Mediaweek has reported that "Royal Mail is offering a new direct mail service that allows companies to send customised CDs to individual consumers. The Personalised Integrated Media service, which uses Sony DADC technology, uses a unique code so every CD can be tailor-made for the recipient. If customer puts the CD into their computer, they can deal direct with the business to buy goods or services."

ThomasNet has reported that "Sybase iAnywhere today announced that Correos, the Spanish Postal Service, has deployed its RFID Anywhere(TM) software platform in one of the largest RFID projects in Europe."

The Glasgow Evening Times has reported that "customers are to be hit with penalty charges if they fail to tell their bank they have changed their address. Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Mint plan to introduce a Ł12 fee from tomorrow."

FromBusiness Wire: "Dramatic changes in technologies, regulations and customer preferences are reinventing the global mailstream, and the top management of Pitney Bowes Inc. said today this means new growth opportunities for the 87-year-old company."

In response to an editorial in theBoston Globe concerning magazine postal rates,Postal Regulatory Chairman Dan Blair wrote that "The Commission's decisions have long supported the widespread dissemination of diverse editorial matter, and our most recent decision should preserve and foster continued diversity among magazines by increasing the editorial discount available to all periodical mailers. Our decision also reflects the overall need to encourage efficient mailing practices that hold down costs to the Postal Service that otherwise would have to be paid by other mailers. The Commission estimates that even after the increases are implemented, the average price for delivery of a magazine still will be less than 30 cents, far lower than the price for a First-Class letter stamp. The Commission was careful to make recommendations in this rate case that ensure fair and equitable rates for all mailers while safeguarding the long-term vitality of affordable universal postal service for all Americans."

Business Week has asked: "Which brick-and-mortar retailer attracts the most shoppers to its Internet store? The answer may surprise you: J.C. Penney Corp. (JCP ), the century-old, moderate-priced department store chain so troubled six years ago that many were predicting its imminent demise."

New Kerala has reported that "The Postal Department has launched Instant Money Order (IMO) scheme in the Malabar region of Kerala to provide speedy and hassle-free cash transactions at comparatively cheaper tariff. ''It takes only five minutes to make the payment to the beneficiary and that too at cheaper tariff,'' through any head post offices (HPOs) in the country,'' Assistant Director N V Balan, coordinating the scheme, said."

Reuters has reported that "Pitney Bowes Inc. , the largest provider of mail-related machines, reported a lower quarterly profit on Monday due to slower growth in revenue on delays in orders for mailing equipment in the United States and weaker sales in Europe."

According to theNews-Press, "Consumers may not look past the rate increase for a first-class stamp from 39 cents to 41 cents, but more sweeping regulatory changes approved along with the increase may have a more dramatic impact on businesses that rely on mail service."

TheIrish Independent reports that consumers who want to use the post office as a one-stop shop for banking will have to wait 12 months before Postbank will provide a full suite of services.

TheIrish Times has reported that "An Post, the state postal service, will tomorrow launch a banking operation that over the next five years aims to take 5 per cent of the retail banking market. Postbank, a joint venture with Belgian bank Fortis, will initially operate out of 250 post offices nationally, rising to 1,000 over the next 12 months."

TheNews Letter has reported that "Irish representatives of the House of Commons met at the King's Arms, Old Palace Yard, to discuss a bill before Parliament that was intended to improve postal and passenger services between Ireland and England."

According to the Sacramento Bee, "The U.S. Constitution includes postal services, which have been a traditional government function. On that basis, the Postal Service needs to ensure that churches aren't using contract post offices to proselytize and entangle government in promoting religion."

Transport Intelligence has reported that "French based logistics provider Geodis has announced that its revenue rose 18.0% in first-quarter 2007 helped by the acquisition of TNT Freight Management."

According toMultichannel Merchant, "As the May 14 postal rate increase draws closer, it is essential for companies to understand the complexities of those changes. That means mailers need to get in the habit of keeping their databases extra clean."

The Columbo Page has reported that "The Sri Lanka Postal Department introduced a business postal service with the increase of postal charges."

The Guardian has reported that "Postal union leader Dave Ward is to step down as a member of Labour's ruling national executive committee, saying there is a conflict of interest between fighting government policy and sitting on the body. The news comes as the Communication Workers Union meets this week to finalise the timing of a strike ballot over Royal Mail's latest pay offer."

Be sure to check out PostInsight, where you can find the following: "Selected Presentations from UPU Symposium, April 23, 2007Berne, Switzerland - April 26, 2007." Check out also theUPU's web site, where you can find other interesting paper and presentations on posts around the world.

Lloyds List has reported that "Recent changes to aviation security are shaping up as a significant challenge to the airfreight industry in Australia. They include couriers, freight forwarders and cargo agents, cargo terminal operators at airports, express post services such Australian Air Express and FedEx; regular international postal services and truck drivers who transport air cargo between terminals."

TheNALC President Young announced on April 26 that the National Association of Letter Carriers and the United States Postal Service have agreed on renowned arbitrator Richard Bloch as the neutral arbitrator in the impending hearings on the letter carriers' national agreement. Bloch and the two other panel members have set four weeks for testimony: Sept. 10-14, Sept. 24-28, Oct. 29-Nov. 2, and Nov. 5-9. "Given this schedule, it is anticipated that a decision on the contract will be rendered in mid-November," Young said.

TheAsahi Shimbun has reported that "The Japan Post group, to be born via privatization in October, will consist of five companies that will dwarf or equal private-sector rivals, according to a business plan submitted to the government. The Japan Post group will consist of a holding company and four operating firms, each of which will be in charge of mail delivery, post office management, postal savings and postal life insurance. The four operating companies will exceed, or at least equal, the biggest players in the private sector in their respective fields. The mail delivery company and the post office management company, which have more than 100,000 employees each, expect modest profits. The mail delivery company plans to enter the direct mail service sector, which is the turf of private home delivery companies. "

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.

From thePostal Rate Commission: In this Opinion and Recommended Decision on Reconsideration, the Commission reviews the evidentiary record already made in this proceeding in light of the views expressed by the Governors, the Postal Service, and participants who submitted comments on these two issues. We agree with the Governors' analysis of the appropriate bases of the rate for the Priority Mail Flat Rate Box, and recommend the $8.95 rate advanced by the Postal Service. We also concur generally with the Governors' opinion on the appropriateness of extending applicability of the nonmachinable surcharge to First-Class letters beyond the first ounce, and recommend the minor change in the pertinent mail classification provision proposed by the Service to accomplish that result.

The latest DMM Advisory from the U.S. Postal Service dealing with PAVE has been posted on this site.

ThePresiding Officer of the Postal Regulatory Commissionhas denied the motion of the Coalition of Catalog Mailers to reopen the record in Docket No. R2006-1 (the 2006 postal rate case). In part it wrote: "The Commission is specifically concerned that granting the Intervention Motion might unreasonably burden participants who fully participated and litigated the issues in this case on the record. The record is currently closed and further discovery and examination of witnesses is not allowed. The Commission finds that on balance, CCM's request to supplement the record is outweighed by the material prejudicial effect towards the other participants and the needs of the Governors. Initial comments on the reconsideration of Standard Mail flats are due no later than May 4, 2007.

DM News has reported that "The Chicago Association of Direct Marketing on April 30 and May 1 will host its 2007 Direct Marketing Days & Expo event. The event will honor Donald L. Harle, vice president of postal affairs at Diamond Marketing Solutions, vice chair of the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee and past president of the CADM. Mr. Harle has been named the CADM's 27th Charles S. Downs Chicago Direct Marketer of the Year. He will receive the award May 1."

According to theBoston Globe, "smaller magazines across the country, such as The Nation, the American Spectator, Ms., and The New Republic could end up getting a bad case of what postal officials call "rate shock." The cause is the United States Postal Service's dubious plan to raise the price of mailing periodicals on July 15."

TheUK Express has reported that "postal workers will share a Ł175million windfall if they agree to a new pay deal."

Forbes has reported that "The state-owned Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) bank would be unlikely to sell the roughly 30.1 pct stake it holds in Deutsche Post AG to The Children's Investment Fund (TCI), financial sources close to the matter said."

DM News has reported that "To help mailers prepare for pricing changes taking effect May 14, the U.S. Postal Service has published an updated edition of its Domestic Mail Manual. The new DMM — available at www.usps.com/ratecase — contains all of the agency's new mailing standards and prices, along with an updated index and table of contents. The Domestic Rates and Fees Reference has also been updated. It includes the new rates for Periodicals that will take effect July 15."

As the USPS' Rick Arvonio noted in an article for DM News, "The U.S Postal Service is taking an aggressive move toward eliminating undeliverable-as-addressed mail with its Aug. 1 implementation of CASS cycle L. Yet many mailers are still completely in the dark about what CASS is, why this is happening and what investment is required to retain their postage discounts and predictable mail delivery."

Reuters has reported that "Singapore Post , the country's main mail group, on Friday reported a 25 percent rise in quarterly profit, due to higher rental and property-related income and said this year's focus would be on regional growth."

TheIrish Examiner has reported that "as many as 100 post offices across the country could close as part of An Post's plans to review its branch network.

TheIrish Times has reported that "An Post said it was on track to make a profit this year, but admitted it would be three years before it achieved the regulator's target of delivering more than 90 per cent of mail the next day."

Supply Chain Digest has reported that "DHL has won the 2007 edition of the "Great Package Race" competition dreamed up by Professor John Barthold at Georgia Tech, where the three main parcel shippers are annually to see which can get packages the fastest to challenging locations all over the globe."

From theU.S. Postal Service: "We published two notices for comment in yesterday's Federal Register, proposing new standards for mailing lithium batteries [TXT] | [PDF] and for mailing sharps and other regulated medical waste [TXT] | [PDF]. The new standards would allow mailers to send all small consumer-type lithium batteries when properly labeled and packaged, and would increase the allowable weight of medical waste mail-back containers, while requiring additional packaging safeguards. Both proposals ensure safe, easy, and cost-effective mailing options for these materials."

Finfacts has reported that "Irish State postal service, An Post, recorded an after-tax profit of €75.7m for 2006, resulting in part from exceptional profit on the sale of the former parcel hub site on Dublin's Naas Road. Turnover increased by €65.9m (8.8 per cent) to €818.8m reflecting a strong sales drive and 4 per cent growth in core mails revenue, mainly in the bulk mail sector. While the basic letter tariff remained unchanged at 48c in 2006, rate increases for certain mails products combined with volume growth and a buoyant economy to increase turnover." See alsoRTE.ie.

In a postal perspective for the PostCom Bulletin regarding Docket No. MC2007-1,Gene Del Polito wrote: "Neither the OCA nor Valpak seem willing to note that Congress has passed a new postal law that is designed to move the nation's postal business to a more rational, business-oriented plane. Instead, they seem totally justified in their noodling simply because this proceeding was initiated under the old rules framed by the Postal Reorganization Act (PRA) rather than the new world view of things envisioned by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA). For both parties, let alone the PRC, to address this case as if Congress had not repudiated the old business model that underlaid our nation's postal system for the past 35 years for the sake of something better is sheer folly."

IT-Pro has reported that "One in six MPs didn't bother to respond to a constituent's email inquiry, according to an investigation by weekly computer publication Micro Mart. Posing as a constituent named Alex Brown, IT PRO's sister publication Micro Mart contacted all 625 MPs for England, Wales and Scotland by email, asking a question about how to go about recycling two computers and a washing machine. While over 84 per cent of MPs replied in some way, 98 ignored the inquiry - including such high profile politicians as William Hague, Lembit Opik, Ruth Kelly and David Davies. The Micro Mart team received replies from the offices of all party leaders, with no party performing significantly better overall than the others. Of the majority which did reply, 73 needed a second message to be sent before they responded, with some taking nearly two months. "Considering MPs can claim allowances running to over Ł100,000 of taxpayers' money to fund their offices - including a specific Ł10,000 communications allowance - we were staggered to find so many hadn't put any system in place to simply reply to a constituent's emailed question," said Micro Mart's editor, Simon Brew. "Given the speed and convenience of electronic communication, not least the amount of paper it saves, we expected a greater willingness to reply to an e-mail than we found." [Makes you wonder how American legislators would score.]

UNI has reported that "A day of action by postal workers across Europe is planned for June 6 as part of the growing campaign to save the universal postal service in Europe. UNI Postal global union will also be organising a rally in Berlin on May 30 of postal workers in uniforms from the 27 member states to deliver a message to the German EU presidency. The aim is to head off European Union moves to take away remaining protections from traditional postal operators."

AuctionBytes has reported that "Amazon.com told US sellers it would raise variable fees and increase Marketplace shipping credits for Books, Music, Movies, Video Games and Software, on May 14, 2007. The shipping-credit increase ranges from $0.39 to $2.51, depending upon the product category and shipping method, and is in response to the USPS postal rate changes going into effect on May 14. The Books, Video Games and Software standard shipping credit will be increased from $3.49 to $3.99. The Music, DVD and VHS standard shipping credit will increase from $2.59 to $2.98. A full breakdown of shipping credits can be found on the Amazon website."

Globes has reported that "As the privatization of Israel Post Company Ltd. gathers steam, the company plans to begin offering financial services, and market mutual, provident and pension funds at post offices. Israel Post also wants to begin selling non-life insurance, such as compulsory vehicle insurance and home insurance, by the third quarter of this year."

TheCommunications Workers Union has told its members that "At this stage Royal Mail are offering you nothing on basic pay. Royal Mail says you are "over paid and under worked". Unless there is a dramatic change in Royal Mail's attitude there is no prospect of us reaching an agreement and a major dispute is inevitable."

TheIrish Independent has reported that "rural rights campaigners protested outside the Dail yesterday to underline their fury at the threatened closure of more than 500 post office branches nationwide. The protest - supported by 50 campaigners who travelled to Dublin from all over Cork - warned the coalition that the plight of rural post offices is now set to become a major general election issue."

AllAfrica.com has reported that "The Angolan National Post and Telecommunications Firm will invest USD 24 million until the year 2012, in the rehabilitation and modernisation of about 160 of its centres, throughout the country. The information was given to Angop over the last weekend, in Dondo, northern Kwanza Norte Province, by the company's administrator for the technical area, José Manuel de Almeida, who also informed that this investment is part of the institution's steering plan, being implemented since 2004, aimed at improving their service to the public."

AsFederal Computer Week has noted, "The U.S. Postal Service has awarded a $51 million contract for engineering support services as part of an effort to develop new mail-processing technologies, according to an April 24 press release. Under the contract, Serco will provide technical, project management and information technology services for future equipment. The company will also perform quality assurance consulting, testing and evaluations of the technologies, according to the press release."

TheEl Paso Times has reported that "Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., sent a letter Monday to the U.S. postmaster general to ask him to evaluate whether moving Las Cruces processing operations to El Paso was necessary and in the best interest of residents of the region. Postal processing operations in Las Cruces were moved to El Paso in June, and the change has caused worry about overworked postal employees and mail delivery delays in El Paso and the surrounding region."

According toMultichannel Merchant, "With the impact of user-generated content such as blogs and YouTube at consumers' fingertips, the future of direct mail is still The Direct Marketing Association's biggest concern. That's because with consumers dictating what they want to read and when they want to read it, legislation such as do-not-mail could affect direct marketers more so than do-not-call initiatives, said DMA chairman Markus Wilhelm."

The Times has reported that "The country faces its first national postal strike for more than a decade in a dispute over pay and cost cuts that would halve collections and bring in other sweeping changes, The Times has learnt. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has said it will ballot for industrial action after Royal Mail offered a pay freeze for this year, with small lump-sum payments for some workers. It is the first time in many years that a pay freeze has been proposed." See alsoAFX.

The Guardian has reported that "Tucked away at the end of an 83-page report by Postcomm, the regulator which oversees postal services in the UK, is an annexe that contains some very important figures: the profit and loss account for the Royal Mail's operation of its Postcode Address File."

As theEconomic Times has noted, "A bill to amend the 1898 Act was initially introduced in the parliament in 2002. The bill was to reinforce DoP's monopoly for handling letters weighing less than 300 gms, lawfully allow the private couriers to convey articles beyond 300 gms, introduce a registration fee along with a 10% universal service obligation charge on private couriers and set up the mail regulatory and development authority. Luckily, all of that remained on paper due to dissolution of Lok Sabha. Later, DoP prepared a draft bill in 2006 but never finalised the amendment. Now, DoP has readied yet another version and government plans to table the bill during the forthcoming parliament session. The new draft reportedly directs private couriers to price their services at five times (two-and-a-half times for urgent letters) the corresponding postal tariff! Such anti-competitive legislation to cover up operational inefficiencies, to divert revenues from running private businesses to a government outfit and to support monopoly creation, seems completely out of place and ought to be rejected, scrapped and killed."

According to the Utne Reader, "Every year, devotees of the independent press lament the death of another worthy publication. This year, we may be mourning an outright slaughter."

From Business Wire: "DHL, the world’s leading express delivery and logistics company, today announced a major service upgrade for international express shipments to the United States. US importers and international customers that use DHL’s International Express services to the US will now receive 12:00 noon delivery – an upgrade from the previous end of business day transit time. The newly upgraded service will benefit customers of DHL Import Express, an all-inclusive, door-to-door service for expediting imports to the United States. With Import Express, shipments are handled by DHL from pickup outside the US to delivery in the US, with all tracking, invoicing and single-currency payment through DHL. International customers using DHL’s Worldwide Priority Express and International Document Service will also benefit from faster transit times to the US market."

From the U.S. Postal Service: "The Postal Service has published a new edition of the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) to help you prepare for the pricing change on May 14. The new DMM is available in HTML and PDF formats on usps.com/ratecase and contains all of our new mailing standards and prices, with an updated index and table of contents. In addition to the DMM, on usps.com/ratecase you can find the New Domestic Rates and Fees Reference, which includes the new Periodicals rates effective on July 15, in HTML and PDF formats.

USA Today has reported that "FedEx says that the FAA's decision to end a controversial landing procedure at the cargo carrier's Memphis hub should be reversed because it could lead to serious delays in package deliveries across the nation."

Reuters has reported that "The rising popularity of text messaging on cell phones poses a threat to writing standards among Irish schoolchildren. Text messaging, with its use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation, seems to pose a threat to traditional conventions in writing. The report laments that, in many cases, candidates seemed "unduly reliant on short sentences, simple tenses and a limited vocabulary." [Hmmmm. Short sentences...simple tenses...limited vocabulary...as in many direct mail letters?]

ABC News has reported that "An arrest was made at 8:03 a.m. ET this morning in the case of the so-called "Bishop Bomber," who in January allegedly mailed a package containing an explosive device to a Kansas City investment firm."

Reuters has reported that "Malaysia's postal operator, Pos Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd , aims to grow revenues by 5.6 percent this year after missing its 2006 sales target, the company said on Wednesday. It released its performance targets for 2007 to the stock exchange, aiming for 868 million ringgit in revenues and to pay out 35 percent of net profit as dividends."

Deutsche Welle has reported that "The German government agreed to end the letter delivery monopoly of Deutsche Post as planned, but the issue is still a thorn in the eyes of the grand coalition. Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Social Democratic (SPD) coalition partners agreed to liberalize Germany's mail delivery market as part of European Union moves to deregulate postal services across the 27-member bloc. Starting Jan 1, 2008, letters weighing up to 50 grams (1.8 ounces) will no longer be the monopoly of Deutsche Post, the world's biggest post and logistics group."

UPS has reported a 7.9% increase in adjusted diluted earnings per share to $0.96 on a 3.3% revenue gain, thanks to a strong performance by its international operation and significant improvement by its supply chain and freight segment.

Postalnewsblog has reported that "It has been customary over the years to see long lines at the James A. Farley Post Office on tax day. This year was no exception. Unfortunately, long lines at the windows at the JAF, or the main post office, as most New Yorkers refer to it will be commonplace. On Saturday, April 28, 2007, the USPS is reducing sales associates at the windows at JAF from its current complement of 69 down to only 49. This is a facility that is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Compounding the negative impact of this decision by postal management is the fact that on Monday May 14, 2007 there will be a hike in postal rates, which will only exacerbate an already difficult situation."

In its comments to the Postal Regulatory Commission on the pending postal rate rulemaking, the Association for Postal Commerce noted that Congress did NOT intend a reimposition of cost-of-service ratemaking. "The Commission is empowered only to guard against the Postal Service’s abuse of its monopoly power—defined principally as undue or unreasonable discrimination—and the Commission’s rules regarding complaints and compliance reviews should reflect this principle. The old “fair and equitable” standard is incompatible with the broader objectives of the PAEA and the operation of the price cap regime."

According to Online Media Daily, with the purchase of Hitwise "the big opportunity is that Experian has packaged a comprehensive advertising media mix offering for direct marketers, which forces a consolidation of the roles of online and offline advertising analytics within large advertisers. This will make advertising more effective and relevant to the changing buying behavior of consumers, who are voting with their "clicks," and no longer with their mail and phone responses."

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. (We appreciate the courtesy extended by CEP News to help whet your appetite for more of what CEP offers.)

Angola Press has reported that "The Angolan National Post and Telecommunications Firm will invest USD 24 million until the year 2012, in the rehabilitation and modernisation of about 160 of its centres, throughout the country."

Barron's Online has reported that "despite United Parcel Service's and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' long and sometimes tumultuous history, we believe that an agreement regarding a new parcel and small-package driver contract could likely be reached well ahead of next year's expiration. Indeed, UPS and the Teamsters announced in June 2006 that they would be heading to the bargaining table nearly two years early. If successful, we believe investor fears of freight diversions at UPS should be eased and a major overhang on the stock removed."

Japan Today has noted that "a faster-than-expected drop in postal savings has prompted Japan Post Corp to lower a net profit estimate to 508 billion yen for its group in fiscal 2008 after the postal system's privatization this October, informed sources said Wednesday."

According to Sharewatch, "The news is admittedly slightly negative for Deutsche Post," said a Frankfurt-based trader. "But after German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck made it clear that he still has concerns about the liberalization, there may well be further discussions in the German parliament about the issue."

The Houston Chronicle has reported that "The federal probe into corruption related to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff could be inching closer to former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of Sugar Land as investigators focus on a former DeLay chief of staff who later employed the Republican leader's wife. Several former DeLay associates have been helping federal law enforcement agents as they continue their investigation of Buckham and others. Taking deals for testimony were former DeLay staff members Tony Rudy and Michael Scanlon, both of whom had close ties to Abramoff. Court papers in Rudy's guilty plea stated that Rudy, while working for DeLay, arranged for the congressman to sign a letter opposing a postal-rate increase to aid an Abramoff client and helped kill an anti-gambling bill opposed by another Abramoff client."

DutchNews has reported that "Labour (PvdA) MPs are threatening to join forces with the left-wing opposition to block plans to fully open the postal delivery market to competition unless the Christian Democrats (CDA) agree to more rights for delivery workers, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday. MPs were yesterday debating plans to allow firms to compete for the delivery of letters weighing under 50 grammes. The PvdA, Socialist Party and other minor parties are angry that newcomers to the market, such as Sandd and Selektmail, don't actually employ their delivery workers, but treat them as freelancers and pay them a couple of cents for every item they deliver.

KSL-TV has reported that "If you've written a letter to your congressman and waited weeks for a reply, don't blame him, blame anthrax. Special security measures are still causing major postal delays, more than five years after a mysterious murderer sent anthrax germs to congress. We've all griped about mail service, even though it usually does get there in a day or two, but if your letter is addressed to a lawmaker in Washington, don't be surprised if takes two or three weeks or even a couple of months."

Robotics Online has reported that "ABB Robotics received a Supplier Performance Award from the United States Postal Service (USPS), honoring the company’s commitment to providing the USPS with quality products and excellent customer service. The awards recognized companies that collaborated with the USPS to create supply chain management best practices that the government agency will continue to use in 2007 and beyond. Postmaster General John E. Potter presented 10 companies with awards during a ceremony held at the Postal Service headquarters in Washington, D.C."

Business World has reported that "An official of the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) in Eastern Visayas is confident of hitting the state-owned firm's income target of P50 million this year. Raul Buensalida, PhilPost Eastern Visayas regional manager, said they earn P4 million to P5 million monthly despite the competition from couriers and logistics companies and the advent of electronic mail."

Shanghai Daily has reported that "China Postal Group (CPG) plans to set up an insurance company which will be the country's first insurer with sole investment from the postal sector, Wu Dingfu, chairman of China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), said. China's postal sector, boasting 36,000 outlets nationwide, simply serves as the sales agent of insurance products for the moment, but was urged to explore further cooperation with the insurance sector." See also People's Daily.

From the U.S. Postal Service: "Robert Galaher has been appointed manager, Business Mail Acceptance, Headquarters."

Hellmail has noted that "Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services, has published its updated guidelines which define the limited geographical conditions or other exceptional circumstances in which Royal Mail is exempt from its universal service obligation to deliver mail once every working day to every address in the United Kingdom. The guidelines have been formulated following a consultation that invited views on all areas of the current policy, including a number of amendments proposed by Postcomm to take into account changing circumstances since the guidelines first came into effect in April 2003."

From the Government of Canada: "Canada Post is pleased to announce it has successfully negotiated a new four-year collective agreement with its largest bargaining agent, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). The new agreement will be in place until January 31, 2011."

From WebWire: "Mail remains the safest way to communicate and share information, and represents the smallest threat to identity theft."

Multichannel Merchant has noted that "Catalogers and multichannel retailers are facing a number of key issues in the marketplace. But the one issue that is currently on the minds of all who mail flats and catalogs is the huge postage increase scheduled to be implemented May 14. Unless the Postal Rate Commission reduces its proposed increase to flats mailers (which, if it occurs will most likely not happen until sometime after May 14), most flats mailers will see postage increases that will exceed 20%."

From PR Newswire: "The U.S. Postal Service is meeting its performance challenges head-on with a $51 million contract with Serco Inc., Vienna, Va., for engineering support services, including support for research and development of new technologies. The contract also provides for technical, project management and IT services, as well as quality assurance consulting work and testing and evaluation of future mail-processing equipment."

According to the Daily Yomiuri, "Japan Post, which will be privatized on Oct. 1 into a holding company and four service firms, plans to post combined after-tax profits of 587 billion yen in fiscal 2011, sources said Tuesday. According to the sources, the figure is included in a business plan for the privatized group. In the plan, the banking company is expected to post an outstanding deposit balance of about 164 trillion yen and an after-tax profit of 304 billion yen as of the end of fiscal 2011, thus putting it in the same league as a megabank, but possibly luring criticism from the private sector for adversely affecting their business."

From PR Web: "Intellareturn Corp., innovator of the world's leading microchip-based postal automation solution, Smart Stamp®, has announced its Append® Envelope Technology at the Envelope Manufacturers Association's (EMA) Spring Meeting in Tuscon, AZ. As part of the conference, 'Center for Technology and Trends' session, the company presented technological advances in paper-based communication. The Append® microchip-based "Smart Stamp" system links supplemental text, audio and video files to envelopes. Elliot Klein of Intellareturn Corp. declared this will one day "transform how we utilize envelopes and the postal mail." The Smart Stamp service can be sold as a book of self-adhesive labels or pre-manufactured into envelopes, taking envelope manufacturers into the wireless ecosystem with new business models to store, control and deliver rich-media content."

From the U.S. Postal Service: "The U.S. Postal Service’s most familiar and trusted mail products —Express Mail, Priority Mail and First-Class Mail — are going international starting May 14, 2007. To make it easier for customers to mail letters and packages worldwide, the Postal Service (USPS) has simplified the eight main International Mail products into four: Global Express Guaranteed, Express Mail International, Priority Mail International and First-Class Mail International." According to one DM expert "the Post Office has too many MBA’s and analysts focusing on misguided ways to generate more postage revenue. This will eventually lead to a decrease in the mail volume by individual consumers as well as businesses who will continue to opt for email and internet alternatives to direct mail."

From Business Wire: 'DHL and Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services Inc. (STTAS) have announced their partnership to provide customs and trade compliance services. STTAS will work closely with DHL to provide operational services, including overall business process enhancement, tariff classification, compliance with government supply chain security initiatives, free trade agreement optimization, and customs training, to DHL’s importer/exporter clientele."

From PR Urgent: "New postal rates are fairly straightforward but fail to address the real issue of how to increase postage revenues as a whole over the long term. Increased rates instantly increase sales revenue per unit. However, higher postage leads to a decrease in overall consumer demand for services as well as a shift in consumer demand from direct mail to competing services such as email, e-cards and online catalogs."

Forbes has reported that "Unions and a works council within TNT NV have said they will keep a close eye on the Dutch parliament which is scheduled to vote this afternoon on market liberalisation legislation that will open the Dutch postal market to competition on deliveries of less than 50 grams.

The Times-News has reported that "After about a year of internal review, the postal service has decided to keep its area-mail processing center in Twin Falls instead of combining it with the center in Boise."

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service has intentions to increase the number of areas contracted out with independent delivery service operators. Known as the Growth Management Program, the Postal Service is slowly allowing more delivery from private contracts, who would then subcontract employees to deliver mail in areas throughout the United States."

The Economic Times has reported that "According to the latest survey conducted by the universal postal union (UPU), almost two thirds of public operators across the globe are anticipating a drop in the proportion of income generated by the letter post, with the proportion of income generated by parcels & logistics and to a lesser extent by postal financial services set to increase accordingly. Compared to express parcels and logistics, projected to grow at almost 25% over the next three years, the letters and post segment is projected to grow at only 8% to 10%."

Graphics Arts Monthly has noted that "Send a catalog and the recipient is twice as likely to make a purchase at the retailer's Website. Soon-to-be released survey results from the 2006 holiday shopping season reveal that the mail-Internet media combination is even more powerful than four years ago."

Hellmail has reported that "Adam Crozier spoke to Jeff Randall on BBC 5 Live on Sunday night about the changes at Royal Mail in more recent years. He said that Royal Mail had suffered from lack of investment by previous governments and that meant they were technically lagging behind as well as not being as efficient as they need to be. However he said there was no point in dwelling on what should or should not have been done and they needed to get on with the job of modernisation and providing an efficient service. He said that Royal Mail is bringing in new products to widen the scope of the services they provide and to help Post Offices but 14,000 are private businesses and far too many are creating massive losses for Royal Mail."

Today's Zaman has reported that "All addresses in Turkey will soon have an exclusive 10-digit identity number that will be used in all official transactions instead of their old mailing addresses. The application, which aims to make bureaucratic operations more efficient, will also remove the possibility of having “the wrong address.” Addresses will be written alongside the new code on documents, and postal workers, after checking to make sure the address and code match, will make sure the information is entered into the data base. If the address is not yet registered in the system, the document will be returned noted as having “no address.”

From WebWire: "World’s largest eBay seller’s group, Dallas eBaybes & eMales, will host a meeting with USPS officials to discuss looming rate increases. The meeting will be held at 6:00PM on Monday, April 23rd in Plano, Texas. The success of an eBay seller is directly affected by shipping costs and many eBay sellers are extremely upset about the impending doom of the USPS changes, which include eliminating some of the services completely. eBay is a business partner to USPS and the majority of eBay sellers rely on the post office to ship all of their packages, as it has always been the most affordable option. As of May 14th, many eBay sellers may decide not to go postal after all and switch to one of the competitors, like FedEx, UPS or DHL. eBay sellers bring billions of dollars in revenue to the USPS, so it’s very important to their bottom line to maintain that partnership."

AuctionBytes has reported that "Shipping is a vital part of online sales, and eBay is getting ready to handle postal rate changes coming in May. As a recent AuctionBytes survey revealed, eBay sellers are concerned about higher shipping costs and many of them are concerned that postal tools they use may not be ready when the changes go into effect."

Expatica has noted that "The works council at TNT Post is threatening to block competitors' locations with its trucks if Parliament does not agree to approve better labour conditions for postal workers on Tuesday. The works council wants Parliament to adopt a motion from Ferd Crone (Labour PvdA) and Cynthia Ortega (ChristenUnie) on Tuesday, but it does not look so far as if the motion will get majority support."

According to the Merced Sun-Star, "Merced's postal patrons deserve better than they are getting."

The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service will meet in Washington, D.C., at Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, on May 1-2, 2007. The public is welcome to observe the Board’s open session, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on May 2 in the Ben Franklin Room on the 11th floor.

In a letter to all members of the House and Senate postal oversight committee members, Mailers Council executive director Robert McLean wrote: "I write to ask you to join all the individuals and businesses that use the postal system in opposing the Postal Service's plan to file for a postage rate increase in the next few months."

In an apparently widening scandal, the postmaster of the Far Rockaway Post Office has been temporarily relieved of his duties and a supervisor has been arrested for stealing thousands from the government, the New York Daily News has learned.

According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, "A lot depends on who you talk to, but apparently there still are problems getting some U.S. mail to you. Bulk mail, such as newspapers, magazines, and fliers are still taking several weeks to be processed by the U.S. Postal Service. The delays still frustrate customers who rely on those magazines."

The Philadelpha Inquirer has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service's grand 30th Street building and surrounding properties in Philadelphia have been the subject of development dreams and rivalries for two decades. Now, in the final stretch toward their $2 billion reconstruction as a glittering gateway to University City, surprising details are emerging about multimillion-dollar deals underpinning the project. Federal investigators have concluded that Keating Development Group of Philadelphia, which represented the Postal Service, had an "apparent conflict of interest" by playing multiple roles in the project."

AllAfrica.com has reported that "Posta Uganda will soon place a fleet of 18 executive buses on the Kampala-Nairobi route at reduced fare and ease traffic and cargo movement between the two cities. Marketing and sales general manager Wilfred Musinguzi on Thursday said that using the international postal union networks, the company intends to link up Dar es Salaam in a bid to expedite regional inter-city mail delivery and communication."

According to The Scotsman, "Postwatch aims to get Royal Mail to deliver on its promises."

The Jamaica Gleaner has reported that "Based on the trend of unscrupulous persons using mail to transport many types of contraband, the postal service is now even more vigilant in its analysis of mail items to detect such infringements and contain them."

AdWeek has reported that "In the last two years, Web retailers have increased marketing budgets without seeing any increase in their strikingly low sales-conversion rates. Two recent studies explore the problem and come to similar conclusions: online marketers are largely unaware of their customers' preferences. One of the studies also suggests an overreliance on Web metrics is to blame. More consumers than ever are buying merchandise online, but the ratio of those who make purchases on any given site compared to those who just browse remains tiny--and appears to be shrinking."

KBTV has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service today announced that the Beaumont Remote Encoding Center (REC) will be closed as part the next phase of a nationwide consolidation plan. The facility, located at 750 Pearl Street will close in November, 2007."

The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

Dow Jones has reported that "Postal and logistics company TNT NV (TNT) intends to start its EUR400 million share buyback program next week, Chief Executive Peter Bakker said Friday at TNT's annual shareholder meeting. TNT announced the share buyback program at the presentation of its annual results on Feb. 26."

CommonDreams.org has noted that "A broad coalition of small and independent publishers sent a letter to the Postal Board of Governors last night, opposing a plan that burdens smaller publishers with higher postage rates and unfairly locks in the best prices for the largest media companies. The crippling hike — proposed by the nation's largest publisher, Time Warner Inc. — could push many smaller magazines into bankruptcy and make it almost impossible to launch a new independent publication. The coalition, which includes publishers from across the political spectrum, is demanding that the postage increase be delayed until Congress can determine how postal regulators came to the decision without public involvement or congressional oversight. Publications that signed the letter include The American Prospect, The American Spectator, Commonweal, In These Times, Mother Jones, Ms. Magazine, National Review, The Nation, The New Republic and WORLD, among others."

Forbes has reported that "TNT NV shareholders voted at the Dutch postal company's AGM against a proposal that would allow an issue of preference shares that would protect the company in the event of a possible takeover."

From the U.S. Postal Service: The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service will meet in Washington, D.C., at Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, on May 1-2, 2007. The public is welcome to observe the Board’s open session, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on May 2 in the Ben Franklin Room on the 11th floor. The Board is expected to discuss the following items: Wednesday, May 2 at 8:30 a.m. 1. Minutes of the previous meetings. 2. Remarks of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board (Jim Miller and Alan Kessler). 3. Remarks of the Postmaster General and CEO John E. Potter. 4. Committee reports. 5. Board of Governors bylaw amendments. 6. Capital investment – Additional delivery bar code sorters and stacker modules (Walt O’Tormey, vice president, engineering). 7. Quarterly Report on Service Performance (Delores Killette, consumer advocate and vice president). 8. Quarterly Report on Financial Performance (Glen Walker, chief financial officer and executive vice president). 9. Integrated Financial Plan Addendum (Glen Walker).

From the U.S. Postal Service: "The recently passed Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) provides for predictable annual price changes. As we work with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on the best time to implement these price changes, we are seeking feedback from the mailing community. Please take a few minutes to respond to this short survey so we can consider your input. Click here for survey. We look forward to receiving your survey. Responses must be in by Thursday, April 26, 2007.

As Harte-Hanks' Chet Dalzell has noted in an article published in DM News, "The Direct Marketing Association has been highly engaged over the past 18 years on the environment issue. First, with a board-level task force led by Robert Teufel of Rodale Press. Second, with the publication of the “DMA Environmental Resource for Direct Marketers,” now in its third edition. Third, an environmental awards program, the Robert Rodale Environmental Achievement Awards, later administered by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which has had a who’s who of honorees including Seventh Generation, National Wildlife Federation, the U.S. Postal Service, L.L. Bean and Williams-Sonoma. Most recently, the DMA board of directors named a standing committee on the environment and social responsibility, led by Jennifer Barrett of Acxiom Corp., which comprises a cross-section of the DMA membership and has focused on new ways to bring environmental performance to the direct marketer’s bottom line."

Online Media Daily has reported that "aiming to offer its clients deeper digital marketing intelligence, Experian is acquiring Hitwise, which monitors Web sites' performance and provides online marketing insight. The $240 million deal is expected to close next month, subject to regulatory approval. In snapping up Hitwise, the consumer data giant Experian is merely following its clients which are increasingly turning from mass media platforms to digital ones with the ability to specifically target niche audiences. The acquisition of Hitwise is expected to help Experian expand its market research offerings to clients by delivering sophisticated and unique data about consumer online behavior in search, along with other online activities."

KBTV has reported that "The Postal Service remains tight-lipped about the possible shutdown of a mail processing center in Beaumont, but that possibility has a lot of other people talking - and not just the hundreds of employees whose jobs could be on the line. Many people are considering how a closure of the Remote Encoding Center would impact the city`s attempt to revitalize downtown. The facility is a major employer, with 300 regular workers and 500 temporary workers."

The Guardian has reported that "The Communication Workers Union yesterday called for a boycott of WH Smith and raised the threat of industrial action after Royal Mail announced it was switching 70 crown post offices to the high street chain. The decision to transfer the 70 branches follows a trial of the franchise concept in six WH Smith stores. Royal Mail said the deal would help maintain a sustainable network." See also the Daily Express.

From the postal oversight hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security.

Air Cargo World has reported that "FedEx Express expanded two of its International Priority services in Asia Pacific and Europe."

The Communication Workers Union has told its members that "A further meeting took place with Royal Mail yesterday afternoon. The meeting concluded with Royal Mail still refusing to offer our members any basic pay increase. Instead, they revised their position by increasing the range of lump sums on offer from between Ł250/Ł400 to Ł250/Ł550. These lump sums remain conditional on the Union signing up to specific savings initiatives, most of which amount to significant pay cuts and involve major change. Royal Mail’s position on local productivity remains unchanged."

According to CNET News, "Your grandchildren may use a stylus on a tablet PC instead of a Bic on tablet paper, but they will continue to write. That's because even in an era when elementary school students are adept at mousing and teenagers are fiends at text-messaging, some experts say that writing with a pen is still the backbone for teaching people how to read and learn facts."

Reuters has reported that "British retailer WH Smith said on Thursday it had struck a deal with the Royal Mail under which it would operate Post Offices in 70 of its stores in an attempt to stem falling sales." See also the Financial Times.

From eMediaWire: "Document Command, Inc., which operates its global Remote Control Mail™ service for delivering postal mail online, today announced a re-branding of both its company and services under a common name, Earth Class Mail™. The Earth Class Mail online postal service gives customers ranging from mobile workers and military personnel to college students, expatriates and foreign-based companies online access to their postal mail, from anywhere in the world, at any time. Earth Class Mail receives mail each day, scans the outside of the sealed envelopes and presents these images to the customer online. The customer then determines whether to have the mail opened and scanned, shredded, recycled, transferred elsewhere, or forward-shipped - similar to how people manage their mobile phones and emails. The Earth Class Mail system is convenient, reliable, and cost-effective."

According to the Leamington Observer, "postal deliveries are being stretched to breaking point in the area by unusually high numbers of staff taking time off sick. Royal Mail bosses admitted the pressure had been on to get the post out over the past few weeks and residents have felt the knock on effects first hand."

The NewMexicoChannel has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service said it plans to hire 75 workers to improve mail delivery to New Mexicans. Members of the state's congressional delegation said the Postal Service plans to add the new workers in the Albuquerque district. Frustration with the Postal Service peaked last winter when customers around New Mexico flooded hot lines with complaints about late mail, overdue bills or even no mail at all."

Ha'aretz has reported that "Sanctions undertaken by postal service workers over the past weeks eased as of yesterday, at least for a few days, following a hearing before the Tel Aviv District Labor Court. Israel Postal Company management requested the court to issue an injunction to cease sanctions, saying the strike is a political move against the government, not a labor dispute."

The Financial Times has reported that "The German government may extend the monopoly of Deutsche Post, the postal company, over delivery of letters beyond December 2007 as postal service liberalisation is less advanced in other European Union countries."

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) today introduced a bipartisan amendment reaffirming that both federal law and the Constitution protect sealed domestic mail from being searched. The amendment is in response to a signing statement that the White House issued in conjunction with the signing of the Collins-Carper postal reform legislation. In a speech before the U.S. Senate, Senator Collins explained that following the singing of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the White House issued a statement that resulted in confusion about the Administration’s commitment to abide by the basic privacy protections afforded sealed domestic mail. Senator Collins’ resolution is cosponsored by Senators Carper, Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Norm Coleman (R-MN).

Daily Times has reported that "Pakistan Post Director General Arshad Khan informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Communications that measures have been taken to transform Pakistan Post (PP) into a modern organisation through the use of information technology."

The Trinidad & Tobago Express has reported that "Workers at TTPost Diego Martin delivery office have staged "sick-out" action since Monday, in protest over what they are calling "unsatisfactory working conditions".

The Hindu has reported that "As part of an image makeover, post offices are being refurbished to create an inviting ambience. The reeky, dingy rooms that housed post offices will now become things of the past, with the Department of Posts initiating a chain of activities that has given a facelift to its image. A tie-up with Ambika group, the leading manufacturers of perfumed incense sticks, is the latest move made by the department to bring more colour and fragrance to its extensions. As per the arrangement, post offices will sell not just mail material like stamps and envelopes but incense sticks too from Wednesday."

According to Sify, "Sending packets through private courier companies could get expensive, with the Government proposing to stipulate higher tariffs for mails less than 150 gm. The draft Postal Bill, which is expected to be tabled in the ongoing Budget session, has proposed to impose a tariff on mails carried by courier companies that is fives times the charge taken by the Postal Department."

ChannelInfo.net has noted that "Postcomm, the Postal Services Commission, is the independent regulator for the postal market. It is holding a number of regional events where stakeholders and postal users will be able to meet the PostComm team and get an update on the latest initiatives being undertaken in the postal market."

According to DM News, "With paper, postage and shipping costs all steadily inching upwards in recent years, many catalogers have become blasé about “another price increase.” However, next month’s jump in postage costs is so significant — anywhere from 20 percent to upwards of 40 percent for catalogers — that the industry has been voicing its opposition to Washington in an unprecedented way. In addition, businesses are finding themselves looking under every rock for a few extra pennies."

DutchNews.nl has reported that "Postal workers’ unions say they will not protest against the complete opening of the postal market from January 2008 if MPs make sure new players pay their delivery workers proper wages. MPs are to debate the opening of the market on Thursday. New postal firms such as Sandd and Selekt Mail pay delivery staff on a piecemeal basis based on a couple of euro-cents for each item they deliver rather than an hourly rate."

According to Steve Barr in the Washington Post, "Snail mail still draws a lively crowd. At yesterday's House hearing on the future of the U.S. Postal Service, the witnesses jousted before the microphones at the front of the room while the crowd jostled to find seats in the back."

FuelCellWorks.com has reported that "Masterflex Brennstoffzellentechnik GmbH, a subsidiary of Gelsenkirchen-based Masterflex AG, will be presenting the Cargobike with mini fuel cells, which is now ready for series production, at the Hannover Messe Energy 2007. The Cargobike is particularly well suited for use in inner-city logistics such as for postal service providers."

In an editorial in Mother Jones, smaller circulation publications are issuing a call to postal action. See also CommonDreams.org.

Posted on this site are the other pieces of testimony that were given before the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; United States House of Representatives:

The Hindu has reported that "The Government has proposed to reserve the lucrative letters segment of up to 150 gm for the postal department and allow private players to carry these letters only if they charge up to five times more than the Government tariff." See also the Business Standard.

According to the Economic Times, "The UPA government clearly has a dirigiste, regressive streak. The latest example is a bizarre attempt by the department of posts (DoP) to force private courier companies to charge more for letters below 150 gm. The DoP’s draft Cabinet note proposes that private couriers charge at least five times the postage tariff charged by the DoP. For urgent mail, courier companies would have to charge 2.5 times more than the corresponding speed post tariff."

The Financial Express has reported that "The UPA government clearly has a dirigiste, regressive streak. The latest example is a bizarre attempt by the department of posts (DoP) to force private courier companies to charge more for letters below 150 gm. The DoP’s draft Cabinet note proposes that private couriers charge at least five times the postage tariff charged by the DoP. For urgent mail, courier companies would have to charge 2.5 times more than the corresponding speed post tariff."

Japan Today has reported that "The United States reminded Japan Tuesday that it wants Tokyo to secure a "level playing field" when the government-backed Japan Post is privatized."

The BBC has reported that "The French postal service, La Poste, plans to order 10,000 electric delivery vehicles, which it says are far more economical than normal cars or vans. The state-run service is inviting tenders from European manufacturers for the first batch of 500."

The Associated Press has reported that "Even with postage rates going up, the Postal Service expects a deficit this year as struggles with a swiftly changing communications market, Postmaster General John Potter said Tuesday. "The dynamics of the 21st century communications market have altered — forever — the basic assumptions of postal economics," Potter said in remarks prepared for the House Oversight and Government Reform postal subcommittee. The rapid growth of electronics communications have resulted in declines in lucrative first-class mail, though lower-cost advertising mail continues to increase. In addition, private companies have taken a growing share of the package and rapid delivery market. "Competition exists for every piece of mail that we move through our system," Potter said." See also GovExec.com and Investors Business Daily.

From the U.S. Postal Service: The April 17, 2007 Statement of Postmaster General John E. Potter before the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; United States House of Representatives has been posted on the Postal Service's web site.

From the Postal Regulatory Commission: The April 17, 2007 Statement of Dan Blair, Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, before the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; United States House of Representatives has been posted on the PRC's web site.

From the U.S. Government Accountability Office: The Statement of Katherine Siggerud, Director, Physical Infrastructure, U.S. Government Accountability Office before the Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives has been posted on the GAO web site.

Press Release: "PennySaverUSA.com, the Web site of the shopper publications of Harte-Hanks, Inc., has announced it is working with Google to provide coupons and other local business data collected by Harte-Hanks-owned shopper publications The PennySaver and The Flyer and from affiliate publishers of PennySaverUSA.com. These local business listings and offers will appear on Google Maps search results when a consumer is searching for related information. According to the agreement, Google will receive coupons and various business data online from PennySaverUSA.com and its affiliate publishers, including business name, mailing address, telephone number(s), e-mail address, hours of operation, payment methods and other relevant data. The coupons offer savings from local small and medium-sized businesses all across the United States, from dry cleaners to dentists and from handymen to pizza stores.' "

From MarketWire: "RPost® US Inc., the leader in managed outbound messaging with its flagship Registered E-mail® service suite, today announced that Quality Assurance International (QAI), the global leader in organic certification services, uses RPost Registered E-mail messages for all communication required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during the organic certification process. The RPost system provides QAI certification agents with an electronic receipt that proves precisely what e-mail content and attachments were sent and received, by whom and when. The power of the e-mail receipt enabled QAI to transition from a paper-based system to a more efficient and environmentally friendly electronic system."

Financial Times Deutschland has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, has indicated that it could make smaller acquisitions this year in business with logistics. The company has emphasised, however, that this would represent only a comparatively small part of its expansion strategy."

WMAQ has noted that "Postal workers call them "government look-alike mail," marketers call them selling tools, but consumers call them maddening. Official-looking mass mailings can be deceptive and confusing -- and even illegal in some cases. Ron Goodstein is a marketing professor at Georgetown University, and is not a fan of official notices. "This is a primary example of what we call perceived manipulative intent," said Goodstein. In other words, he says they're "sleazy."

In its filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission, Valpak Direct Marketing Systems opposed a motion by the Coalition of Catalog Mailers to reopen the record to receive new evidence in Docket No. R2006-1.

Here's a piece from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that you might find interesting: "UPS, FedEx look to neighborhoods."

From the Federal Register: "The Postal Regulatory Commission has established a formal docket to consider extending the provisional Repositionable Notes (RPN) service by one year. Shortly before the expiration date, the Postal Service filed a request seeking to maintain the status quo to allow time to determine how RPNs may be affected by the recent implementation of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA). This document describes the requested change and identifies several initial procedural steps, including authorization of settlement negotiations. DATES: April 20, 2007: Deadline for intervention, responses to request for consideration under rule 69, comments on suspension of this docket, answers to Conditional Motion for Waiver, and comments on appropriateness of authorizing settlement procedures."

The EU social partners, PostEurop (employers) and UNI Postal Europa (trade unions) organised with the assistance of the EU Commission a workshop in Brussels on 2 April 2007 on Postal Sector Evolution. It was organised in the light of the Commission's proposal for a new postal directive to fully open the EU postal market in 2009 and maintaining the universal postal service at the same time.

The House Committee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia will hold what it has called its"U.S. Postal Service 101" hearing on Tuesday, April 17, 2007, 10:00 a.m. in Room 2247 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security will hold its hearing on the current state of the Postal Service along with the efforts underway to implement the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (Public Law 109-435) at 2:00 p.m. at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342.

From PR Newswire: "Pitney Bowes Inc. has appointed Dennis Shea to lead the company’s lobbying efforts in Washington. Shea succeeds David Nassef, who is returning to Connecticut after ten years in Washington to support Chairman and CEO Michael Critelli in a wide range of assignments."

The Chicago Tribune has reported that "A congressional subcommittee charged with overseeing the U.S. Postal Service will meet in Chicago next month to explore the city's stubborn mail delivery problems, said U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.)."

Accoriding to the Postal Service's Greg Whiteman writing in DM News, "It’s a chain reaction for retailers. Plain and simple. Send someone a catalog and he or she is twice as likely to make a purchase at the retailer’s Web site. As BusinessWeek magazine reported recently, “Net shopping isn’t rendering catalogs obsolete. It’s just changing their role.”

According to New Orleans CityBusiness, "U.S. Postal Service representatives say mail service in the New Orleans area is almost back to normal but business owners beg to differ."

AMEInfo has reported that "Officials of postal administrations from Arab countries called for a greater role in the global postal strategies and appointed a task force to develop a postal strategy for Arab countries, at the 14th meeting of the Arab Permanent Postal Council held in Amman, Jordan."

The Jerusalem Post has reported that "The union of Israel Postal Company employees decided Sunday night to resume sanctions they applied last week instead of the full strike that shut down postal services on Sunday."

The Anchorage Daily News has reported that "The Bush is about to get more expensive. The U.S. Postal Service is boosting rates across the nation May 14, including a dramatic increase for a program designed to keep grocery costs down in rural Alaska."

According to AuctionBytes, "Seventy-seven percent of eBay and online sellers are concerned about higher shipping costs when new USPS rates go into effect in May, and 26 percent are concerned that postal tools they use may not be ready when the changes go into effect, according to a recent AuctionBytes survey. Postal rates are going up in the United States on May 14, 2007, and will have a significant effect on online sellers."

Arab Times has reported that "The Ministry of Communications (MoC) is planning to privatize the postal and transportation sectors in order to offer better services to citizens and to bring these services at par with those in the developed countries, reports Al-Qabas daily. Undersecretary at the ministry Abdul-Aziz Al-Osaimi said the ministry is trying to be in tune with the changing times and plans to adopt all the latest technological advancements that have taken place in these sectors."

Ha'aretz has reported that "A strike by Israel's Postal Authority inched closer Saturday, following the suspension of crucial Saturday evening talks between the Histadrut labor federation and government officials."

The Orange County Register has reported that "Letter carriers dropped their U.S. Postal Service delivery bags and picked up signs protesting the hiring of contract workers Friday afternoon in Orange. The picketing was in response to the recent hiring of the county's first contract worker in January. However, officials said contracting workers has been a common practice with the post office since the days of the Pony Express."

The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

DM News has reported that "Many large financial services firms are experimenting with a blend of direct mail and e-mail marketing to communicate with their current customers and merchandise their new products and services. In contrast many smaller financial services have turned to e-mail to attract new customers with acquisition offers."

WWTI has reported that "The Postal Service has ended its Area Mail Processing (AMP) study of mail processing operations at the Watertown Main Post Office located on Commerce Park Drive in Watertown. The Postal Service was proposing the consolidation of the Watertown facility and moving operations to Syracuse."

Motley Fool has reported that "A new service developed by Royal Mail could help banks trace customers with dormant savings accounts. A 60 per cent success rate is being claimed by the postal service for a technique which can locate account holders who have moved home but have neglected to inform their banks. Royal Mail uses information gathered over the last 16 years from its Mail Redirection service to ascertain the whereabouts of lost customers, and the method has already completed a successful trial."

The Atlanta Business Journal has reported that "United Parcel Service Inc. is continuing its expansion in China, building the first U.S. air hub in that nation in the city of Shanghai."

CNET has reported that "Google and PennySaverUSA.com are working on a deal in which free "shopper" publications would contribute classified listings to Google's search index and add local merchant pages with coupons to Google Maps, according to a consultant who heard a presentation on the deal at an industry conference. The companies also are talking about running a "bid-for-print" advertising test between PennySaverUSA.com's parent Harte Hanks and Google. Under the deal, Google also could end up training sales reps at the "shopper" publications to sell AdWords to offline merchants that Google otherwise would have a hard time reaching, says Peter Zollman, principal of Classified Intelligence, a consultancy in the classified and local advertising industry."

The Tide has reported that "More than 60 courier companies have been closed down as part of efforts to restore public confidence in the nation’s postal sector. Head of the Courier Regulatory Agency, Dr Simon Emeje, told our correspondent, yesterday in Abuja that some 15 other companies have had their licences revoked due to mail pilfering and dumping. “We met an industry that was seriously battered, with the problems of unregistered companies, dumping and pilfering among others,” he said. He said the agency had taken measures to sanitise the sector."

Air Cargo World has reported that "FedEx is moving to "modernize" its retirement plans for most of its fulltime employees in what industry observers say may be a prudent business move but one that likely will prompt unions to throttle up their organizing drives there - something the company has long fought. The move certainly appears to have further soured relations between employees and management, according to various sources."

The Steering Committee of the Women in Logistics and Delivery Services Council (WILDS) and Postal Regulatory Commissioner Goldway is pleased to invite you to a special event at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15th: a Panel Discussion and Reception. Check it out.

From the U.S. Postal Service: "The U.S. Postal Service is implementing a program to convert all paper personnel folders to electronic folders, which will transform the way employee information is stored, retained and retrieved, ultimately enabling postal employees to have 24-hour access to the content of their personnel folder. The Postal Service awarded a contract to SOURCECORP BPS, Inc. to convert the files from paper to electronic as part of the Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF) program. SOURCECORP BPS, Inc. has extensive experience scanning and securing banking, medical and government documents."

As HellMail has noted, "The UK's postmen and postwomen are having their rounds assessed - by a computer program called 'Georoute'. Georoute is routing software, designed to maximise efficiency of collection and delivery arrangements for postal operators. Royal Mail is using Georoute to help improve efficiency by ensuring that routes are well planned."

Buffalo Business First has reported that "National Fuel Resources Inc. has reached a two-year contract with the United States Postal Service to supply natural gas and related gas management services at 166 USPS locations throughout New York state."

Ha'aretz has reported that "Postal employees are causing work disruptions and are also threatening to ramp up labor actions into a full blown strike on Sunday, despite progress this week in meetings between Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson and Communications Minister Ariel Atias. The two agreed on a fee structure policy - the very reason workers took labor actions this past week in the first place. Postal branches and postal banks have been closing early to the public this week. It has been impossible to carry out income tax or VAT payments, and mobile postal services to rural areas and diplomatic mail have been shut down."

Dow Jones has reported that "The Dutch parliament Thursday decided to postpone its decision on the deregulation of the Dutch mail market until next week, but during its debate on the topic it became clear that a large majority will support the plan to liberalize the market as from Jan. 1, 2008."

i-Grafix.com has reported that "The first NPES Industry Summit, recently in Chicago, provided an optimistic view of print's current and future prospects and a preview of the world's most promising growth markets for the years ahead. PRINT OUTLOOK delivered a day-and-a-half review of how print is performing in the communications marketplace today and what lies ahead, both for the industry and for the American economy. PRIMIR attendees heard an update on the recently completed study, "Effect of Postal Reform on the Demand for Print." Between 2007 and 2008, postal reform and rate increases will remove between 800m and 900m catalogues from the US mail stream, along with up to 350m periodicals and 3bn pieces of direct mail advertising, the study consultants projected. In many areas, however, a "wait and see" approach will be required as details of the new rate setting process emerge."

The Washington Post has noted that you should "forget the rain, sleet and snow. Outsourcing is what worries a major postal workers union. Concerned that the U.S. Postal Service plans to step up use of contractors to deliver mail in cities and suburban areas, the National Association of Letter Carriers is lobbying Congress to get involved and study the use of contract delivery services. The union plans to draw attention to the issue by picketing postal headquarters on L'Enfant Plaza on Monday." [Wait a minute....Unions are asking Congress to get involved in an issue that was the result of prior collective bargaining? What ever happened to the union demand that Congress stay out of business that's the subject to collective bargaining?]

Rural Mail Carrier Postal News has reported that "The National Rural Letter Carriers lead by President Donnie Pitts will join NALC President Young and the NALC in an informational picket on Monday, April 16 at 2:00 PM EDT. The National Rural Letter Carriers will join the NALC and members of Congress angered at the Postal Service’s decision to outsource mail delivery to private companies and individuals."

DM News has reported that "Rate increases, declining prospecting, talent absorption, the failure of net neutrality, online intensity and new systems. These were just a few of the monster trends that are about to shake the world of direct marketers, according to direct mail guru Don Libey, who spoke at the Direct Marketing Club of New York’s April luncheon at the Yale Club. Mr. Libey said another monster trend is online intensity, and it is only going to get more intense. “We’ve only seen about 10 percent of the ultimate online share of the market basket,” Mr. Libey said. “Expect a near-doubling of online influence and sales over the next three years."

In a motion filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission, a coalition of catalogers has petitioned the PRC to reopen the record in Docket No. R2006-1 to permit the presentation of testimony regarding the need "to permit catalog companies a reasonable transition period to adjust their businesses in the most efficient manner possible."

RoadTransport.com has reported that "TNT has moved quickly to reassure employees that it has no plans for redundancies in the UK after revealing heavy cutbacks in the Netherlands."

Reuters has reported that "A Dutch minister rejected calls on Thursday for tighter supervision of dominant Dutch mail company TNT NV when the post market is fully opened to competition next year."

From PR Newswire: "For the first time, consumers in Internet-connected households are paying more of their bills online than by paper check, according to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive and the Marketing Workshop."

From the U.S. Postal Service: "New Quick Service Guides in HTML and PDF formats and Notice 123, Ratefold, are now available on usps.com/ratecase. The Quick Service Guides will be linked to the new edition of the Domestic Mail Manual as soon as it becomes available next week. Use the Quick Service Guides, new Postage Statements, frequently asked questions and other tools at usps.com/ratecase to help you prepare for the May 14 changes to rates and mailing standards. If you have any questions, please contact your local manager of Business Mail Entry. To find the office nearest you, use the BME locator on usps.com."

According to Reuters, "Package delivery company FedEx Corp. said on Wednesday it has agreed to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit against its express unit, FedEx Express, for $53.5 million. The suit alleged that FedEx Express discriminated against its African-American and Hispanic workers by passing them over for promotion, paying them less than white workers, and treating them unfairly in evaluation and disciplinary proceedings. Memphis-based FedEx has denied committing any acts of racial discrimination. "There has been no finding of wrongdoing on the part of FedEx," said FedEx spokeswoman Sandra Munoz."

Click2Houston has reported that "A man pretending to be a U.S. postal worker is committing robberies in the Houston area, officials told KPRC Local 2 Wednesday. Crime Stoppers and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service asked for the public's help in identifying the robber."

BBC News has reported that "More than 16,000 people have signed a petition to keep Coventry's postal sorting office open."

The Hindu has reported that "The Tamil Nadu Postal Circle has reorganised its Speed Post articles' delivery with effect from Wednesday. Eighty-six postmen in the 12 sub-depots have been provided orange-and-blue uniforms representing the colours of Speed Post. The articles will be delivered in the morning and afternoons. Exclusive arrangements have been made to deliver to corporate and business houses. Customers can track the status of their postal articles at www.indiapost.gov.in."

Expatica has reported that "Postal workers gathered in The Hague on Wednesday to protest unfair competition on the postal market. The unions want to prevent developments that could lead to postal workers being paid per item delivered rather than an hourly wage. TNT Post recently announced that thousands at the company would be made redundant because of the pressure from the competition with new postal companies."

According to the Jerusalem Post, "A joint team of Finance Ministry, Communications Ministry and Israel Postal Company officials will meet soon to discuss the future of the government company after its 7,000 workers applied sanctions to protest the government's decision not to lower the rates of bulk mail, which would allow the company to be competitive with private businesses that will be able to deliver such mail beginning this summer."

DM News has reported that "Newgistics is set to announce today the acquisition of Logistics Management Inc., a provider of transportation brokerage services optimized for less-than-truckload shipping. The returns management services provider will use LMI’s transportation management capabilities to expand the set of services offered beyond the company’s traditional returns management business."

The Chicago Sun-Times has reported that "Rep. Danny Davis said he's hopeful the city's dismal mail service will improve now that the U.S. Postal Service has promised to hire 200 new letter carriers. Davis said Postmaster General John E. Potter assured him Chicago will be getting everything it needs to run a "topflight" organization."

According to Vanguard, "the dual mandate (operator and regulator roles) of NIPOST has placed a burden on its operation as a player in the industry, as it is saddled with additional responsibilities of acting as a regulatory body, in the process, slowing down its speed of operation and effectiveness. According to the findings of this group, the dual responsibilities of being a player and a regulator has made efficient running of NIPOST in accordance with UPU standard rather difficult."

Time Inc. has urged the Commission to "reject the Postal Service’s proposal to ‘rebalance’ Standard Mail rates for flats at the expense of letters and pursue an alternative solution that will reduce the impact on Standard flats without shifting the burden to Standard letters. One such alternative would be to re-evaluate the demand elasticity assumptions for Standard flats. These assumptions are subject to reasonable adjustment, and the PRC can reasonably assume that with a lower Standard flat rate and higher volume levels, the same amount of revenue would be generated. This would result in lower Standard flat rates without increasing the Standard letter rates. The Commission can surely generate a variety of similar alternatives with the goal of maintaining or increasing volume for both letters and flats."

The Jordan News Agency has reported that "Director General of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Edouard Dayan said that the development in Internet telecommunications services has not weaken the postal services as a traditional service. On the contrary it serves as supporter to the postal sector particularly after the marked development in E-commerce, Dayan said in a press conference on Wednesday, on the sidelines of meetings of the Arab Permanent Committee for Post in Amman. The Internet and its accompanying services for E-commerce have increased reliability of postal services especially in delivering goods that were purchased on line."

From PR Newswire: "Harry & David Holdings, Inc. announced today that Harry & David Operations Corp. (the "Company") and its Jackson & Perkins Operations subsidiary have completed the previously announced sale of its Jackson & Perkins business, including the direct marketing and wholesale businesses, the Jackson & Perkins(R) brand, catalog, e-commerce website and associated inventory, including premium rose plants, horticultural products and home and garden décor, as well as its direct marketing and wholesale customer lists and relationships, to an investment group led by Donald and Glenda Hachenberger. The transaction closed on April 10, 2007."

The Chicago Tribune has reported that "The Postal Service in Chicago is hiring 200 new letter carriers in an effort to turn around its lackluster performance, U.S. Postmaster General John E. Potter said Tuesday, pledging that customers will see a difference in their mail delivery within six months. Potter was in Chicago to prepare for congressional hearings next week. U.S. Rep Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), chairman of the recently revived subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Postal Service, called the hearings, in part to explore why Chicago's delivery performance lags behind other major cities. Potter pulled no punches Tuesday when he talked about the problems, which became more pronounced in 2005 and 2006."

The DM Bulletin has noted that "TNT Post has appointed field marketing agency Tribe to promote its local mailing services and build its UK customer database."

The Irish Times has reported that "An Post will start offering new savings and investment products through its joint venture with Belgian bank Fortis by June and will create 100 new jobs by the end of the year."

The Star-Ledger has reported that "Postal workers across the country are frustrated that the FBI's investigation into the deadly mailed anthrax attacks from fall 2001 hasn't landed anyone behind bars yet, Postal Service union leaders said during a news conference over the anthrax investigation yesterday in Princeton Borough."

From PRWeb: "Webplus, Inc., a leading provider of small business solutions, announced today that its Shipping Sidekick (www.shippingsidekick.com) shipping rate comparison web site is now offering a free shipping scale to paid Gold and Platinum Shipping Sidekick members. These highly accurate electronic scales feature a 36 lb capacity and a large LCD display and are perfect for weighing boxes, large envelopes and most other small parcels."

TheWiseMarketer has noted that "In 2006, 69% of consumers in the UK used a free sample that they received through the mail, and a further 37.6% redeemed a money-off voucher or coupon, according to a report published by the Royal Mail."

The Jerusalem Post has reported that "Israel Postal Company management said it regretted sanctions by postal workers that intensified on Tuesday, resulting in the early closure of post offices around the country, mobile post offices failing to enter periphery areas and diplomatic mail not being sent. The workers are protesting the refusal of the government to lower postal rates, especially for bulk mail, which would enable the new government-owned company to compete with private entities."

The Associated Press has reported that "The "forever" stamp will go on sale Thursday, with an opening day ceremony at the Li

berty Bell in Philadelphia. The stamp, which carries an image of the Liberty Bell, will sell for 41 cents and will remain valid for first-class postage regardless of future rate increases. The current 39-cent price for first class mail rises to 41 cents May 14, but buyers can use the forever stamps before that if they wish. The stamps will be sold in booklets of 20 and postal officials said there is no limit on purchases."

WALB has reported that "The U.S. Post Office delivers 212 billion pieces of mail to over 144 million homes, but that delivery is slowing down as business picks up. Right now, the post office is being over run with spring advertisements that seem to be slowing down business. Albany's Postmaster said spring catalogues coupled with heavier volumes going into tax time is slowing down their deliveries."

From Business Wire: "DHL, the world's leading global express delivery and logistics company, today announced it has reduced delivery times from multiple points in Europe to the U.S. market. As part of an ongoing DHL effort focused on enhancing global transit times to the U.S. market, U.S. importers and European exporters can now take advantage of one-day delivery to the U.S. from six European countries."

As Direct magazine has noted, "Last May the U.S. Postal Service filed a rate case that kicked off 10 months of hearings before the Postal Rate Commission — and much speculation. Then, just before the end of February, the newly renamed Postal Regulatory Commission offered its own recommendations to the USPS Board of Governors, and in doing so made a definitive statement. The governors have sent some of the suggestions back for a second look. But what was the PRC thinking?"

The Times of India has reported that "As postal employees gear up to go on a nationwide strike, senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in the matter to resolve the standoff."

The Jordan News Agency has reported that "Delegates from 19 Arab countries, representing the Arab Permanent Committee of Post, an affiliate of the Arab League, have started meeting on Tuesday in Amman within the 14th meeting of the committee, which is hosted by Jordan."

From Business Wire: "Pitney Bowes Inc., the world’s leading mailstream solutions company, announced today the introduction of four new AddressRight™ printers to help businesses of all sizes drive revenue through professional direct mail and customer communication. In addition, Pitney Bowes is offering three new, enhanced DM Series™ Digital Mailing Systems that automatically download new rates and class changes to help drive operational efficiency."

Computerworld has reported that "NZ Post is claiming a 70% reduction in IT operating costs, after moving to a service-oriented architecture and open-source operating system — despite saying it is just 30% through its transformation journey. Moving to a service-oriented IT environment is the only way forward, says Alan Roberts, infrastructure and architecture manager of New Zealand Post’s postal services group."

The Wall Street Journal has reported that "Germany's Bertelsmann AG is betting that in an age of Amazon.com, people still want to purchase books from old-fashioned book clubs. Bertelsmann has agreed to buy out Time Inc.'s interest in Bookspan, their book-club joint venture that includes Book-of-the-Month Club. Bertelsmann will pay about $150 million for the rest of Bookspan, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal, announced today, would leave Bertelsmann as the only major operator of book, music and DVD clubs in the U.S."

As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has asked, "How do you make the 63,000 people in Johns Creek disappear? Mail them a letter. The problem is that the U.S. Postal Service doesn't recognize Johns Creek. The same goes for Milton. For organizers of new Georgia cities, the lesson is this: A new city does not automatically come with its own postal address. The state gives cities the authority to tax, to throw people in jail and to decide zoning cases. But when it comes to using your new city's name in a mailing address, you have to ask the Postal Service. That's because mailing addresses are determined by ZIP code and the post office that serves it —- not by political boundaries."

According to the Manila Standard Today, "The Manila International Airport Authority forged recently an alliance with cargo forwarders, airline firms, and the Philippine Postal Corp. to combat security threats and smuggling."

The Brisbane Times has noted that "ratings agency Standard & Poor's has affirmed its ratings on New Zealand Post, but revised its outlook to negative because of slowing growth in its postal business." See also the New Zealand Herald.

The Tallahassee Democrat has reported that "A part-time employee of the Monticello post office pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon to charges that she stole gift cards and money from the mail on two occasions this year....Earlier Monday, Darrell Gallagher, a 23-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, pleaded guilty to throwing away advertising circulars on Nov. 1, 2006. A second, temporary employee of the Tallahassee post office, Willie Buck Jones, pleaded guilty last week to charges that he threw mail in a Dumpster on two occasions in January."

The El Paso Times has reported that "Delays continue to plague the delivery of standard-class mail in El Paso, and the United States Postal Service is leaning on overtime and temporary workers to correct issues that several longtime employees said demand a larger response. Similar delays last year to standard-class -- or bulk-rate mail -- drew scrutiny from the office of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas."

Slovenia Business Week has reported that "The management of the national postal company signed a letter of intent on business cooperation with its Macedonian counterpart on Friday, 6 April in what could be a prelude to a tie-up. This is the fourth such agreement Posta Slovenije signed with akin companies in the region."

Press Release: "Window Book, Inc., the leader in postal mailing and shipping software announced that they will be showcasing their products at booth #557 at On Demand Expo in Boston, MA in April."

From PR Newswire: "Letter carriers from 18 states across the nation, including National Association of Letter Carriers President William H. Young, will demonstrate in front of U.S. Postal Service headquarters with informational picketing on Monday, April 16 at 2 p.m. EDT to protest contracting out of city letter carriers jobs. Young and the letter carriers will be joined by members of Congress angered at the Postal Service's decision to outsource mail delivery to both existing and future city letter carrier territory to private companies and individuals. The NALC and its supporters in Congress believe contracting out will expose both residential and business postal customers to security problems, poor service, and a disjointed and unreliable delivery workforce."

From PR Newswire: "SteelCloud, Inc., a leading engineering and manufacturing integrator of network centric and embedded computing solutions today announced it has re-won a contract valued at over $8 million from the U.S. Postal Service Engineering Department for SteelCloud specialized servers. Deliveries will commence in April 2007 and continue for the remainder of the Company's fiscal year which ends October 31, 2007. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. Postal Service has an option to purchase additional servers which would result in a total contract value that exceeds $10 million."

CNews has reported that "The low automation level of work processes and the low salaries made the employees of the St. Petersburg post to hold a picket. They threaten a strike. The leadership says the picket is just a staging, but do not deny the employee’s accusations. The picket took place near the building of the Federal Postal Agency of St. Petersburg and its region, Bolshaya Morskaya street 61. there are some 30 employees protesting. They call themselves the members of the free trade union of post employees. They demand the trade union to be recognized and their salaries increased. Besides, they demanded to boost the automation level of work processes, which according to them are of the XIX century. The trade union was formed on March 11th, 2007. According to its representatives the union comprises 230 people."

MaltaMedia News has reported that "Maltapost has introduced a new alphanumeric postcode, which is made up of three letters followed by four numbers. This new postcode will compliment the restructuring of Maltapost’s distribution system and continue to enhance further the efficiencies in the system. The three letters in the new postcode indicate the locality, and the first three digits refer to the road/or street with the last digit referring to the actual street segment."

AllAfrica.com has reported that "Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has embarked on a study leading to the eventual privatisation of the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST). However, the agency has fixed June 2008 date for the sale of the NIPOST, it has not come up with the privatisation option to be adopted in the transaction."

The New York Times has reported that "the Postal Service is taking the “ship” out of shipping, and thousands of small online booksellers are bracing for trouble. The post office said last month that as of mid-May, it would no longer transport goods internationally via cargo ships for individual customers. These so-called surface deliveries have been the crucial method by which booksellers have sold books to foreign markets because the cost is about one-third that of air mail."

The Dallas Morning News has reported that "UPS Store owners all over the country are packing it in, including 10 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the last two years. And the numbers could grow, raising alarms about a possible franchise fiasco. The problem stems from an unusual situation: The stores can't compete with United Parcel Service Inc.'s Web site. Many current and former franchisees accuse the package delivery giant of using the Internet to take away their customers."

The Courier-Journal has reported that "UPS employment in the Louisville area has topped 20,000 for the first time, and the shipping giant expects to add more than 5,000 workers with the completion of a $1 billion expansion of the Worldport air-package hub at Louisville International Airport in November 2010."

National Association of Letter Carriers president William Young told his members:

As Force.Net has noted, ""To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, the Postal Service offers these special edition Express Mail envelopes wrapped in the artwork of a galaxy far, far away."

The Alaska Journal of Commerce has reported that "A mail rate increase scheduled for May 14 will push the price of milk and staples sky high in rural Alaska, according to Alaska residents and businesses. “This increase will definitely close the gap for using air freight over U.S. mail,” said Michelle Adams, logistics manager for the Alaska Commercial Co. “We are getting closer and closer to air freight rates.” The new rate will push a 1-ounce first class letter up to 41 cents, and a postcard will now cost 29 cents. The real increase in the mail rate will be felt harder by those in the rural Alaska, according to Adams. “This is huge, I really feel for the folks in the Bush,” Adams said."

As Reuters has noted, "Electronic paper" has long been hyped as the future of newspapers and books, but products like e-books have been slow to take off. That may soon change, say executives involved in the pioneering technology. While Internet companies are scanning libraries of books and making them available online, E Ink Corp., which emerged out of MIT a decade ago, is seeing a surge in orders for its portable, foldable displays that mimic conventional paper to carry such books."

Brechin Today has reported that "Angus MP Mike Weir has warned that there are only 90 days to save the Royal Mail's centuries old Universal Service Obligation - where all mail is priced equally wherever it is sent in the UK. Mr Weir's stark warning came after the Royal Mail announced plans to introduce "zone pricing" for bulk business mail. This could result in higher charges for the delivery of such mail in rural areas like the Angus Glens. The plans, which do not affect normal postal deliveries, have now been passed to the regulator, Postcomm, who have 90 days to respond."

Dow Jones has reported that "FedEx Corp.'s FedEx Express unit signed an agreement to acquire Flying-Cargo Hungary Kit, its Hungarian global-service participant."

The Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) has offered its initial comments on the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Regulations Establishing a System of Ratemaking issued by the Commission on January 30, 2007 ("Advance Notice"), pursuant to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, Public Law 109-435 ("PAEA" or "Act"). Comments offered by other mailer groups can be found on the Postal Regulatory Commission web site.

According to Yokwe, "A new bill (number 141) submitted to the Nitijela proposes to change the structure of the RMI Postal Service and makes a new postal authority with the RMI President as the chairman. The other four members are to be appointed by the Cabinet."

The Times-Picayune has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service has approved a plan to move regional mail-sorting operations from Mandeville to New Orleans within 60 days."

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette has reported that "The National Labor Relations Board Region 1 has issued complaints alleging multiple unfair labor practices against FedEx Corp.’s FedEx Home Delivery for allegedly firing and harassing workers during a union organizing drive in late 2005 and early 2006."

According to the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), "Contracting out delivery service threatens survival of the USPS. Today, the Postal Service is breaking...[a] bond of trust in cities and towns nationwide by handing the mail over to providers of “Contract Delivery Service,” just about anyone who claims they can do the job on the cheap. From coast to coast, horror stories are already emerging about undelivered mail and unsavory characters hired as subcontractors. What is going on here?"

According to DM News, "Every year companies conducting direct mail campaigns lose millions of dollars on what seems to be an uncontrollable problem. Nearly 20 percent of the American public moves to a new address each year and 10 percent to 20 percent of these movers do not notify the U.S. Postal Service of their new address. Unaccounted-for movers – those that do not notify the postal service of their change of address – can result in large-scale losses for direct mail campaigns."

The Daily Express has reported that "UP to 50,000 postal workers could lose their jobs in the biggest cuts in the history of the Royal Mail. Almost a third of staff in the letters division could be hit, under plans to modernise the ailing business. The cuts would be on top of 35,000 jobs which have gone through redundancies over the past five years."

The Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission has granted a Coalition of Catalog Mailers its request "for additional time to prepare a motion to reopen the record includes persuasive justification for extending the deadline for submission of its Motion to Reopen and Supplement the Record for Reconsideration."

From the U.S. Postal Service: "Proposed Mailing Standards for Periodicals. "We posted a proposal for comment today on usps.com/ratecase to provide new mailing standards to accompany the Periodicals portion of the R2006-1 pricing change. We will also publish the proposal in print and online in the Federal Register. Our new Periodicals prices will enhance efficiency and better ensure that all types of Periodicals mail cover their costs. Mailers will have new incentives to use efficient containers and bundles, and copalletization will become a permanent offering to encourage more publishers to combine mailings. We also add new prices for the editorial portion of a mailing to give mailers of high-editorial-content publications access to lower destination entry rates. We are delaying the implementation of the new Periodicals prices and mailing standards until July 15, 2007, to give postal employees and mailers more time to prepare for the complex pricing structure recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission. The Commission recommended Outside-County rates based on pieces, pounds, bundles, and containers. The new piece rates will vary based on machinability and barcoding; bundle and container rates will vary based on presort level and point of entry. We encourage all Periodicals mailers to review and comment on our proposal as they prepare for the July Periodicals pricing change."

Air Cargo World has reported that "DHL introduced a Web-based service to provide point-to-point tracking for shipments as they pass through the company's international freight forwarding and U.S. Express network. The service is an enhancement to the Consolidated Distribution Service that handles U.S. imports."

The International Herald Tribune has reported that "An unusual law that shapes the way German companies operate is being re-examined yet again following corruption scandals at Siemens and Volkswagen - even as more companies are finding ways to skirt the requirements of the law. Under German law, companies are required to give as many as half of their supervisory board seats to labor representatives. That increasingly appears to be leading to conflicts of interest and bribery in corporate Germany, because executives need a board's support to keep their jobs and carry out strategies. At Deutsche Post World Net, the German postal company and operator of the DHL express delivery service, the chief executive, Klaus Zumwinkel, has also been accused of getting too cozy with labor. Good relations will be important next year when a commitment of no layoffs expires. In one example, Deutsche Post has 530 employees who have put their normal jobs aside to act as full-time labor representatives, often with company cars and private secretaries. This is well above the legal minimum of about 400 for the company, which has more than 500,000 workers and is one of the world's largest employers."

The Moscow Times has reported that "Television producer Alexei Osipov, arrested for extorting $20,000 in exchange for not airing compromising footage of a senior federal official on NTV television, was blackmailing Igor Syrtsov, head of the postal service, Kommersant reported Thursday."

The New York Press has reported that "new program called Carrier Alert System will require your friendly neighborhood postman (or woman) to check in on elderly and disabled folk."

From PR Newswire: "CheckFree Corporation and Sovereign Bank today affirmed their commitment to the environment by launching the "Go Paperless" campaign. As part of the Go Paperless campaign, developed to educate consumers about the green-friendly benefits of paperless bills, Sovereign Bank and CheckFree will donate $1 to The National Arbor Day Foundation for each new electronic bill (e-bill) that customers activate at Sovereign Bank from April 1 through May 31, 2007. Each donation will help cover the cost of planting one new tree. According to the United States Postal Service, more than 10 million tons of paper travel through the mail each year."

The New York Times has reported that "readers of a weekly newsmagazine will soon be getting a bonus issue, but they will miss it if they look in mailboxes or on newsstands. The magazine, The Week, will publish the extra issue online, rather than in its regular printed format. The special issue will feature articles on the environment — hence the decision to spare trees by publishing it just on the Internet (theweekmagazine.com)."

The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

From the U.S. Postal Service: "The USPS has posted the new international rates, fees, and country listing tables (in easy-to-access PDF and HTML formats) and the new Postage Statements effective May 14 on usps.com/ratecase. We encourage you to use our electronic tools as you prepare for the new prices..

According to the Korea Herald, "Post offices in 101 cities and counties will start from today using new street names for mailing addresses. The affected cities include Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon and Ulsan. The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs announced yesterday its plans to adopt a new mailing system that forces people to write street names. In Korea, people previously did not need to write a street name for a mailing address of a residential or office building, but only used certain numbers of areas in the city - 100 Samsung-dong, for instance. However, the address will be changed to a form of "Sarang-street, 100 Samsung-dong."

As FinFacts has noted, "The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) today published the findings of its 2006 postal business and residential surveys. An Post, the Universal Service Provider, delivers over 750 million items each year. Approximately 85% of Ireland’s domestic post is business mail."

Logistics Business Review has reported that "TNT has announced that it is to sell its logistics division to affiliates of Apollo Management, a US private equity firm, for E1.48 billion. While the sale of the business unit has been on the cards since 2005, Datamonitor's Chris Morgan questions whether the new TNT Logistics will be able to take part in further market consolidation which is no doubt inevitable in the short term."

RTE Business News has reported that "Last night the communications regulator published its findings for 2006 on how business and householders find the postal service. It shows that business is sending more post but the rest of us are sending less, while more of us are aware that there are competitors to An Post."

The Scott County Times has reported that "A Fed Ex package containing three pounds of marijuana led authorities to two arrests recently. According to police, weapons discovered at the location of the arrest may also link the suspects to other crimes."

Arab News has reported that "Postal officials from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries discussed recently the final details of establishing a delivery company for the GCC postal system. The company would facilitate package delivery among the different postal systems of the six GCC member states."

Multichannel Merchant has reported that "Postal rates are increasing in May, and smart marketers are insulating themselves from the hit by plunging headfirst into acquiring multichannel contact points for all of their customers. E-mail appending, a service where a vendor matches missing e-mail addresses to your postal file, must be considered. Typically, the costs are per matched e-mail address, and you only pay for those addresses that are deliverable. When done correctly, e-mail appending can be an effective strategy to quickly increase the percentage of e-mail addresses in your file."

The Times has reported that "Up to one third of postal workers are likely to lose their jobs in the biggest swathe of cuts in the history of the Royal Mail, unions have been warned. The cuts will follow increased automation and an overhaul of the way the business operates as it struggles to combat growing competition. Royal Mail has said that the changes over the next four to five years will need efficiencies — or job losses — of 30 per cent of its full-time workforce in the letters division. With 160,000 people employed in Royal Mail letters, that means 48,000 job losses, well in excess of the 30,000 in the last round of redundancies that began five years ago."

The Financial Times has reported that "Vodafone will on Thursday announce a wholesale deal on mobile telephony with Poste Italiane as part of efforts to counter slowing revenue growth in its Italian business. The Italian postal service, which has 14,000 branches, will offer mobile phones and related services to its customers."

The Daily Yomiuri has reported that "With six months left before the privatization of Japan Post on Oct. 1, there are many hurdles to clear, such as the purchase of government-commissioned special postal offices privately owned by individuals across the country. Japan Post Corp., a company established in January 2006 by Japan Post in preparation for postal privatization, will submit to the government a detailed business plan at the end of this month in a move to enter the final stage of preparations for postal privatization. Japan Post Corp. President Yoshifumi Nishikawa, who has doubled as president of Japan Post since Sunday, said at a news conference Monday, "A host of issues read to be resolved before realizing postal privatization."

According to PostCom chairman Jim O'Brien, "In R2006-1, the USPS admitted that its volume variability assumptions for Standard flats were questionable. If there is substantial doubt about the precision or reliability of these assumptions, then there is some scope for the exercise of Commission discretion to make adjustments to them." These volume volume assumptions [are wrong, and catalog rates should be adjusted downward.] With a reduced rate, the USPS will gain the exact same revenue in the test year but would reduce the devastating impact upon the catalog mailers....In addition, letter mailers would continue to provide their projected volumes because letter rates do not have to change from those in the recommended decision....This will go a long way toward maintaining a stable Postal Service and a robust U.S. economy."

PostInsight has posted new research on postal services in Europe published by the EU statistical office Eurostat.

From Swiss Post: "Swiss Post launches PostCertificate for digital signature - Secure data exchange 04.04.2007 From today, electronic signatures are available for the first time in Switzerland from Swiss Post. As a result, documents which previously had to be sent by registered post for legal reasons can now be sent electronically. PostCertificates will form the basis of electronic identities and perform the same function in the digital world as a passport or identity card. Digital signatures ensure that documents can be reliably identified and attributed when exchanged electronically. Senders and recipients are reliably identified, confidentiality is guaranteed through encryption of the electronic documents and proof of dispatch and receipt are generated. Potential applications for the digital signature include the exchange of legal documents, signed documents and procedures involving government agencies in which proof of identity is required."

RTE Business has reported that "New research shows that while businesses are sending more post - with a fifth using other providers as well as An Post, households sent a third less mail in 2006, compared to 2005. That is the result of the 2006 business and residential postal survey by ComReg (the Commission for Communications Regulation). The average business spends €8,019 each year with An Post, and a fifth of Irish businesses are now opting to use other providers in addition to the Universal Service Provider." See also FinFacts.

The Irish Post has reported that "Irish postal delivery rates are among worst of any postal service within the EU according to a major new survey. More than a quarter of all mail posted in Ireland is not delivered on the following day - with just 72 per cent of deliveries made on time. Only the postal services in Greece, Latvia and Cyprus have a poorer record on meeting next-day delivery targets. The findings are contained in new research on postal services in Europe published by the EU statistical office Eurostat."

AMEInfo has reported that "Emirates Post and Hong Kong Post have agreed to enhance Mumtaz (express) mail service between the two countries and increased use of the Dubai Mail Transit Hub for mail re-distribution in the region."

Air Cargo World has reported that "Express and logistics company DHL launched an expansion of its Time Definite Delivery, carrying packages from the Asia Pacific region to the United States within one, two or three days. TDD now covers Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and the United States, providing guaranteed door-to-door deliveries with collection times for pre-nine a.m. or pre-noon. The new offering covers more than 1,450 postal codes in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York."

The Financial Times has reported that "The managing director of Royal Mail's letters division has left the group unexpectedly after just 13 months in the job. Ian Griffiths, who was previously group managing director of GKN Automotive, joined the postal operator in February and was a member of the board. He is the second head of the letters business to leave in less than three years. Elmar Toime, who joined Royal Mail in 2003 as deputy chairman, left in October 2004. Royal Mail said Mr Griffiths was leaving the group with thanks for his contribution and best wishes for the future. It refused to comment on the reasons for his departure. Adam Crozier, chief executive, is to take over the running of the letters business until a successor is appointed, as he did after Mr Toime's departure in 2004." See also The Times.

The Bristol Press has reported that "Tom Rizzio of the USPS Public Affairs Office said the promise extends to the automated processing of residents' mail. Rizzio's statement comes after he heard of problems that have occurred since all local mail began being sorted through the automated processor at the USPS Wallingford plant. For years, town mail was processed at the USPS Waterbury facility and then returned to town. For close to a year now, local mail has been shipped to Waterbury, delivered to Wallingford for processing, returned to Waterbury and then shipped to the local post offices. But, according to Anthony Orsini, vice president of the Terryville Fish and Game Club, there have been problems."

From PRWeb: "Remote Control Mail™, the global provider of postal mail online, has expanded services and now offers regional addresses in more than 18 major cities across the United States."

Hemscott has reported that "Business Post Group PLC said it expects full-year revenue growth of around 17 pct driven by continued strong performance of UK mail, and adds that its results for the year to March 31 will be in line with its previous expectations."

MENA-FN has reported that "Emirates Post, which plans to spend Dh1 billion on an expansion drive within the next 18 months, has set into motion an ambitious programme to acquire 50 aircraft in five years to boost its soon-to-be-launched airfreight activities." See also Reuters.

The Franchise Magazine has reported that "Mail Boxes Etc. (UK) Ltd., (MBE) is offering sub postmasters and independent retailers an opportunity to provide alternative postal services under a new franchised concession. This could create postal services in areas where they did not exist previously and would also enable sub postmasters facing closure to stay in business and continue to serve their local communities."

Scoop has reported that "New Zealand Post is increasing the price of the standard domestic letter by 5 cents to 50 cents from 1 June 2007. The increase is the first since April 2004, when the price moved from 40 cents to 45 cents. Peter Fenton, New Zealand Post’s Postal Services Chief Executive Officer, said that growth in the number of addresses to which New Zealand Post delivers and significantly increased costs had made it necessary to increase the domestic letter rate. “Even at 50 cents it costs less to send a standard letter in New Zealand than it does in Australia, Britain, Canada and the majority of the other OECD countries,” Mr Fenton said." See also Bloomberg.

The San Diego Union-Tribune has reported that "The San Diego Jewish Times, a biweekly newspaper with about 16,000 subscribers, has ceased publication after 27 years. Its last edition was dated March 30. “Ad revenue is way down, and we don't have the reserves to carry us through,” said Mike Schwarz, the paper's publisher. Because the paper was distributed through the U.S. Postal Service, the pending increase in postage rates also contributed to the decision, he said."

From PRLog: "QuickAddress Pro v6 enables organisations to benefit from improved search functionality and access to more address data, including the Royal Mail's 'Not Yet Built Data' which comprises an average of 300,000 new-build properties at any one time."

Welcome to PostCom Radio
Postal Podcast Number 14
Join PostCom President Gene Del Polito and Arandell Corp.'s Vice President of Postal Affairs, Don Landis, and its Director of Postal Systems, Susan Pinter, in a discussion of the R2006 rate case and its impact on catalog marketers.

From UPS: "A key segment of Asia's business leaders believes their region's economy will continue to enjoy strong growth in 2007, but many are more excited about the growth of India than they are China, a new survey shows. The survey of 1,200 leaders of small- and mid-sized business enterprises (SME) in Asia also found wide agreement that China will surpass the United States as the world's largest consumer economy in 10 years or less."

From PR Newswire: "I.D. Systems, Inc. has announced that it has received orders from the United States Postal Service (USPS) to deploy the company's Wireless Asset Net(R) powered industrial vehicle management system at seven additional USPS facilities."

Air Cargo News has reported that "SODEXI has developed a new version of its software package for computerised management of postal traffic. This latest application allows the automated handling of all tasks, including the tracking of shipments, while conforming to all the current security rules."

As Multichannel Merchant has noted, "Each year, companies that rely on direct mail campaigns lose millions of dollars on a seemingly uncontrollable problem: unaccounted for movers and inaccurate mailing lists. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) reports that 14.2% of the public moves to a new address each year. Of these movers, approximately 10 to 20% never report their new address to the USPS. Unaccounted for movers cause inaccuracies in mailing lists and result in large-scale losses for direct mail campaigns. An inaccurate mailing list will cost companies the expense of printing and mailing an undeliverable piece, as well as losing sales revenue from the potential buyer. For example, for a mailing of 1 million pieces that cost a modest $0.55 each and net $2.50 in revenue per piece, the losses can total more than $365,000. Although it is nearly impossible to locate all unaccounted for movers and maintain a 100% accurate mailing list, there are actions a company can take to increase its list accuracy."

Transport News Network has reported that "The European Express industry is set to undergo drastic transition according to a report just published by independent market analyst Datamonitor (DTM.L). The report 'Five Factors that will shape future of Express Industry' puts this down to globalization, deregulation of the postal sector, the wave of mergers and alliances and the booming trade & e-commerce, the combination of which the report concludes, will transform the express industry. Datamonitor expects the express industry in nine EU countries (EU 9 - Germany, France, UK, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden and Poland) to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.1% to €41.2 billion by 2010. Air express and freight being driven by just in time business operations and expanding international trade."

The Financial Times has reported that "Royal Mail's proposals to introduce a more competitive pricing system have been attacked by mail users and postal operators after the industry regulator launched an inquiry. The state-owned operator wants to introduce a pricing structure for bulk mail to enable it to charge different amounts depending on the destination. This, it says, would help it to cope with mounting competition from private sector operators."

El Pais has reported that "Last year, Spanish postal services operator Correos recorded a net profit of 142.2m euros. This figure represents a decline of 19.8 per cent on its result for 2005, when it recorded a net profit of 177.3m euros."

As the Richmond Times-Dispatch noted, "Before UPS Freight could change its corporate culture, it had to make sure its truck drivers could change their socks."

Bloomberg has reported that "TNT NV, Europe's second-biggest express-delivery service, will freeze wages and cut as many as 7,000 jobs in the Netherlands, or 12 percent of its postal workforce, as competition erodes earnings." See also the International Herald Tribune.

The Standard has reported that "The Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) has officially launched PostaPay, its money transfer service, for Kenyans living overseas.The service will enable Kenyans in the Diaspora to send funds directly to places such as schools when paying tuition for relatives or dependants."

PC World has reported that "Online advertising is set to overtake radio next year-- beating previous forecasts-- media experts have predicted. Media services firm ZenithOptimedia forecasts that worldwide spending on internet advertising will grow 28.2 percent in 2007, compared with a rise of just 3.7 percent in the rest of the advertising market."

From the U.S. Postal Service: "The U.S. Postal Service has filed a request with Postal Regulatory Commission for an extension of the provisional Repositionable Notes (RPNs) test. The Commission approved a one-year provisional test of RPNs, and later a one-year extension of that test. RPNs are sticky notes that mailers can place on envelopes, catalogs, magazines, and newspapers to highlight important information or a special offer. The fees for RPNs are 0.5 cents each when used with First-Class Mail and 1.5 cents each with Standard Mail and Periodicals. We will use this extension to continue to evaluate the changing market conditions and gather more data. Details are available on the Commission’s Web site at www.prc.gov. Click “Contents,” then “Pending Cases & Matters,” then “MC2007-2.”

Air Force Times has reported that "As many as 100,000 military reservists who worked at the U.S. Postal Service between 1980 and 2000 could be eligible for thousands of dollars in compensation because they were improperly charged for their military leave, under a new ruling."

From PR Newswire: "United Airlines today announced it has signed a long-term contract with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for the carriage of domestic mail. United is scheduled to begin carrying domestic mail April 28, 2007. The agreement extends through Sept. 30, 2011, and is potentially worth up to $400 million in revenue to United over the life of the contract. The new contract is in addition to United's current position as the number-one carrier of international mail for the USPS among passenger carriers."

La Prensa Libre has reported that "Alvaro Coghi, general manager of Post office of Costa Rica, affirmed that he has himself been working for the modernization and fortification of the postal organization."

The Paper 24-7 has become yet another newspaper has opted for mail versus private carrier delivery.

icCoventry has reported that "hundreds of people marched through Coventry's streets in protest at bitterly-opposed plans to axe the area's biggest mail sorting office. The rally was one of the largest protests seen in the city for years with more than 400 postal workers and their families turning out. Mail staff from all over the UK - including some who had travelled down from Scotland - joined local workers on Saturday to fight the closure of the city's main sorting office."

The Financial Times has reported that "Royal Mail proposals to make some of its business mail prices more competitive face a delay of up to two years. The postal operator has abandoned the original timetable for its plan to cut some key delivery rates of bulk mail to "dense drop zones" - often city centres - while raising them for London and other areas." See also The Independent.

Infoworld has noted that "Companies today are wrestling with a conundrum: How do they cut costs and reduce environmental impact while maintaining — or even sharpening — their competitive edge? For some organizations, technologies such as virtualization are the answer. For the publishing industry, the answer is the Internet. Make no mistake: The world of traditional print publishing takes a heavy toll on our planet, much of which derives from the energy involved in simply cranking out paper. According to a 2002 study by the Energy Information Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, the paper industry emits the fourth highest level of carbon dioxide among manufacturers, after the chemical, petroleum and coal products, and primary metals industries."

According to IndianMuslims.com, "Saudi Arabia is fully committed to increase private sector participation in the economic growth of the oil exporting country, says its investment promoter. According to the Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA), privatisation is a key element of the kingdom's economic liberalisation and a host of sectors are being opened up to the private sector."

The Telegraph has reported that "In an attempt to pressurise the Union government to implement the Sixth Pay Commission to increase salaries, the postal department today unanimously decided to go for an indefinite strike in East Singhbhum and other districts of Jharkhand from April 24."

The Daily Bulletin has reported that "Office mailrooms are being sent packing. Modern technology is changing the way we communicate."

According to Globes, "The Tel Aviv District Labor Court has ordered Israel Post Company Ltd. to pay NIS 680,000 compensation to three senior employees who were fired. The court ruled that there were reasonable grounds for suspecting that they were fired for political reasons. Israel Post said in 2005 that the three men were dismissed as part of a restructuring plan."

The Wall Street Journal has reported that "The Bush administration imposed new economic sanctions against China, a vivid reflection of the increasingly tough climate in the U.S. toward free trade -- particularly with Beijing. The new duties apply narrowly to complaints that Chinese producers of glossy, high-quality paper used in books and magazines are unfairly subsidized by their government -- just $224 million of annual imports, or less than 1% of the total goods and services Americans buy each year from China."

As the Canton Repository has noted, "The U.S. Postal Service is funded by the stamps you buy, not the taxes you pay. Despite its monopoly on delivery of first-class mail, it is essentially a private business. So when the Postal Service faces a decision about a controversial issue, it isn't subject to the kinds of accountability that government officials are. It can ignore the pressure of public opinion, the lobbying of special-interest groups, the arguments of newspaper editorials. It can do pretty much what it wishes. What are you, the customer, going to do if you disagree - stop sending mail? Last week, Postal Service officials listened to public opinion anyway. Then they abandoned an idea that would have hurt some Canton residents and the city's image tremendously."

The Guardian has reported that "Royal Mail is planning to charge businesses more to deliver post in London than in other parts of the country. According to proposals submitted to industry regulator Postcomm, business mail, including bulk deliveries such as bills, statements, and mailshots, will attract a surcharge if delivered to London and low-density rural areas. The plans have caused surprise at Postcomm and angered business users because it was assumed delivery to urban centres would be cheaper than to rural areas, where costs were higher."