June 30, 2006 -- Logistics Management has reported that "FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, and the French Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs (FOECA), have teamed up in an effort to strengthen trade and investment between France and the United States. The FedEx role in the initiative will be to generate awareness among its customers about the benefits of the FOECA export assistance network present in six cities within the U.S.—Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The initiative also includes joint export promotion that links customer seminars, sales force training, and direct marketing campaigns."

June 30, 2006 -- CNN Money has reported that "eFunds serves 9,000 banks in 85 countries and the 100 top retailers in the U.S. More than half of its sales come from managing electronic-payment transactions - think ATM withdrawals, debit cards, and prepaid gift, payroll, transit and phone cards. eFunds also provides outsourcing services like customer support, IT, and collections. It expanded a relationship with the U.S. Postal Service to provide payment and back-office services at 34,000 locations."

June 30, 2006 -- According to the New York Times:

• A LEADING forecaster of advertising spending has lowered his estimate for growth in the United States in 2006. The forecaster, Robert J. Coen, attributed the reduction to the continuing weakness in demand for ads in local media, along with soft demand from national advertisers in media like newspapers. Mr. Coen, senior vice president and forecasting director at Universal McCann in New York, estimated that ad spending this year would increase by 5.6 percent from 2005. His two previous forecasts, made in June and December of last year, called for increases of 5.8 percent.
• THE great eyeball chase is back in full swing. And it does not matter that the eyeballs may not be buying anything. With online advertising revenues growing quickly, new information-rich sites of all kinds are mushrooming across the Web.

June 30, 2006 -- In a postal perspective published in Direct magazine, Mailers Council executive director Robert McLean said that "The U.S. Postal Service has a problem: It needs to improve customer relations. But that's a tall order given the uncertainty of postal reform legislation passage, the new rate case and the promise of large annual increases because of the escrow account issue. What can it do? The answer is quite simple from the mailer's perspective: Publish preparation makeup standards and rules accompanying the rate case now."

June 30, 2006 -- According to the Morning News, "LaBarge Inc.'s Huntsville employees soon will begin building new mail sorting equipment for the United States Postal Service under a $10.7 million contract with Northrop Grumman Corp."

June 30, 2006 -- Moneyweb has reported that "The Department of Communications is consulting widely with various stakeholders in the postal and related sectors to inform the process of drafting the Postal Services Amendment Bill, which started this year. The road shows started last week in the Western Cape and are scheduled to end in mid-July. The Department is utilising such engagements as information gathering sessions to allow the stakeholders to submit comments that would help inform the Bill that will be tabled in Parliament later this year."

June 30, 2006 -- The European Commission has published its reports on:

• The impact on Universal service of the full market accomplishment of the postal internal market in 2009
• Main developments in the postal sector (2004-2006)

June 30, 2006 -- As the Kansas City Star has noted, "UPS, the biggest delivery company in the world, has begun to see the fruits of a $600 million technology investment that began three years ago. Known as package-flow technologies, the system is designed to make loading and delivering packages more efficient for UPS and to cut fuel costs by reducing mileage."

June 29, 2006 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site

June 29, 2006 -- In its most recent DMM Advisory, the Postal Service said that it has "received a number of questions about the details of our pricing proposal. We will use the DMM Advisory to clarify some of the issues raised by these questions. The Advisory issued June 1 addressed the Periodicals per-container rate, the Standard Mail Not Flat-Machinable (NFM) category, OneCode ACS, and automation letters. In this Advisory, we cover questions about Standard Mail, as well as other topics that are not part of our pricing proposal." Be sure to also review the "Not Flat Machinable" graphic that's been posted on this site. (Docket No. R2006-1)

June 29, 2006 -- The Postal Rate Commission has posted the Postal Service's responses to Presiding Officers Information Request No. 5 on the PRC web site. (Docket No. R2006-1)

June 27, 2006 -- According to Traffic World, "TNT says it is still in talks with Japan Post to create a joint venture in international express. Despite reports in the Japanese press that the discussions may be ending, other options in Japan for building TNT's network are limited."

June 27, 2006 -- According to the Journal of Commerce, "UPS and rivals FedEx Corp. and DHL Express all said they were keeping their July monthly fuel surcharges on air packages at the same levels as in June -- 16 percent for UPS and FedEx, 18 percent for DHL. However, all three raised their U.S. fuel surcharges on ground package shipments based on recent moves in diesel prices. UPS and FedEx both pegged their trucking fuel fees at 4.75 percent in July, up from 4.25 percent in June. DHL's ground fee will rise to 4.8 percent from 4.3 percent."

June 27, 2006 -- The U.S. Postal Service has announced that tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. it will hold a press conference on enhanced an Postal Service, UPS business relationship.

June 27, 2006 -- The Association for Postal Commerce welcomes its newest member:

Sun Trust Bank represented by Ms. Dale Hyde Vice President, Distribution Services

June 27, 2006 -- Life Style Extra has reported that "UK postal group Royal Mail said it has appointed the finance chief of nuclear technology company Westinghouse as its new finance director. Royal Mail said in a statement that it has recruited Ian Duncan, chief financial officer and senior vice president of Westinghouse, as its new group finance director from Sept 1."

June 27, 2006 -- From PR Newswire: "Symbol Technologies, Inc., The Enterprise Mobility Company(TM), and its Premier Solutions Partner, Concord Unity International Limited, have been selected by China Post to supply RFID technology to track express mail bags within the postal district of Shanghai (Shanghai Post). RFID technology has been successfully deployed in the Shanghai Post Express Mail Service (EMS) operations, and is part of an on-going national pilot project co-sponsored by China's Ministry of Science and Technology to validate the benefits of RFID within China Post's operations."

June 27, 2006 -- Shippers Newswire has reported that "FedEx has agreed to assist the French Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs (FOECA) to boost trade between small- and medium-sized French and U.S. shippers. FedEx said its role in the initiative will be to generate awareness among its customers about the benefits of the FOECA export assistance network present in six U.S. cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington. The initiative also includes joint export promotion that links customer seminars, sales force training and direct marketing campaigns."

June 27, 2006 -- IT Backbones Barcode News has reported that "Royal Mail Group Chief Executive Adam Crozier is cutting the ribbon in Newark today, opening a new e-commerce centre for long-standing barcode and logistics supplier The Barcode Warehouse. During the event, The Barcode Warehouse will show Royal Mail how the latest logistics technologies, such as RFID and tray labelling, can help deliver the postal system of the future."

June 27, 2006 -- The Salt Lake Tribune has noted that "The U.S. Postal Service has designated Mail It LLC of Taylorsville as its first "approved shipper" in Utah. As part of a new program intended to ease traffic at post offices, Mail It can now offer commonly requested postal products and services."

June 27, 2006 -- AllAfrica.com has reported that "The Southern African Postal Operators Association (SAPOA) has been urged to strive to meet the challenges of survival amid mounting technological challenges that have eaten away at their traditional postal services. This challenge was sounded in Dar es Salaam recently at a meeting of member postal services of the Southern African region. The postal services operators were advised to explore business opportunities brought about by the massive technological changes in the communication industry."

June 27, 2006 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "Japan Post decided Monday to scrap a planned partnership with Dutch freighter TNT N.V. as the two parties were unable to iron out differences in the scope of international services. Japan Post, which has no experience in international services, insisted that the operation should only cover deliveries originating and arriving in Japan. TNT initially favored it, but later proposed that the service should cover deliveries originating and arriving throughout Asia. The TNT plan was hard to accept for the postal operator because the broader service would boost its investment in the joint venture sharply."

June 27, 2006 -- Gulf News has reported that "Various UAE companies will invest Dh11 billion ($3 billion) including a Dh10 billion cyber city in Syria in the coming years. Dr Khalifa Bakhit Al Falasi, chairman of Global Investment Group, and Dr Amr Salem, Syrian Minister of Communication and Technology, signed the agreement. "We discussed a project related to establishing an Internet City in Syria, as well as developing the Syrian postal services, where the country accommodates about 800 post offices, and we are seeking to benefit from the UAE's experience in developing the work of these offices so as to benefit from such networks, and to generate revenues."

June 27, 2006 -- The Courier Mail has reported that "AUSTRALIA Post workers have been ordered by the federal industrial tribunal not to attend national rallies tomorrow against the Government's workplace changes. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) today upheld a directive from Australia Post that unauthorised absence to attend the rallies was illegal. Australia Post has issued a statement saying it had no objection to staff attending the rally in their own time, but industrial action by staff during work hours was illegal under a 2004 enterprise agreement.:

June 27, 2006 -- From PR Newswire: "A coalition of 9 associations from the U.S., Europe and Canada, representing a range of service industries, today jointly submitted comments to two Japanese government agencies calling on the government to ensure "equivalent conditions of competition" prior to any expansion by Japan's postal financial business companies. In the comments, the coalition also called for "a clear, predictable, and transparent process" in the privatization of Japan Post. The associations are the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, American Council of Life Insurers, American Insurance Association, Association of British Insurers, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, Coalition of Service Industries, European Business Council in Japan, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and U.S. Japan Business Council."

June 27, 2006 -- From the Federal Register: "In this proposed rule, the Postal ServiceTM proposes to revise the content of Title 39, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 501 (39 CFR 501), Authorization to Manufacture and Distribute Postage Meters."

June 27, 2006 -- The BBC has noted that "Up to 136,000 postal workers are to be balloted on strike action after pay negotiations broke down. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) made the decision after it failed to reach an agreement with the Royal Mail."

June 27, 2006 -- From PRWeb: "Private Postal Services http://www.private-services.com have just released their public version of their Postal Mail System. Their new system will allow anyone from around the world to have their own virtual address, which will ensure total security and privacy. Private Postal Services operate under S M Tech Ltd, which is 100% solely based in New Zealand."

June 26, 2006 -- The Yomiuri Shimbun has reported that "Japan Post plans to sue a Tokyo-based direct mail firm for 2.7 billion yen in damages incurred by Nagaoka Post Office in Niigata Prefecture as a result of an illicit deal with the firm, Japan Post sources said Monday. The postal service will file suit against Shibuya Ward, Tokyo-based Mac & Cinq Co. and its subsidiary, according to the sources. Japan Post has said the post office failed to collect fees because the direct-mail firm had declared a smaller amount of mail than was actually sent. The direct mail firm, however, said it planned to contest the allegations as it had received the discount based on an agreement with the branch officials."

June 26, 2006 -- The Boston Globe has reported that "After years of delay, an $82 million U.S. Postal Service mail distribution center that became the focus of tough competition between Lewiston-Auburn and the Greater Portland area will open July 8 in Scarborough."

June 26, 2006 -- DefenseTech.org has reported that "Triumphs of common sense can be few and far-between, when you're dealing with the management of Los Alamos National Lab. So let's all get out of chairs and do a little victory jig: The U.S. Postal Service has backed out of a plan to help the nuclear weapons mecca fund a 400,000 square-foot "Science Center," off the books." See also the Los Alamos Monitor.

June 26, 2006 -- Financial Times Deutschland has reported that "Many post offices of Deutsche Post, the German postal service provider, may no longer sell the financial services of the group's banking subsidiary, Deutsche Postbank, in future. The company has said that it has long been examining whether financial services in the 7,500 post offices were paying off, but has dismissed fears that 1,000 offices could be affected as from the coming year, and has said that the number of branches to be shed has not yet been decided."

June 26, 2006 -- The New York Times has reported that "a United Parcel Service delivery truck the government rolled out in Washington last week was equipped with a prototype hybrid system using hydraulic fluid and a high-pressure pump instead of electrical current and a generator. In this design, energy is stored in a series of pressurized tanks, rather than in nickel-metal hydride or lithium-ion batteries; the energy moves not as high voltage current in copper wires but as hydraulic fluid pressurized to thousands of pounds per square inch."

June 26, 2006 -- SocalTech.com has reported that "Los Angeles-based Stamps.com is promoting a new contest that gives its users a chance to display their own custom postage at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum."

June 26, 2006 -- A National Academy of Public Administration essay by Murray Comarow has been posted on this site. It is a sequel to his April essay, “How Not to Reform Government,” that generated an unusual number of reactions, pro and con.  Some reactions fell into neither category, but were openly puzzled about the complex vectors generated by Congress, the Administration, the Postal Service, mailers, unions, competitors, and more."

June 26, 2006 -- As one writer for the Wall Street Journal has noted, "When you're buying books or CDs at 3 a.m., you may exult that you're living in the digital age. But a couple of days later, after those books or CDs arrive, you may have a different thought: Gee, I live in the cardboard age. A not very intensive week of e-commerce had generated perhaps 50 square feet worth of cardboard. If more packaging is making it all the way down the supply chain to consumers, odds are less of it is getting recycled."

June 26, 2006 -- The Great Lakes Radio Consortium's Rebecca Williams reports that "If it seems like your mailbox is stuffed with more shiny credit card offers and catalogs than ever before, you're right. The US Postal Service says the volume of advertising mail outpaced first class mail for the first time last year. City waste managers and environmental groups are concerned that all that mail is going to add up to a lot more waste."

June 26, 2006 -- As the New York Times noted, "The art of letter writing is limping along at best. The Postal Service acknowledges that the personal letter appears to be going the way of the telegram. Its latest study, in 2004, found that personal mail has dropped off by about a third in the past 25 years, to about 1.1 pieces a week per household. The Postal Service noted the "continuing shift in household preference toward electronic alternatives to mail. The advent of e-mail in the 1990s accelerated the decline of letter writing by making communication rapid, painless and impersonal. Cell phones, text- and instant-messaging facilitated instantaneous connections. Those developments continued the drift away from the niceties of correct grammar, paragraph development and elegant, or at least legible, penmanship, etiquette experts say."

June 26, 2006 -- SmartMoney.com has reported that "Air cargo operator Transmile Group Bhd. has signed a deal to distribute parcels and mail for DHL across Asia, the two companies said Monday in a statement. The statement confirms a Dow Jones Newswires report Friday citing a source that the Malaysian company and the unit of Deutsche Post AG will extend an existing relationship to a five-year contract Monday. Transmile suspended trading in its shares Friday pending news of a contract with "strategic partner."

June 26, 2006 -- Moneycontrol.com has reported that "Express-delivery service DHL Express denied on Monday that it had plans to buy a strategic stake in Malaysian air cargo firm Transmile Group Bhd."

June 26, 2006 -- The Guardian has reported that "The Communication Workers Union is expected to take a step closer to its biggest confrontation with Royal Mail in a decade by calling a ballot on industrial action later today which could lead to the first national postal strike since 1996. The union is at loggerheads with Royal Mail over its decision to impose a 2.9% pay deal, which it had rejected. The CWE is also concerned about the possibility of big job losses, increases in part-time working and Royal Mail's plans to offer up to 20% of the shares in the company to workers - a move the CWU regards as backdoor privatisation."

June 25, 2006 -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported that "Package shipping firms long have resisted the destructive, Internet-inspired price wars that pushed passenger airlines to slash prices below the break-even point. But RedRoller.com, a Web site launched in mid-June that bills itself as a sort of Travelocity for small-package shippers, intends to shake up the staid industry that prides itself on price discipline. RedRoller offers free price and delivery time comparisons of FedEx, DHL and the U.S. Postal Service to individuals and small businesses."

June 25, 2006 -- According to the Associated Press, "Faced with escalating fuel and materials prices, businesses have been forced to pass on those higher costs to customers to save their profits. And for companies like FedEx Corp., the strategy has proven to be a winner. Surcharges have become a chief executive's best weapon in preserving balance sheets. But, the success of these extra fees has been a mixed bag as consumers grow increasingly wary about how far their dollars stretch."

June 25, 2006 -- The Financial Mail has reported that "A THREATENED national postal strike would permanently cripple Royal Mail, giving rivals the chance to poach its business, say company bosses. They believe a week of strike action by the 180,000-strong workforce could cost £600 million, a tenth of annual turnover. It would be the first national strike since the market was opened to competition last year. 'It is not like the old days when we were a monopoly and could quickly recover the business,' one executive told Financial Mail. 'We have calculated that private companies would take advantage of a strike to dramatically increase their market share.' "

June 25, 2006 -- AMEInfo has reported that "Delegates from 19 countries took part in a training workshop on Express Mail Service (EMS) organized by Emirates Post in collaboration with Universal Postal Union (UPU) at the Training & Development Centre, Dubai, from June 17 to 22."

June 25, 2006 -- The Observer has reported that "Postal unions are poised to call for the first national strike in a decade tomorrow after rejecting a pay deal with the Royal Mail following talks last week. The postal executive of the Communication Workers Union is expected to recommend strike action to its 150,000 members when it meets tomorrow. The decision follows intensive talks over a 2.9 per cent pay offer that has been imposed on employees." See also The Independent.

June 25, 2006 -- The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that "The union representing postal workers claims Australia Post is intimidating staff not to attend protest rallies across the country. Unions are organising rallies this week in opposition to the Federal Government's new work place laws."

June 24, 2006 -- Express India has reported that "WITH the country’s economy and econometrics undergoing a churning, the city may soon see postal staff acting as marketing agents to run different schemes of banks."

June 24, 2006 -- The Financial Express has reported that "Seeking to pacify an angry Left, which severely criticised the Nalco and NLC divestments, the UPA government has promised to re-examine tax structure on postal services. Finance minister P Chidambaram is understood to have assured CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Friday to relook at the newly introduced levy on postal services."

June 24, 2006 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site. Main story: "It is widely believed that H.R. 22, the Postal Enhancement and Accountability Act, must be forwarded to President Bush by the August Congressional Recess for the bill to become law. The House is scheduled to leave the suffocating Washington heat at the end of July, and the Senate will follow one week later. That is about 15 legislative days from now."

June 23, 2006 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

• In this commentary, Kristina Rasmussen of the National Taxpayers Union says Congress has more important business than naming post offices, a task she calls “just another form of pork to bring home to local constituents.”
• This article from The American Postal Worker magazine details the union’s views on the postal reform bills now in Congress and the legislative process of the conference committee.
• This editorial from the Natchez (Miss.) Democrat says Congress and USPS management needs to get involved and “lick” the need for the current rate case and other postal problems now.
• New York AG says USPS making illegal cigarette deliveries to minors. Grayhair Software launches USPS R2006 rate comparison service. USPS woos eBAY entrepreneurs to international shipping.
• German price war takes its toll. Amazon: Delivery becomes you. China hopes to win big from post bank stock offering.
• A list of upcoming postal-related events.

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June 23, 2006 -- PostCom Members! The latest issue of PostCom's newest member-only publication, the PostCom Postal Policy Report, has been posted on this site. In this issue: news on the END case; small parcels, media mail, and bound printed matter, a call for input on intermational issues, State Department briefing.

June 23, 2006 -- Azeezaly S. Jaffer, vice president, public affairs and communications, U.S. Postal Service wrote, in a letter to the editor of The Hill, that "The May 9 commentary by Kristina Rasmussen on the naming of post offices (“End the practice of naming post offices”) offers up some misleading information as reasons to end the practice. Phrases such as “bloated work force” and “negligible productivity gains” don’t describe today’s Postal Service."

June 23, 2006 -- The Associated Press has noted that "Bypass mail not only ensured the regular delivery of goods and groceries to 139 remote Alaska villages but also spurred development of a busy air-transport system across the state. So locals worried when the Postal Service recently announced Barrow's bypass mail no longer would be flown directly from Fairbanks, but instead trucked 300 miles up a gravel two-lane supply road to Deadhorse, a settlement for Prudhoe Bay oil workers, then flown the remaining 200 miles to Barrow. Grocers say they have seen a marked difference since the new system went into effect June 5."

June 23, 2006 -- According to the Communication Workers Union, "In the middle of what Royal Mail described as the most important negotiations in the 360 year history of the Company, we have been made aware that local unit reps have been invited to meetings next week with the Royal Mail Chairman under the banner of “Working with the Trade Union”. Although the letter claims that the Deputy General Secretary has personally been invited, this is not true. Nobody in Union Headquarters has been given an invitation and neither were we consulted on the venue or planning of the events."

June 23, 2006 -- WHO-TV has reported that "The US Postmaster General is delaying a decision on whether to move Sioux City's mail processing and distribution center to Sioux Falls. Postmaster General John Potter says no decision will come until the Inspector General of the USPS audits the completed feasibility study -- a step that was announced last week."

June 23, 2006 -- The BBC has reported that:

Royal Mail has launched dual English and Gaelic livery for 71 of its postal vehicles in the Highlands. They serve postcodes where Gaelic is prominent and have been launched in Stornoway in the Western Isles. The move is in response to the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act which was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2005. All vehicles in the Western Isles, Skye and the Ardnamurchan peninsula will have the new livery.
An industry watchdog is to monitor postal prices to allay concerns about rising costs in Guernsey's service. The Office of Utility Regulation said it would watch prices after warnings by the States and consumer group Postwatch that charges needed to rise. A review is examining possible cutbacks in response to mounting bills from the Royal Mail for UK deliveries and under-performing branches.

June 23, 2006 -- AllAfrica.com has reported that "After private operators took over the parcels and packets segment of the postal market in Ghana a few years ago, the money and postal order services of Ghana Post are facing new challenges from private remittance operators. "The Ghana Postal Service has come under formidable siege", is what the former communications minister, Hon. Albert Kan Dapaah, said during the 25th ordinary session of the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU) administrative council meeting in Accra yesterday."

June 23, 2006 -- The St. Petersburg Times has reported that "A powerful local congressman and a critical government audit are pressuring the Postal Service to re-examine its plan to eliminate the city postmark and consolidate the area’s mail sorting in Tampa. Rep. C.W. Bill Young on Thursday echoed city leaders questioning the rationale behind the proposal to eliminate 19 jobs in St. Petersburg and reroute incoming first-class mail to Tampa."

June 23, 2006 -- The Jamaica Observer has reported that "`A new cash remittance service between Guyana and the United States is scheduled to come on stream by the end of the month, according to an official of the Guyana Post Office Corporation."

June 23, 2006 -- The Chicago Tribune has reported that "United Airlines, the passenger carrier that flies the most mail, will lose its domestic contract with the U.S. Postal Service on June 30 because of poor on-time performance. United will still carry international mail, the majority of its mail business. The airline, which has transported U.S. mail for 75 years, declined today to say how much revenue it received from its current three-year Postal Service contract."

June 23, 2006 -- The Hawaii Channel has reported that "Police arrested 12 people on Wednesday in connection with thefts at two post offices earlier this year. Police captured eight men and four women as part of a scheme to cash thousands of dollars in forged money orders that were stolen from the Kaimuki and Aina Haina post offices in January and March. Thieves were able to cash $22,000 in forged money orders before the arrests. Operation Funny Money Order involved 80 officers from the Honolulu Police Department, U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Service."

June 23, 2006 -- According to Turks.US Daily News, "Part of the team that invented the prepaid SIM card was Massimo Sarmi . Now, as CEO of Poste Italiane, the Italian postal service, Sarmi has replicated the idea in financial services. His "Postepay" card, accepted by the Visa Electron network, is a prepaid, rechargeable Visa or MasterCard that is rapidly becoming the credit card surrogate of choice for Italians without plastic, credit ratings, or even bank accounts."

June 22, 2006 -- Rick Borgers (Chief Executive for Digistamp, Inc.) asks readers of the Oroville Mercury Register to "Imagine that you are a small business owner who has invented a new product. After investing time in research, you bring it to market. You land some big customers and start to make money. Just when things are looking up, a competitor copies your product and brings out its own version. It's not just any competitor. This one has massive brand recognition and thousands of outlets. More unusually, it enjoys a federally-enforced monopoly on one of its product lines, from which it can divert profits to fund its new venture. It also receives government subsidies. I am that small business owner, and my new competitor is the U.S. Postal Service."

June 22, 2006 -- Federal Times has reported that "Though the U.S. Postal Service has been ramping up its spending on outside contractors, some industry observers say it will have to outsource even more of its work if it aims to improve efficiency and remain competitive."

June 22, 2006 -- The following reports have been posted on the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General web site:

• Management Advisory – Las Cruces, New Mexico Delayed Mail (Report Number DR-MA-06-001) http://www.uspsoig.gov/foia_files/DR-MA-06-001.pdf
• Management Advisory – Postal Service’s Replacement and Repair of Facilities Affected by Hurricane Katrina (Report Number FA-MA-06-001) http://www.uspsoig.gov/foia_files/FA-MA-06-001.pdf
• Audit Report – Controls Over Noncompetitive Contracts Awarded to Former Postal Service Employees (Report Number CA-AR-06-002) http://www.uspsoig.gov/foia_files/CA-AR-06-002.pdf

June 22, 2006 -- The Atlanta Business Chronicle has reported that "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today unveiled a new urban delivery vehicle that it developed in partnership with United Parcel Service and other companies. The EPA and UPS plan to evaluate the vehicle's fuel economy performance and emissions during a series of tests in 2006. In laboratory testing, the EPA's patented hydraulic hybrid diesel technology achieved a 60 to 70 percent improvement in fuel economy and more than a 40 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, compared to a conventional UPS vehicle."

June 22, 2006 -- RTE Interactive has reported that "Donal Connell has been appointed the new Chief Executive of An Post. Mr. Connell was previously General Manager of Maxtor Ireland, a computer hardware company, and Vice President of Worldwide Supply Chain Operations for 3Com Corporation. He replaces Donall Curtin who is stepping down in July."

June 22, 2006 -- The Monitor has reported that "U.S. Postal Service officials met with area leaders Wednesday in an attempt to counter "myths" about an ongoing study that many worry will lead to costly mail delays."

June 22, 2006 -- DM News has reported that "The Direct Marketing Association announced yesterday that it will partner with the Federal Trade Commission in its "AvoID Theft" campaign. The announcement was made at the 2006 DM Days New York Conference & Expo here. The goal of the campaign, debuted by the FTC in May, is to provide information on how consumers can avoid becoming a victim of identity theft and what to do if they suspect their personal information is being misused."

June 22, 2006 -- Direct magazine has reported that "Though multichannel direct marketing drives more than 10% of the economy, potentially industry-crippling challenges loom, said DMA chief executive John Greco during his opening remarks at the DM Days New York conference Wednesday. Spending on direct marketing and related processes in the U.S. accounts for about half of all ad-related spending and drives about $18 trillion in incremental sales, or about 10.3% of the nation’s gross domestic product, he said." See also DM News.

June 22, 2006 -- According to Defense Tech, "$2.1 billion dollars a year ain't enough for the brains in charge of Los Alamos National Lab, apparently. So the world's most important nuclear research center has turned to the U.S. Postal Service, of all places, to fund its new, 400,000 square foot "Science Complex."

June 22, 2006 -- The DM Bulletin has reported that "TNT Post has launched a new mail delivery service aimed at lower volume mailers such as SMEs, promising cost savings of up to 20% on Royal Mail's standard service. PremierSortFlex offers two- to three-day delivery, depending on the proximity of customers to TNT Post's sorting centres. TNT Post has sorting centres in Leeds, Bristol and Wellingborough, with others due to open soon. The company says it will offer convenient collection times while its sorting process also claims to reduce the number of un-routable and rejected items, before it delivers the sorted mail to Royal Mail centres for final delivery."

June 22, 2006 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "FedEx has published its 4th quarter results (year ending 31 May 2006), with Revenue up 10% and net income up 27%. For the full year Revenues increased by 10% at US$32.3bn, whilst Operating Income is up 22% at $3.01bn and Net Income is up 25% at $1.81bn. Operating Margin has also increased to 9.3%. All of FedEx's major transport businesses are showing high single-figure or double-digit growth." See also Air Cargo World.

June 21, 2006 -- Daily India has reported that "The government's move to impose taxes on some postal services has invited the ire of trade unions in the country. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the labour wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), asked the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Wednesday to rescind the move to subject postal services to service tax. According to the CITU, the Central Board of Excise and Customs had decided that some of the services of the postal department were liable for service tax.s"

June 21, 2006 -- Confirmation hearings before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for the three individuals nominated by the President for appointment as Governors of the Postal Service (Katherine Tobin of New York, Mickey Barnett of New Mexico, and Ellen Williams of Kentucky) will be held on June 28th.

June 21, 2006 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:

On 9 June the Norwegian parliament decided to revoke the opening of the postal market originally intended for 1 January 2007. The government coalition parties (Labour Party, Socialist Left Party and Centre Party) thus annulled the previous government's decision to lift the postal monopoly in Norway prematurely.
Britain's regulatory authority Postcomm continues to penalise Royal Mail for any performance failure even after the market has been opened completely.
Adrexo, a subsidiary of publishers Ouest France, is the first licence holder in the French postal market.
Until mid-July, postmen working for Schweizerische Post are acting as sales representatives for dog food in 500 big villages.The trade union "Kommunikation" condemned the campaign as ridiculous.
Dow Jones news agency reported on Tuesday that Deutsche Post might increase letter postage rates next year.
Last week the French regulatory authority Arcep reached a fundamental decision concerning the price development in the mail market. Arcep announced that La Poste will only be allowed to increase postage rates by a maximum of 2.1% this year and in 2007 and 2008.
Schweizerische Post is likely to encounter serious opposition from employees when the post is transformed into a plc.
Spain's post is offering financial services again from this summer. Branded BanCorreos, services will include private loans, mortgages and a number of savings options.
La Poste de C to d'Ivoire (PCI) appears to be struggling with serious financial problems.
More competition, at least in Germany, will come from the parcel sector. According to information gleaned by the CEP News, Royal Mail's European parcel network GLS is also about to set up its own specialised sales team. GLS declined to specify any strategic planning details.
"The price war started by DHL in Germany is highly detrimental to all market players", said Hans Fluri, managing director of DPD.

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.

June 21, 2006 -- Union Network International has noted that "The Japan Postal Workers' Union (JPU) with a 140,000 membership held its 62nd Annual National Congress from June 14-16, 2006 in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture. Over 1,500 attended the congress including 335 delegates, 705 observers and 300 guests. The main discussion at the congress was how to cope with change faced with privatisation in the workplaces of Japan Post."

June 21, 2006 -- The Malta Times has reported that "The 63rd management board meeting of the Association of European Public Postal Operators (PostEurop), held recently at the Westin Dragonara Resort, St Julians, dealt with strategic postal developments in Europe. The meeting was held here on the initiative of Maltapost chief executive Joe Gafa', a member of the management board since 2003. The board is composed of 11 members elected from the 43 PostEurop Member postal operators for a three-year term."

June 21, 2006 -- Royal Mail is ramping up payments into its pension scheme in a bid to fill its £5.6bn pension deficit black hole, according to reports. An agreement with its pension trustees sees Royal Mail up its payments into its pension scheme to £750m from £480m, paid annually for the next 17 years, reported the Daily Telegraph.

June 21, 2006 -- The Ghanaian News Agency has reported that "Dr Edouard Dayan, Director-General of the Universal Postal Union, arrived in the country this evening to attend the 25th Ordinary session of the Administrative Council of the Pan African Postal Union in Accra. The meeting will be held from June 22nd to 24. In a brief with journalists, Mr Dayan observed that new developments such as the Internet and the electronic mail were not a threat to the postal system, adding that new areas were being opened on the Internet for better postal services."

June 21, 2006 -- From Market Wire: "Neopost, the worldwide provider of mailing and shipping solutions, introduces its innovative Neopost Online Services. This new technology allows users to keep track of all mailroom activities via a personalized web-based account. Compatible with Neopost's IJ-80, IJ-90, and IJ-110 mailing systems, Neopost Online Services feature advanced tracking via email confirmations of sent and received mail and parcels and reporting capabilities by tracking postage usage."

June 21, 2006 -- Congratulations to former PostCom chairman Lee Epstein and PostCom member Bookspan, both of whom were honored by the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation held in New York.

June 21, 2006 -- FinFacts has reported that "ComReg Commissioner, Mr. Mike Byrne, said “ComReg continues to be concerned with the quality of service being afforded to postal consumers and the service decline recorded in the past three quarters - particularly in light of An Post’s public commitment to quality of service improvement." See also the Irish Examiner.

June 20, 2006 -- The U.S. Postal Service is expanding its licensing program and is seeking possible partners at the International Licensing Show.

June 20, 2006 -- The Bulletin has reported that "The US Postal Service gained share of the US domestic air cargo market during the first six months in 2005, a phenomenon that hasn’t occurred for many years, as revealed by the Colography Group, Inc., in releasing the mid-year 2005 edition of its Domestic Air Cargo Trends report."

June 20, 2006 -- Business News Americas has reported that "Brazilian financial services provider Banco Postal will be managing 5 million checking accounts by the end of this month."

June 20, 2006 -- According to the National Association of Postal Supervisors, "One of the most important differences between the House and Senate bills involves when the Postal Service will have the flexibility to secure a rate increase larger than usual, especially when unexpected or emergency circumstances arise. Under both bills, rate increases would be pegged to inflation. But a sudden surge in gas prices, a bioterrorist attack, or any of a number of other emergency circumstances requires the Postal Service have the authority to raise postage prices higher than normal. The House bill provides greater flexibility to the Postal Service than the Senate. If the Postal Service doesn’t have that flexibility, it will have to cut costs, which could mean cuts in workforce or smaller (or even no) increases in pay and benefits."

June 20, 2006 -- According to New Orleans CityBusiness, "U.S. Post Office employee Bryan Tryan sorts mail at the Loyola Avenue post office. The USPS says it has put new hurricane evacuation plans in place after Katrina exposed mistakes in its old plan. The U.S. Postal Service is confident mistakes made during Hurricane Katrina will never be repeated."

June 20, 2006 -- From the PR Newswire:

• Veritec, Inc. a leading designer and provider of integrated uses and software for high data density multi-dimensional barcode technology to the manufacturing and security industries, is pleased to announce today that the Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Ronald Williams Corporate Vice-President and Director of Sales and Marketing. Most recently, Mr. Williams held the positions of Corporate Senior Vice President and President of the Image Technology Division of Firstlogic, Inc. (formerly Postalsoft), a $60 million privately held software company specializing in domestic and international postal and data-quality solutions.
• Trackmymail.com, a provider of user-friendly mail tracking solutions for direct mailers, announced today that Cox Target Media, the leading direct mail marketing company and provider of Valpak® network products, has selected trackmymail.com to provide tracking services for all Valpak® mailings beginning in July.

June 20, 2006 -- From Business Wire: "Clean Energy has named James C. Miller III, former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, as a member of the company's board of directors. Currently serving as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service (USPS), Mr. Miller previously was Chairman of the CapAnalysis Group, an economic, financial and regulatory consulting firm associated with the international law firm Howrey, LLP. As the former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Mr. Miller was a member of the President's Cabinet and a member of the National Security Council (1985-1988). From 1981 to 1985, he chaired the U.S. Federal Trade Commission."

June 20, 2006 -- CBC News has reported that "Seventeen members of the union representing Canada Post workers — including its president — have been arrested after trying to cross police lines Monday at the Crown corporation's headquarters in Ottawa. Police set up the line after officials from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) warned they planned to storm the building. The union members said they wanted to find a document that allegedly outlines their employer's plans for post offices and processing plants across the country. CUPW's president, Deborah Bourque and its former president, Jean Claude Parrot, were among those charged with trespassing."

June 19, 2006 -- From the Federal Register: "The Department of State will host a briefing on Wednesday, July 19, 2006, to provide an update on current Universal Postal Union issues, including the results of the March 2006 session of the UPU Postal Operations Council in Bern. The briefing will be held from 1:30 p.m. until approximately 4 p.m., on July 19, 2006 in Room 1207 of the Department of State, 2201 C Street, NW., Washington, DC."

June 19, 2006 -- NewIndPress has reported that "The Karnataka Couriers’ Association will soon bring out a handbook on proposed amendment to the Indian Post Office Act 1898, which according to them will deliver deathblow to the industry. Association president V Srinath said the association members held a meeting in the city on Saturday and decided to bring out a handbook on the impact of the proposed amendments so that people are aware of its implications."

June 19, 2006 -- ABC News has reported that "New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer says the U.S. Postal Service has become "the delivery arm of a massive criminal enterprise."

June 19, 2006 -- The Philippine Daily Inquirer has reported that "THE GOVERNMENT HAS SELECTED three firmsING, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Youngto vie for the contract of financial adviser on the privatization of Philippine Postal Corp., which authorities are hoping to sell this year. The financial adviser will determine the best way to privatize the governments 55-percent share in Philpost."

June 19, 2006 -- The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that "The battle of the bulge has a new frontier - Australia's mail delivery. Australia Post has drawn the ire of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) after its policy of only hiring people under 90 kilograms to deliver mail became known. According to the organisation, any heavier and the staff are too big to safely operate the motorbikes most posties use to deliver the mail. But the union has hit back, drawing on well-known footballers who tipped the scales above the limit to highlight what they say is an arbitrary weight limit."

June 19, 2006 -- The Chronicle Herald has reported that "Imagine being required by your employer to find, hire and train your own replacement when you take time off for vacation, bereavement, illness or injury. That’s the reality for more than 6,400 Canada Post rural and suburban mail carriers."

June 19, 2006 -- Gulf News has reported that "Jordan will raise $1 billion by privatising three companies and the funds will be used to help repay debts, an official said. Dr Mohammad Abu Hamour, head of the Executive Privatisation Authority, told Gulf News that Jordan would privatise Royal Jordanian Airlines, Aqaba Railways and Jordan Post in a year."

June 18, 2006 -- Traffic World has reported that "UPS is changing how it handles heavy air freight from forwarders, transferring some of its former Menlo Forwarding operations in the United States and Europe to UPS Airlines from the contracted lift the carrier had been using. Throughout June, the air freight operations, which had long been based at Dayton, Ohio, will move in phases to the big UPS air hub at Louisville, Ky., which already handles UPS's package operations, plus to new regional freight terminals where UPS has package operations."

June 18, 2006 -- According to the Merced Sun-Star, "We have come to expect delivery of mail in a timely fashion. Normally Mercedians have been getting their mail by about 4:30 p.m., but lately all bets are off. Now we're told the Merced Post Office has reorganized its 46 delivery routes in the name of efficiency and to even out the workload among letter carriers. It's not working."

June 18, 2006 -- According to WBBH, "Southwest Florida is short about 200 substitute mails carriers and it’s putting a strain on the US Postal Service."

June 18, 2006 -- AMEInfo has reported that "Executives from postal organizations from the Arab world shared experiences at a High-Level Conference of Arab Countries on 'Mechanisms for developing markets for postal services' in Morocco."

June 17, 2006 -- The Scotsman has reported that "Royal Mail was yesterday ordered to pay a £9.62 million penalty by the industry's regulator. Postcomm imposed the fine for a breach of licence after Royal Mail was accused of failing to properly protect mail."

June 17, 2006 -- The Independent has reported that "The Post Office is to launch the latest stage of its ambitious expansion into financial services with an aggressively marketed payment protection insurance (PPI) policy. The insurance is supposed to pay out to borrowers who cannot keep up with repayments on credit cards, loans or mortgages. Lenders often sell PPI as a highly profitable bolt-on product, and the Office of Fair Trading is investigating complaints about it from consumer groups."

June 17, 2006 -- The New Orleans Times-Picayune has reported that "Come June 30, the U.S. Postal Service no longer will provide over-the-counter mail service to New Orleans residents whose neighborhoods were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The service, launched in October as a temporary measure to ensure that postal customers continued to get their mail while delivery routes were re-established, is no longer needed because mail delivery has steadily increased, and there are plans in the works to expand delivery in several of the city's neighborhoods, postal officials said Friday."

June 17, 2006 -- The Guernsey Press and Star has reported that "POST OFFICES, boxes and six-day deliveries look to have survived. But significant postal-charge increases are likely in future. Commerce and Employment has released a briefing paper following consultation on possible changes to Guernsey Post’s universal service obligation. It has not found a case to justify going to the States to change the USO."

June 16, 2006 -- The Association for Postal Commerce welcomes its newest member:

BB&T (8006 Discovery Drive Richmond, VA 23229-8606) represented by Jeff Crain, Vice President. BB&T is a a financial Institution located in 11 states and DC primarily in the southeast. The company has over 28,000 employees and over 1,400 locations.

June 16, 2006 -- The Periodical Publishers Association has reported that "More than 50 delegates attended a PPA workshop on 9 June designed to ensure they will be fully prepared when Royal Mail introduces its new pricing system, Pricing in Proportion (PiP), on 21 August. The new system, which for the first time will see items priced on their size and format as well as their weight, is regarded by Royal Mail as the biggest change since the introduction of the Penny Black. The aim is to make prices more reflective of costs, and size is seen as a key factor in the cost of handling and delivering mail."

June 16, 2006 -- From Canada NewsWire: "The Council of Canadians, Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Charter Committee on Poverty are taking the constitutionality of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to a higher court with their appeal before the Court of Appeal for Ontario. In July 2005, a lower court judge dismissed the group's constitutional challenge against NAFTA rules that allow foreign corporations to sue governments. The groups filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal for Ontario in August 2005 because they believe that NAFTA rules threaten public services and democracy. The appeal will be heard at the Court of Appeal for Ontario on June 19th, 20th and 21st in Toronto, Ontario at Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West. "

June 16, 2006 -- As the Federal Times has noted, "The most daunting challenge facing the U.S. Postal Service over the next few years will be replacing the many skilled managers who will be eligible to retire."

June 16, 2006 -- Air Cargo World has reported that "UPS is changing how it handles heavy air freight from forwarders, transferring some of its former Menlo Forwarding operations in the United States and Europe to UPS Airlines from the contracted lift the carrier had been using. Throughout June, the air freight operations, which had long been based at Dayton, Ohio, will move in phases to the big UPS air hub at Louisville, Ky., which already handles UPS's package operations, plus to new regional freight terminals where UPS has package operations."

June 16, 2006 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

• The U.S. Postal Service weighs in with its numbers for the month of April.
• American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus details his members views that postal worksharing and the resulting discounts will lead to increased postage costs for private citizens.
• Pitney Bowes Chairman and CEO Michael J. Critelli had a lot to say about the changing relationships between postal services and their suppliers at the World Mail & Express Europe Conference in Paris last month.
• In this perspective, postal commentator Gene Del Polito shares his outrage at the U.S. Postal Service for the proposed enormous jump in rates for lightweight Standard Mail parcels.
• Jean Skibinski sounds off about direct mail in this recent newspaper column.
• Mail and Jobs Executive Director Peter Miller explains the realities of postal economics to Jean Skibinski in this letter to the editor of Delaware’s News Journal.
• Don Soifer of the Consumer Postal Council weighs in on the side of the USPS in this opinion piece.
• Army looking for ways to improve global mail services. Jumbo Airbus deliveries pushed back. Surprise!! Higher gas prices mean higher costs.
• Google unveils new search engine for finding government information online.
• EU looking into La Poste, bank issues. Belgian Post making business changes. French unions line up against phantom layoff plan. Spanish postal execs move to change financial service results. Milk loses ground to liquor in British home delivery derby. Poste Italiane eliminates lower-priced letter. Slovenia looking for postal partners. German groups press fro minimum wage increases. Morocco enjoys revenue boost. Swiss newspaper accuses Swiss Post of foot-dragging on privatization. Scandinavia’s Jetpak wins Scania logistics deal.
• PostCom gains two new members.
• A list of upcoming postal-related events.

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

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June 16, 2006 -- The Isle of Man Today has reported that "IT will cost more to send bulky packets and parcels under a new pricing scheme being introduced by Isle of Man Post Office. But Post Office bosses insist that 90 per cent of mail will cost the same to post or be cheaper to send – and the changes will mainly affect businesses rather than householders. The new system, known as pricing in proportion, will be introduced on August 21 in line with similar changes at the Royal Mail in the UK. It is being promoted as being fairer and simpler to use."

June 16, 2006 -- The Northwest Indiana Times has reported that "Soaring gasoline prices not only have made it more expensive to travel, they've increased the cost of transporting supplies and material, prompting the cost of consumer goods and the cost of services -- even mail delivery -- to climb."

June 16, 2006 -- From Canada NewsWire: "Due to the lack of transparency by Canada Post in refusing to reveal its development plans for this public service, members of the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE) of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) will support a citizens' action against the Crown Corporation on Monday, June 19, at noon."

June 16, 2006 -- The CBC has reported that "`Six female postal workers held a brief vigil at the St. John's mail distribution centre Thursday night to protest what they call Canada Post's lax handling of a harassment complaint."

June 16, 2006 -- The Yakima Herald has reported that "A U.S. Postal Service proposal to process outgoing Yakima Valley mail in Pasco didn't appear to be going over well at a public meeting Thursday night. Speakers from the audience, including a representative of the postal workers' union, raised questions about the true cost savings calculated by agency bosses and about whether bad weather would stall delivery. About 40 people attended the meeting at the Howard Johnson Hotel in Yakima, almost half of them postal employees."

June 16, 2006 -- The Hindu News has reported that "The Postal Department has been rapped by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission for not delivering a speed post packet containing air tickets to a person who refused to pay bribe and was fined Rs 10,000."

June 16, 2006 -- From the U.S. Department of the Army: "In December 2005, the Defense Business Board (DBB) made their final recommendations to the Secretary of Defense to (1) Immediately issue an open-ended Request for Proposal (RFP ) to allow the private sector to provide an innovative, end-to-end (not piecemeal) solution for the processing and delivery of military mail (2) Seek to achieve most efficient business model that capitalizes on economies of scale and organizational efficie ncies (3) Develop a coordinated implementation strategy to address management, budget, organizational and policy issues. This RFI requests the private sector to provide information on unique and innovative ideas or approaches that have been developed outside of the government (independently originated and developed by the respondent) that encompass a comprehensive review of the Military Postal System (MPS) to determine ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of global postal operations through improved service and reduced costs to DoD."

June 15, 2006 -- The latest USPS DMM Advisory has been posted on this site.

June 15, 2006 -- The DM Bulletin has reported that "Royal Mail is to launch a web-based booking system for its door-to-door division in early 2007 as part of its increasing emphasis on the door drop medium. The system, which is still in development, will replace the email and telephone based scheme that is currently in place, and will allow customers to deal with every aspect of their booking online."

June 15, 2006 -- According to postal commentator Gene Del Polito, "Many within the direct marketing industry are still in a state of shock after taking a look at the rates the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has proposed for Standard Mail parcels weighing less than a pound. The proposed rates, if approved, would result in increases ranging as high as 99.6%!"

June 15, 2006 -- Government Computer News has reported that "Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., has launched a search site devoted to finding government material on the Web. Although Google U.S. Government Search offers an almost identical service to the General Services Administration’s FirstGov, Google’s site will offer more personalization features, said Kevin Gough, product manager for the new offering. Gough said Google’s site was designed for both government employees as well as citizens interested in government material. Using the company’s own index of Web sites, the site will return results from .gov and .mil federal sites, state and local Web sites, selected .org and .edu sites, and government sites under the .com and .net domains, such as the Postal Service’s site."

June 15, 2006 -- Digital Bulletin has reported that "Royal Mail is gearing up for a review of its digital account, currently held by Proximity London. The review is statutory. Proximity, the incumbent, has been notified and is expected to be involved. The account goes out to tender in the next month, and the pitch will take place in the autumn. The business up for pitch includes digital strategy, online advertising, website design and customer communications to support below-the-line activity."

June 15, 2006 -- Logistics Management has reported that "FedEx has rolled out a new logistics service dubbed FedEx Critical Inventory Logistics. The company said the new service lets customers store inventory items at 18 FedEx Kinko’s locations in the United States—allowing them to ship a critical item within a tight timeframe in certain locations with little advance notice."

June 15, 2006 -- The Republican-American has reported that "The city will be getting back its postmark after losing it in a U.S. Postal Service consolidation six months ago. Postal officials have agreed to revive the cancellation that indicates a piece of mail originated in Waterbury . During a meeting Wednesday in the office of Mayor Michael J. Jarjura, local leaders learned that the postal service is required to maintain a drop slot inside the post office building that ends with the mail getting a city postmark. That service was eliminated when the postal service transferred many of the functions previously performed at the city's downtown post office. Mail originating at the downtown post office is now given a "Southern Connecticut" postmark."

June 15, 2006 -- Online Recruitment has reported that "Assessment specialist PSL has been awarded potentially the largest ever online testing contract in the UK. The Royal Mail has asked PSL to design two bespoke psychometric tests: a personality questionnaire and a ‘sorting simulation’ test, both of which will be delivered online via PSL’s market leading test delivery engine. One or both of these instruments will be used to help deselect potentially unsuitable applicants from the 125,000 that apply for frontline positions each year. The Royal Mail - which currently employs over 196,000 people - has switched to online assessment to enhance efficiency in the recruitment process."

June 15, 2006 -- MENA-FN has reported that "Emirates Post has allocated a special budget for investments this year which include Dh130 million for new projects, Dh120 million for investment in financial markets and Dh50 million for acquiring new companies, said a top government official. Abdullah Al Daboos, director general of Emirates Post, said: "We believe that posts need to reinvent themselves in order to survive in today's competitive marketplace. Emirates Post has therefore devised a business strategy that will see it entering new areas, such as logistics, cargo, financial services and others."

June 15, 2006 -- KCAU has reported that "After a meeting today in Washington, top postal officials have now agreed to revisit the consolidation study. Congressman Steve King and Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley met this afternoon with the Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service. As a result of their urging, the post office has now agreed to conduct an audit of the study which could force the consoldation of Sioux City's mail processing center. King says the study did not use the proper factors to determine the true costs of moving mail processing to Sioux Falls."

June 15, 2006 -- From Business Wire:"ADVO, Inc. has provided further comment on the new rate structure being proposed by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). As the company previously stated, it expects to maintain a rate increase consistent with historical levels. To continue to qualify for the lowest possible postal rates for its class of mail, the company will modify its operations to move to "in-line, on-piece" addressing of its ShopWise(TM) shared mail advertising package. The changes will be in place by summer 2007, in conjunction with the new rate structure. "With our investment in new addressing technology, we will help the Postal Service to further reduce mail processing and delivery costs. This will enable us to continue to attain the most favorable rates available for our clients," explained S. Scott Harding, ADVO Chief Executive Officer. The new on-package addressing will replace the detached address label currently used for most ADVO mailings. The photographs of missing children also featured on this label will move to a prominent position on the ShopWise(TM) package, continuing the company's strong support of its "America's Looking for Its Missing Children" public service program."

June 14, 2006 -- According to Expansion, "The aspirations of Spanish state-owned postal services operator Correos are much more modest than those of its counterparts in other European countries, after recognising that the commercial agreement between Correos and German counterpart Deutsche Post never really worked. According to Correos chairman Jose Damian Santiago, the arrangement did not work because Correos was trying to sell products that did not take into account the target market of customers who visited Correos branches. This failure has not stopped Correos and its German counterpart from launching a new brand of financial products, BanCorreos."

June 14, 2006 -- MySanAntonio has reported that "Converse Postmaster Richard Imes briefed council on postal requirements for residential mailboxes in new housing areas inside and outside the Converse city limits. Imes told council members that the U.S. Postal Service is moving away from community mailboxes or cluster boxes where a group of mail boxes — similar to the boxes inside of a post office — are in one location on a metal stand. In new subdivisions, the postmaster said, the Postal Service now is requiring two mailboxes on a single stand on the property line of two houses so the postal carrier can deliver two sets of mail in one stop within city limits. Cluster boxes still will be allowed outside city limits, he said. "Twenty-five years ago, the post office thought it would be a great idea to have community mailboxes, but now that policy has changed," he said, explaining that the cost of maintaining community mailboxes is prohibitive."

June 14, 2006 -- From PR Newswire: "eBay Live! conference attendees will see a new co-branded box they can use to mail their products, learn how to win $10,000 to spend on eBay and ship their conference materials home, all courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service."

June 14, 2006 -- GovExec.com has reported that "House Government Reform ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the outspoken 16-term lawmaker whose passion for oversight has been directed at corporate giants in the auto and tobacco industries, is quietly laying the groundwork for chairing the watchdog committee if Democrats win back the majority in November. The lawmaker points to the pending U.S. Postal Service overhaul bill as an example of substantive legislation handled in a bipartisan manner. The legislation, awaiting conference, stands to revamp the postal service for the first time in 30 years, changing how the agency raises rates and operates its pension plans."

June 14, 2006 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:

The EU Commission has decided to investigate whether France has violated EU regulations in connection with the monopolised distribution of the so-called "Livret A" savings books. Tax-free by law and with a guaranteed interest rate, these preferential savings books can only be obtained from either La Poste or the two banks Caisse d'Epargne and Cr dit Mutuel.
Germany's primeMail GmbH, a joint venture between Swiss Post International and Hermes Logistik Gruppe, enjoyed a successful financial year 2005/2006 (ended in February). primeMail says it operates at a profit and claimed a turnover increase of almost 66% to 17.4m euros, while consignment volumes increased by 40%. The mail operator chiefly serves customers from the mail order, travel and tourism industries as well as publishing houses.
Belgium's La Poste has responded quickly to sustained complaints from consumer organisations by launching a revamp programme called "Refocus" (CEP News 22/06). Work procedures will undergo many changes in a bid for optimisation and a more purposeful and customer friendly service.
Belgian postmen and women continue their protest against delivery round optimisation. Postal workers in Li ge announced a strike for this Tuesday. Opposition is directed against the introduction of the new mail delivery system Georoute 2, a software that is supposed to enable discontinuation of between 10 and 20% of the delivery rounds.
According to Germany's Association of Courier, Express and Postal Service Providers (BdKEP e.V.), Deutsche Post has no exclusive right to the term "post".
Postponing the adaptation of domestic letterboxes has caused Austria's mail service Redmail - a TNT subsidiary - to complain to the EU Commission. Early last month, the Austrian Constitution Court ruled that adaptation of domestic letterboxes at the owners' expense was unlawful.
Trade unions are now fighting La Poste's plan to make up to 60,000 postal workers redundant.
Schweizerische Post is following its original plan of hiving off the Post/Auto segment into a plc owned by the post.
Finland has taken a first step by increasing the price for domestic letters up to 50 grams by almost 8%.
Swiss Post International (SPI), the international division of Schweizerische Post, is taking over its Asian franchisees.
Last Wednesday, the first instance of the European Court of Justice ruled that France's La Poste had provided its subsidiary Chronopost with unlawful subsidies during the 1980's and 90's.
In Britain, GeoPost Group started working with Parcelnet, an Otto mail order subsidiary, on 1 June. GeoPost's British CEP subsidiary Parceline has introduced the so-called Homecall B2C service for dispatchers of up to 600 parcels per day.
Pos Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd intends to sell its stake in CEP service provider Transmile Group Bhd.
FedEx Southern Europe will create at Paris Charles de Gaulle airporta logistics centre in the vicinity of the airport modeled on its Memphis headquarters. FedEx will also experiment with cargo express trains between its Paris hub and other urban centres.

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.

June 14, 2006 -- According to The Street, "Cargo Kings Fly High."

June 14, 2006 -- The St. Petersburg Times has reported that "A Postal Service plan to consolidate services to Tampa would eliminate St. Petersburg's postmark on first-class mail. Postal officials say it would make them more efficient. Too efficient, some say. Mayor Rick Baker, for one, is not pleased that his city may lose its postmark and some of its postal operations to Tampa. Postal officials said their plan to route all of the city's first-class stamped mail to Tampa for postmarking would save about $1.3-million a year and is an appropriate response to a nationwide trend of declining mail."

June 14, 2006 -- The Milwaukee Business Journal has reported that "Banta Corp. printing subsidiary has opened a multi-million-dollar, state-of-the-art distribution center in Bolingbrook, Ill., to provide co-mailing services. The new service from Banta Publications Group will serve special-interest magazine publishers by merging different magazines into a common mail stream for postal discounts."

June 14, 2006 -- The Chronicle Herald has reported that "An upcoming Thursday night meeting between Colchester County councillors and a representative of Canada Post has been called off. Each side has a differi