with letters which are collected and sorted by Royal Mail's competitors before being handed to Royal Mail for final mile delivery.

The MRU, founded in 1992, is the only consultancy in Europe, which has specialised in the market of courier-, express- and parcel services. For large-scale shippers and CEP-services in particular, the MRU provides interdisciplinary advice for all major questions of the market, as there are for example market entry, product design, organisation, and EDP.To learn more about the stories reported above, contact CEP News.

December 21, 2005 -- From the Federal Register: "The U.S. Postal Service has published a final rule that changes preparation requirements for bundles of Periodicals, Standard Mail, and Package Services flat-size mail or irregular parcels on pallets. The rule gives the conditions under which mailers must prepare an area distribution center, bulk mail center/ auxiliary service facility, or sectional center facility pallet with 250 or more pounds of bundles. Effective Date: May 11, 2006."

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

DHL will be the exclusive domestic express carrier for electronic payment technology provider Encore Payment Systems.
DPWN has appointed John Allan to the company's Management Board. Allan will be in charge of the Group's enlarged logistics business following the acquisition of Exel.

December 21, 2005 -- As Business Week has noted, "Companies' financial obligations to retiring workers -- in the form of pensions -- have come into the spotlight recently. And despite concern that the pension plans of many companies suffer from underfunding, Americans can take some comfort in the fact that pension funding is regulated by the government and financial accounting oversight bodies. But another, lesser-known obligation may pose an even bigger problem for Corporate America -- funding shortfalls for post-retirement health plans."

December 21, 2005 -- The U.S. Postal Service has filed with the Postal Rate Commission its First Semiannual Data Collection Report on Repositionable Notes. The data show that RPNs were used on 867 mailings, representing a volume of 40,861,329 pieces, and a total revenue of $574,015. To put this into some perspective, the U.S. Postal Service is a $70 billion organization.

December 21, 2005 -- According to the Institute for Research On the Economics of Taxation (IRET), "In 2005, the Postal Service asked the Postal Rate Commission (PRC), the independent federal agency that regulates postal rates, to approve a rate increase. The PRC held hearings and several months later gave the Postal Service most of what it sought. With only a few exceptions, the rate hike will be approximately across the board and roughly 5.4% for most Postal Service products. The price of a first-class stamp will rise from 37¢ to 39¢. There are positive aspects to the rate case but also negative ones. The increase is relatively modest, about half the size of general price inflation since 2002, when postal rates last rose. Since the early 1970s, postal rate increases have closely matched the inflation rate. On the other hand, postal rates may soon begin rising more quickly. The Postal Service is already gearing up for the next rate case, which is expected to be a major one, and will probably submit its request in 2006."

December 21, 2005 -- According to KTIV-TV News, "Sioux City's post mark may soon disappear, and several postal workers could be forced to move out of Sioux City."

December 21, 2005 -- As News 8 Austin has noted, "Some companies will mail unsolicited goods to consumers with the intent of generating more business. Federal law prohibits mailing unsolicited goods, except "free samples" or goods sent by a charity soliciting donations. Accordingly, if you receive unsolicited merchandise, you may treat it as a gift and the company sending the item cannot bill you, regardless of its value."

December 21, 2005 -- Canadian Transportation & Logisitcs has reported that "FKI Logistex® has announced the appointment of Wes Goode, Jr. to the position of vice president, airport systems, in the company's North American Airport, Post and Parcel division. A material handling industry veteran, Goode worked for the United States Postal Service (USPS) in various technical and management capacities from 1988 until moving to FKI Logistex. Most recently, Goode directed multiple strategic initiatives to re-engineer distribution and delivery systems at the USPS, and led the implementation of multiple automation, operational and logistics projects."

December 21, 2005 -- The Irish Examiner has reported that "The cost of posting a letter will remain at 48 cent, but the price for mailing a parcel is set to more than double." See also the Sunday Business Post.

December 21, 2005 -- The Louisville Courier-Journal has reported that "In final preparation for what their union paints as a showdown next week with UPS, pilots picketed yesterday outside the UPS Store on East Broadway. A dozen uniformed pilots representing the Independent Pilots Association took part in the informational picket, and IPA President Tom Nicholson warned that the union would ask to be released from federally mediated negotiations Friday if UPS "does not come to the table and produce a contract that we can ratify." See also the Appleton Post-Crescent.

December 21, 2005 -- The Scotsman has reported that "Bulk mail users who have received poor service from Royal Mail are in line for new compensation payments following a High Court ruling yesterday. In a victory for the postal service's business customers, Postwatch, also known as the Consumer Council for Postal Services, won a legal challenge against Postcomm, the UK regulatory body." Wow! This would be a great policy for the U.S. too! Unfortunately, you first have to have standards of performance and systems to measure performance against standards before you can determine the quality of mail service rendered. At present, for most "bulk mail," the U.S. Postal Service has neither.

December 21, 2005 -- Financial Times Deutschland has reported that "TNT, the Dutch postal service operator, is planning to take over Mailxpress, a postal company operating in Stuttgart, Germany. Mailxpress currently serves 120 business customers in the Stuttgart area and employs just under 110 staff."

December 21, 2005 -- The Kuwait News Agency has reported that "Postal officials from GCC states will hold a meeting here on Wednesday to discuss several issues including the impact of liberating global commerce on postal services in Gulf countries. Chairman of Qatar's public institution for postal services, Mohammed Al-Ali said in a press statement that the two-day meeting would also discuss quality control and standardization of postal services in GCC states."

December 20, 2005 -- Firstlog ic, Inc., a global provider of commercial mail and data quality software solutions, earlier this week released upgrades of Firstlogic's PAVE™ certified commercial mail software systems that fully support USPS postal rate and statement changes scheduled to take effect Jan. 8, 2006. Available via e-fulfillment or direct ship, Firstlogic's software is delivered early to provide mail houses, direct marketers and printers adequate time to install and test the software's support of the new postal rates, and allowing commercial mailers the benefit of advising their clients how the postal rates will impact their business and budgets."

December 20, 2005 -- As the Gloucester County Times has noted, "Instant communication available through e-mail, text messaging and cell phones may be the quickest method of sending holiday greetings this time of year, but for many the preferred method is still the way of the snail."

December 20, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "Denmark's national postal service, Post Danmark A/S, won EU regulatory approval Tuesday for its plans to buy a 49 percent stake in Belgium's La Poste-De Post. Post Danmark and its minority shareholder CVC Capital Partners are paying the Belgian state euro300 million (US$361 million) and will help modernize the service." See also Brussels Review.

December 20, 2005 -- Bloomberg has reported that:

Deutsche Postbank AG, Germany's biggest consumer lender by clients, agreed to pay 986 million euros ($1.18 billion) to its parent Deutsche Post AG for taking over management of 850 branches in a bid to boost earnings.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's government should help meet the 4 billion pound ($7.1 billion) pension-fund deficit of Royal Mail Group Plc, the state-owned postal service, a committee of lawmakers said. Royal Mail delivers 82 million letters and packages a day and is planning to increase prices to raise about 2 billion pounds. That money is needed to cover part of the pension liabilities and to buy more efficient sorting equipment as the government opens the postal market to competition Jan. 1.

December 20, 2005 -- The National Association of Major Mail Users (NAMMU) is building on the positive momentum of the 2004 ground-breaking report: Canada Post and The Mailing Industry: Shaping The New Business Model, with its IMPACT 2006 report and resultant practical initiatives. The Canadian mailing industry by many accounts is increasingly marginalized by the strategic and practical initiatives of its largest supplier, Canada Post Corporation. NAMMU is focusing attention and awareness on three key business drivers: the rate setting process, incentives and cost accountability; meaningful consultation and win-win impact; fair business practices. The IMPACT 2006: Gateway to Positive Change forum held in August 2005 surfaced practical issues and initiatives that can have an immediate and positive impact for the mailing industry and Canada Post. One important factor identified was the rising cost of interface with Canada Post particularly with the reduction of incentives. The industry churn created by the introduction of credit authorization in September emphasized the need to address this rapidly growing interface cost immediately, and induction issues were selected as the first priority to examine.

December 20, 2005 -- According to the K night-Ridder news service, "FedEx, UPS, DHL and the post office have all lined up to get a piece of the holiday pie."

December 20, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that:

The latest installment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations has concluded in Hong Kong. However after six days of at times acrimonious talks, many analysts have dismissed the resulting trade deal as purely symbolic and doing little to move the process on.
DHL's Saudi Arabian subsidiary SNAS/DHL has won a contract with the National Commercial Bank (NCB). SNAS/DHL's express and logistics services will support the operations of all the bank's branches.

December 20, 2005 -- The Guardian has reported that "The postal regulator Postcomm's decision to open the postal market to full competition from the beginning of next month is today criticised as "untimely" by a committee of MPs. In a report published today on Royal Mail after liberalisation of the market, the trade and industry committee warns that Royal Mail "has been asked to prepare for competition at a time of great commercial uncertainty". MPs say that at a time when Postcomm is reviewing the price that Royal Mail can charge for its regulated services, the company is facing "huge challenges in addressing its pensions deficit and investment needs". See also the Daily Mail.

December 20, 2005 -- From the Business Wire, "Smart Document Solutions (SDS), the world's largest healthcare document processor, has partnered with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to provide enhanced tracking and reporting for medical records processed for requesters. SDS is introducing this enhanced level of visibility at no charge to its member-clients through its proprietary tracking software, eSmartLog. SDS can now track each request further using the newly released USPS Confirm(R) Delivery Notification (Confirm). This system provides SDS with near real-time tracking information on release-of-information requests being processed and sent through First-Class Mail(R). The new system provides tracking throughout the nationwide network of local postal sorting offices equipped with the Confirm scanning technology."

December 20, 2005 -- The Fina ncial Times has reported that "Helen Weir, finance director of Lloyds TSB, is joining the board of Royal Mail as the state-owned postal service looks to raise £2bn through a share issue to employees."

December 19, 2005 -- Here's one perspective on the NAFTA case involing Canada Post and UPS:

"If Canada Post wants to act like a courier company, it should play by the same rules that apply to other courier companies.

"The traditional argument for a state-run monopoly mail delivery service rests on the necessity of universal service, even where it is unprofitable. But there is no similar argument to support state involvement in profitable express or courier services. Nonetheless, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers insists that Canada Post needs the revenue from express and courier services to pay for its universal mail delivery. This is something like a government saying it needs to sell fancy bottled water to pay for water- treatment facilities and pipes. if mail is a necessary public service, governments should pay for it out of user fees and tax revenue.

"If Canada Post insists on competing with private courier companies, it should not use its privileged Crown corporation status as a means of seeking advantage in the marketplace. It is not in the public interest to undercut viable private-sector businesses. The courier UPS is challenging Canada Post under the rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The company is seeking compensation, arguing that Canada Post has an unfair advantage because it can piggy-back its courier service on its mail network, including its sorting facilities and outlets.

"NAFTA critics argue that international free-trade agreements shouldn't dictate the terms of Canada's public services. They're right. But overnight delivery of last-minute Christmas gifts isn't a public service."

December 19, 2005 -- The Envelope Manufacturers Association's Global Envelope Alliance (GEA) has released a report entitled, "Changes in the Global Paper Industry: An Assessment of Brazil, Russia, India, and China." This report examines top level trends and makes some assessments on how the downstream converting industry would be impacted by movements in production capabilities out of developed nations and into developing nations. The Global Envelope Alliance produced this report in response to comments raised concerning the impact of paper technology and manufacturing developments in Brazil, Russia, India, and China on the envelope manufacturing industry. This report is free to all GEA members and is available to purchase to EMA members for $100 and to non-EMA members for $300. To obtain a copy of this report, please contact Kim Moses by email or call +1 703-739-2200.

December 19, 2005 -- The Washington Post has reported that "A request by the U.S. Postal Service for a Medicare prescription drug subsidy, projected to save postal customers at least $250 million annually, has been denied by the Bush administration. Officials decided that the Postal Service will not be allowed to receive a subsidy because it participates in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which is not taking the subsidy."

December 19, 2005 -- The Arizona Republic has reported that "There's little rain, sleet or snow. But more postal carriers in the Valley must now deal with the gloom of night. Some Valley residents, from Avondale to Mesa, are getting their government checks, medical bills and personal letters late, if they receive them at all. The mail backlog is severe enough that letter carriers in some parts of the Valley are delivering until midnight, prompting an outcry from residents and the workers' union representatives who say they are spread too thin."

December 19, 2005 -- According to the Oshkosh Northwestern, "Our U.S. Postal Service has that ages old reputation for never letting bad weather get in the way of delivering the mail. This year, the Oshkosh postal workers have definitely been noticed in their outstanding efforts to set a new theme to the meaning of "holiday cheer." Postal workers have been making parcel deliveries on Sundays, much to the delight of local residents. We're sure this also reduces weekday pressure on postal carriers to focus more on letter delivery. The added extra touch of dishes of cookies available at the post office have made those long lines seem a lot shorter this year. To everyone at the postal service who participated in these extra efforts of good service, you deserve a Winnebago Well Done for you have done your community proud!"

December 19, 2005 -- CentralOhio.com has reported that "Postal unions are concerned a new survey could result in future delays in delivery service for county residents. Gerald Corns, president of the local 535 American Postal Workers Union, said he fears changes in how Zanesville mail is sorted could slow down daily delivery times and eliminate one-day deliveries within city limits. Coshocton mail, which is already sorted in Zanesville, could now be sent on an even longer journey to Columbus for sorting."

December 19, 2005 -- Transp ort Intelligence has rpeorted that "DHL has signed a long term partnership agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It is hoped that the partnership will enable aid to be delivered more quickly to remote disaster areas immediately following a catastrophe."

December 19, 2005 -- According to the Canberra Times, "Australia Post has found no explanation for the loss of a 13-album Beatles collection posted from the Kaleen Post Office on July 25. Neither can Australia Post staff explain why the article was not scanned into its computerised system. The registered parcel was not delivered to the required address and Australia Post refused to fully compensate the woman who sent the records."

December 19, 2005 -- Cities.Expre ssIndia has reported that "All India Postal Employees Union today held a meeting at Central Postal Office under the presidentship of Pradeep Kumar Sharma, Circle President. After discussing the problems of the postal employees, the union leaders warned the government that if their demands were not fulfilled they would go on indefinite strike in the month of February."

December 18, 2005 -- According to ChallengerNKY.com, "The share of the nation's workforce represented by union members has declined steadily since it hit 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year federal tracking data became available. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures-compiled from monthly surveys of 60,000 households-show union membership nationwide had fallen to 12.5 percent in 2004. 36.4 percent of public-sector employees nationwide were union members in 2004, compared to 7.9 percent of private-sector employees. In 2003, union members accounted for 37.2 percent of public-sector employees and 8.2 percent of private-sector employees." Not surprisingly, the largest number of public union members in Kentucky were postal employees.

December 18, 2005 -- We bIndia123 has reported that "Moving at a bristling pace, India Post set up several overseas projects including four post offices in Maldives and stepped up competition at home by initiating several new schemes for its sizeable customer base at home."

December 18, 2005 -- Taiwan News has noted that "Christmas is just around the corner, and it is time once again to fulfill one of our family's traditions - sending Christmas cards by post or what is now called "snail" mail. Sending postal mail to the Philippines is quite a "nightmare."

December 18, 2005 -- According to The Scotsman, "Royal Mail is expecting a boost to its bottom line following a sharp rise in the number of parcels it is handling from internet retailers such as Amazon and eBay. The new business is expected to be worth several million pounds in revenue for Royal Mail, which has undergone major restructuring and sacked more than 30,000 staff in the last three years."

December 18, 2005 -- The Bohol Chronicle has reported that "the lousy postal service just ordered the right man to rectify the inefficiency and odorous malevolence that is the Philippine Postal Service. His name is Mr. Clean, Postmaster General Dario Rama, a Cebuano with an outstanding record in the anti-graft body and the one name that sanitized the stench that is called the COMELEC during his tenure of office there. To the corrupt and unproductive personnel in the Bohol Post Office, let it be known that Dario Rama's middle initial is 'I' for Integrity, and man, we kid you not – he is going to clean shop. Woe to you who don't shape up – Mr. Rama is going to ship you out in the next one-way trip to Afghanistan."

December 17, 2005 -- As the Washington Post has noted, "UPS, FedEx, USPS brace for big holiday week." See also "Delivery Days."

December 17, 2005 -- According to ThisIsS taffordshire, "The public today gave a mixed reaction to news of literacy and numeracy classes for posties. Sometimes people, particularly older people, are ashamed to admit that they may not be very good with reading and writing. If postmen are having problems, it's better for them if they do these courses."

December 17, 2005 -- The Irish Independent has reported that Irish "Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly was left red faced yesterday after over a thousand letters from her office were sent out marked 'Royal Mail'. The envelopes bearing the British postal service's franking stamp were posted in the North by a Belfast market research company conducting a survey on behalf of the Ombudsman's office."

December 17, 2005 -- Zaman Online has reported that "As the Orhan Pamuk dossier sent from Istanbul via postal mail did not arrive to Ankara, Turkey experienced a major problem. The European Union harshly reacted against the adjournment of yesterday's trial in order to wait for the decision of Justice Minister Cemil Cicek: You have missed the opportunity to prevent your image from being marred." Looks as if an efficient and timely mail service is still important.

December 17, 2005 -- The Newhouse News Service has noted that "As it competes to deliver packages via "snail mail," the U.S. Postal Service is stepping up efforts to warn about fraud on the front end via the Internet. The service recently joined with law enforcement and industry groups to help call attention to Web-based scams. Its Postal Inspection Service has placed magazine ads warning people to be on guard while buying gifts and other goods online."

December 16, 2005 -- According to UniPostal, "2006 will be a major year for postal sector regulation at European level. The postal directive of 1997 introduced postal service liberalisation and the first step came into effect in 2000. The amended postal directive of 2002 laid out a staggered plan for further liberalisation with effect as of 1.1.2003 and 1.1.2006. It was foreseen that the Commission would make a new proposal in early 2006 as a third step towards the completion of the internal market for postal services in 2009. UNI-Europa Postal is thus bracing itself for this third step. UNI-Europa Postal has consistently argued that the pain limit has been reached with regard to guaranteeing and financing the universal postal service. Currently, the universal service is guaranteed by a limited reserved services area (mail weighing up to 100 gram or less than 3 times the price of a standard letter. This will reduce from the 1 January 2006 to cover mail weighing up to 50 gram or less than 2.5 times the price of a standard letter). Nobody has so far found a secure way of financing the universal postal service to replace the limited reserved services area. However, it seems that the Commission intends to challenge the limited reserved services area in the forthcoming directive. Therefore unions should be vigilant."

December 16, 2005 -- The Ridgwa y Record has asked: "What's a measly two cents? For some area businesses it means nothing, but to others it means a lot. Starting Sunday Jan. 8, 2006, the rate for a first-class stamp will increase from 37 to 39 cents, a two cent increase. There also is a 5.4 percent increase for other commercial rates. The rate was approved by the United States Postal Service governors, by recommendation of the Postal Rate Commission, on Nov. 14. About 3.1 billion in new revenues will be raised by the U.S. Postal Service."

December 16, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "Dutch firm TNT appointed Henk van Dalen as chief financial officer and member of the Board of Management, the company said Dec. 16. He will replace Jan Haars in April. van Dalen, 53, is currently member of the Managing Board and CFO of Royal DSM of the Netherlands, where he has worked for 29 years. He has been strongly involved in the major transformation of DSM over the last 6 years."

December 16, 2005 -- The Envelope Manufacturers Association has honored Walter Hiersteiner, vice chairman of the board at Tension Envelope Corp. with the envelope industry's most prestigious award – the Monument Award. Hiersteiner has served on over 24 advisory commissions and boards in the Kansas City area. He is widely respected for his technical knowledge and for his numerous patents on products in the industry. He has been active in postal reform efforts, and even today serves as a technical resource to the industry." Walter also served for many years as a member of the PostCom (formerly Third Class Mail Association) Board of Directors.

December 16, 2005 -- According to Shippers Newswire, "The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have contracted with DHL to manage part of the UN's response to future disasters."

December 16, 2005 -- The U.S. Postal Service has announced that it has "updated four of the January 2006 postage statements to include the new international rates for Micronesia and Marshall Islands. The revisions are: § PS Form 3541. New rate group 6 is added to Part C (Foreign). § PS Form 3651-LP. New destinations for Micronesia/Marshall Islands are added to Parts A, B, and C. § PS Forms 3651-PP and 4000. Rate group 14 is added to Part A and rate group 13 is added to Part B. The revised January 2006 postage statements, along with all new postage statements, are available on usps.com/ratecase by clicking "Postage Statements January 8, 2006" in the left frame. Please discard previous versions of these statements."

December 16, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "The Board of Directors of Pitney Bowes Inc. announced that it has elected: Leslie Abi-Karam to the office of Executive Vice President and President, Document Messaging Technologies (DMT); Lisa DeBois to the office of Executive Vice President and President Pitney Bowes Global Financial Services (GFS); Vincent DePalma to the office of Executive Vice President and President, Pitney Bowes Management Services (PBMS); Patrick Keddy to the office of Executive Vice President, Pitney Bowes International; Neil Metviner, Executive Vice President, and President Pitney Bowes Direct; Michael Monahan, Executive Vice President, and President, Global Mailing Solutions and Services; and, Kevin Weiss, Executive Vice President, and President, Mailstream, The Americas for Global Mailing Systems. All seven will report to Murray Martin, President and Chief Operating Officer."

December 16, 2005 -- According to the Pioneer Press, "A United Parcel Service employee was shot by a fellow UPS employee in Minneapolis this morning, apparently as both were arriving for work at Broadway Ave. and New Brighton Road in northeast Minneapolis."

December 16, 2005 -- Fleet Owner magazine has reported that "United Parcel Service (UPS) is officially denying that computer tapes of Citigroup banking records were ever e-hijacked as was claimed by a speaker during a security seminar Nov. 3 in Washington D.C. ASK THE EXPERTS Tires - Sponsored by Goodyear What is the advantage of low profile tires over the standard tire? Also, can you mix them with standard tires on one axel and low profile on the other axel? Brakes - Sponsored by Bendix How do you know when it's time to replace your desiccant cartridge? Maintenance Software - Sponsored by TMTSoftware Where is maintenance management software improving? Wheels & Forged Products - Sponsored by Alcoa What is the weight savings from switching to aluminum from steel wheels? "It's not true that those tapes were stolen; what happen is that the packages broke open in transit and the contents were inadvertently thrown away," Susan Rosenberg, a UPS spokeswoman, told FleetOwner yesterday. "In this particular instance, the allegations that they were stolen are just plain wrong."

December 16, 2005 -- The Marion Chronicle Tribune has reported that "Two Marion women were arrested Wednesday afternoon after police said they received 5 pounds of marijuana in a package sent by UPS."

December 16, 2005 -- According to For bes, "The European Commission will approve on Wednesday the creation of a new entity which will regroup the banking activities of France's La Poste."

December 16, 2005 -- DM News has reported that "Printer R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. acquired print-and- mail services company Critical Mail Continuity Services Ltd. CMCS, based in Britain, serves financial services, telecommunications, utility, government and other large organizations with disaster recovery, business continuity, digital print and print-and-mail services. Clients use it to ensure that vital communications are not interrupted by catastrophic damage to in-house processing centers and to handle peak-period volumes. The 32,000-square-foot facility is in Droitwich, England. It will operate as part of R.R. Donnelley's Astron division."

December 16, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "KarstadtQuelle AG, a leading department store and home shopping group in Europe, has renewed and expanded a 5-year contract worth over €100 million of revenue with TPG Post Parcel Service, a business unit of TNT's Mail division, for the distribution of a variety of parcel consignments. TNT will deliver several million parcels each year for various KarstadtQuelle AG subsidiaries, including Quelle Nederland BV, Neckermann Nederland BV and Bonaparte. The company will provide a home delivery service to consumers and process returns."

December 16, 2005 -- Shanghai Daily has reported that "CHINA'S postal industry lost 1.1 billion yuan (US$136 million) last year, said a statistics from the country's first economic census today."

December 16, 2005 -- As Investors Business Daily put it, "When first-class postage rates go up on Jan. 8, a lot of people will grumble. They always do. If they're frustrated enough over the 5% hike, they might be tempted to pay their bills online to save on postage. Though the number of people who pay their bills over the Internet has grown steadily the last few years, they're still outnumbered by the paper and stamp crowd. Less than 20% of U.S. households pay their bills online."

December 16, 2005 -- the Economic Times has reported that "State Bank of India (SBI) and its seven associates have a total of 14,000 outlets all over India, primarily located in urban centres. Compare this to the Indian Postal Department with nearly 1,20,000 post offices in rural areas, giving it unmatched reach across rural India. The postal department and banks are finally waking up to this reality and collaborating to usher in a new era in rural banking."

December 16, 2005 -- The PostalNews.com web site provides a link to a document from the U.S. Postal Service to all district managers regarding the 2006 National Rural Mail Count Option Election.

December 16, 2005 -- Syslore Ltd. and Finland Post Group have signed a licensing agreement for the mCorrection Secondary Address Recognition software solution. The solution will be utilised in the real-time letter sorting process in selected mail sorting and distribution centres in Finland. The goal is to achieve significant cost savings and efficiency improvements by reducing manual mail sorting and minimising misdirected mail pieces. mCorrection is a real-time address look-up solution that improves OCR (Optical Character Recognition) read rates in postal automation and letter sorting.

December 16, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

• The changes in national marketers' advertising spending in many of the traditional mass media were modest in 2005 with one exception – mail advertising, which saw tremendous growth in 2005.
• The Postal Service has notified the American Postal Workers Union of further facility consolidations and Area Mail Processing studies.
• PostCom Vice President Kate Muth lauds Postal Service CFO Dick Strasser for his recent briefing on USPS finances.
• Postal critic Robert S. Walker, chairman of Postal Reform in the Public Interest, responds to a commentary on postal reform.
• American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus shares the good news about the Postal Service's all-time highs for total mail volume and total revenue for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
• White House concerned about BoG vacancies. Governors' 2006 meeting set. Progress may be tough for UPS, others in world trade talks. Canada Post's future on trial in Washington, D.C. UPS online tracking to set record.
• Verizon Wireless gives customers many options to pay online. Camera phone sales way up.
• Deutsche Post raises forecast. Korea's express mail service could end soon. La Poste forecasts profit margin for year.

Who handles the distribution of the PostCom Bulletin?
 Why, it's NETGRAM, of course. Read more about it.

December 15, 2005 -- Les Echos has reported that "Last week, the European Commission received a complaint from the French banks Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Groupe Banque Populaire concerning what they see as the unfair advantage which France's new postal bank, Banque Postale, will enjoy when it begins operating on the French market on 1 January 2006. The complaint revolves around the new bank's almost exclusive right to distribute the French national savings account, Livret A: that right, they argue, plus the state aid which Banque Postale will receive via its parent company, the French post office, La Poste, will generate between 380m and 430m euros a year for the new entity."

December 15, 2005 -- As Traffic World, "Deutsche Post World Net completed the purchase of logistics giant Exel and said it started an integration of a business that turns the Germany-based postal operator into a $66 billion transport and logistics company. Deutsche Post said Exel CEO John Allan will head the combined logistics business, which will be based outside London and count some 150,000 employees around the world."

December 15, 2005 -- According to the Pioneer Press, "As online shopping goes gangbusters, so do the delivery companies charged with shipping the orders. Americans are expected to spend $18 billion on online purchases this year -- a 25 percent increase over last year -- meaning more and more shipping orders, especially around the holidays. And with Christmas just over a week away, places like FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service have all hands on deck to handle millions of letters and packages. At the FedEx operation at Oakland International Airport, more than 4.7 million packages were processed and shipped on Tuesday alone -- up from 4.6 million last year. The Oakland hub expects next Tuesday to be its busiest day of the year. The Postal Service projects next Monday to be its busiest day of year, when 900 million pieces of mail and packages are expected to be processed, up from the 670 million pieces handled on an average day."

December 15, 2005 -- The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report of its review of the Postal Service's new purchasing procedures. On the GAO site you also can find an .html summary and a .pdf highlight of the report.

December 15, 2005 -- Wired News has reported that "The cereal aisle at your local supermarket may soon resemble the Las Vegas strip. Electronics maker Siemens is readying a paper-thin electronic-display technology so cheap it could replace conventional labels on disposable packaging, from milk cartons to boxes of Cheerios. In less than two years, Siemens says, the technology could transform consumer-goods packaging from the fixed, ink-printed images of today to a digital medium of flashing graphics and text that displays prices, special offers or alluring photos, all blinking on miniature flat screens. Siemens' paper-thin display -- composed of a polymer-based photochromic material -- is capable of displaying digital text and images when prodded by an electrochemical reaction powered by a low-voltage charge. When the electric charge is no longer applied, the chemical reaction is reversed, and the electronic ink is no longer visible -- which is how a flashing effect is created. The power source is based on commercially available, ultra-thin batteries. Electronic memory strips store the images. Imagine what it could do for mail.

December 15, 2005 -- The Contra Costa Times has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service has tried to eliminate the lines that holiday customers dread. For three years now, customers with computers have been able to ship packages by using a few clicks of a mouse and a credit card. Customers can label their packages and schedule pickup, all online, without ever leaving home. You would think that people would find the new option as appetizing as the holiday cookies the postal service uses in its slick new ad campaign to tout the changes. But people still waiting in line at the post office seem leery of the online shipping service. Weighing packages at home was the deal-breaker for many."

December 15, 2005 -- ZDNet UK has reported that "It has taken a while to get here, but RFID is a technology now ready for take-off, say analysts Gartner RFID technology is on the upswing as businesses start to see ways it can augment bar coding, according to a new report."

December 15, 2005 -- The Polish Bulletin has reported that "As of 1 January 2006, the Poczta Polska national postal service monopoly will be further limited. But, the January freeing of the postal services market will not cause an increase in competition."

December 15, 2005 -- DMers intend to invest heavily in both technology and media next year, according to Direct's annual forecast survey. The bad news is that fewer companies anticipate a rise in margins in 2006. And that may be due to a heightened interest in prospecting. Meanwhile, they're spreading their dollars around multiple channels. They have increased spending on Web advertising, direct mail, e-mail and search, while turning away from DRTV and radio. Also on the downslide are space advertising and telemarketing."

December 15, 2005 -- WhatTheyThi nk has noted that "Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today detailed their annual Global Document Exchange, February 1-5, in Miami Beach, Florida in conjunction with the Graphics of the Americas."

December 15, 2005 -- Reuters has reported that:

Germany's postal regulator supports ending Deutsche Post's monopoly for delivering standard letters by the end of 2007, it said on Thursday. Deutsche Post had shown that it can hold its own "despite steps in the past toward liberalisation of the letter market," said Matthias Kruth, the head of the regulator that oversees postal, gas, electricity and telecoms operations in Germany. The regulator therefore saw "no reason not to let (Deutsche Posts's) exclusive licence run out on Dec. 31, 2007," he added.
The top three U.S. express package shippers are predicting a profitable 2005 holiday season as retailers replenish inventories and consumers ship gifts in greater volumes than at any other time of the year.

December 15, 2005 -- The Jamaica Gleaner has reported that "the Postal Corporation of Jamaica is implementing plans to increase its efficiency and to ensure the quick delivery of all packages this Christmas."

December 15, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that:

TNT Express has launched the second phase of its Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) programme to track shipments on a global scale. The RFID equipment is now ready to fully integrate with TNT's existing systems.
UPS Capital, the financial services arm of UPS, today announced a new program with GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services that offers its small company clients fleet management solutions.

December 14, 2005 -- In her latest postal perspective, PostCom Vice President (and "former savvy postal reporter") Kate Muth pondered: "When the press and customers only see reports of the network consolidation coming from the union, it makes folks wonder what is going on. Is there a communications strategy or is the USPS letting the unions dictate spin? Why not bring customers in the loop earlier? As postal partners, they can help sell the rationale. And wouldn't it be useful when dealing with Capitol Hill if the USPS had a partner who could counter union rhetoric in a congressman's home district?"

December 14, 2005 -- As the Federal Times put it, "Talk of a "death spiral" at the U.S. Postal Service has been dropped, at least temporarily, in favor of refrains from "Happy Days are Here Again."

December 14, 2005 -- From the CNN Matthews News Service: "After a successful in-market pilot and positive reaction from consumers, advertisers and media, Canada Post has decided to evaluate the best alternatives to commercialize fetchTM. This decision reflects the post office's strategy to focus on improving its core business. As an exciting new service, fetch provides an excellent opportunity to support advertisers, consumer choice and privacy. fetch has been developed to give consumers the control they want over when, where, and how, they respond to advertising and to give advertisers the opportunity they seek to create more relevant and persuasive consumer interactions. fetch is based on a marketing technology platform that shifts the advertising paradigm from consumer impressions to direct response across all media channels. It plays to the enormous changes taking place in the advertising and marketing community today - media fragmentation, multi-channel integration, pressure to demonstrate ROI on advertising spend, and a shift of control and choice over to the consumer."

December 14, 2005 -- PostCom Members!!! Posted on this site is an .mp3 recording (55 MB) of the one-hour teleconference conducted by the PostCom Postal Operations Committee. A number of issues were discussed including: APPS, Confirm, Four-State barcodes, service measurement, volume projections, and other topics.

December 14, 2005 -- From the UPS Pressroom:

• UPS Capital has announced a new program with GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services that offers its small company clients fleet management solutions at rates typically enjoyed only by large companies.
• With the busi est week of the year underway and millions of customers counting on UPS to deliver, the company has just been ranked No. 4 in the United States for best reputation.

December 14, 2005 -- NamNews has reported that "Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (API), a drug distributor and retailer, has said it will sell its New Zealand healthcare logistics business for NZ$40m. Pharmacy Retailing (New Zealand) Ltd., will be sold in a management buyout to the company's chief executive, Peter Merton. API, which owns the retailers Priceline, Price Attack and House in Australia, said it wants to focus on its retail strategies in New Zealand."

December 14, 2005 -- According to The Scotsman, "five Scottish towns are to lose their main post office, in a nationwide cost-cutting exercise."

December 14, 2005 -- The Independent has reported that "The Communications Workers Union warned of possible industrial action yesterday after Royal Mail announced it was closing a further eight Crown post offices and handing them over to franchisees."

December 14, 2005 -- NineMSN has reported that "God's got mail. Postal workers have dropped off hundreds of letters addressed to God at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site. "This place is the holiest place for the Jews, and it is the first gate for prayers. That's why a prayer in this place is important and these notes are important," said Shmuel Rabinovitch, chief rabbi at the site. The Israeli postal service sorts over 2 million pieces of mail daily, and inevitably some of those letters come addressed to the Holy Land, Jesus or God. Rather than consign the letters to bins of undeliverable mail, letters addressed to God are collected and deposited at the Western Wall a few times a year."

December 14, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Deutsche Post AG has indicated that its express unit in the U.S. is facing tougher times, lowering guidance for 2005. The German mail and logistics giant cut its outlook for its express division, saying that instead of doubling this year it will rise about 35% to EUR500 million in 2005, up from around EUR370 million in 2004. It blamed deterioration in the U.S."

December 14, 2005 -- Tribune Business News has noted that "The nation's parcel delivery services crank into high gear this week as Internet shopping starts winding up and the holiday sales calendar winds down. Gift givers will scurry to ship during the next two weeks to beat the Dec. 24 deadline to get packages to their destinations on time, creating a flood of business for DHL USA, FedEx Corp., United Parcel Service Inc. and, of course, the U.S. Postal Service."

December 14, 2005 -- 10News.com has reported that "The federal government is encouraging seniors to directly deposit their Social Security checks to avoid having them stolen. Every year, more than 560,000 checks dissappear from people's mailboxes. Direct deposit could save the U.S. treasury $120 million in postal fees."

December 14, 2005 -- The L aCrosse Tribune has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service will consider whether to shift mail processing now done in La Crosse to its Rochester, Minn., office. The La Crosse post office processes incoming and outgoing mail for La Crosse and other post offices in the 546 ZIP code area, which generally extends north to Alma Center, east to Arkdale, south to Eastman and west to the Mississippi River."

December 14, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "99Bill Corporation ( http://www.99bill.com), the first company in China offering email address and mobile phone number based online payment platform and solutions, announced today that it has reached an agreement with Bokee ( http://www.bokee.com ), one of the largest internet blog websites in China, to provide secure and convenient online payment platform to serve millions of blog users."

December 14, 2005 -- From PR Web: "US federal government and postal employees planning for retirement will soon get assistance from the new version of CSRS and FERS Benefits Calculator Software from Decision Support Software (http://www.fedretiresoftware.com). "

December 14, 2005 -- According to a former city editor for The Republican, "Here we are in the midst of the holiday shopping rush and I haven't even finished making my list, never mind checking it twice. One project I have gotten the jump on is New Year's resolutions. I firmly resolve to invoke a "rule of three" on my snail mail, delivered through all kinds of weather by the U.S. Postal Service right to my mailbox. That means I will sort the mail into three stacks - one for keepers, like bills and greeting cards; one for sleepers, stuff that looks interesting; and one for creepers, stuff tossed unopened into the trash."

December 14, 2005 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Deutsche Post AG, which yesterday bought Exel Plc to become the world's biggest manager of warehouses and inventories, raised its 2005 earnings forecast as the company eliminates health-benefit provisions under new rules."

December 14, 2005 -- From the Business Wire: "IONA(R) Technologies, a world leader in high-performance integration solutions for mission-critical IT environments, today announced that Poste Italiane Group, a leading provider of express mail, logistics and financial services across Italy has selected Artix(TM), IONA's extensible Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). Artix will provide the foundation for the Business Partner Integration (BPI) project, a critical component of Poste Italiane's Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) strategy. Using SOA principles, the BPI project was initiated to integrate and extend Poste Italiane's IT infrastructure with the service management systems of its partner companies."

December 14, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:

"Financially, we are in the best position we've been since the 1970s." John E Potter, Postmaster General of the U.S. Postal Service was tempted to comment euphorically on his company's result for the financial year 2005 but seemed to be held back by the thought of the price increase, which comes into force on 8 January.
The French La Poste will probably exceed its budgeted result slightly this year.
Royal Mail will possibly receive a government subsidy of almost 3bn euros towards the covering of its pension fund deficit.
A press release by the German Association of Courier, Express and Postal Service Providers (BdKEP e.V.) has directed sharp criticism against the Federal Network Agency in connection with the consolidation of mail consignments. The association accuses the agency of sabotaging the Cartel Office's decision regarding partial access and to favour Deutsche Post.
At the end of the year, Magyar Posta will be transformed into a non-quoted public limited company.
Focus on customers, better quality and a clear profit announcement are the cornerstones of Deutsche Post's new value enhancement programme.
Last week, wage negotiations were concluded for Österreichische Post AG employees. After several weeks of negotiations, the two parties agreed on a 2.75% wage increase for 2006.
The Israel Postal Authority has announced further details concerning the planned transformation of the post. Introduction of lower prices and improved services is intended to make the post more competitive in view of planned privatisation. The number of employees will be cut drastically in order to achieve the above.
The Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost) will be privatised early next year.
The Korean Post Office is discontinuing its "Express Mail" product after 10 years.
Last week's announcement that TNT is largely pulling out of the logistics business has triggered plenty of speculation. Only few market observers believe that the down-sizing will effectively protect the integrator against a takeover.
TNT and the German Hermes Logistik Gruppe are set to intensify their co- operation. Their joint mail venture EP Europost is to be complemented by close strategic co-operation. The two companies also intend to explore whether their strategic co-operation could and should be extended into a European B2C parcel network.
The Danish logistics company DSV intends to operate throughout Europe in future.
The state of California is currently campaigning against express companies which hire drivers as subcontractors in order to save on non-wage labour costs.
Österreichische Post AG intends to co-operate more closely with Germany's Trans-o-flex for B2B deliveries in Austria and Eastern Europe.

The MRU, founded in 1992, is the only consultancy in Europe, which has specialised in the market of courier-, express- and parcel services. For large-scale shippers and CEP-services in particular, the MRU provides interdisciplinary advice for all major questions of the market, as there are for example market entry, product design, organisation, and EDP.To learn more about the stories reported above, contact CEP News.

December 14, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin has reported that "Postwatch has said it has confirmed the accuracy of Royal Mail's performance statistics, with its own tests showing that 95% of First Class letters arrive the next day. The postal market watchdog saluted Royal Mail's "excellent progress", observing that it was two percentage points above Royal Mail's minimum target of 93%."

December 14, 2005 -- On December 13th, Distribution Postal Company's management team in tandem with deputies of the Baltimore City Sherriff's Department executed a cease and desist order on American Mail Sort. The order was issued by the Honorable Evelyn O'Cannon of the Baltimore City Circuit Court in a $10.7 million five count guilty judgement based on fraud. The case relates to a fraudulent International Customized Contract Arrangement between American Mail Sort and the United States Postal Service. In addition to aiding in the seizure of misappropriated USPS international manifest software along with other corporate assets belonging to Distribution Postal Company, the city sheriff's department contacted the U.S. Postal Inspection Service regarding an estimated 40 gaylords of suspicious unsent U.S. Department of Education international addressed mail dated from as far back as 2004.

December 14, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that:

• DPWN's logistics subsidiary DHL, which will be integrated with Exel, has launched the DHL Partnership CARE (Customer Activation Resolution and Enhancement) Program. The program is designed to identify and tailor solutions to individual customer needs, and ensure customers with complex shipping and logistics needs have dedicated expertise and support at activation and during the start-up process, as well as throughout their relationship with DHL.
• UPS has formally signed the contract for 10 Airbus A380 freighter aircraft. Deliveries to UPS are scheduled between 2009 and 2012.
• FedEx Custom Critical, Inc., a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., has opened an Express Center in Denver and appointed a regional sales manager for Colorado and Utah. Denver will serve as a location where vehicles are available to be dispatched to pick up time-sensitive freight shipments in Colorado and Utah. FedEx will provide pickups in less than 90 minutes for locations within 25 miles of Denver and in less than two hours for sites up to 50 miles outside the city.

December 14, 2005 -- NewKerala.co m has reported that "The Postal Department is launching ''City Post'', the first such in the country. ''City Post' would deliver local mail with an electronic IOD (intimation of delivery) and MIS (management information system) facility."

December 14, 2005 -- Poynter Online has reported that "So lots of media companies are now podcasting these days, and a handful are "vodcasting" (video podcasting). ... Are you staying current on all these new buzzwords? What's interesting and encouraging from a business perspective is that some of these early efforts are attracting advertising support. Washingtonpost.com, for example, announced today that it will launch a series of video ads on the site's new video podcasts. It's the typical video-ad model: A 15-second video commercial plays prior to the editorial content."

December 14, 2005 -- Air Cargo World has reported that "TNT Express, looking to raise its profile in the United States and Canada, created the new position of president for North America and named Matthew McDonough to the post. The new structure separates North American and South American regional duties that had been overseen entirely by Curtis Watson, president of the Americas for TNT Express."

December 14, 2005 -- According to American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus, "the APWU has consistently opposed the concept of "pay for performance." Our pay system is based on the principle that employees should be paid the negotiated wage for work performed. Performance pay invites favoritism and inserts subjective analysis into the pay system. We do not envy EAS employees and supervisors who are paid on the basis of their perceived performance. On occasion they receive more than APWU employees; but over an extended period, our negotiated increases, including cost-of-living adjustments, far exceed those received by employees covered by performance-pay plans, and we are not subject to evaluation by managers."

December 13, 2005 -- In a letter to the editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Robert S. Walker, Chairman of Postal Reform in the Public Interest wrote:

In his commentary on postal reform, "Kit Bond is holding up progress," William H. Young gets his facts wrong. He says "nothing could be more fair and equitable than the pending bill's provision to index the postage rates of all types of mail to the Consumer Price Index." Yet, this very indexing would allow gross discrimination between types of mail within a class, as long as the revenue for the class as a whole remains within the CPI cap.

Nothing in the Senate bill prevents the Postal Service from raising rates for small newspapers and magazines by 10 or 100 times the price-cap per- centage as long as it reduced the rates for large-circulation magazines such that the overall revenue from the periodicals class do not exceed the cap. The same can be said for first class rates. The CPI indexing in the bill does little or nothing to control the prices that most mailers will pay.

As a member of President George W. Bush's Commission on the U.S. Postal Service, I appreciate the need for postal reform legislation to increase transparency and accountability. But it should not give the Postal Service carte blanche for arbitrary and discriminatory rate increases.

December 13, 2005 -- The Oklahoman has reported that "Teamsters members at two Oklahoma City contractors for shipper DHL walked off the job early Monday after contract negotiations stalled, but the company said plans to meet customer delivery needs in the area. The strike comes at one of the busiest times of the year for package delivery companies such as DHL, the nation's third-largest shipper behind United Parcel Service Inc. and Federal Express Corp."

December 13, 2005 -- The C anadian Union of Postal Workers has reported that "Deborah Bourque, National President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) is in Hong Kong from December 12th to December 17th to oppose proposals, under the General Agreement in Trade and Services (GATS), which would open the door for private companies to challenge and undermine public postal service."

December 13, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that:

• UPS expects to receive 100 million online tracking requests in the week leading up to Christmas, the company said Monday. Peak week, Dec. 19 to 23, will mark a new milestone in the number of businesses and individuals using the Internet to follow the progress of their packages. UPS received 100,000 tracking requests in an entire month ten years ago. And in 1997, the company handled 1 million requests in a single week for the first time.
• Parcel industry consultants to shippers say secondary charges, higher minimum payments, separate assessments based on delivery distance and the dreaded add-on for fuel costs may raise prices paid by shippers by 5 percent or more for expedited delivery.

December 13, 2005 -- Yokwe has reported that "Despite an eleventh-hour objection from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) government, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has adopted international rate schedules for the Marshalls and the Federated States of Micronesia. The final ruling will be effective 12:01 a.m., Sunday, January 8, 2006. New rates will be phased in applying the difference between the domestic rates and the international rates." Marshall Islands, you're not alone. The Postal Service ignored mailers' pleas too.

December 13, 2005 -- GATS, WTO, postal services? How are all these related? Well, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has an informative piece on this matter posted on its web site.

December 13, 2005 -- Forbes has reported that "It's called "demand logistics," and it's fast becoming the dominant trend in the shipping business. Organize your business along the lines of customer demand, and you have it. If done right, it can mean increased profit and satisfied customers. Sometimes "demand logistics" is referred to as "pull logistics" in distinction to "push logistics." This means "pulling" from customer orders for specific products back through the supply chain and eventually to the suppliers to meet these orders."

December 13, 2005 -- As the Washington Post has noted, "The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors has lost three members this year, putting pressure on the remaining presidential appointees to maintain the quorum needed to conduct postal business."

December 13, 2005 -- As the Wall Street Journal has put it: "Here's a simplified scorecard for the current impasse in global trade talks: United Parcel Service Inc. is losing; Swiss parsley farmers are ahead. UPS and an alliance of express-mail carriers have high hopes for the current talks, known as the Doha Round. They want to streamline customs procedures and other delivery regulations around the world, and block countries like China from imposing new restrictions. The delivery companies are part of a broader coalition of multinationals -- from banks to auto makers -- hoping to further open markets, especially those in developing countries, when trade ministers from the 149-member World Trade Organization meet here starting today. But that won't happen unless the U.S. and European Union agree, in exchange, to open their markets more dramatically to agriculture imports."

December 13, 2005 -- According to UTV, "Up to 9,000 postal workers in the Republic are to get a pre-Christmas pay rise this week. An Post has ended its two-year pay freeze after the successful resolution of talks with Ireland`s Communications Workers` Union last month. The payment of over five per cent in cost-of-living increases will mean about €500 for the average postal employee." See also the Sunday Business Post.

December 13, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "The Board of Directors of La Poste - the French Post Office - has authorized the Mail Directorate to award Bull, in partnership with Lockheed Martin, the contract to deliver the information system that will run its future mail sorting machines. Through this EUR 147 million contract, La Poste will deploy an information system backed-up with the latest technologies over the 800 machines of the platforms covering the whole country. This deployment is part of the "Cap Qualite Courrier" programme."

December 13, 2005 -- Die Welt has reported that:

• German logistics company Trans-O-Flex has signed a partnership agreement with Osterreichische Post, the Austrian national postal services group. From January, trans-o-flex is to deliver consignments being sent from Austria to Germany.
• Hermes Logistik, the logistics company owned by German mail-order giant Otto, is to set up a standardised mail network for private parcels together with Dutch express delivery specialist TNT, which will be the first of its kind in Europe. The co-operation will concern parcels that business customers send to their retail customers.

December 13, 2005 -- The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has reported that "The president of the local postal service union asked for Greensburg Council's support Monday to oppose a move to shift processing of first-class mail from the center in Youngwood to a larger facility in Pittsburgh."

December 13, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. trimmed its 30.85% stake in Singapore Post Ltd. and said it plans to sell the remaining shares, valued at about S$568 million, or US$338 million."

December 13, 2005 -- The American Postal Workers Union has informed its members that "The APWU has received notification from the USPS that some operations at the facilities listed below would be consolidated, or that the facilities would be the subject of AMP (Area Mail Processing) studies. A USPS letter dated Dec. 12, 2005, notified the APWU of management's intent to conduct an AMP survey for the feasibility of consolidating certain mail processing operations at the following locations: Aberdeen (SD) Customer Service Mail Processing Center (CSMPC) into Dakota Central (Huron SD) P&DC Carroll (IA) CSMPC into Des Moines (IA) P&DC Glenwood Springs (CO) CSMPC into Grand Junction (CO) CSMPC Helena (MT) CSMPC into Great Falls (MT) CSMPC Hutchinson (KS) CSMPC into Wichita (KS) P&DC LaCrosse (WI) CSMPC into Rochester (MN) P&DF Sheridan (WY) CSMPC into Billings (MT) P&DC Twin Falls (ID) CSMPC into Boise (ID) P&DC Wheatland (WY) CSMPC into Cheyenne (WY) P&DC McCook (NE) CSMPC into North Platte (NE) CSMPC."

December 13, 2005 -- The Dong-A Ilbo has reported that "Ten years after its introduction in 1994, the Korean post office's express mail service, which offers expedited mail delivery, may be in jeopardy. The Korea Post announced on December 12 that it has come up with a postal service act enforcement regulations revision that contains the abolition of express mail service, and that it is discussing it with relevant departments. Express mail may be abolished because it takes a long time to sort ordinary mail from express mail by hand, and because the quality of mail service has been lowered as the cost has increased. The Korea Post also explained that as more and more people use cell phones and the Internet, less and less people are using express mail."

December 13, 2005 -- Stuff.co.nz has reported that "As if rain, hail, sleet and snow weren't enough, Timaru postal workers have to contend with dangerous letterboxes and other hazards to make sure the mail gets through."

December 13, 2005 -- Canoe has reported that "Canadian postal workers say they're worried that trade tribunal hearings that started Monday in a case pitting Ottawa against giant courier company UPS could devastate Canada Post and hurt other public services. The hearings, which will run all week at the World Bank, centre on a complaint from UPS that the publicly funded Canadian corporation has an unfair advantage over competing private companies. UPS, the world's largest package delivery firm, first filed a claim for $160 million US against the Canadian government in April 2000 under the North American Free Trade Agreement. A decision from the tribunal could take more than a year once the hearings end." See also the Toronto Star and CBC News.

December 13, 2005 -- Les Echos has reported that "The conventions governing relations between the French post office, La Poste, and its new postal banking subsidiary, Banque Postale, have been approved by La Poste's board of directors. Banque Postale is due to begin operating on 1 January 2006."

December 13, 2005 -- Asia Media has reported that "The installation of six hidden pinhole cameras in the Cheung Sha Wan post office was unfair, unjustified and breached privacy laws, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has ruled. It has issued an enforcement order requiring Hong Kong Post to destroy all records from the cameras and called on the postal body to draw up a policy on video monitoring and introduce measures to ensure compliance. Hongkong Post welcomed the report and said it would comply fully with the order."

December 13, 2005 -- The Alask a Journal of Commerce has reported that "A decision by the United States Postal Service to send all mail to Unalaska and Dutch Harbor via Peninsula Airways will not negatively affect the community's air freight service, according to competitor Alaska Central Express. Alaska Central Express, or Little ACE as they are known in the industry, lost the approval to carry the mail following a decision by the USPS in November that favors the passenger carrier over ACE's all-freight operations."

December 13, 2005 -- The hearing on the merits in the UPS v. Canada case is scheduled to take place before a three-member arbitral tribunal from 9:30 a.m. on Monday, December 12, 2005 through Saturday, December 17, 2005. This case has been initiated under Chapter Eleven of the NAFTA and is governed by the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. ICSID has agreed to administer the proceedings in the present case. The parties have agreed to make the proceedings open to the public, except for those parts of the hearing which involve confidential information. To this end, the hearing will be broadcast live in room H1-200 of the World Bank.

December 12, 2005 -- MTIECO has reported that "State-owned Hungarian postal company Magyar Posta expects to end 2005 with operating profit of HUF 7bn on revenue of HUF 157bn, business daily Napi Gazdasag reported on Monday. Deliveries of letters generated 60pc of revenue, and package delivery accounted for 5pc. The rest of revenue came from charges for financial services, newspaper deliveries and international transactions."

December 12, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin has reported that "Europe's commercial mail users, among them Fedma, have put their views on the future of the European postal sector to Charlie McCreevy, the European commissioner for internal market and services. McCreevy is working on the European Commission's Third Postal Directive, due to be published towards the end of 2006. He recently met with members of the Postal Users Group, an alliance of Europe's major users of postal services, which supports full market liberalisation and the removal of national barriers for postal users."

December 12, 2005 -- According to the C anadian Union of Postal Workers, "The future of Canada's public post office will be decided by a private trade tribunal operating from the World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. The hearings over our post office will run from December 12-17th. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Council of Canadians (the Council) are concerned that the tribunal, which is looking at a complaint filed by United Parcel Service (UPS), could issue a decision that has disastrous implications for postal and other public services. UPS is using Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to demand financial compensation of $185 million CDN from Canada's federal government. This amount will double if UPS wins damages to date. UPS claims its investments are being limited by Canada's publicly funded network of mailboxes and post offices. It believes this network gives Canada Post an unfair advantage when delivering parcel, express and courier services that are in competition with private courier services."

December 12, 2005 -- If you haven't done so lately, be sure to check the PostInsight web site. There are two new papers that have been posted which you might find of interest.

• Telecommunications and Utilities. Telecommunications and utilities companies are major mailers of correspondence and transactional mail primarily to households, sending over 6 billion bills and statements to consumers at their homes. This paper attempts to better understand the drivers of mail demand in the face of substantial mail growth in postal revenues from these industries despite a four-year slowdown in the growth of correspondence and transactional letter mail in the U.S. Beyond the detailed quantitative results and their interpretations that are presented in the body of this report, several conclusions are drawn with regard to volume trends from these industries.
• Busin ess-to-Business Mail. The primary objective in analyzing business-to-business (B2B) mail and its change drivers is to gain a deeper understanding of the relationships and trends that affect mail volumes. This paper focuses the analyses at the application level, whenever possible, focusing on correspondence, transactional (bills, statements, and payments) and advertising mail sent by businesses to other company establishments. It also attempts to examine, where data is available the B2B applications at the industry level (e.g., Insurance, Credit Card, Telecommunications, utilities, banks).

December 12, 2005 -- According to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, It's beginning to look a lot like online shopping is the driving force now."

December 12, 2005 -- Transp ort Intelligence has reported that "Just days after TNT's board announced that it was intending to sell off its logistics division, Deutsche Post's CEO seems to have ruled his company out of the running as a potential suitor. In an interview with the Financial Times Deutschland he stated that it would be at least another two years before DPWN could undertake the same sized acquisition as the recent €5.5bn purchase of Exel."

December 11, 2005 -- The Philippine Daily Inquirer has reported that "the government has decided to privatize Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost) through a direct sale of government shares as it placed the state-owned firm under the list of major public assets to be sold in 2006.

December 11, 2005 -- The Sunday Times has reported that "POSTAL restrictions could spoil Christmas for your friends and relatives overseas. Australia Post is telling its customers to be aware that all countries have rules about what can be sent by mail. Afghanistan bans the importation of fountain pens, playing cards, sunglasses, women's handbags and even toys. Britain stops horror comics from entering the country, Nicaragua bans police whistles and Paraguay says no to calendars. And forget sending a raunchy greeting to the Maldives – its illegal to post cards showing nudes."

December 11, 2005 -- The Mansfield News Journal has reported that "U.S. Postal Service first-class mail takes one to three days to reach its destination, according to local postal officials. But Glen Whitmore, 55, of Mansfield said some of his mail has arrived nearly two weeks after it was sent. Whitmore said he and his wife are now considering paying their bills online."

December 11, 2005 -- Here's an interesting perspective from a writer for the American Chronicle: "The last mail I sent through the post office in National City in South Bay California, on Wednesday, left me so much paranoid. Not even a postal worker's suggestion that I buy a tracker service for 45 cents, and other security services with individual price tags allayed, my skepticism, because of some past failings I had with them. But behind all the security services being offered to customers, interpretively, is a subtle message that the postal service can no longer give a reliable service of delivering mails, regardless of the service level procured. If that is the case, unwittingly, mails sent without the added security, now have a much higher probability of a hit and miss delivery, in short, the service has gone darn unreliable, and if my experiences are to be a gauge, an across the board decline in service is imminent."

December 11, 2005 -- The Jamaica Observer has reported that "Barbados postal workers have ended their holiday strike. It almost wasn't a Merry Christmas in this Caribbean island for Barbadians awaiting gifts and "Season's Greetings". Postal workers, irate over a growing number of thefts of their motorcycles and bicycles - which they use to make deliveries - went on strike Thursday, pledging not to deliver Christmas letters or packages until their concerns were heard. The country's 250 postal workers believed thieves, locally dubbed "postal pirates", were targeting them to steal their transport - which the workers pay for themselves."

December 10, 2005 -- Nikkei (via the Wall Street Journal) has reported that "Japan's Communications Ministry is considering relaxing regulations on mail delivery operations, paving the way for private firms to participate in a business segment effectively monopolized by Japan Post, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported in its Saturday morning editions. The law governing delivery of personal correspondence would be revised to allow private operators to handle letter mail based on weight. The requirement for new market entrants to install at least 100,000 collection boxes would be relaxed as well. An expert panel reporting to Communications Minister Heizo Takenaka will be established within the month, and the ministry is expected to reach a conclusion by next June." See also the Kyodo News Service.

December 10, 2005 -- The National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. has informed its members that "This week USPS representatives provided leaders of the three management association with an update on the planned implementation of the Delivery and Retail Standardization process. The presentation included updates on the planned implementation of AM Standard Operating Procedures and retail staffing efficiencies. Delivery and retail expenses represent 60% of total labor costs for the Postal Service. USPS officials told the association leaders that they had identified a potential savings of nearly $1.5 billion by implementing standardized strategies in both delivery and retail operations. Target areas for improvement in delivery operations include city and rural workload management, route inspections, total efficiency indicators and deliveries per hour compared to SPLY, and percent to standard for rural workhours. Beginning in January, 2006, USPS Headquarters will provide assistance to national route inspection teams in large metro areas. Standardized training will be given to rural relief employees and the relief day formula will be mandated, which could increase the number of PTF's for K routes."

December 10, 2005 -- The Birmingham News has noted that "The U.S. Postal Service plans to eliminate house-by-house mail deliveries in newly built subdivisions and require developers to build central mail stations, officials said. The rule has existed for a few years, but Russell Davis, Home Builders Association of Alabama vice president, said builders just became aware of the requirements this month. Davis said his organization and other builders learned about the rules from a builder in Anniston who was notified by his local post office."

December 10, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

• U.S. Postal Service Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Richard Strasser told the Board of Governors this week the USPS ended fiscal year 2005 with a net income of $1.445 billion, and currently is free of debt.
• The Postal Service Board of Governors this week also approved funding to upgrade wiring and the mail processing data network at postal facilities nationwide.
• President Bush last week signed the FY 2005-2006 appropriations bill for a number of cabinet departments and independent agencies.
• NALC President William H. Young recently wrote Missouri Sen. Kit Bond asking him to reconsider his position on postal reform, remove his hold on the Senate legislation let it "come to a fair, up-or-down vote in the Senate."
• In this opinion piece, National Association of Letter Carriers President William H. Young urges Missouri Sen. Kit Bond to stop "thwarting" the vote on postal reform in the U.S. Senate by withdrawing his "hold."
• This opinion piece provides another view of the pending postal rate increase.
• USPS managers face new it security, disaster recovery challenges. Letter carriers tell Flake no privatization. Delivery delays prompt complaints by out-of-state newspaper subscribers.
• GAO tells congress: Bad data abounds for website address info. European Union domain name a reality. Peppercoin joins forces with MasterCard on ‘micropayment' system. Indian Internet use soars.
• UPS sees dynamic market in India, opens first store there. Postwatch says Royal Mail underpaid for service failures. European Commission okays Deutsche Post takeover of Exel. Royal Mail to ‘streamline' structure. UPS posits Hong Kong expansion. Strike threatened if Austrian goes public. Swiss will open postal market in ‘06 – and charge VAT. La Poste gets approval for bank spinoff.

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December 10, 2005 -- In its latest DMMAdvisory, the U.S. Postal Service has noted that "Beginning January 8, 2006, we are providing indemnity coverage for all ordinary, uninsured international airmail and economy mail parcel post. This new coverage is included at no additional charge and protects mailers against loss, damage, and rifling. See yesterday's Postal Bulletin for more information about this and other important changes to international mail."

December 10, 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.

December 10, 2005 -- The Daily Comet has reported that "Before Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Postal Service operations in Baton Rouge would process on a typical day about 300,000 pieces of mail bearing stamps. On a recent day in mid-November, that number reached one million, said Daisy Comeaux, customer relations coordinator with the U.S. Postal Service. The volume of mail being handled here has tripled, as post office facilities for metro Baton Rouge have taken on the task of handling mail for the metro New Orleans area, Comeaux said."

December 10, 2005 -- Financial Times Deutschland has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, is planning further acquisitions in parcel forwarding business. Management has indicated that the company plans to take advantage of takeover opportunities in Asia and eastern Europe."

December 10, 2005 -- According to Les Echos,"La Poste, the French postal service operator, is expected to show a stableoperating margin of 3.5 per cent for 2005, compared with the 3 per centbudgeted. This is due to steps taken to control costs and tostronger-than-expected development of mail volumes. Turnover is expected toamount to between 19bn euros and 19.3bn euros, while net profit is expectedto be up from the 374m euros generated in 2004 to more than 400m euros."

December 9, 2005 -- Media Week has reported that "The Periodical Publishers' Association has welcomed the decision of postal regulator Postcomm to maintain price controls on Royal Mail's first-class magazine delivery service. For the next four years, the price of distributing magazines using Presstream 1 will be controlled, but the regulator is proposing to scrap price controls for Presstream 2 (second class)."

December 9, 2005 -- The Washington Post has reported that "The Office of Personnel Management yesterday announced that it has proposed dropping the Postmasters Benefit Plan from the federal employee health insurance program next year because of "performance and financial concerns."

December 9, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "An aircraft carrying a special holiday shipment will lift off from John F. Kennedy International Airport this evening destined for U.S. troops serving in the Middle East. For the second straight year, DHL, the world's leading express delivery and logistics provider, has partnered with the U.S. Army Reserve 77th Regional Readiness Command and local New York businesses to deliver Christmas trees, menorahs, ornaments and lights to American service men and women stationed overseas during the holiday season."

December 9, 2005 -- If you have yet seen the newly redesigned Businenss Mailers Review web site, give it a gander. A nice update.

December 9, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "DHL, the logistics subsidiary of Deutsche Post, has reaffirmed its commitment to Pakistan with plans to upgrade its business activity and investments. The company has announced it will invest up to US$8 million in Pakistan in the next three years, including the construction of a new state-of-the-art airport Airside Facility in Karachi, and upgrading of its service centres. DHL expects Pakistan to become a major hub for industrial growth and international investment."

December 9, 2005 -- Computerworld has reported that "Transportation, distribution and logistics companies are doing a better job of treating online customers with respect, according to a new survey of the industry. The transportation companies that ranked highest in customer respect were Overnite Transportation Co., with a score of 8.7, and Canada Post Corp., Purolator Courier Ltd., United Parcel Service Inc. and the U.S. Postal Service, all of which received scores of 8.0. Overnite is a UPS company, and Canada Post owns 90% of the stock of Purolator. Unlike the majority of transportation firms, which share customer data without permission, companies that had the highest customer respect scores have adopted opt-in policies and don't use personal information without a customer's permission, the survey said."

December 9, 2005 -- The New York Times has reported that "as the holiday season nears, wine lovers have bumped up against the bureaucratic ways of New York State, whose agencies - as of Thursday night at least - have yet to carry through on the law and allow shipping companies to actually deliver wine to New York from other states. Officials with FedEx, U.P.S. and groups representing California wine growers say that one of the holdups has been the state's demand that delivery employees, who work with hand-held computers, fill out cumbersome paper forms when making the deliveries. The Postal Service is forbidden by law to make shipments of certain types of alcoholic beverages."

December 9, 2005 -- Guardian Unlimited has reported that "Christmas online sales will account for 9% of total retail spending in the UK throughout November and December, according to the Royal Mail. This represents a 40% increase on last year. But can Royal Mail or any other mail or courier service be relied on to deliver?"

December 9, 2005 -- According to the Irish Times, "Motorists caught speeding or not wearing a seat belt will from next April be able to pay their fines in their local post office following the recent signing of a deal between An Post and the Department of Justice."

December 9, 2005 -- The Times has reported that "THE Department of Trade and Industry is talking to banks about mounting a rights issue at Royal Mail that could result in a £2 billion cash injection, The Times has learnt. Last week the DTI opened discussions with HSBC, Lazard and Merrill Lynch, while Royal Mail has appointed Morgan Stanley and NM Rothschild. The rights issue would give the Government more shares in the postal group in return for the investment."

December 9, 2005 -- The Kyodo News Service has reported that "The Japanese government will create a planning company Jan. 23 to set the stage for the planned formation in 2007 of a holding firm tasked with overseeing Japan Post's privatization."

December 9, 2005 -- In his most recent communication with his members, American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus wrote:

Despite predictions of gloom and doom, the Postal Service has announced that total mail volume and total revenue reached all-time highs in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. First-class volume grew in 2005 as well, after three years of decline.

Only a short time ago, the avid supporters of postal "reform" predicted that mail volume, especially first-class volume, was threatened by advances in technology. Without legislative intervention, we were told, the Postal Service was destined to begin a deadly cycle of declining volume and increasing postage rates.

The American Postal Workers repeatedly cautioned that the downturn in mail volume in 2002 and 2003 was caused by a combination of an economic slump, the terrorist attack of 9-11, and the anthrax attacks.

The financial results, released Dec. 6, 2005, demonstrate that improvements in technology will not have as severe an impact as was anticipated on the use of mail.

Despite the warnings of those who began every conversation about mail volume with dire predictions, the 2005 audited financial statement looks pretty good.

December 9, 2005 -- The U.S. Postal Service has alerted the American Postal Workers Union that it is performing a feasibility study of consolidating certain mail operations at the Bloomington, IN Processing & Distribution Center.

December 9, 2005 -- Editor & Publisher has reported that "The federal Postal Rate Commission (PRC) should block a deal that would give a big postage discount to a single large mailer, the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) and the National Newspaper Association (NNA) said Thursday. In a jointly filed brief with the PRC, the two associations argue that volume-based postage discounts for single mailer customers are "inherently discriminatory," and should not be permitted. Specifically, NNA and NAA are trying to derail a United States Postal Service (USPS) application to create special Standard -- or bulk -- mail rate discounts up to 3-cents per letter for Bookspan, a book-marketing partnership of Time Inc. and Bertelsmann AG. Under the plan, Bookspan would get the discounts if it mails more than 120 promotional letters annually. It would get smaller discounts for smaller volumes of mailings. This so-called Negotiated Service Agreement (NSA) is "inherently unfair because no other bookseller is likely to qualify for such special rates," the associations stated Thursday. They also argue that the USPS "does not obtain any cost savings from the proposed arrangement."

December 9, 2005 -- According to Ireland Online, "The threat of a Christmas postal strike has been lifted after workers voted in favour of accepting a Labour Court recommendation tonight to end a long-running dispute. Members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) voted by a majority of almost two to one in favour of accepting the recommendations. Management at An Post welcomed the CWU's acceptance of the recommendations for changes in work practices in the collection and delivery of mail."

December 9, 2005 -- The Solomon Star has reported that "THE ANZ Bank and Solomon Islands Postal Corporation are moving ahead rapidly with establishing rural banking throughout the provinces following their latest joint fact-finding mission to Buala, capital of Isabel Province. The mission was the latest in a series of joint provincial missions the ANZ and Solomons Post have carried out this year. It was led by the General Manager of ANZ Solomon Islands, Mr Tait Jenkin and the Post Master General, Mr Samuel Sive. The main aim of the visit which took place between the 29th November and 1st December was to consult with the leaders and people of Isabel province about plans to establish an ANZ rural banking service in Isabel through the bank's partnership with Solomon Post."

December 8, 2005 -- The Tide has reported that "The Rivers Territory of the Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST), has installed track and trace system for users of the postal services in Rivers State. Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed, Area Postal Manager, Rivers territory, who disclosed this to newsmen explained that the system would enable customers know and locate the position of their consignment at any point in time. According to him, apart from the track and trace system, other new packages have been introduced in the postal service to facilitate movement of mail and other consignments."

December 8, 2005 -- Gibbons Stamp Monthly has reported that "The International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union is organising a competition to find a design for new International Reply Coupons that will become available in 2006. IRCs were first introduced in 1906 by the Universal Postal Union during its Congress in Rome. The coupon was last redesigned in 2001."

December 8, 2005 -- AllAfrica.com has reported that "dthe Postal Corporation of Kenya plans to launch an electronic money order service early next year. A pilot project is already under way in a number of centres ahead of the official launch, western regional manager Jane Mutuha said yesterday."

December 8, 2005 -- The comments of the Association for Postal Commerce on the Postal Service proposal to require the electronic verification system (e-vs) for destination entry parcel shipments areavailable on this site.

December 8, 2005 -- The Asia Pacific Mail and Express Congress is Asia Pacific's definitive business conference that addresses innovation and strategy for the transforming mail and express industry. Significant progress has been made in postal liberalisation in Asia Pacific, particularly in Japan, China, India, Korea and Vietnam. These legislative reforms pose new challenges for the incumbents, but new opportunities for investors. They also caused many operators to think about new revenue, new technologies, increased commercialisation and changes to management strategies. These changes make the market very dynamic and very entrepreneurial, leading to a vast number of business opportunities and new business ventures. The Asia Pacific Mail and Express Congress will be fully focused on this angle, positioning to be the industry platform to provide new business ideas, new revenue streams and new insights at a time of great opportunity. Call Anna Lee at +65 6322 2712 or email anna.lee@terrapinn.com

December 8, 2005 -- Writing in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, National Association of Letter Carriers President William Young said:

Americans often take the Postal Service for granted, although less so at this time of year than at others as tens of millions of holiday cards, Christmas gifts and on-line purchases flow through the nation's postal network each day.

In fact, the Postal Service is a vital part of the nation's economic infrastructure year-round, the center of a $900 billion-plus mailing industry that includes financial service providers, advertisers, magazine publishers and Internet merchants.

All of America, including Missouri, needs to preserve a healthy and viable system of affordable and universal mail delivery. But the 35-year-old statute that governs the United States Postal Service, written long before the Internet began transforming the postal industry along with other communications industries, is badly outdated. The Postal Service sees one or two million new addresses added to its delivery network every year, even as electronic substitution is reducing the volume of traditional letter mail.

Fortunately, a broad, bipartisan consensus has emerged in Washington after a decade-long debate over how to reform the USPS. A bill that gives the Postal Service greater flexibility to set its prices and services - and limits future postage hikes to the average rate of inflation - is on the verge of becoming law. The bill, drafted jointly by Republicans and Democrats, passed the House in July by a vote of 410-20 and is ready for a vote on the Senate floor after winning approval 15-1 by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Only one thing stands in the way of this legislation: Missouri's senior senator, Christopher S. "Kit" Bond.

December 8, 2005 -- The Tennessean has reported that "Part of the Jackson post office's mail-processing operation could be moving to Memphis. "We're looking to see what the levels of activity are in both places, and whether it would be more efficient to fold some of what is mailed out of Jackson into Memphis," said Beth Barnett, communications manager for the U.S. Postal Service's Tennessee District."

December 8, 2005 -- According to the Wall Street Journal, "There's nothing like a hostile bid to spur a company into action. These days, the mere specter of a takeover does the trick. TNT is buying back €1 billion ($1.18 billion) of shares and restructuring within a month of private-equity investor Cornelius Geber saying he might take the Dutch postal group private. (See related article.) TNT needed to do something dramatic. Until Mr. Geber came on the scene, its shares had underperformed the Amsterdam index by 9% during the past year. Financial results have been mixed, and a continuing investigation into tax irregularities has further damaged sentiment. The initiatives are a step in the right direction."

December 8, 2005 -- The National Association of Major Mail Users (NAMMU) has reported that "Customers will receive a customized price book for price and service changes to be effective January 16, 2006, for domestic and international services specific to their Shipping and Delivery Services Agreement with Canada Post. The Customer Guide has been amended and can be viewed on the Canada Post website: www.canadapost.ca/customer_guides."

December 8, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin has reported that "Postcomm's green light for a 2p rise on First Class letters from April will hit direct mail spending, according to the DMA's post and distribution affairs committee chairman Alan Halfacre. Reacting to Postcomm's amended proposals for Royal Mail price control, Halfacre said the mail market had been expecting a 1p rise in April, but a 2p rise would hit volumes and cause mailers to rein in other budget items."

December 8, 2005 -- Ha'aretz has reported that "The postal service moved one step closer to privatization yesterday when Postal Authority management and workers signed an agreement with Finance Minister Ehud Olmert to turn the authority into a state-owned company. Postal workers will get one-time bonuses and an immediate promotion, but 450 jobs will be cut and post offices will be open to the public for fewer hours. The new enterprise - The Israel Post Company - will be run according to commercial considerations reflecting the government's decision earlier this year to move toward a more competitive, commercially-run entity. At the same time, the company will face tougher competition from private firms; the market for mass delivery of items less than 500 grams is to be opened to competition as of January 30, 2006."

December 8, 2005 -- Today's Trucking has reported that "United States Postal Service is asking transportation department rulemakers to exempt its contracted motor carriers from the new hours-of-service rules. Claiming that overhauling operations and routing to comply with the HOS rules is nearly impossible, USPS has submitted an application to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow an unspecified number of carriers that that transport for USPS to revert back to the HOS rules in place before January 2004."

December 8, 2005 -- IT Observer has reported that "Cybertrust®, the global information security specialist, today announced the successful implementation of electronic signature services by Czech Post, the Czech Republic's biggest postal service supplier. Czech Post is now one of only three accredited distributors of official digital certificates in the Czech Republic. The electronic signature services will be used by citizens of the Czech Republic to safely and securely handle tax declarations, pensions, insurance policies, legal and social security documents online."

December 8, 2005 -- The National Association of Postal Supervisors has reported that "President Bush has signed legislation honoring the late NAPS President Vincent Palladino by naming the Rosebank Post Office in Staten Island, New York the "Vincent Palladino Post Office." The legislation naming the Rosebank Post Office is a fitting tribute to Vince. It was there in 1962 that he first worked as a postal letter carrier and thereafter held supervisory and management positions, before becoming a NAPS national officer for nearly 20 years. Vince Palladino died unexpectedly nearly a year ago at the age of 69. He was serving his seventh consecutive term as NAPS President at the time of his death on December 20, 2005. He was a native of Staten Island, a lifelong employee of the Postal Service and a long-serving national officer of the National Association of Postal Supervisors."

December 7, 2005 -- According to the U.S. Postal Service, "Customers have more options than ever to purchase 39-cent First-Class stamps beginning December 8 to use when the new postage rates go into effect Jan. 8, 2006. Plenty of two-cent stamps will be available for customers to use with their 37-cent stamps."

December 7, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "FedEx says it will appeal a California judge's ruling that FedEx Ground drivers are company workers and not independent contractors. The ruling by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge last week came in a class-action case that is part of a wave of court challenges FedEx is facing across the country to the foundation of one of its fastest-growing divisions. The judge said drivers on single routes who are required to buy their own trucks are company employees because FedEx has "close to absolute actual control" of their business. FedEx classifies its FedEx Ground drivers as contractors rather than company employees, setting up a cost structure sharply different from that of rival UPS, whose drivers are represented by the Teamsters union and haul the full range of goods in UPS's package delivery portfolio."

December 7, 2005 -- The Association for Postal Commerce hosted a morning seminar featuring James I. Campbell Jr. on "The Evolution of Postal Regulation in Europe: Possible Lessons for the U.S." Posted on this site you will find a .pdf copy of Jim's powerpoint presentation as well as an .mp3 sound file (50 MB) that can be downloaded for later listening. The PostCom morning seminar was made possible through sponsorship from UPS.


  Pictured left to right:
  Daniel LeGoff, UPU International Bureau
  James Campbell, Speaker
  Jon Pederson, UNI-POSTAL
  Ken McKeown, UPU International Bureau
  Murray Buchanan, Royal Mail

December 7, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:

Tuesday's announcement that TNT N.V. is pulling out of the logistics business to a large extent hit the market like a thunderbolt. Although generating around 34% of the company's turnover, the logistics segment represented only 7.6% (68m euros) of the company result. CEO Peter Bakker explained that TNT would in future concentrate on the mail, express and freight management segments. Geographically, operations would centre on both Europe and Asia. The Danish transport company DSV has already indicated an interest in parts of TNTs logistics.
The IPO of Osterreichische Post appears to become an increasingly remote prospect as well as a political steeplechase. The amendment to the government's mission, which is required in order for the IPO to go ahead, was still not on the cabinet's agenda this Tuesday.
Switzerland's Schweizerische Post intends to replace around 20,000 post boxes throughout the country by 2010. The current 13 different box types will be replaced by one standard design, the post announced last week.
Surprisingly strong opposition has formed against the sale of airline tickets in Australian post offices. A parliamentary initiative wants to abolish Australia Post's exemption from membership of the obligatory reinsurance Travel Compensation Fund (TCF).
The German public sector trade union ver.di has made a renewed appeal for an extension to Deutsche Post's mail monopoly. Union chairman Rolf Buttner told the "socialist daily" "Neues Deutschland" (5.12) that many countries did not intend to open their markets completely until 2009, so that German companies would not be able to operate on those markets, while Germany itself was open to competition.
TNT is taking over one of China's leading freight and parcel services, Hoau Logistics Group.
TNT is reinforcing its Spanish express operations by buying TG+, which happens to be Spain's third biggest parcel service.
Low temperatures highlight the main problem facing bicycle couriers: how to protect themselves against frost and icy winds.
Posten Norge has appointed Dag Mejdell as new CEO.
Tim Jornsen is the new head of UPS in Scandinavia.
Mario J M Frusch succeeds Alex Eglseer as chairman of the board of EP Europost AG.
Royal Mail is still looking for a successor to David Mills, the post office director who will be leaving at the end of the year.
Business Post, one of Royal Mail's competitors on the British postal market, has lost its CEO. Paul Carvell resigned less than 3 weeks after the second profit warning within a few months was issued on 5 December. He is succeeded by Guy Boswell, formerly managing director of the Business Post mail segment in Britain.

The MRU, founded in 1992, is the only consultancy in Europe, which has specialised in the market of courier-, express- and parcel services. For large-scale shippers and CEP-services in particular, the MRU provides interdisciplinary advice for all major questions of the market, as there are for example market entry, product design, organisation, and EDP.To learn more about the stories reported above, contact CEP News.

December 7, 2005 -- The Jackson Sun has reported that "The Jackson post office could lose part of its mail processing operation to Memphis, according to the U.S. Postal Service and local representatives of the American Postal Workers Union. Much will depend on the outcome of an area mail processing study of the Jackson post office began last month, according to Beth Barnett, communications manager for the USPS Tennessee District."

December 7, 2005 -- The Financial Times has reported that "Postwatch, the consumer body for postal services, has mounted a legal challenge in London's High Court over a refusal by Postcomm, the postal regulator, to force Royal Mail to pay millions of pounds of compensation to business customers. The case is being brought as a judicial review challenge, with Postwatch arguing that the regulator's interpretation of a clause in the statutory compensation scheme has allowed Royal Mail to undercompensate users of bulk mail services by up to ú35m."

December 7, 2005 -- DM News has reported that "Pitney Bowes Inc. launched a new strategic business plan yesterday designed to tap into a $250 billion market opportunity within a $900 billion global category called the mailstream. The mailstream is the sum of all mail and documents, both physical and electronic, flowing in and out of a business, as well as the people and systems that enable it. Mailstream content includes direct marketing collateral, bills and monthly statements, catalogs, parcels, letters, invoices, magazines, DVD rentals and anything sold and purchased through eBay. "

December 7, 2005 -- As DM News has noted, "A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Pitney Bowes highlights areas where businesses can improve customer communications through the mailstream. The findings, which were released yesterday, include:

• 49 percent of U.S. adults surveyed said they would be less likely to become or remain a solicitor's customer because of poorly targeted communications, such as addressing mistakes or inappropriate offers.
• 92 percent have received multiple copies of the same piece of mail.
• 91 percent have received offers or solicitations for a service or product they already subscribe to.
• 74 percent have received inappropriate offers or solicitations from businesses in the mail, such as credit card offers for children.

The results suggest a number of ways businesses can use the mail to ensure that business solicitations are more effective, including:

• 73 percent are much more or somewhat more likely to respond to timely solicitations.
• 76 percent are much more or somewhat more likely to respond to solicitations relevant to their interests.

December 7, 2005 -- According to the Petosky News-Review, "It's good to hear the U.S. Postal Service, as a quasi-governmental endeavor, has decided to use prudence when it comes to executive incentives."

December 7, 2005 -- The BBC has reported that "The postal workers' union is calling for substantial pay rises to bring the salaries of more than 100,000 of its members in line with average earnings. The BBC has learned that the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) has started informal talks with Royal Mail about the future of the industry. These will also cover possible job losses when postal services are fully opened up to competition in January."

December 7, 2005 -- PostCom Vice President Kate Muth has reported that:

The Postal Service ended FY 2005 with $1.445 billion in net income, Chief Financial Officer and Exec. Vice President Dick Strasser said at this morning's Board of Governors meeting. The audited financial statements showed revenues in FY 2005 of nearly $70 billion, a 1.3% increase over the previous year. On a historical note, FY 2005 marked the first year ever that Standard Mail volumes exceeded First Class Mail volumes. Standard Mail volumes were about 101 billion pieces, making up 47.7% of total mail volume; and First Class Mail volumes were 98 billion pieces, or 46.3% of total mail volume. Standard Mail volumes in 2005 grew 5.6% over 2004 and First Class Mail remained flat in 2005, up 0.1%, which is actually good news given that First Class Mail volumes had declined in the past few years. The USPS also posted its sixth straight year of productivity growth. Total factor productivity grew 1.1% over the previous year. [Details on the year-end finances will appear in this week's issue of the PostCom Bulletin.] See also the USPS press release.

In other board news, the BOG approved $54.9 million in capital funds to upgrade wiring and the mail processing data network at 170 postal facilities. The funding is for phase 3 of the Mail Processing Infrastructure program, with deployment on phase 3 set for January 2006 through December 2007. When phase 3 is completed, it will mark the end of the Mail Processing Infrastructure program, which will have upgraded the infrastructure at 334 postal facilities, making data exchange speedier and more reliable and less costly to maintain.

PMG Jack Potter noted in his opening comments that the USPS will dedicate the Harrisburg, PA, mail processing plant in memory of the late Postal Governor LeGree Daniels, who served for 15 years on the board until her passing on Nov. 19.

Potter and Board Chairman Jim Miller also acknowledged the service of Governor Robert Rider, whose last board meeting was today as his term expires on Dec. 8. Appointed in May 1995, Gov. Rider served as chairman of the board from 200-2003, guiding the USPS through the difficult days following the terrorist attacks of 2001. He was chairman when the board selected Jack Potter as PMG in 2001.

December 7, 2005 -- Window Book, Inc., the leader in postal mailing and shipping solutions, has announced the launch of the Your First Priority SystemÖ, an innovative and cost-effective approach to shipping lightweight items and documents. Window Book invites shippers to use the online Savings Calculator at www.yourfirstprioritysystem.com/PR01-SavingsCalculatorRequest.asp to see for themselves the actual savings they could enjoy by shipping with the Your First Priority System and the U.S. Postal Service« (USPS) over other parcel carriers. The Savings Calculator allows shippers to enter different package weights and zones and to view the resulting side-by-side comparison of shipping costs with the First Priority SystemÖ versus another carrier's. Shippers report calculated savings as high as 65 percent with the Your First Priority System Savings Calculator.

December 7, 2005 -- The latest issue of the Universal Postal Union's Direct Mail Advisory Board update for November 2005 has been posted on this site.

December 7, 2005 -- On November 30 President Bush signed PL 109-115, the appropriations bill for the Departments of Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, District of Columbia, and independent agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006 (report available at http://www.rules.house.gov/109/text/hr3058cr/109_3058confrept_index.htm). The bill includes postal-related appropriations. The Postal Service receives no direct appropriations. The total appropriation of $116 million was less than the USPS requested:

• $59 million for free mail for the blind and overseas voting ($80 million requested),
• $29 million for the reconciliation adjustment for FY 2003 (as requested), $29 million for the Revenue Forgone Reform Act of 1993 payment (as requested), and
• zero dollars for emergency preparedness costs ($51 million requested).

December 7, 2005 -- At the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors meeting, USPS chief financial officer Richard Strasser gave the governors a briefing on the Postal Service's year-end finances and the USPS' FY2006 and FY2007 appropriations requests. Copies of his presentations are available on this site.

December 7, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "The Postal Service is in a position not many Americans can claim: debt free. But even a projected surplus won't stop next month's postal rate increase, which the service says is needed to cover a congressionally mandated expense. Overall, the Postal Service finished fiscal 2005 with a $1.4 billion surplus on revenue of $69.9 billion and investment income of $86 million, minus expenses of $68.3 billion and interest of $265 million. Strasser said the agency's plan for 2006 was for a $1.3 billion surplus, but a requirement that it place $3 billion in escrow is forcing it to raise postal rates on Jan. 8 to cover the added expense."

December 7, 2005 -- KMBC-T V has reported that "A group of letter carriers held informational pickets outside Sen. Kit Bond's office in Kansas City Tuesday. Pickets were also staged outside several other of the senator's offices in Missouri. The postal carriers said they are angry that the Republican is holding up a vote on legislation for postal reforms. Bond spokesman Rob Ostrander said the bill would rig the system in favor of large junk-mailers at the expense of ordinary Americans. Monday, Bond said he predicted a vote on the bill would occur in February." See also the New Standard.

December 7, 2005 -- UPS has announced the retirement of Lea N. Soupata, senior vice president of human resources and a member of the UPS Board of Directors and the UPS Management Committee. Replacing Soupata as head of human resources for the nation's third-largest employer is Allen Hill, who is currently the company's senior vice president of legal and public affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary. Hill will retain responsibility for public affairs.

December 7, 2005 -- The Times has reported that "Royal Mail will push the Government for a ú2 billion cash injection for new equipment and help with its ú4.5 billion pension deficit after the postal regulator rejected its plea to put up the price of a first-class stamp by 9p over the next four years. In its final pricing proposals, Postcomm yesterday offered Royal Mail an increase in first-class stamp prices of only 6p from 30p over the next four years. The price will be allowed to go up to 32p next year and second-class stamps will rise from 21p to 22p." See also the DM Bulletin.

December 7, 2005 -- Air Cargo World has reported that "Unionized DHL workers in Miami approved a four-year contract with the company, becoming the third group of DHL gateway employees to ratify pacts this year, according to the Teamsters union. The union said the new contract covers 150 workers at Miami International Airport and provides for wage increases, a pension plan and job security language. The Teamsters had earlier reached agreements on behalf of DHL workers at Kennedy International Airport in New York and Los Angeles International Airport."

December 7, 2005 -- El Pais has reported that "Telefonica, the Spanish telecommunications group, has been awarded a 74.3m-euro contract to modernise and operate telecoms services for Correos, the Spanish state post office."

December 7, 2005 -- Les Echos has reported that "La Poste, the French post office, has decided to update its image with what it calls a more dynamic and contemporary logo. According to the organisation's marketing director, Vincent Relave, the new logo better reflects La Poste's position and ambitions within society. It has cost La Poste 70,000 euros, plus 10m euros' for an advertising campaign which begins at the end of the month."

December 6, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that:

Dutch postal and logistics company TNT N.V. said Tuesday it expects to make more acquisitions in the mail and express business.
Time Warner Inc. is closing in on an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to build an online-advertising service designed to compete with Google Inc., say people familiar with the negotiations. After months of on-again-off-again negotiations, the two companies are now focused on a deal that would combine advertising-related assets û with minimal, if any, money changing hands. An agreement is expected to be struck sometime before year-end, but it is still possible that AOL could choose instead to deepen its relationship with Google at Microsoft's expense.
In a push to become leaner, Verizon Communications Inc. is expected to announce sharp cuts to its pension plan for managers, which it says could save as much as $3 billion over 10 years. Under the plan, which the company is slated to announce today, about 50,000 managers will stop earning pension credits after June 30, 2006, and managers hired after the start of the year will receive no pension benefits at all. Managers who have been at the company fewer than 13.5 years also will no longer receive subsidized retiree medical benefits. Changes to the plan will not affect current retirees, and employees will retain pension benefits they have already earned. Can you imagine that happening at the Postal Service?

December 6, 2005 -- The Financial Times has reported that:

• Post watch, the consumer body for postal services, has mounted a legal challenge in London's High Court over a refusal by Postcomm, the postal regulator, to force Royal Mail to pay millions of pounds of compensation to business customers. The case is being brought as a judicial review challenge, with Postwatch arguing that the regulator's interpretation of a clause in the statutory compensation scheme has allowed Royal Mail to undercompensate users of bulk mail services by up to ú35m.
• Paul Carvell, chief executive of Business Post Group, yesterday resigned in the wake of two profit warnings in three months at the UK's fourth-biggest mail delivery operator. Business Post lost 50 per cent of its market value in less than four months after it blamed the slowing economy for having to issue profit warnings in September and November.

December 6, 2005 -- Reality TV Magazine has reported that "FOX, Lions Gate Television and Full Circle Entertainment, in cooperation with the United States Postal Service, have struck a deal for an hour-long unscripted holiday special, entitled Dear Santa, to premiere on FOX December 9 at 8:00pm ET/PT. "Through the power of the mail, the U.S. Postal Service has proudly connected families, friends, and loved ones during the holiday season," said Potter. "Every year thousands of postal employees, charitable organizations, corporations and individuals participate in making children's holiday wishes come true by answering the letters to Santa that we receive. We were happy to work on this production and hope it encourages others to visit their local post offices to do the same."

December 6, 2005 -- As Tr ansport Network News has noted, "TNT N.V. has announced that it is to exit its logistics business and instead 'focus on its core competency of providing delivery services by managing transport networks like Mail, Express and Freight Management'."

December 6, 2005 -- According to Bloomberg:

TNT NV, Europe's second-biggest express-package delivery company, said it agreed to acquire China's Hoau Logistics Group to tap demand for freight services in the world's fastest-growing major economy.
TNT NV, Europe's second-largest express-package delivery company, plans to sell its logistics business and buy back 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of shares to fend off any unsolicited offer for the company. The sale of the logistics unit, which stores and transports customers' products and supplies and accounts for about one-third of TNT's sales, will let the Hoofddorp, Netherlands-based company focus on handling letters and express packages, TNT said in a stock exchange filing today. The company hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to manage the disposal.

December 6, 2005 -- Air Cargo World has reported that "DHL is sharply expanding its connections between the United States and Asia by launching 10 dedicated weekly cargo flights between Hong Kong and the United States. In a step away from its strategy of carving out its capacity on the lift of other carriers, DHL will use aircraft chartered from freighter operator Transmile."

December 6, 2005 -- Les Echos has reported that "Norbert Dentressangle, the French transport and logistics group, has completed the purchase of the logistics activities, and part of the transport activities, of Dutch postal, express forwarding and logistics group TNT in France."

December 6, 2005 -- According to the Fina ncial Times, "Federal Express, the US express delivery group, on Monday called on the Japanese government to strip Japan Post of all its operating advantages before it is allowed to enter the international distribution market."

December 6, 2005 -- Federal Computer Week has reported that "U.S. Postal Service managers won industry honors in 2005 for their information security and privacy practices. Now they face new security challenges in issuing mandatory electronic identity cards to about 1 million employees and contractors and improving the postal agency's business continuity and disaster recovery procedures."

December 6, 2005 -- GISUser has reported that "The second draft of the Street Address Data Standard has been posted for public comment by the geospatial community. The draft standard is available on the website of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) at www.urisa.org. The comment period for this version of the draft standard will end on January 16, 2006. The objective of this effort has been to create single street address data standard that consists of four parts: content, classification, quality, and transfer. The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) accepted URISA ??s formal proposal to create this standard in April 2005. The standard is intended to provide a statement of best practices for defining street address data content and class, set standards and tests of street address data quality, and facilitate exchange of street address data."

December 6, 2005 -- The National Association of Letter Carriers (AFL-CIO) has announced that active and retired members in Missouri will demonstrate with informational picketing at offices of Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-MO) in four Missouri cities to protest his one-man roadblock of passage by Congress of bi-partisan federal postal reform legislation. The legislation (S. 662) is aimed at helping the U.S. Postal Service provide more efficient universal service to Americans and also prevent unnecessary postage rate increases. NALC President William H. Young said the picketing will be held at the noontime period (11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CST) at Bond's offices in four Missouri cities: St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Springfield. æWe had hoped that this action would not be necessary," Young said. "But the refusal by Senator Bond to lift his "hold" on the bill and allow an up-or-down vote before Congress adjourns for the year leaves us no alternative." "We believe the distribution of informational materials on Tuesday will assist the general public in understanding the need for postal reform legislation if the U.S. Postal Service is to keep postage rates down and improve service to all Americans," Young added. See also U.S. Newsire.

December 5, 2005 -- From PR Newswire: "Verizon Wireless and CheckFree Corporation today announced that Verizon Wireless customers now have the option of viewing and paying their wireless phone bills online at their choice of more than 1,700 financial services locations across the Internet. Through an agreement with CheckFree, Verizon Wireless customers can schedule payments using a designated bank account and arrange for monthly bill payments via their preferred home-banking service provider. Electronic billing and payment services provide Verizon Wireless customers with another easy, secure and efficient way to gain greater control over the payment of their monthly bills. With just a few clicks of the mouse, customers can have their electronic payment delivered promptly, safely and on time."

December 5, 2005 -- As Access North Georgia has noted, "It appears the Post Office is preparing to go up on the price of a first class stamp beginning with the first of next year. Now the interesting thing about this price increase is that out in the business world the big buzz is about how effectively businesses are cutting costs by using e-mail. What's amazing to me is this: from a long-range marketing standpoint an increase in first class postage will accomplish exactly opposite what the Post Office wants it to do, and that is bring in more money."

December 5, 2005 -- The Los Angeles Times has reported that "California is stepping up its campaign against delivery companies that avoid an array of payroll taxes by classifying their drivers as independent contractors. Since early 2003, state regulators have assessed more than $37 million in back taxes and penalties against 153 courier services and delivery companies, ranging in size from a subsidiary of United Parcel Service Inc. to companies with only a few dozen drivers."

December 5, 2005 -- Wa shington Technology has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service will continue efforts to reduce paperwork and improve its electronic functions through further development of PostalOne!, its automated business mail system. Nortel PEC Solutions Inc. of Fairfax, Va. has won a $21 million, one-year contract extension with the postal service to provide service, support and continue working on development of the electronic postal system. The system seeks to eliminate paperwork by offering electronic acceptance, verification and payment systems to businesses. PostalOne! processes an estimated $35 billion in annual revenues from business mail services."

December 5, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "the U.S. Postal Service is asking for an out from the hours of service rules for truck drivers. As a government agency, the Postal Service is exempt from HOS rules, but its contractors are not. The agency has more than 5,000 contracts with motor carriers for moving mail. Postal Service spokesman Bob Anderson said the trips for which the exemption is being sought are predominantly short-haul, averaging about 60 miles round-trip. The Postal Service is asking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to turn back the HOS clock for its contract drivers. The USPS wants to follow the old HOS rules rather than the changes implemented in 2004 and 2005 that took away drivers' ability to split their on-duty shifts and stop the HOS clock in between."

December 5, 2005 -- MediaWeek has reported that:

• The Royal Mail is embarking on the first stage of a ·10m campaign to educate publishers and the wider business community about radical changes to the postal service next year. The Pricing in Proportion scheme, which comes into force in August 2006, will ensure parcels and packages are priced according to size and shape, alongside the traditional method of measuring the weight of an item. Businesses and publishers will be sent a information pack this week about the changes and the campaign will start in earnest in January next year when a TV, press and radio campaign is launched.
• The magazine industry has criticised the postal regulator Postcomm and plans due for implementation in four weeks to remove the Royal Mail's Presstream system from price control. A delegation of industry figures, representing the Periodical Publishers' Association, delivered what they called "damning new evidence" to Postcomm last week to urge the regulator that its proposal has "no sound basis" and should be re-evaluated.

December 5, 2005 -- According to the E-Business Executive Daily, "The United States Postal Service (USPS) doesn't have the best public image. For example, thanks to a number of workplace violence incidents (notably in the 1980s) the unfortunate phrase "going postal" has entered our vocabulary. But anyone who deals frequently with USPS should have noticed that the organization has become increasingly customer-friendly. This is particularly true on the Internet front."

December 4, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "FedEx Corp. will increase the standard list rates for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery by an average of 3.9 percent, effective Jan. 2, the company announced on Friday. This is in addition to other changes to FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery surcharges." See also the FedEx press release.

Deceber 4, 2005 -- The National Association of Letter Carriers has told its members that: "The NALC e-Activists worked very hard to help pass Postal Reform, but also to defeat a number of anti-worker amendments. One of the amendments was offered by Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and would have required within the legislation a five-year privatization pilot program, specifically to study alternate means of delivery. Despite Congressman Flake's determination to pass his amendment, it was defeated 379-51! It seems that Congressman Flake has not given up. In an October 25th letter to Postal Service Board of Governors Chairman James C. Miller III, Congressman Flake expresses his interest in pursuing privatization further and even asks for USPS help in doing so. In light of this new development I am asking you to once again let Congressman Flake know that we oppose any attempt to privatize the Postal Service."

December 4, 2005 -- ThisIsMoney has reported that "the price of 30p first class stamps will rise by 7p or 8p over the next four years, it will be announced on Wednesday. The price rise will allow Royal Mail to make a contribution to its ·4bn pension deficit and help to fund a ·2bn investment programme."

December 4, 2005 -- The Guardian has reported that "Postal regulator PostComm is expected to throw a lifeline to financially stretched Royal Mail this week in the form of an unexpectedly generous agreement on future stamp prices. Royal Mail argued at first for 47p, but reduced this to 39p. It is understood that PostComm, under chief executive Sarah Chambers, has accepted that Royal Mail's ability to discharge its 'one price goes anywhere' duties could be compromised by too harsh an agreement. It is thought that she will announce the price will rise to 36p or 37p with the increase being 'front-end loaded'. This would mean that Royal Mail would get the money earlier to address its pension difficulties.S"

December 3, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

• The Postal Service saw a decline in total mail volume of 3.5 percentfor the first month of the Postal Service's new fiscal year. USPS netincome for October was $276 million, $144 million under plan.
• After a second notice from the Postal Service about possible changesto mail processing operations, American Postal Workers Union PresidentWilliam Burrus says his union will fight the USPS' latest proposal toclose facilities or consolidate operations.
• The U.S. State Department recently held a public briefing on currentUniversal Postal Union issues including the terminal dues agreement thatwill take effect January 1. It also laid out developments on major issuesduring this past year and the goals it has set for 2006.
• The USPS is planing to go around the world six times this holidayseason. Well, thatµs not quite true, but if you took all the mail thePostal Service will deliver on Dec. 19 the busiest mailing day andplaced end to end, it would circle the globe six times. Total mail volumeon that day is expected to top 900 million pieces, up more than 200million pieces from an average day.
• Consumer activist Ralph Nader recently wrote to Postmaster GeneralJack Potter about the Postal Service's apparent reluctance to promoteParcel Post service to customers.
• Direct mail consultant Cary Baer ponders the potential for passage ofthe critical financial elements of postal reform legislation.
• This Alaskan editorial opposes the Postal Service's plan to cut theFairbanks area out of the bypass mail system.
• USPS Board of Governors facing five vacancies. Federal Register:International mail new postal rates and fees. Marshall Islands maildelayed five months. USPS delivering letters from Santa for almost acentury.
• Price controls on hold; British watchdogs take hits. Irish union callsoff strike threat at An Post. British periodical publishers pushparliament to punt.
   

Who handles the distribution of the PostCom Bulletin?
 Why, it's NETGRAM, of course. Read more about it.

December 3, 2005 -- As the Patriot-News has reported, "Ho, ho, whoa. The reaction by the senders could be even less festive, especially if they are among the 30,000 to 40,000 people annually who, after buying insurance for their packages, see their claims rejected by the United States Postal Service. One out of four customers who file claims gets no insurance payout, according to Postal Service records. More than 99.7 percent of the 51 million insured packages mailed each year make it to their destinations undamaged, Postal Service officials said. Of the 139,022 insurance claims filed last year, 106,519, or 76 percent, were approved. That means 32,503 were left holding the box and its broken contents."

December 3, 2005 -- The latest National Association of Postal Supervisors Legislative Update has been posted on the NAPS website.

December 3, 2005 -- Neue Zurcher Zeitung has reported that "Switzerland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could increase by about two per cent if services were liberalised in five sectors, according to a new report. The study, published by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), comes as debate rages over the government's stake in telecoms operator Swisscom. The electricity sector would have the most to gain from liberalisation, according to the report's authors. The effects would be less noticeable in the telecommunications sector, postal services, rail transport and insurance. The study compares the degree of liberalisation of the services sector in Switzerland and the European Union's 15 most economically advanced states."

December 3, 2005 -- The Business has reported that "Firms such as Pitney Bowes, with a market value of $9.62bn (·5.56bn, E8.20bn), will be looking for more opportunities in the British market along with France's Neopost, and -Francotyp-Postalia of Germany. Pitney Bowes is a good example of an old-fashioned company that has transformed its business to capitalise on the diverse ways we receive our messages. It is more commonly associated with inventing the franking machine and has now diversified into data management, electronic billing and commercial printing. The Royal Mail is also modernising but not at the same pace."

December 2, 2005 -- KLFY-TV has reported that "Some residents in the New Orleans area and elsewhere in south Louisiana may soon begin receiving three-month-old mail that sat in floodwaters inside of deluged post offices and collection boxes. The Postal Service recovered about 90-thousand pieces of damaged mail from Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, Saint Bernard, Saint Tammany and a handful of other parishes affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Spokesman Dave Lewin says the amount is a small fraction of the six (m) million to eight (m) million pieces that were handled daily in the New Orleans area before the storms. After spending so much time under such soggy conditions, only about 30 percent of the recovered mail has been deemed deliverable." See also BizNewOrleans and the Times Picayune.

December 2, 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.

December 2, 2005 -- Business Mailers Review has reported that: (The BMR website is undergoing reconstruction.)

• Despite a big push in advertising and promo- tions of a range of products, the Postal Service expects holiday season deliveries to remain flat for the third year in a row at about 20 billion cards, letters and packages.
• Six months after the Postal Service began a major effort to clamp down on misuse of Postal Service property by Extraterritorial Offices of Exchange (ETOEs), the problem still exists al- though some ETOEs are said to be cooperating. The Postal Inspection Service already has moved through two distinct efforts to seize USPS property being used by ETOEs. Attention was focused on major sites in New York, San Francisco and elsewhere.
• The U.S. delegation to the Universal Postal Union (UPU) is hoping to get this international organization to help address a growing problem in international mail: the illegal mailing of ana- bolic steroids to the United States.
• USPS in recent weeks took some additional steps in consolidating some or all the functions of 16 postal facilities around the country, although mailers are confused about how this information is coming out and how the process works. Many mailers first learned of the plans through the American Postal Workers Union website, which indicated the APWU was notified by elec- tronic message that AMP (Area Mail Processing) studies would be conducted for these 16 sites a mixture of post offices and processing and distribu- tion centers.
• Annual increases in rates capped at the consumer price index, a centerpiece of House and Senate postal reform legislation, are hailed as an important step in simplifying ratemaking and giving industry predictable, relatively modest increases. But Joel Thomas, executive director of the National Assn. of Presort Mailers, points out that the constraints on single-piece First Class Mail imposed by an absolute cap could be costly if the legislation doesn't adequately address them.
• On Dec. 6, the same day Pitney Bowes Chairman and CEO Mike Critelli rings the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, his company will also unveil its new strategic business plan to tap into the $250 billion market called the mailstream. "One of our purposes is to help spotlight the mail channel," Critelli said, "and to make the mail that is sent much more impactful." Critelli strongly believes that marketing can grow the mail business.

Business Mailer's Review is an award-winning, independent biweekly newsletter covering issues of importance to the business mailer. It is regularly cited as among the best sources of postal information. For subscription information, check the BMR web site.

December 2, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "DHL's management in China has indicated that growth in its international express volumes will slow in 2005. Greater China and Korea General Manager, Jerry Hsu, said that after exceptional growth of between 50-60% in 2004 DHL will see lower, although still robust, rates of between 35-40% a year for the next few years."

December 2, 2005 -- The Financial Times has noted that "French banks long feared competition would come from abroad. So they busily constructed (often with state help) defensive mergers among themselves to forestall foreign takeovers. But now, they suddenly find themselves bitten in the ankle from behind by the state itself. For the government has pushed its postal service, La Poste, into setting up a banking subsidiary as a full competitor in the lucrative mortgage market. The country's four main commercial banks have now cried foul to Brussels about this new Banque Postale using its special advantages to distort competition."

December 2, 2005 -- According to Online Media Daily, "A MAJORITY OF CONSUMERS WANT their financial services providers to offer additional e-mail-based privacy- and security-related services, according to a Compete Consumer survey released Thursday. A full 73 percent of respondents said it is important that financial services providers keep them informed of such issues. Compete based its results on a total of 729 unique surveys completed by consumers online. Specifically, 80 percent of respondents would like to be notified when their credit report is accessed, and 70 percent said they would like to be informed whenever their credit card is used. Seventy-six percent of respondents said that e-mail was their preferred method of receiving information about new products or promotions, while less than one quarter--17 percent--expressed interest in an offline method of information delivery, whether that would be postal mail or phone."

December 2, 2005 -- The Shetland Times has reported that "THE GOVERNMENT should consider abolishing Postwatch, the postal service consumer watchdog, isles MP Alistair Carmichael said this week."

December 2, 2005 -- AP Worldwide has reported that "A Greek man was charged on Thursday in the northern city of Thessaloniki with mailing large quantities of banned anabolic steroids to recipients in at least 10 foreign countries, authorities said." U.S. postal inspectors say this is a growing issue for the U.S. Postal Service.

December 2, 2005 -- From the Business Wire: "The Independent Association of Mail Box Center owners (IAMCO), and another group, the Platinum Shield Association (PSA), brought suit against United Parcel Service/Mail Boxes Etc (UPS/MBE) in 2003. Both groups brought suit following the unilateral efforts by UPS to convert the MBE brand stores to The UPS Store (TUPSS). UPS appears to have their hands full in legal battles with their franchisees. According to a recent article written by Janet Sparks and published by Franchise Times in their November-December 2005 issue, "the current legal problems in The UPS Store/Mail Boxes Etc. system are becoming a major headache for UPS, which acquired the MBE system for $192 million in 2001."

December 2, 2005 -- Reuters has reported that "United Parcel Service Inc., the world's largest package delivery company, is counting on robust economic growth and rising trade between countries in Asia to boost its presence in India, its regional president said. Mail Boxes Etc., a UPS company, opened the first The UPS Store outside North America in the heart of Mumbai's business district on Thursday, in a franchise agreement with Jetair Business Solutions Ltd. The UPS Store provides office supplies and shipping and other services to small- and medium-size businesses and mobile workers. It will also offer ticketing for Jet Airways Ltd., a group company of Jetair."

December 2, 2005 -- According to the American Postal Workers Union, "In an action that could have serious safety implications, the USPS has applied for an exemption from a Department of Transportation rule that limits the number of hours that drivers can spend at work. If the waiver is approved, Highway Contract Route (HCR) drivers would be permitted to drive more than 11 hours in a day and could be at work (driving and on standby) in excess of 14 hours. HCR drivers work for private mail-carriers under contract with the USPS. The request for the waiver may also be part of USPS efforts to reconfigure mail-processing operations. The change would give the Postal Service more flexibility in its consolidation efforts, allowing it to merge operations in plants that are even farther apart. In that case, an exemption from the hours-of-service rule would impact all APWU crafts."

December 2, 2005 -- As the Los Angeles Daily News has noted, "Volunteers have sorted through letters on Thursday at a California postal facility, and will post some Santa letters on bulletin boards at the clubs where members can help buy food and gifts. The post office is looking for more volunteers to review this year's Santa's letters and buy some presents. About 1,500 letters have already come through the facility. Last year about 10,000 letters arrived at the Franklin Parkway facility and volunteers responded to 7,000 of them, said Stacia Crane, consumer affairs manager. Usually volunteer turnout is high during the start of the season, but tapers down as Christmas nears. But that's often when a bulk of letters arrive from children writing at the last minute, she said. Those interested in volunteering may call the U.S. Postal Service Consumer Affairs office at (661) 775-6681."

December 2, 2005 -- The Sequoyah County Times has reported that "Delays on out-of-state newspaper deliveries have prompted complaints from Your TIMES subscribers. Your TIMES has received over 25 complaints this fall from out-of-state subscribers about newspapers not arriving or being delayed for weeks. Those subscribers aren't just from one state, but span across the country and include subscribers in California, Florida, Virginia, and Texas. "We have received more complaints since September than the entire time I've been doing this," Laura Barnes, Your TIMES circulation coordinator, said."

December 2, 2005 -- The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has reported that "The annual brouhaha over whether it's Christmas or "the holidays" spilled over into the U.S. Postal Service this week, with the Internet and public conversation awash with horror that no new religiously themed stamp was printed for the 2005 season. Since 1966, the Postal Service has issued a Christmas stamp that includes the Madonna and Christ child, listed as "traditional" stamps, using classic works of art. Last year's reproduced a painting by 15th-century Italian artist Lorenzo Monaco. The religious stamp usually is accompanied by a separate printing of nonreligious Christmas stamps. This year's theme: Christmas cookies."

December 2, 2005 -- According to KFOX-TV, "The Las Cruces mail delivery problem KFOX was first to tell you about is getting the attention of a U.S. senator. Jeff Bingaman requested to meet with the postmaster general to talk about the mail delays. Bingaman's office has received numerous complaints from Las Cruces residents. As KFOX reported, some residents have complained payments are taking up to three weeks to get to businesses -- resulting in late charges for the customers. Bingaman says the delays may be a result of a reorganization the postal region underwent in June. Mail is now being processed in El Paso instead of Albuquerque." So much for "under the radar screen."

December 2, 2005 -- As DM News has noted, "Standard mail remains a leading growth category for the U.S. Postal Service, officials said last week, despite operating statements showing that Standard saw the largest decrease of all mail categories in October. For the first month of the postal service's fiscal 2006 (covering Oct. 1-31, 2005), Standard mail volume of 9.65 billion pieces was down 4.5 percent versus the first month of fiscal 2005 (Oct. 1-31, 2004), when volume reached 10.1 billion. That drop is an anomaly, USPS spokesman Jim Quirk said, because "last year was an election year, so there was a lot of campaign mail surrounding that." Standard mail is still strong, he added, "and we expect it to continue to be strong." The decrease was surprising given that from Oct. 1, 2004, to Aug. 31, 2005, the most significant volume increase was in Standard mail, which jumped 5.9 percent. And for fiscal year 2005, Standard mail volume exceeded First Class for the first time in history."

December 2, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin has reported that "Royal Mail is starting its nine-month long Pricing in Proportion communications programme with a mailing to direct marketing agencies, printing companies, mailing houses, charities, home shopping companies and publishers." See also the Retail Bulletin.

December 2, 2005 -- PostCom...featured at the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

December 2, 2005 -- According to Butler Mailing Services president Todd Butler, "The Postal Service does not require automation compatible mail; it requires mail that is compatible with DMM regulations. Postal management refuses to require automation compatible mail from its CD/DVD customers."

December 2, 2005 -- As the International Herald Tribune has noted, "A group of leading French banks said Thursday that they had appealed a decision by the French regulator approving plans of the state-owned mail service La Poste to open its own bank in January 2006. The move, which is sure to intensify competition in the country's banking industry, comes as other countries like Japan are seeking to break up the financial power of their post offices." See also the Financial Times.

December 2, 2005 -- The Star has reported that "POS Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd's (PSH) results for the third quarter ended Sept 30 were above market expectations, AmResearch Sdn Bhd said in a note yesterday. The research outfit believed this achievement was mainly due to the RM13.2mil write-back of tax over-provision in previous years that was recognised during the quarter under review."

December 2, 2005 -- Arab News has reported that "The regional adviser to the Universal Postal Union, which is based in Bern, Switzerland, has praised the Kingdom's efforts to privatize and improve postal services in the country. Negib Boulares spoke to Arab News at the launch of the Saudi Postal Corporation's "Wasel" postal distribution system in Jeddah at a press conference held at the Hilton Hotel here yesterday. The new delivery system, which was launched earlier this year in Riyadh, will enable subscribers who pay an annual fee to receive mail at their doorstep using mailboxes in front of their homes. "After the implementation of this system every person in Saudi Arabia will be able to receive their mail as the system covers every point in the entire Kingdom," said Boulares."

December 2, 2005 -- ATM Marketplace has reported that "eFunds Corp. will provide payment-processing switching services, debit-gateway processing and back-office solutions for the U.S. Postal Service."

December 2, 2005 -- The RFID Journal has reported that "Looking to improve the monitoring and management of its operations, Australia Post is set to track special RFID-tagged test envelopes as they are processed by its domestic mail service. The system uses the same technology the mail carrier has already deployed to track its international mail operations."

December 2, 2005 -- The Robson Valley Times has reported that "Last week the Canadian Union of Postal Workers sent letters to newspaper editors across the country suggesting that rural post offices could be closed and the postal service further privatized."

December 2, 2005 -- dBusiness News has reported that "B WE BELL + HOWELL, the world's leading provider of document processing and postal solutions, announced that John Sadler has joined the organization as director, Postal Relations."

December 2, 2005 -- In a letter to Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO), National Association of Letter Carriers president William Young urged the senator "to reconsider your approach to S.662, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2005. Specifically, I ask that you lift hte hold you have placed on this bill and allow it to come to a fair, up-or-down vote in the Senate." See also the U.S. Newswire.

December 2, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "TNT and Norbert Dentressangle signed an agreement on the sale of the majority of French subsidiary TNT Logistics Holdings SAS's contract logistics operations and some of its transportation activities. Discussions are continuing on the sale of the remainder of TNT's French logistics transportation business."

December 1, 2005 -- The Washington Post has noted that "The European Union wants to streamline customs rules for imports and exports with an electronic system that is predicted to boost trade by $59 billion a year. The European Commission, the E.U. executive agency in Brussels, proposed that customs filings be submitted electronically in a common format by 2009. The system would integrate customs, security, and animal and environmental controls at the border to let companies ship goods anywhere to or from the 25-nation bloc under a single filing by 2012."

December 1, 2005 -- The Roanoke Times wonders whether recent postal news represents "Postal pain or pleasant postponement?"

December 1, 2005 -- As Air Cargo World has noted, "the skyrocketing growth in air cargo traffic in 2004 was followed by a loud thump in 2005. After celebrating the industry's best year of growth since 1997 last year, air freight fell rapidly back to earth this year. Growth in 2005 did not just fail to repeat last year's high level; global air freight traffic basically stagnated in 2005 as fuel prices soared and air cargo moved, in many instances, to less expensive ocean and ground alternatives."

December 1, 2005 -- The Motley Fool has asked: "Can FedEx Deliver?"

December 1, 2005 -- AFP has reported that "France's planned Postal Bank received official operating authorization Wednesday, allowing it to serve some 28 million clients who currently use the financial services of the postal system. The bank, expected to begin operations by January 1, 2006 at the latest, won approval from the CECEI, a committee that supervises the activities of credit and investment establishments. In a swift response, four leading French banks said in a joint statement they would bring the matter before the European Union's executive commission, arguing that "the creation of the Postal Bank will introduce multiple competition distortions."

December 1, 2005 -- In a letter to Postmaster General John Potter, consumer advocate Ralph Nader wrote:

As you know, Parcel Post was introduced almost a century ago to betterserve the American people. (Lest we forget, it was introduced becauseparcel delivery companies' adherence to strictly profit generatingprinciples was denying good service to large areas of the nation.)Regrettably, it appears that there currently may be a policy which isintended to make Parcel Post "invisible" to patrons. I was recentlysurprised to discover that the "2005 Holiday Shipping and Mailing Guide"gives shipping deadlines for Global Priority Mail, Global Express Mail,Global Express Guaranteed, Priority Mail, and Express Mail, but not ParcelPost.

It has also been brought to my attention that postal clerks are nowbeing instructed not to mention the term "Parcel Post" to patrons. A clerkhas even been suspended for making a patron aware of Parcel Post beforetrying to push them to use more expensive shipping options. Apparently onemanager has claimed that "not offering Parcel Post will.improve customersatisfaction." I hope this statement does not reflect the position of thePostal Service on this matter. To state the obvious: in numerous instancesnot offering Parcel Post constitutes bad customer service, because veryoften customers' budgets and time-frames for delivery make Parcel Post theservice that would best meet their needs. Can you explain what's going onhere regarding not including Parcel Post in the Mailing Guide and notmentioning it orally at customer service counters or on the telephone?

December 1, 2005 -- The News-Enterprise has reported that "A possible plan to downsize the post office's staff and get rid of its two sorting machines could mean later mail service, said Dennis Holbert, president of the local American Postal Workers Union."

December 1, 2005 -- The Yakima Herald has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service will study the efficiency of outgoing mail processing operations at the Yakima post office, which postal unions warn could lead to consolidation, reduced service, reassignment of employees and possibly layoffs. "The reason for the study is to address the continuing decline of mail volume and the need to eliminate excess capacity while improving efficiency," Dale Zinser, Seattle district manager, wrote in a Nov. 23 letter to the head of the state mail-handlers union. Zinser's letter doesn't say when the Yakima study will start or be completed. He also noted that his letter "is not intended as notice of future changes in mail processing, and is not a notice of impact to employees."

December 1, 2005 -- According to Gulf Times, "IN a major initiative to capitalise on the 15th Asian Games, Doha, 2006, the General Postal Corporation, Q-Post, has decided to launch a series of CDs on the country. An agreement has been struck with a media firm to produce the CDs. Q-Post chairman Ali Mohamed al-Ali said the initiative would help the corporation market the country abroad, with special focus on the 15th Asian Games."

December 1, 2005 -- MediaWeek has reported that "The Periodical Publishers Association has warned parliament that the post watchdog Postcomm's liberalisation of the service is too fast and "ill considered".

December 1, 2005 -- GM.TV has reported that "A new survey claims the postal service is failing a large number of us. A quarter of us have suffered lost or damaged post in the last year - these are the worrying results of a survey by Which? magazine. The consumer magazine asked a thousand adults about their postal experiences in September and found that the service is worse than the Royal Mail's own figures, which claim that 99.9% of mail arrives safely." See also The Independent.

December 1, 2005 -- Federal Times has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is pulling out all the usual stops this year as well as a few extra ones to encourage mailing during what has always been the agency's most profitable quarter. Charles Guy, adjunct fellow at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., and former director of the Postal Service's Office of Economic and Strategic Planning, said he suspected the effort would yield limited returns."