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Postal News from February 2008:

February 29, 2008

In a piece developed for OutputLinks, postal commentator Gene Del Polito noted that the intelligent mail barcode (IMB) "is probably the most important Postal Service undertaking since the development and implementation of the delivery point barcode. Getting this right is extremely important, particularly since in today's rapidly changing marketplace the USPS' margin for error is razor-thin."

As Multichannel Merchant has noted, "Given the challenges in catalog marketing today—namely higher postal and paper costs—and the slowdown in general retail, there aren’t too many success stories so far this year. But AeroGrow International is one of them: The kitchen gardening systems marketer’s catalog--launched about nine months ago--has pushed the company’s sales to record heights." [EdNote: Once again this confirms what PostCom has long said: "Advertising mail. It's the medium that delivers."]

Royal Mail has published its latest report on the quality of its mail service. Royal Mail confirmed that "industrial action during the second quarter of 2007-08 damaged services for postal customers. 78.4% of First Class letters reached their destination the working day after posting, compared with an on-target performance of 93% in the first quarter of the year. Royal Mail Marketing Director Alex Batchelor said, "We are very aware that our customers simply didn’t receive the service they deserve as a result of this year’s strike action by the Communication Workers Union - and we’re very sorry that they were let down." See also Hellmail's comments on the report.

According to the Federal Times, "A year after Congress passed a sweeping postal reform bill, lawmakers are seeing signs that their efforts are paying off. The reforms have led to a smoother process for changing postal rates, more transparency and discipline in the U.S. Postal Service’s finances, and more freedom in how USPS competes with commercial rivals."

The following is a letter from Postmaster General John E. Potter to postal customers:

"Thank you for your feedback on January’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register concerning the implementation of the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB).

"Your comments were thoughtful and thorough. I am encouraged by the number of responses received and the support of the IMB vision of true transparency, visibility, and real-time data. It is all about increasing the value of the mail.

"You also raised a number of implementation concerns that we need to address. Implementation of the IMB is so important to our future that I am taking the unusual step of giving you advance notice of some of the changes you can expect in the Proposed Rulemaking we plan to publish in the Federal Register next month.

"Here is a preview:

"Again, thanks for your responses. I encourage you to continue your implementation efforts and to comment on our next notice. Let’s work together to make the IMB vision a reality."

APWU President William Burrus has asked USPS Inspector General David Williams to conduct an audit of the postal practice of permitting subcontractors to park trucks and store equipment on USPS property free-of-charge."

From the Federal Register: "The Department of State gives notice of the inaugural meeting of the Advisory Committee on International Postal and Delivery Services. This Committee has been formed in fulfillment of the provisions of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (Pub. L. 109-435) and in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Date: March 25, 2008 from 2 p.m. to about 5 p.m. (open to the public). Location: Room 1482, George C. Marshall Conference Center, Department of State, 2201 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20520."

As the Associated Press has noted, "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night might keep letter carriers here from doing their jobs. Gunfire and aggressive dogs are something else again. The U.S. Postal Service has temporarily suspended mail deliveries in some neighborhoods where letter carriers have faced real or implied violence."

The Ridgefield Press wants to know "Why does the Ridgefield Post Office look like a pig sty? "

Hemscott has reported that "TNT NV has confirmed a statement from trade union Abvakabo FNV that it has suspended talks with Dutch trade unions over a new collective labour agreement (CAO)."

The Philippine Information Agency has reported that "To make the young people aware the important role that postal service plays in our societies, to foster affection for writing letters even though other modern means of communication exists, the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have launched the 37th International Writing Competition for young people to promote better understanding around the world through the post office."

In response to an article in Hernando Today that painted a somber picture of the USPS' financial state, Postal Service vice president for public affairs and communications Joanne B. Giordano wrote: "In a recent commentary in Hernando Today, John Nash offered up his impressions of the financial health of the U.S. Postal Service....Mr. Nash opines that if the Democrats take control of the White House next year, they may increase the income tax to subsidize the Postal Service. That has not been an option for the past three decades. The Postal Service funds its operations exclusively on the sale of products and services, not tax dollars."

Press Release: "BCC Software, a BÖWE BELL + HOWELL company and a leading developer of highperformance solutions for professional mailers, has set a release date of March 3 for Track N Trace™, its newest offering. This service option will provide users with comprehensive information and unprecedented specificity regarding the delivery progress of their mailing jobs. Track N Trace uses the new USPS ® Intelligent Mail ® barcode to supply BCC customers with maildelivery monitoring information as part of the USPS OneCode Confirm ™ program."

The Camden New Journal has noted that "THE Royal Mail were negotiating with a small family-run newsagents to open a branch in Belsize Park just three days before announcing a massive programme of cuts that hails the end of four post offices in Camden. Royal Mail announced last week that the offices in England’s Lane, Highgate High Street, Crowndale Road and South End Road are all due to shut as the company battles to cut costs. Demonstrations by angry customers have taken place outside the branches: on Saturday, BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce lent her support to the campaign, asking shoppers in England’s Lane to sign a petition against the closure."

The Economic Times has reported that "India Post is all set to enter into a series of global partnerships to compete with international money services companies such as Western Union and global courier companies like FedEx. The postal department is in talks with its counterparts in the US, Switzerland, France, and Oman, among others, as it plans to tap the expertise of these countries in specialised financial services and replicate such offerings in India."

February 28, 2008

A summary of key points made at today's House postal oversight hearing has been posted on this site.

Forbes has reported that "Italy's antitrust authority said it has decided to accept commitments made by Poste Italiane SpA to settle an investigation into the post office's market position in liberalised services."

According to the Daily Mail, "Air freshener is good at getting rid of unpleasant smells but a postmistress managed to clear the room of gun-wielding robbers when she grabbed a can of Oust and sprayed the raiders in the face. Postal worker Margaret Taylor fought off two men who burst into her post office waving a gun and a knife. The 42-year-old picked up a bottle of Oust - which claims to do "more than just eliminate odours" - and sprayed the raiders in the face."

From Canada NewsWire: "The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) wants Canada Post to stop taking away rural roadside delivery until the corporation has thoroughly consulted and explored all available delivery options with rural residents and local union officials. The union also wants Canada Post to go back to locations that have lost roadside mailbox service after improper consultation."

Call 12 for Action has reported that "If you send someone a card for a special occasion, and you mail it through the U.S. Postal Service, watch out what you include inside that card. The U.S. Postal Service confirms: Often times during processing on the sorting belt, gift cards will be forced out of occasion cards, through the envelope, and onto the Post Office floor. The problem is not necessarily with the thickness of the envelope, but with where the gift card happens to be laying inside!"

According to The Consumerist, "When you get a new or replacement credit card in the mail, you have to call the number on the back to activate it, or else you can't use it, right? Wrong. Despite the sticker on the back that says, "For security purposes, this card is not active," credit card companies are mailing out cards that can be used without phone activation. This is a problem if the letter containing your credit card is intercepted by an identity thief, like what happened to reader PC Guy. The kicker? He didn't even request the card, it was a forcible reissue when his store-branded card switched from Visa to Mastercard."

According to The Telegraph, "Prime Minister Gordon Brown has defended Cabinet ministers over leading protests against the planned closure of Post Offices in their own constituencies. Ministers have been accused of "rank hypocrisy" after it emerged a third of Gordon Brown's Cabinet are campaigning against Government plans to axe post offices in their own constituencies. "

PostCom Members!! In mid-2007, PostCom formed a "slim jim" subgroup to work with the USPS on testing slim jim style pieces mailed as automation letters, as well as booklet style and folded self-mailers, tabbed pieces etc. PostCom is currently working with the USPS on testing and is expecting the USPS to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the near future with some initial proposals on changes to mailing standards for these pieces. Stay tuned.

Arutz Sheva has reported that "Artifacts from City of David excavations in Jerusalem reveal an interesting tidbit of information about the ancient postal system in Israel."

The Philippine Information Service has noted that the "Philippine Postal Corporation, Region VII thru PhilPost 7 Circular No. 2007-11 dated December 12, 2007 is implementing new guidelines in the issuance of Postal Identification Cards (PID). This is in order to improve the quality, security, credibility and to protect the users of the Postal ID. All Postal Officials and employees are duty-bound to safeguard the authenticity of each PID – from application to final releasing and that it must be issued without erasures or alterations which can cast doubt as to the integrity of the ID."

Reuters has reported that "The Teamsters union has reached a tentative labor agreement with DHL Express, a unit of Deutsche Post."

The Telegraph has reported that "Ministers have been accused of "rank hypocrisy" after it emerged that a third of Gordon Brown's Cabinet are campaigning against Government plans to axe post offices in their own constituencies." [EdNote: You wanna see 'rank hypocrisy?' Come visit the U.S. and see the baloney done in Congress with the U.S. Postal Service. You know...'run like a business'...no, don't run like a business....Run like a business...no..... Get the picture?]

From Canada NewsWire: "UPS Canada today announced it will be rolling out 139 additional cleaner-burning, propane delivery trucks. The majority of these vehicles will be deployed in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta and the rest distributed between British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The propane vehicles are joining roughly 600 propane trucks already operating in Canada. The addition of these vehicles means more than a third of UPS Canada's 2,000 package delivery vehicles will run on low-carbon fuel."

AllAfrica.com has reported that "Postal services provider, Zimpost has introduced motorised letter delivery service as part of efforts to improve efficiency and ensure timely delivery. The company has bemoaned a decline in mail business which is facing stiff challenge from the introduction of new technologies and other communication tools such as the electronic mail which have reduced the need for writing letters physically. Withdrawal of international airlines from the country had also affected its ability to timely move mail from and into the country, Zimbango said. Air Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenyan Airways are the only airlines that Zimpost is using to send international mail, which they then forward to other airlines to reach the intended destination."

February 27, 2008
 
[PostCom logo

PostCom welcomes its newest member: The Arvonio Group, LLC P.O. Box 151152 Alexandria, VA 22315-1152 represented by Richard H. Arvonio, President.

The "Directive 2008/6/EC Of The European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 amending Directive 97/67/EC with regard to the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community Postal Services" is available on the European Commission web site.

United States Postal Service Board Of Governors will meet in closed session at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at U.S. Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC. Among the items to be considered:  1. Strategic Issues. 2. Product Pricing. 3. Financial Update. 4. Personnel Matters and Compensation Issues.

CNNMoney has reported that "Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said the opening of the EU's 90 bln eur mail markets to full competition from 2011 will raise the competitive pressure on the four large European postal companies. S&P said the slow pace of liberalisation over a 15-year period has also offered a strong competitive advantage to these incumbent national mail services. This has given the companies the chance to reposition themselves in more lucrative segments of the mail market and expand into non-mail activities like international express and logistics and financial services."

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

The French La Poste is currently looking into various takeover options for the insolvent Pin Group. Currently, the preferred option seems to be an acquisition undertaken by the post in conjunction with a finance investor. However, the reciprocity clause contained in the new EU directive would preclude a takeover. As long as the French postal market remains unopened, it is questionable whether La Poste would be allowed to operate in Germany.
Adrexo, the first license holder in the French postal market (CEP News 25/06), is partly pulling out of the market again. Last week, the company announced the closure of its addressed mail distribution. Philippe Leonie, CEO of Adrexo’s parent company Spir Communication, said losses, a difficult market environment in combination with the deferment of postal market liberalisation to 2011 had made the decision inevitable.
A newspaper boy delivering advertising mail - hardly an item worth reporting, if it wasn’t for the fact that the contractor in question is Deutsche Post. German news magazine »Der Spiegel« reported on Monday that the post had decided to hire Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitungsgruppe ("WAZ") delivery staff to carry out deliveries of unaddressed advertising mail from 1 March.
Belgium’s La Poste has acquired all shares in the joint venture Certipost (2006 turnover: 8.1m euros, 4m euros deficit). Specialising in electronic communication and data exchange, Certipost was set up in 2002 in conjunction with telecommunications group Belgacom.
Russian Post ended the financial year 2007 with a deficit of approx. 160m euros. In a statement released mid-February, new CEO Andrei Kazmin said that despite considerable volume growth, the post had not been able to get out of the red. Mail volumes went up by 14%, while parcel volumes increased by 25%. First Class mail saw volumes double, and EMS consignments increased 1.5 times. Mr Kazmin said flaws in legislation, significantly higher wages and numerous lossmaking service offers had caused the deficit.
Germany’s Minister of Economics Michael Glos appears to be seeking an alternative solution as part of the ongoing debate surrounding Deutsche Post AG’s exemption from VAT.
Norwegian Edda Media AS has sold its direct marketing operations in Norway and Sweden.
Norway’s Posten AS has announced the rebranding of its foreign operations. Last week, the post stated that green would be its main colour of appearance in Scandinavia, while activities in Norway would remain red. The corporate identity including a new logo is due to be presented later this year.
Belgian daily »De Morgen« (25.2) reports a sharp increase in the number of light-fingered postmen.

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.)

Portfolio.hu has reported that the Hungarian postal service, Magyar Posta, will be among the government enterprises that will be subject to a "new ownership program."
 


WANTED!....NEW POSTAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Take a good look at the way your company uses mail in its business. Get the best minds in your enterprise to help come up with a list of ideas that could help stimulate the creation of new, more value-driven postal services. Then, send your ideas to PostCom (info@postcom.org) to help us compile a comprehensive list. So...don't just sit there....Get thinking!!
 

Transport Intelligence has reported that "DHL Express has decided to build a completely new terminal at the Rosersberg industrial park in Stockholm, Sweden, as part of a "strategic offensive" to develop new facilities all over that country."

The Guardian has reported that "The Netherlands should open its postal market to full competition only when all workers in the sector get minimum wages and have labour contracts, a senior official at Dutch union FNV Bondgenoten said."

The Western Star has reported that "Letter carriers in the heart of the Alberta oilsands continued their strike in protest of forced overtime Monday, prompting Canada Post to file for a court order mandating its employees back to work."

Caterer Search has reported that "Contract caterer Quadrant, a joint venture between Compass Group and Royal Mail, has renewed its contract to feed postal staff in a deal worth £65m in annual turnover. Under the five-year extension, Quadrant will continue to feed 185,000 Royal Mail employees at 1,150 sites across the UK. A 1,800 strong Quadrant team will run 325 restaurants and look after 4,300 vending machines as part of the deal."

February 26, 2008

From the White House: "The President intends to nominate Nanci E. Langley, of Virginia, to be Commissioner of the Postal Regulatory Commission for the remainder of a six-year term expiring 11/22/12. Ms. Langley currently serves as Director of the Office of Public Affairs & Government Relations at the Postal Regulatory Commission. Prior to this, she served as Deputy Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Earlier in her career, she served as Senior Legislative Assistant in the Office of Senator Daniel Akaka. Ms. Langley received her bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California."

U.S. Postal Service Press Release: "An international leader recognized for enabling business transformation through innovative IT solutions has been named executive vice president and chief information officer of the U. S. Postal Service (USPS). Ross Philo, who comes to the Postal Service after a long career in energy-related information services, will support the development of growth, service and administrative initiatives by ensuring that planning and development are linked with appropriate technology strategies. Before joining the Postal Service, Philo was director of global energy solutions at Cisco Systems. Prior to that he was CEO at Visean, Inc., a provider of data transfer services to oil and gas companies. He served as senior vice president and chief information officer at Halliburton Energy Services, held a series of IT leadership roles at Schlumberger Limited, and has extensive international business experience. He holds an engineering degree from the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London."

From Marketwire: "In response to its business customers' demand for opportunities to differentiate their LettermailTM from their competitors, Canada Post has launched Customized Postal Indicia. The innovative service allows businesses to design a 'stamp-like' postage indicia, with an image of their choice, printed onto envelopes."

From PR Newswire: "Verizon Business has completed the design and implementation of a new fully managed Internet protocol-based network for the United States Postal Service, consolidating three previously distinct networks to control costs and consolidate bandwidth while bringing the benefits of advanced IP services."

Union Network International has reported that "Ten thousand postal workers from the Postal Service throughout Spain demonstrated in the centre of Madrid in favour of improvement in their pay and greater job security for the 64,000 postal employees; they marched behind a huge banner that said: For fair pay, For workplace democracy, For the recognition of labour rights and For job security, For the future of the postal service and its workers".

Transport Intelligence has reported that "Gati Limited, a leading Indian express distribution and supply chain management company, has entered into a strategic alliance with Netherlands-based based General Logistics Systems (GLS), described as one of the three largest parcel service providers in Europe."

Postmaster General Jack Potter has announced two new officer selections. Ross Philo was named Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) and George Wright was named Vice President, Information Technology Operations.

According to Hellmail, "DX Mail services has reminded Postcomm that the present VAT exemption enjoyed by Royal Mail makes the mail market in the UK somewhat unbalanced and since Postcomm has no powers to change this directly, it should consider 'levelling the playing field upwards through the adoption of measures that positively discriminate in favour of new entrants.'"

Gulf News has reported that "A high-level delegation from China Post Group, led by Zhang Yafei, President of the Group, explored the potential for stronger business ties with Emirates Post, at the end of an official visit. The Chinese officials held talks with Ebrahim Karam, CEO of Emirates Post, Salem Al Shaye'e, Assistant Director General, Operations, Emirates Post and Saif Ali Al Shehhi, Director of Operations, Emirates Post."

February 25, 2008

Bloomberg has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service undercharged countries including China, India and Canada by millions of dollars because of errors in processing mail at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, auditors said. The Postal Service may recover $2.2 million of the $3.4 million that it said it is owed by the postal agencies of the other countries, a report by the service's inspector general said. The remainder stemmed from computer, billing and employee errors made in 2006, too long ago to be recovered under law."

As Traffic World has noted, "With a new hand at the helm of Deutsche Post World Net, the question for shippers now is what direction the world's largest logistics and cargo transport company will take. Frank Appel took the reins last week of the sprawling empire under Deutsche Post World Net after the resignation of Klaus Zumwinkel, who built the state postal authority into the world's largest transportation operator.S"

From PR Newswire: "AddressVision Inc. (AVI), a Bull Group subsidiary and a leading provider of postal automation solutions, today announced that Australia Post has chosen AVI to upgrade its address recognition and mail automation capabilities for processing the country's letter mail."

Precision Marketing has noted that British postal regulator "Postcomm found 21 per cent of medium-sized businesses were taking advantage of multiple mail providers, while only 17 per cent of small businesses were doing so."

Marketing Daily has reported that "newspaper inserts and circulars are more attention-grabbing than TV advertising, according to the latest Customer Focus survey from Vertis Communications."

February 24, 2008

Union Network International has reported that "PIN Group, the German mail delivery company is to pay the statutory postal minimum wage to its workers. The decision was made by the company's new management led by Horst Piepenburg and will who said it will be announced within the next few days."

February 23, 2008
 

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

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The Messenger has noted that "First-class U.S. Postal Service stamps will increase in price on May 12, going up to 42 cents, it was announced last week. Postal Service officials are able to impose price increases more regularly, and with less oversight, because of a change in the law during 2006. It may be time for Congress to revisit the issue, asking whether it has been made too easy for the Postal Service to put its stamp of approval on rate increases." See also the Providence Journal.

The Associated Press has reported that "U.K. army experts dismantled a parcel bomb Wednesday in Northern Ireland's major mail-sorting center, which had to be evacuated for six hours."

Research-Live.com has reported that "Royal Mail has appointed 32 firms to its four-year insight and analysis roster."

La Jornada has reported that "the Attorney General informed the agent of the Federal Prosecutor assigned to the Deputy Attorney Specialized Investigation of Federal Crimes that over 115 thousand items of contraband were seized  during an operation conducted at the offices of the National Coordination of Operation Mexican Postal Service."

Union Network International has told its members that "Two of UNI's Portuguese affiliates, SNTCT and SINDETELCO, are taking strike action Monday 25 February to protest against work deregulation and to demand the renegotiation of a decent collective agreement. The unions action is taken to try and stop CTT – Correios de Portugal, S.A (the Portuguese Postal Service) from destroying the benefits of the workers that have been gained in the past through negotiations."

February 22, 2008

Fort McMurray Today has reported that "Letter carriers with Canada Post’s Fort McMurray station walked off the job this morning, saying the federal post service is forcing them to work overtime to deal with backlogs caused by a shortage of local mail workers. The walkout, which was unplanned, leaves the city without mail service, and one union official said they don’t know how long the strike action will last. Mail workers say this morning’s walkout was triggered by a letter issued by management, saying that Canada Post will continue to discipline employees who refuse forced overtime with suspensions or possible dismissal."

The Orlando Sentinel has reported that "With the special election just days away, Florida Democrats suddenly came out swinging in the fight for Florida House District 32. In a news release Thursday, party officials accused Republican candidate Sean Campbell of violating a state election law by mailing stamps to voters, urging them to use the free postage to mail in their absentee ballots for Tuesday's election."

Postmaster General Jack Potter announced the appointment of three vice presidents and an acting vice president (Kathy Ainsworth, Vice President, Retail Operations; Jordan Small, Vice President, Delivery; Gary Reblin, Vice President of Expedited Mail; and Jim Cochrane, Acting Vice President, Ground Packages) at a recent leadership conference in Washington, DC.

The National Post has reported that "The Federal Court of Canada has added a new chapter to an epic, 25-year human rights case, overturning a $150-million pay equity award granted three years ago to thousands of Canada Post employees across the country."

The New York Times has reported that "Variety, Publishers Weekly and dozens of other trade publications are going up for sale as the publishing company Reed Elsevier looks to get out of the uncertain advertising market."

Aviation.ca has reported that "Canada Post made a special delivery to Winnipeg today when it announced its new state-of-the-art mail processing plant will be built on a 27-acre parcel of land located at the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport located within the St. James Industrial Area. The plant represents a $50 million investment in Winnipeg."

The Chronicle Herald has reported that "Canada Post is denying allegations by a labour leader that mail is sometimes going undelivered in Cape Breton because of job cutbacks." See also the Cape Breton Post.

February 21, 2008

As the Jewish Exponent noted, "Wynnewood resident Alan C. Kessler has received a stamp of approval from the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, having recently been elected its chair for the next year by his peers. Kessler, 57, wears many hats in addition to this new position. He also serves as co-finance chairman for the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), and is a partner in the law firm of Wolf Block in the litigation group. The walls and desk of his Center City office are covered with dozens of photographs and autographs from Democratic Party superstars like Bill and Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Delaware Sen. Tom Carper and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. "You do enough of this, and there's a picture at every turn," remarked Kessler."

UK Trade & Investment Today has reported that "France-based organisation La Poste is re-branding its UK arm following construction of a UK postal “superhub”. Parceline will be re-branded as Dynamic Parcel Distribution (DPD) following an investment from parent firm La Poste. The international organisation hopes to bring the Peterborough-based parcel carrier in line with its other European brands, which currently operate in 38 different countries."

The U.S. Postal Service has announced that it now offers a new larger box with one flat price for shipping.

Press release: "MAILCOM 2008 will be held April 29-May 2 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Critical issues like Intelligent Mail Barcode compliance, new postage rates, shape-based mail, eco-wise management, and much more will be presented in 145 comprehensive seminars. Plus over 300 booths of the latest technology will be on display at The Big Show exhibition. You can register at www.mailcom.org.

Forbes has reported that "Telecoms group Belgacom SA said it is to sell its 50 pct stake in Certipost to De Post-La Poste, giving the Belgian postal company full ownership of the electronic communications joint venture. Certipost was set up by De Post-La Poste and Belgacom in 2002, and provides certified electronic communication for electronic documents such as invoices, as well as supplying the digital certificates for the electronic ID card in Belgium. No financial details were disclosed."

The Postal Service and Postal Customer Councils (PCCs) are sponsoring symposiums next month to help mailers get ready for new Intelligent Mail barcode requirements coming next year. USPS has proposed that beginning January 2009 mailers will be required to use Intelligent Mail barcodes to take advantage of automation prices for letters and flats. The four sessions, featuring USPS officials and industry representatives, will provide information on the new requirements and what businesses need to do to get ready. Customers can learn how Intelligent Mail drives improvements in service and efficiency and adds more value to their mail. The symposiums are March 6 in Las Vegas, March 7 in Chicago, March 12 in New York City and March 13 in Atlanta. PCCs bring business customers and postal officials together at the local level to discuss ways mail can help businesses grow. Customers interested in attending one of these symposiums should go to the National PCC website at usps.com/nationalpcc for registration information.

U.S. Postal Service Post Office Boxes now can be found online at http://usps.com/poboxes. The new, online locator feature allows customers to find box availability, sizes and fees, as well as addresses, phone and fax numbers for each Post Office listed with available PO Boxes. PO Boxes are as secure as mailboxes but provide more flexibility for mail pickup. The convenience of earlier mail delivery is helpful to small business owners. Boxes provide home-based businesses with the ability to separate business and personal mail.

No room for mail in the movie biz? Think again. As the New York Times has noted, "the Internet movie download era is more distant than pundits think, for four colossal reasons. First, downloadable movies require high-speed Internet connections — and only about half of American households have them. That number won’t change much for years. Second, downloaded movies don’t include the director’s commentaries, deleted scenes, alternate endings, alternate language soundtracks or other DVD goodies. It’s just not as rich an experience. Third, movie downloads don’t deliver the audio and video quality of DVD discs — even standard-def ones. Internet movies are compressed to download faster, which affects picture quality, and offer older, more compressed audio soundtracks than modern DVDs." [EdNote: And mail doesn't care about the bandwidth the digital distribution of a high definition movie might require.]

Reuters has noted that "Web search leader Google Inc. plans to start selling ads to appear in Web videos after it agreed a partnership with YuMe, an online video advertising network." [EdNote: Ooooohhh, I get it. Web ads to provide free web content. Just like mailed ads to provide free universal, mail delivery service....Gee...does Catalog Choice, or Junk Busters, or Green Dimes, or any other anti-capitalist, anti-mail organization du joir know about this?]

The Baltic Times has reported that "Latvia’s Transport Ministry announced that a French consultancy and a local business conglomerate have been picked to create the country’s postal bank, a project that will aim to rescue the Baltic state’s moribund postal company."

The Truro Daily News has reported that "Beginning this spring, every rural mailbox in Colchester County is to be included in a safety review being undertaken by Canada Post. The review, involving approximately 3,800 mailboxes serviced by the Truro post office, is part of a nationwide effort that will see some 843,000 rural sites checked for health and safety concerns over the next three years. “It’s part of a larger program, a national program,” Canada Post spokeswoman Tinna Bonner said, of the local review that will see “every single mailbox” assessed for any potential risk to mail carriers."

As The Examiner has noted, "legal ads must now run in paid-circulation papers that have periodical mailing permits from the U.S. Postal Service, which determines the minimum editorial content in these publications. Maryland law requires governments to publish notice of meetings, tax sales, highway plans and other matters. Private citizens, auctioneers and businesses are required by law to publish advertisements about estate sales, foreclosures, renunciation of debts of a divorced spouse and other items involving the courts. Free-distribution newspapers would be allowed to compete for legal advertisements in Maryland through a bill proposed by Del. Sandy Rosenberg, a Baltimore City Democrat. “Free-market competition would result in lower costs for legal notification advertisements,” Rosenberg told his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee, of which he is vice chairman. “Maryland citizens as well as state and local governments would benefit,” by reducing advertising rates.

VietNamNet has reported that "The Vietnam Post Corporation (VNPost) and the La Poste Group of France will jointly launch cost-effective Direct Mail service in Vietnam in April."

MediaPost has reported that "marketers believe the effectiveness of television advertising has declined over the past two years. The good news? They're more interested in trying new formats and other forms of video commercials. Most marketers believe they're ready for the changes. According to the ANA survey, more than half of them said that when DVR penetration reaches 50% of all TV households they plan to cut advertising by 12%. In a related measure, 87% of respondents said they will increase their Web advertising spending."

According to American Postal Workers Union (APWU) president William Burrus, "There are some troubling aspects of the most recent rate case. Although “postal reform” and passage of the PAEA was promoted as the savior of the Postal Service, the trend of converting the USPS from a public institution that serves all the people to one that primarily serves the interests of commercial mailers continues unabated."

Transport Intelligence has noted that "'Green logistics' is now much more than marketing hype – it has become an essential part of the tendering process for outsourced logistics."

February 20, 2008
 
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PostCom welcomes its newest member: Epostmarks, Inc. 45 Euclid Street Rochester, NY 14604-2217 represented by Jason Curtis, President

According to one writer for the Tampa Tribune, "When a business is showing decreased gross income and/or net profit, simply raising the price of its product or services will usually exacerbate the problem. The proper course of action is to reduce costs, and/or improve the product or services without raising prices. Our endangered U.S. Postal Service seems to have been unable to understand that basic concept."

The Centre Daily Times has noted that "ecoEnvelopes (www.ecoEnvelopes.com), the developers of innovative reusable envelopes designed to conserve natural resources and reduce costs, have received a key National Customer Ruling from the US Postal Service (USPS). It is the first time USPS has issued such a certification for a line of reusable envelopes and solidifies ecoEnvelopes' position as a leader in a bold new effort to green the US mail. "

From the French postal regulator ARCEP: French legislators included in their postal regulation law of 2005 the principle of equal access to mailboxes between authorised postal operators and the universal service provider, La Poste. Like other service providers, authorised postal operators and press delivery services face increasing difficulties in gaining access to mailboxes in apartment buildings. La Poste has developed the so-called "Vigik" system which provides a technical response to the needs of residents and operators but whose use, on a mail distribution market open to competition, raises the question of access to many service providers and creates a situation which protects long-time and well-known providers (such as La Poste, EDF, France Telecom, etc.). Furthermore, other controlled access systems have also been installed. ARCEP is pleased to report that a short-term solution allowing immediate access for authorised postal operators has finally been found. This solution allows them, using equal methods (that is, by sharing the same identification code in the Vigik system), to gain access to mailboxes installed in apartment buildings equipped with this system. A press release, the summary of the consultation (pdf) and public contributions (Adrexo, la Poste) are available on line on the home page : http://www.arcep.fr/eng

The Associated Press has reported that "Canadian doughnut-and-coffee chain Tim Hortons Inc. on Wednesday named Moya Greene as a board member. Green is currently president and chief executive of Canadian postal authority Canada Post Corp., where she is also a board member."

Transport News Network has reported that "Logistics companies are set to have a difficult 2008 according to a new report by independent market analyst, Datamonitor. The report ‘State of the Industry - Logistics’ predicts that as the fallout from the global credit crunch becomes clearer, margins in the logistics sector are set to come under further pressure. However, the report highlights several trends outside the macroeconomic environment that are set to have a large impact on the industry."

The BBC has reported that "Moving postal services to libraries and leisure centres could save one in five post offices in London from closing, a council has said."

As Politico has noted, "On this day in 1792, President George Washington signed legislation creating the U.S. Postal Service. Before the American Revolution, letters were exchanged mainly via private couriers or through the help of friendly travelers. Some colonies set up “post offices” in taverns and shops where carriages or riders could pick up and drop off mail. In 1707, the British government established the position of postmaster general, although mail still moved largely through the hands of private individuals. In 1737, Benjamin Franklin became postmaster general of the colonies for the Crown at age 31. He carried out his duties in England until he was fired as a subversive colonialist. Franklin then returned to America and created a rival postal system. The 1792 act reinforced the power of Congress to establish official mail routes. It specified that newspapers should be included in mail deliveries and made it illegal for postal officials to open mail."

From the Federal Register:

Press Release: "As a result of comprehensive research conducted with the UK's top 100 generators of mail, parcels, packets and pallets; two industry leading events, The Mail Show and The UK Express Delivery Conference are converging into one to create the ultimate industry event. The Mail & Express Delivery Show will take place this year at the Novotel London West on 1-2 July, uniting all sides of the mail, parcel and express delivery industries and specifically focusing on the customers/end users. As a result of industry development in areas such as e-commerce, B2C/C2C, transpromo mail, direct mail and environmental issues plus the convergence of the two industries through consolidation, the new event will deliver to customers what they really want, a two-day event that deals with matters common to both industries whilst also providing subject specific sessions for both mail and express users."

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

Deutsche Post intends to co-operate with FedEx in the loss-making DHL express business in the USA. According to the »Financial Times Deutschland« (19.02), the post’s new CEO Appel and CFO John Allan have reached an agreement on this plan of action.
Finland’s post Itella achieved a growth in both turnover and profit during the financial year 2007.
For Sweden’s Posten AB a strong growth in profit on an increasing turnover marked the financial year 2007.
Following a tradition from the last few years, Norway’s Posten AS chose to publish its 2007 annual results at roughly the same time as the post companies of Sweden and Finland.Despite a turnover increase of 15.7% to over 3.74bn euros, the operating result fell to 18% below that of 2006 (137m euros).
Dutch mail service operator Sandd (Sort and Deliver) enjoyed an 18% turnover growth to 80m euros last year. At the same time, the company increased its share of the liberalised postal market from 12 to 14%.
Japan Post Holdings Co. Ltd appears to be considering acquiring a stake in retail chain Lawson. Japan Post president Yoshifumi Nishikawa said last Tuesday that his company might buy shares in Japan’s third biggest retail chain.
Finland’s post Itella and Posten Norge in Norway have announced the founding of a new joint venture. Itella Information AS - of which the Finnish post holds 51%, while Posten Norge controls 49% - will be active in the field of information logistics.
Having battled with financial difficulties for several months, Latvijas Pasts has now lost its top management. The general director of Latvia’s national post Gints Skodovs handed in his resignation. Latvian media had recently reported that Latvijas Pasts’ deficit had more than doubled last year to 14.4m euros.
India’s leading CEP operator Blue Dart Express remains on an expansion course.
Denmark’s second biggest parcel service operator GLS has extended its production site in Kolding.
British parcel and express service provider Parceline will in future appear under the brand name DPD, according to a company announcement on Monday. Although Parceline has been a member of the GeoPost/DPD group since the mid-nineties, the company had continued to appear under its own name.
British parcel and express service provider Parceline will in future appear under the brand name DPD, according to a company announcement on Monday. Although Parceline has been a member of the GeoPost/DPD group since the mid-nineties, the company had continued to appear under its own name.
Despite growing signs of a recession, American logistics group Express-1 Expedited Solutions sees good opportunities for progress in the USA.
Schweizerische Post seems intent on taking over German mail operator Direktexpress.
The Brazilian post ECT ended the financial year 2007 with the best result in company history.
Last Saturday, employees of Spain’s Correos took to the streets of Madrid in a protest against the current freezing of salaries and for better pay. According to media reports, the average monthly income of a Correos employee is 900 euros.
According to press reports, Brazilian post Empresa de Correios e Telégrafos (ECT) is negotiating a purchase of or stake in airline VarigLog.
FedEx is planning to increase the number of its employees in France by 8%.
German Hermes Logistik Gruppe has installed an automatic handwriting recognition utility for parcel labels.
The price increase due to be introduced by the US post in May is not really a price increase after all, the U.S. postal Service argues. Apparently, the postage increase for domestic mail and mail to Canada remains below the inflation rate.
 

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.)

The Financial Post has reported that "United Parcel Service Ltd. has received a costly lesson from one of the country's highest courts: good intentions and tax law don't mix. The world's biggest package delivery company may have been doing customers a good turn by paying upfront for the taxes and duties they owed on parcels shipped into this country from the United States. But the Federal Court of Appeal has sided with Canada's tax collector, ruling that UPS isn't entitled to a rebate for those payments -- leaving the company about $2.9-million out of pocket. The decision also means UPS could be on the hook for $1.1-million in penalties and interest."

The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia has initiated a case against the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Post on grounds of violating Article 10 of the Federal Law “On protection of competition” (abuse of dominant position). Vostok Media reports, the case was initiated on the complaint of Janzen s.r.o., Czech postal operator. Violation of the antimonopoly law is seen in the actions of Russian Post aimed at limiting reception and processing of international post that led to impairment of interests of the foreign postal operators and citizens of the Russian Federation – post receivers – and may also lead to restraint of competition at the Russian market of mailing services.

The Pioneer Press has reported that "With negotiations bogging down over a street signal, plans to move the U.S. Postal Service's sorting center from the St. Paul riverfront — where it neighbors the Union Depot — to Eagan's Lexington Avenue have taken on overtones of "Who's on First?" The sorting center needs to be relocated to make room for the transit station, but Eagan, Dakota County and the Postal Service appear to be on three different pages with regard to how to configure streets and traffic signals in the new location."

As the Washington Post has noted:

According to TheWiseMarketer, "Companies that mail their customers monthly printed statements could risk losing up to 33% of those customers if they stopped sending statements, according to research from Henley HeadlightVision, commissioned by the UK's Royal Mail postal service. Utility companies were found to be at most risk of customer defection, with 35% of consumers saying they would switch to a competitor that did provide statements by mail. And while 19% said they would switch banks if they were told they could no longer receive paper statements, 68% of online banking customers said they also like to receive their statements by mail. Given the option of e-mail or web-based statements, 70% of consumers felt that the mail is more secure than internet channels."

Bloomberg has reported that "Deutsche Post AG, Europe's biggest postal service, said it won't make a severance payment to former Chief Executive Officer Klaus Zumwinkel, who quit following allegations of tax evasion."

February 19, 2008

The following reports have been posted on the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General website (http://www.uspsoig.gov/). If you have additional questions concerning the report, please contact Agapi Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.

From eWorldWire: "Because up to 40 percent of all people who move in the United States do not report a change of address to the U.S. Postal Service, millions of pieces of direct mail products are wasted annually and translate into volumes of wasted resources for direct mail marketing companies. Featuring a central repository to compile Undeliverable As Addressed (UAA) data, UAA Clearinghouse aims to reduce the carbon footprint left by these pieces of undeliverable mail. The UAA Clearinghouse national database is developed from UAA data from multiple sources, is updated weekly and is sourced out to marketers to prevent the origination and mailing of UAA materials before resources are wasted."

Press Release: "SustainCommWorld is the first international conference and exhibition where all of the key stakeholders groups responsible for enterprise communication and media supply chain decisions will be assembled. The goal of the conference is to stimulate a transformation in the way media supply chain practices and communication products are specified, created, sourced, produced, distributed and managed through their end of life."

A DMM Update concerning plant-verfied drop shipment procedures has been posted on this site.

From EON Businesswire: "ProQuo™ Inc., a company founded to give consumers choice over how businesses use their personal information, today announced the addition of a free catalog preference service, giving consumers even more control over the postal mail they receive."

Postcomm (the British postal regulator) has issued a consultation letter seeking views on Royal Mail's request for exemption from certain requirements of Condition 7 for the Parts Express services and Postcomm's initial assessment of this request.

Hellmail has reported that "The Communication Workers Union (CWU) wants to involve itself in the U.K. postal review process. General Secretary Billy Hayes has published a message to Postcomm. The CWU is alarmed by the suggested changes to the Universal Service Obligation (USO) from Postcomm. Apparently, there are proposals to "reduce current product scope and remove certain service specifications." It is the CWU's view that the introduction of competition has benefitted only large bulk mailers and not social or small business mailers."

The U.S. Postal Service begins delivering an important message from Postmaster General John Potter this week to every household in America. The letter provides advice to protect against identity theft.

Xinhua has reported that "China's postal services, including postal savings, remittance, package delivery and express mail service (EMS), are basically back to normal nationwide, according to the emergency command center on Tuesday. Heavy snow and icy rain since Jan. 10 have hampered parts of the public services in the country's east, central and southern regions. The weather left expressways closed, roads frozen, and prevented postal services."

AllAfrica.com has reported that "Uganda needs to extend the presence of its postal network at least to every sub county in the next 15 years as a way of bringing its vast underclass within reach of this vital communications service. A report commissioned by the Uganda Communications Commission to examine the quality and reach of Uganda's postal services and how to scale them up recommends the implementation of a 15-year master plan worth about $23.5 million. According to the report 78 per cent of this money should be funnelled into capital investments and should be executed in three phases of five years each."

From PR Newswire: "Post Office Ltd today (February 19) opened a six week local public consultation on its Area Plan for London. In line with the criteria and factors set by the Government in its response document, DTI The Post Office Network, Government Response to Public Consultation May 2007 (http://www.dti.gov.uk/consultations/page36024.html) the Area Plan proposes future provision of Post Office(R) services through a network of 681 branches across the area, resulting in the closure of 169 branches. Under the proposals more than 7 million London residents will either see no change to their nearest branch or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch."

Highland Radio has reported that "SDLP Leader and Foyle MLA Mark Durkan says it's ludicrous that customers have to pay an "overseas" charge to send a stamp from Derry to Bridgend. Mark Durkan is calling on the Minister for Postal affairs to reduce the cost of cross border postage."

According to the Associated Press, "Australia's postal service isn't changing the scales on its counters, but it has loosened its weight limits for motorcycle staff as it faces a shortage of slender recruits in an increasingly heavy population. Australia Post lifted the maximum weight for letter carriers who ride its 110 cc motorbikes from the previous 198 pounds to 231 pounds. Postal service spokesman Scott McIntyre said Tuesday the change was made solely because the motorbikes' manufacturer, Honda, advised that they could handle the extra weight without "any significant effects on the stability, handling or safety." McIntyre said the maximum amount of mail carried on the motorbikes would remain unchanged at 55 pounds. "

The Financial Times has reported that "Frank Appel was named chief executive of Deutsche Post as the German mail and logistics group revealed who would succeed the disgraced Klaus Zumwinkel, who is under investigation for alleged tax evasion of €1m ($1.46m). Mr Appel, the former logistics director and a long-time protégé of Mr Zumwinkel, will inherit a number of strategic problems ranging from the group’s severely loss-making US parcels business to the fate of its stake in Postbank, Germany’s largest retail bank. But perhaps his most pressing task is to restore morale and faith at Deutsche Post, which has been rocked since Mr Zumwinkel’s sudden resignation. Deutsche Post officials also point to other challenges Mr Appel will face, not least of which will be the start of difficult wage negotiations at the end of March with unions, as well as the simultaneous end of a no-firing guarantee to employees. Mr Appel will need all the political nous he can muster in the coming months."

Geospatial News has reported that "Accurate digital maps are essential for successful sales territory and expansion planning. The newly revised maps for Australia and New Zealand are the latest update to GfK GeoMarketing's map collection of more than 240 countries. GfK GeoMarketing is the world's largest producer of digital maps for municipalities and postal code districts."

February 18, 2008

IGD Supply Chain Analysis has reported that "DHL and Swedish based grocery retailer, ICA, have signed a partnership agreement to launch a postal service across ICA stores in Sweden. Shoppers visiting their local ICA store will now be able to post and collect parcels via DHL's Servicepoint concept."

Bloomberg has reported that "Deutsche Post AG, Europe's biggest postal service, appointed logistics-division head Frank Appel as chief executive officer, succeeding Klaus Zumwinkel, who quit last week after prosecutors began a tax-evasion probe. Appel, 46, won unanimous support from Deutsche Post's supervisory board and will take over as CEO immediately, the Bonn-based company said in a statement today. The board also accepted Zumwinkel's resignation after 18 years as chief."

UPS has announced that it will reduce ground transit times for customers, accelerating package movements between more than 12 million ZIP code pairings by one day or more. The improvements include lanes originating in eight key states and more than 70 markets and will speed up more than 75,000 packages nationwide every day. This year's initiative is improving service for almost half-a-million customers nationwide without changing their pick-up and delivery times. The new enhancements follow transit time improvements in 2006 that helped more than 1.2 million customers in 11 metropolitan areas.
 
[PostCom logo  At the most recent meeting of the Board of Directors of the Association for Postal Commerce, the following persons were elected as directors for a three year term: Michael Baranofsky (Christian Book Distributors), Robert Buehler (Accenture), Rich Cicha (Direct Group), Hamilton Davison (American Catalog Mailers Association), Rich Domagala (Mystic Logistics).

According to one contributor to the Miami Herald, "Beneath the somber tales of shrinking revenues and staff cuts is an even more somber reality about the news business: The nearly two-century-old marriage between consumer advertising and journalism is on the rocks. The result is a calamity for the news business."

As the Washington Post has noted, "The U.S. Postal Service is launching a 31-digit bar code that will permit business customers -- advertisers, catalogue and credit card companies -- to track their mail, from the drop-off at a post office to delivery at a home or office. The project is called Intelligent Mail, and it holds the potential to let companies know if customers are telling the truth when they say the check is in the mail."

The Philadelphia Inquirer has published an interview with postal board chairman Alan Kessler.

Hemscott has reported that "TNT NV chief executive officer Peter Bakker has warned that TNT might withdraw from Germany if it loses its court case over the minmium wage its pays its German workers amid a dispute over the liberalisation of the German postal market."

Bloomberg has reported that "TNT NV, Europe's second-biggest express-delivery service, posted the first profit decline in five quarters because of the costs for cutting jobs and quitting U.K. parcel services. TNT put aside 110 million euros in the quarter to prepare for eliminating 6,500 jobs in the next three years at its mail business in the Netherlands, which has been struggling with rising competition and the substitution of personal letters by e- mail."

Emirates Business 24/7 has reported that "The UAE’s booming economy has triggered the rapid growth of the advertising sector, with broadcasting, print, outdoor and cinema adverts all trying to grab the consumer’s attention. Now a new medium is emerging – one that is less expensive and more focused than conventional channels. Direct marketing (DM) – where the advertising message is sent straight to prospective customers through mailshots, e-mail, SMS and other means – is expected to see double-digit growth in the UAE in the next few years."

According to UzReport, "Committee on information and communication technologies of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis [parliament] of Uzbekistan organized seminar on the "Problems and perspectives of postal service development in Uzbekistan" on 15 February. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supported the event. The seminar aimed at reviewing postal service market of Uzbekistan, existing problems and perspectives, modern trends in development of postal services, improving legislation on postal services, etc."

February 17, 2008

As the Wall Street Journal has noted, "The cost of first-class postage is going up a penny in May. Postal rates will generally go up yearly in the month of May. At any time, you can buy Forever stamps for the same price as regular first-class stamps, meaning 41 cents between now and May 12, when rates rise. They're good indefinitely, even after postal rates go up -- avoiding the penny-stamp hassles and eliminating the risk of getting your letters returned for insufficient postage. The Postal Service says it will have five billion Forever stamps in stock to meet increased demand before the May 12 price change."

February 16, 2008

According to Bloomberg, "Klaus Zumwinkel, who resigned as chief executive officer of Deutsche Post AG yesterday, was a ``favorite'' to become the German chief of the United Nations Children's Fund, Frankfurter Rundschau reported, citing unidentified people close to Unicef."

According to veteran postal watcher Alan Robinson, "The Postal Regulatory Commission’s study will look at a number of issues that are critical for business mailers that have never been examined in any economic or policy study to date. This study is critical for the mailing community as it will provide the framework for the next round of postal reform that will likely begin in the 111th Congress in 2009."

The Washington Post has reported that "One of government's chief internal watchdogs resigned yesterday, as Comptroller General David M. Walker, an outspoken gadfly and frequent witness on Capitol Hill, announced his plans to lead a new foundation focused on U.S. fiscal responsibility. Walker has led the Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigative agency, for a decade. Walker's resignation takes effect March 12."

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has published its Strategy Statement for the Postal Sector in Ireland for the period 2008 – 2010. The statement sets out ComReg’s vision of a dynamic and competitive market offering an increasingly wide range of competitively-priced, quality postal products and services.

WWBT has reported that "If you live in Henrico County, you could soon have to change your address. Henrico leaders want current Richmond addresses in the county to be changed to Henrico, Virginia. This is a process Henrico leaders have been working for years to complete and it all boils down to money. They say they're losing millions in tax revenue because of address confusion and they want to put an end to it once and for all. The state of Virginia is the only in the country where cities and counties are separate jurisdictions, but zip code boundaries overlap. It's a perplexing postal policy that has Henrico County leaders pulling their hair out."

Multichannel Merchant has reported that "Things have gone from bad to worse for Lillian Vernon. Two months after it cut 25% of its staff, the struggling gifts and housewares cataloger today laid off about half of its full-time staff, or nearly 200 employees. The situation is so dire that Lillian Vernon is actively seeking a new owner, says CEO Michael D. Muoio. Citing devastating increases in postal and parcel rates, coupled with a paper price hikes and a decrease in value of the U.S. dollar, Muoio says the company was left with no alternative than to find a new owner."

February 15, 2008
 
 
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The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

NZCity has reported that "New Zealand Post is blaming rising delivery costs for a hike in the cost of sending a parcel. Postal services chief Peter Fenton says smaller items such as letters will still cost around 50 cents but the time, effort and cost of manually sorting larger heavier items will be reflected in the new pricing schedule which will come into force from March 28."

Bloomberg shared the announcement that "The government today accepted the offer by Mr. Zumwinkel to resign,'' German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin. ``I believe this step was inevitable, after what happened. This was more than I could have imagined, and more than many people could have imagined.''

As PC Magazine has noted, "Smartphones Are A Good Fit for Emerging Markets." [EdNote: In fact, many lesser developed countries are opting to use their mobile phone network as their primary means for communication and commerce.]

Reuters has reported that:

As the Daily Advertiser has noted, "The Post Office has announced that the cost of mailing a first class letter will go up to 42 cents in May, but 50 years ago folks in Lafayette were upset because a stamp would cost them a whole nickel."

Deutsche Welle has reported that "Deutsche Post boss Klaus Zumwinkel is expected to step down on Friday, Feb. 15, as police widened their tax fraud investigation."

The BBC has reported that "Deutsche Post boss Klaus Zumwinkel, who is under investigation for tax evasion, has offered to quit. The offer will be considered by the Deutsche Post board on Monday, but the German government backed the decision. Earlier, Peer Steinbrueck, the German Finance Minister, said the scandal had caused "considerable moral damage." See also The Guardian, Financial Times, New York Times, and  Bloomberg.

The Ottawa Sun has reported that "From hoarding heaps of letters to stealing cash and Christmas cards, Canada Post has logged hundreds of cases of theft and tampering by posties in the past three years. Documents obtained by Sun Media under Access to Information show 114 confirmed cases of mail theft by employees between 2005 and 2007. There were also 77 cases of abandoning mail, 20 incidents of illegal opening of mail and 94 cases when carriers deliberately delayed delivery."

February 14, 2008

icCoventry has reported that "a group of businesses have hit out at Royal Mail after days of delays with their post."

Tampa Bay Online has reported that "Postal inspectors in Puerto Rico flagged a suspicious express mail package bound for Polk County. Turns out it contained nearly 2 pounds of cocaine inside coffee bags, Polk County deputies say."

Union Network International has reported that "Two of the postal unions in New Zealand, the Auckland based Postal Workers Association and the Wellington based Postal Workers Union have amalgamated to become the Postal Workers Union of Aotearoa (PWUA)."

The Postal Regulatory Commission has posted on its website an order that provides substantive information on the Postal Service's filing for rate adjustments of market dominant products.

PowerHome Biz has reported that "Your customers always want to know where their 'stuff' is. VisibleLogistics solves this visibility problem."

As Butler Mailing Services CEO Todd Butler put it: "Why should the disc industry care about direct mail or on-line advertising?  Because when you combine optical media with paper based direct mail you end up with Internet advertising, delivered by the Postal Service.  This hybrid product called multimedia mail, can deliver the interactive multimedia marketers are demanding, to consumers’ front door. Multimedia mail delivers greater functionality than on-line advertising."

The Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, Senate Committee on Government Affairs, will hold an oversight hearing at 2:30 p.m., on Wednesday, March 5 on the Implementation of the PAEA of 2006. PRC Chairman Dan Blair and PMG Potter will testify.
 


Time is money. Attendees to the National Postal Forum can save nearly $100 on admission by registering before the end of the month. More than 7,000 industry professionals are expected to attend the mailing industry’s premier trade show and event in Anaheim, CA, this May. An early bird discounted price of $900 is offered through February 29 on full registration to the Forum. Onsite registration increases to $995 for most attendees.For more information and to register, go to npf.org or call 703-218-5015.

The Postal Service's February DMM Update has been posted on this site.

According to Mediapost, "The top 320 magazine Web sites received on average 67.5 million unique visitors per month during the fourth quarter of 2007--an 8.1% jump from the same period in 2006, according to Web data collected by Nielsen Online and compiled by the Magazine Publishers of America. That's a faster rate of growth than the Internet overall, where the total U.S. online population rose 2.4% year-over-year. These figures mean that magazine Web sites reached almost 42% of the total U.S. online population of about 160 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 7.1% over last year's reach. These users generated 434.4 million visits in the fourth quarter--up 12.3%, while time spent increased 5.5% to an average 1.78 billion minutes per month, implying an average visit duration of just over four minutes. In terms of unique visitors per month, magazine Web sites bested newspapers, where the total unique audience for newspaper Web sites increased 9% in the fourth quarter to an average 62.8 million per month."

Editor's Note: In case you haven't yet heard it, the latest lament by postal officials regarding the challenges that are before them is: "Oh, the annual payment we must make on prefunding health retirement benefits and the need to manage costs within inflation at the class level is a 'broken' business model." Here's a thought. Instead of crying the blues, why not talk with customers and get their thoughts on creating newer and improved postal services that better meet businesses' needs and could create new mail volume and revenue? Wow! Talk with and learn from customers....What a concept! (End of sermon 2.14.08-a)

The House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, will hold an oversight hearing at 2:00 p.m., on Thursday, February 28 in Room 2154 of the House Rayburn Building, on the Implementation of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. PRC Chairman Dan Blair and PMG Potter will testify.

Eco-Geek wants to know: "Is the Post Office the Future's Recycling Center?"

As the Washington Post has noted, "Neither wind nor rain nor even ice storms kept Joseph S. Winstead from doing his job as a mail processor for the U.S. Postal Service in Washington. But pretending that he was serving on a jury sure did."

According to the Mohave Daily News, "Starting next month, inmates at the Mohave County Jail will only receive postcards from friends or family members. Because of the time and cost to screen incoming mail to inmates and the increasing inmate population, the jail will only accept rectangular postcards no larger than 5-inch by 8-inch beginning March 3. Only rectangular postcards can fit in U.S. Postal Service sorting equipment."

Sources have informed PostCom that "North America’s largest uncoated freesheet (UFS) producers - Domtar, International Paper, Boise Paper, Georgia-Pacific, Blue Ridge Paper, and Glatfelter – separately last week announced to customers a price increase of $60/ton ($3/cwt) for most UFS offset web-based grades and $20/ton ($1/cwt) for sheets, effective with shipments on or after March 3. In addition, there is an upcharge of $20/ton ($1/cwt) on lower basis weight grades and a $40 ton ($2/cwt) upcharge per 10% post consumer waste for recycled grades, reportedly announced by some suppliers. In addition to the $60/ton increase announcement for benchmark 50-lb offset rolls, opaques and other UFS converting grades are scheduled to increase as well including envelope, Magnetic Optical Character Recognition (MOCR) laser bond grades, forms bond, and colors. A $60/ton increase for cut-size paper was announced last month by most suppliers effective with shipments either later this week or into next week."[EdNote: Good grief! It's all part of the reality of print-based communication.]

CEP News has reported that "Deutsche Post Chief Executive Klaus Zumwinkel is involved in a tax evasion investigation. According to information gleaned by German television ZDF, authorities searched Zumwinkel's home and offices Thursday morning. Deutsche Post confirmed the raid. On the part of the prosecutors office it was only confirmed that the searches were part of an "investigation into a tax crime." ZDF reported that it had information there was a warrant out for the arrest of Zumwinkel. Subject of the investigation is according to media reports "tax evasion in the two digit millions." The money is alleged to have been kept in a foundation in Liechtenstein." See also Bloomberg.

From PR-Inside: "AIS Media announces that the cost of emails for businesses using Excerpo Mail will not rise despite the recent announcement by the United States Postal Service that it will be raising the cost of first class stamps by a penny to 42 cents. Excerpo Mail is an email marketing program used by businesses across the world. While the cost of first class postage has been on the rise over the past several years, causing many small businesses to cut back on direct mail for marketing purposes and other business use, the cost of emails through Excerpo Mail has remained at about a penny per email since its inception."

China Knowledge has reported that "the 2008 target for China's postal industry is to generate RMB 106.5 billion (US$14.8 billion) in revenue, said Ma Junsheng, director of the State Post Bureau (SPB) during a national working conference. Detailed policy changes proposed by Ma includes the finalized evaluation system on postal services, the general improvements made to the quality of normal and special services as well as the online express enterprises' basic industry requirements. Reforms, executed by the government and enterprise separately, have achieved initial progress. It has optimized the industry structure, made government supervision more efficient and further improved the market-dominated competition system."

The Trend News Agency has reported that "the Azerbaijani Postal Administration joined the International Air Mail Control System of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). “Joining the system took place in compliance with the UPU recommendations,” the message disseminated by the Ministry said."

The American Postal Workers Union has told its members that "Postal Points, a newsletter of the mailing industry, often includes articles devoted to its views of the activities of postal labor unions. The group is particularly fond of expressing its opinion about actions undertaken by the APWU. On occasion, we have linked to their articles, so that our members may appreciate the views of this part of the mailing public. One recent article [PDF] in the newsletter of the Mailing and Fulfillment Service Association is replete with advice about how the APWU should react to trends affecting the Postal Service. I consider it a bit presumptuous for major mailers to suggest that they know better than APWU members what our union should and should not do to protect our jobs and improve service to the American public, but readers can judge for themselves."

The Port Townsend Leader has reported that the message Port Townsend's disabled community and city and county leaders delivered last Thursday to an entourage of postal officials was "find a solution to disability-access issues at the historic Port Townsend post office instead of selling the building or moving the service out of the downtown core. In turn, postal officials told the crowd of 100 people attending the local meeting of the Governor's Committee on Disability Issues and Employment that no decisions have been made to sell the historic former Customs House building or move the post office out of the city limits, despite rumors to the contrary."

From Marketwire: "Quebecor World Logistics is the first in the industry to offer its customers mixed-class co-mail that combines Periodical and Standard class mail pieces into a single offline co-mail offering. This gives our customers improved flexibility of a pool but also the industry's quickest turn-around time, unattainable in a single class co-mail run."

According to the Worcester News, "people are being given the chance to help prevent postal scams by getting rid of their junk mail at libraries across Herefordshire this month. The scheme forms a part of a national campaign to highlight the growing problem of scams and will also aim to try to prevent people, especially the elderly and vulnerable, from being conned by tricksters, who increasingly use a wide range of deceptions."

Business Week has reported that "a consortium plans to offer express parcel service to points in Western Europe using high-speed trains, but German tracks may derail idea of overnight service."

Gulf Times has reported that "Qatar's inclusion in Zone 1 of the classification of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), on the basis of the per capita income of its nationals is likely to hit the country's postal operations in coming years, said a top Q-Post official. The official said under the present terminal dues system of the UPU, two sub-systems are involved - the target system and transitional system. On account of the classification, Qatar, being a Zone 1 member, needs to pay a hefty amount as service charges for the services rendered by destination country's domestic services. Qatar's operations come under the target system."

February 13, 2008

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that the "union representing postal workers says the Federal Government is breaching its own industrial relations policy by allowing Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) to be offered for jobs at Australia Post."

The Association for Postal Commerce has presented its prestigious Lee Epstein Award to Kathleen Siviter, President, Postal Consulting Services, in recognition of her exemplary work in behalf of the business mailing community. Ms. Siviter, who serves as a consultant to PostCom, served as the industry co-chair of the Postmaster General's Mailers Technical Advisory Committee workgroup that was tasked with the duty of helping the Postal Service develop its proposed mail service performance standards. [The picture to the right shows PostCom Chairman Jim O'Brien and Ms. Siviter.]

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

Schweizerische Post has stunned the trade unions with its announced intention of outsourcing its Service House division.
Royal Mail has been fined almost 10m GBP - nearly 13m euros - for failing to adequately follow important instructions for the protection of mail.
According to a media report this weekend, a decision on the sale of Deutsche Postbank can be expected this spring.
The Indian government is planning to transfer large parts of the post’s real estate assets to the legally and financially independent postal Development Corporation (PDC). Real estate that is usable for commercial purposes is of particular interest.
Last Thursday, the management of the Polish post met with representatives of the 45 postal workers’ trade unions for wage negotiations. The second biggest union Solidarnosc, which represents 13,000 postal workers, is demanding a blanket wage increase of 224 euros.
The German Association of Courier, Express and postal Service providers BdKEP e.V. believes that the minimum wage regulation in the postal sector is on its way out. BdKEP announced that a hearing before the Berlin Administrative Court would take place as soon as 7 March.
The Union Network International (UNI) intends to mobilise forces throughout Europe to put pressure on TNT Post to introduce the minimum wage for delivery personnel in Germany.
Before Österreichische Post had the chance to launch its new express parcel product (CEP News 06/08), competitor GLS Austria brought out a rival product. Under the name of Express Parcel, the subsidiary of Britain’s Royal Mail is launching a new product line which matches the post’s offer perfectly.
India’s finance minister P. Chidambaram has put a halt to La Poste’s planned entry into the Indian CEP market. Via its subsidiary GeoPost, the French post was planning to buy 60% of Indian company Continental Air Express.
Romanian business paper »Ziarul Financiar« (28.01) reported that DHL appears to be planning a takeover of CEP service provider Cargus. Cargus is arguably the biggest operator in the Romanian market and is privately owned.
With an increase of almost 20%, Asia remains one of the most important business regions for the United Parcel Service.
The subprime crisis in the USA has now reached the mailing departments of credit card companies. During Q4 the volume of credit card mail in the US dropped by almost 10% to 5.2 billion consignments. New business fell even further with around 1.3 million offers sent out to potential customers, which is 14% less than in Q4 2006.

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.)

Russia Today has noted that "One of the oldest and largest government owned enterprises - Russia Post - is entering a reconstruction phase. Currently it includes almost 90 affiliates with 42,000 outlets, but even these figures don’t help it to make profit. The latest move to do something about the post was to place former Sberbank CEO Andrey Kazmin in charge. He says the first thing to change will be the financial losses."

KPAX has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service says an increase in phony money orders and fake checks has inspired them to raise awareness about identity theft. Their mission to educate and inform resulted in two public seminars that featured movies and plenty of reading material on ways to protect against mail fraud and identity theft."

Multichannel Merchant has reported that "Catalog mailers tend to view any postal rate hike with fear and loathing. But now that rate increases are capped to the CPI (Consumer Price Index), or rate of inflation, the May postage hike was greeted with mostly sighs of relief—and even some cheers."

According to the Jamestown Post-Journal, "every increase is an added incentive for more Americans to join the millions who already forego the cost of a stamp by paying their bills electronically and who, instead of sending a letter or card, communicate with friends and relatives exclusively online or by telephone. Businesses, too, are finding ways to cut costs by bypassing the mail. It is a downward spiral — the more people who abandon the mail, the more firms that find other ways to do business, the more revenue the Postal Service tries to make up by increasing the cost of a stamp, which in turn drives more people and businesses from the mail. It may be time for Congress to revisit the issue, asking whether it has been made too easy for the Postal Service to put its stamp of approval on rate increases."

February 12, 2008

Logistics Management has reported that "DHL Express USA said today it will reduce its workforce by approximately 600 positions."

Now available: (1) USPS 2007 Annual Report (2) USPS Quarterly 10Q Report.

Foster's Daily Democrat has reported that "The Office of the U.S. Inspector General is investigating a possible postal error that delayed campaign materials from Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Clinton campaign says it sent a mass mailing to Maine voters, reminding them of the Democratic caucuses. However, the flier didn't make it into the mailboxes of potential voters before Sunday's caucuses."

The Ventura County Star has reported that "A Los Angeles County congressman wants more information on a proposal by the U.S. Postal Service to change ZIP codes in the Conejo Valley area. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, whose district includes Westlake Village, made the request to the Postal Service after concerns were expressed by 50 of his constituents, including Westlake Village Mayor Philippa Klessig and City Councilman Mark Rutherford, said a spokesman for the congressman."

February 11, 2008

The U.S. Postal Service has announced that "on May 12 it will adjust prices for mailing services — First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services, and Special Services. See usps.com/prices for all mailing services prices and links to downloadable pricing files, and additional information. We will announce new prices for shipping services — Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select, and International Mail — in March. " See also the Postal Regulatory Commission web site. See also the PRC's announcement.

The latest report has been posted on the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General website (http://www.uspsoig.gov/) today. If you have additional questions concerning the report, please contact Agapi Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.

The New York Times has reported that "In an attempt to increase book sales, HarperCollins Publishers will begin offering free electronic editions of some of its books on its Web site. Brian Murray, president of HarperCollins, said that the free electronic editions would be available only for one month, and readers would not be able to download them to laptops or to an electronic reader like Kindle from Amazon.com. The print function will also be disabled, but readers will be able to link to retailers like Amazon.com to buy copies of the books."

Given the current situation in Kenya, the Universal Postal Union’s Council of Administration on Friday decided to change the venue of the 24th Universal Postal Congress from Nairobi, Kenya, to Geneva, Switzerland. The UPU Congress was scheduled to take place in Nairobi from 13 August to 3 September 2008. The event attended by about 1,500 delegates from the UPU’s 191 member countries will now take place in Geneva from mid-July to early August; the exact dates remain to be confirmed.

KTEN has reported that "State and federal lawmakers say they are working to fix problems with address changes that have prevented some residents of rural areas from getting their mail."

From eMediaWire: "Private Box has just started offering a new service to their customers so that they can read their postal mail online. Postal mail is electronically scanned so that customers can read their postal mail from anywhere via the internet. This new service is set to revolutionise the way postal mail is delivered in New Zealand."

February 10, 2008

Advertising Age has reported that "To promote its miniseries "John Adams," which premieres March 16, HBO has launched a wide-ranging retail and online campaign called "Power of the Letter." It's inspired by the former president's famous appreciation for writing to his wife, Abigail, with whom he exchanged more than 1,100 letters. A quote from Adams, "Let us dare to read, think, speak and write," will be featured on 3.75 million sales receipts per day issued by the Postal Service during February and March, a first. That quote also will appear on more than 3 billion pieces of mail as part of the cancellation marks."

United Press International has reported that "British authorities say village post offices are becoming a casualty of the Internet as more people go online to pay bills and use e-mail. The British postal network loses about $7 million a week and hundreds of British post offices attract as few as 16 customers a week, on average."

February 9, 2008

The San Antonio Business Journal has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is seeking a court order allowing the detention of incoming mail of Ad TelAmerica Inc. because, court records charge, the company is falsely telling businesses that they are in danger of being dropped from the yellow pages."

February 8, 2008
 
 
The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

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A copy of the February 7 statement given by Mitch King, Manager Government Relations, United States Postal Service, before the U.S. Election Assistance Commission has been posted on this site.

The Austin American-Statesman has reported that "Austin-based Newgistics Inc., which helps catalog and online retailers manage their returns, has made its second acquisition in 10 months as it expands its service. Newgistics said the purchase of Cornerstone Shipping Solutions of Milan, Ill., lets it offer delivery service to customers including Neiman Marcus, J. Crew and Overstock.com."

The Burlington Free Press has reported on a recent legislative hearing on a proposal for the state to enact a "do not mail" bill.

The National Association of Major Mail Users (NAMMU) has reported that:

For more information on NAMMU, its purposes, its programs, and membership, contact executive@nammu.org. If you do postal business in Canada, this is the group to which you really should belong.

February 7, 2008

CNET has noted that "Congress has given its final approval to a bill that would prohibit "automatic" removal of phone numbers from the national Do-Not-Call registry, which is designed to allow consumers to opt out of receiving unsolicited sales calls."

The Economic Times has reported that "French postal giant La Poste’s plans to enter the Indian market have run into a roadblock due to opposition from the postal department. GeoPost Group, the express parcel arm of La Poste, plans to tap the Indian market through a joint venture with Continental Air Express. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has put the joint venture proposal on hold due to objections from the department of posts. The postal department’s opposition adds yet another twist to the moves to restrict foreign ownership in this segment."

UK Fundraising has reported that "Price comparison agency Post-Switch is encouraging companies and charities to compare offerings to help them keep mailing costs down and beat the Royal Mail price hike."

The Des Moines Register has reported that "Iowa Senators Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley co-sponsored legislation introduced Wednesday in the U.S. Senate. The legislation is a piggy back to a companion bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Ia., on Jan. 29. Both pieces of legislation direct the U.S. Postal Service to designate a unique ZIP code for the western suburb within 180 days of enactment. Despite pleas from Windsor Heights city officials, U.S. postal officials have remained adamant that the suburb will not get its own ZIP code. Postal officials say the town has too few residents and doesn't have a stand-alone post office. The city receives its mail from three post offices in Des Moines and Urbandale."

GISUser has reported that "Maponics, a nationwide map data and services provider, and Tele Atlas, a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, today announced an agreement whereby Maponics will use Tele Atlas digital map data to support production of accurate USPS ZIP Code and carrier route boundaries."

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that "That is how much one person raked in for overtime while working for the U.S. Postal Service in Wisconsin. The worker put in nearly 2,000 hours on top of his or her regular schedule. That is just a sneak peak at what some postal employees are being paid in this state in addition to their annual salary. A quick glance at the overtime data provided by the postal service shows that is is not uncommon for people to make $25,000, $30,000, $45,000 and yes, even $67,000 in extra pay."

The Financial Times has reported that "Klaus Zumwinkel (65) is to retire as chairman of Deutsche Telekom and chief executive of Deutsche Post , ending the tenure of a man long backed by the German government but criticised by other shareholders in the companies. Berlin and the unions were pushing for Frank Appel, Mr Zumwinkel's protégé and board member, to be chief executive, while institutional investors favoured chief financial officer John Allan. Berlin and the services union Verdi support him, so it is likely Mr Appel, who runs Post’s global logistics operation, will become chief executive when Mr Zumwinkel’s contract expires towards the end of this year.S"

Planning to send a care package to a U.S. military service member serving abroad? Send it after March 3 to take advantage of a new flat-rate box from the U.S. Postal Service that is 50 percent larger and delivered for $10.95 to an APO/FPO address —- $2 less than for domestic destinations. “This is the first time the Postal Service has offered a special price for our armed forces serving overseas,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “We’re proud that family and friends will be able to use this new larger-sized box to send much appreciated packages from home to our dedicated troops overseas.”

February 6, 2008

The U.S. Postal Service has filed its Report-8K with the Security and Exchange Commission as required by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.

A PostCom Presentation: Project Request for Consideration: Standardized Addresses And Single Point Of Global Address Availability Steve Lopez Vice President Postal Products & Affairs Experian, member of PostCom's Board of Directors and one of PostCom's UPU representatives.

According to InfoWorld, "the Internet has already set traditional publishing on its ear. For a print publication to exist requires nothing short of the infrastructure of the U.S. Postal Service. The USPS charges a publisher about $1 per issue to mail. So if your magazine has a weekly circulation of 250,000 readers, which is not considered huge by any stretch, we are talking about an investment of more than $1 million a month just to distribute the publication to readers. In the old world, the additional cost of paper and postage makes an increase in magazine pages or size of circulation a major cost consideration. Not online."

Dow Jones has reported that "Shares of Germany's largest retail bank Deutsche Postbank AG rose as much as 11% in early trade Wednesday following a report by Financial Times Deutschland on a possible merger of the bank. Deutsche Postbank is majority owned by Deutsche Post World Net AG, which owns 50% plus one share. According to the newspaper, Deutsche Post Chief Executive Klaus Zumwinkel is looking to expand Deutsche Postbank through a merger, citing people close to the company."

The Asian Banker has reported that "Singapore Post Ltd is offering a money transfer service that allows customers to transfer funds to credit cardholders in nine countries, SingPost said Wednesday. It is the first time a postal service provider has offered such remittances. The service enables money to be sent to Visa cardholders in India, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, China, Australia and Britain."

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

As expected, the European Parliament gave its consent last Thursday to the liberalisation of postal markets from 1 January 2011. The draft presented by the Council of Ministers was adopted without amendments.
The costs incurred by Schweizerische Post for maintaining basic services appear to be considerably lower than hitherto assumed.
Belgium’s De Post announced an increase in turnover and profit.
Posten Norge has used libel in an attempt to draw customers away from private competitor Norpost. Norwegian daily »Dagens Naeringsliv« (30.1) reported that the Oslo County Court concluded that Posten Norge post had used false statements to attract 51 customers to the government-owned post.
Despite a double-figure growth in the international parcel segment (+13.1%) and significant improvements in the formerly ailing logistics segment (+5.3% increase), United Parcel Service was struggling against a strong current last year.
Sweden’s Posten AB has bought out its joint venture partner in the Norwegian Tollpost Globe AS.
Schweizerische Post has integrated its subsidiaries PostLogistics Innight AG and NES AG into PostLogistics AG. The purpose of the merger is to improve structures in the Swiss market for courier operations and for night and repair logistics.
Österreichische Post intends to let an independent subsidiary company handle express parcels in future. A new company under the brand of Trans-o-flex will carry out deliveries within one day.
Congress members Bennie Thompson - chairman of the Homeland Security Committee - and Ed Markey, also a member of the afore-mentioned committee, have asked for a complete review of the procedures followed by the Transportation Security Agency as part of the introduction of 100% screening of all air cargo in passenger aircraft within three years.
Singapore Post ended Q3 on an approx. 30% net profit-turnover.
Österreichische Post has acquired the remaining 49% of Scanpoint Europe Holding GmbH with effect from 1 January 2008. Details concerning the purchase price were not revealed. In January 2007, the post bought 51% of the document digitalisation specialist.
For the third year in a row, Posten Norge failed to achieve the mail delivery targets stipulated in the license during Q4.
Direct Mail Company, which claims to be Switzerland’s biggest private postal organisation, intends to build a new logistics and production centre in the Berne canton.
This week the Polish post is afflicted by a looming strike threat.
A reshuffle is currently taking place within the Latvian post. Reportedly, this is the result of numerous complaints over heavy delays in press distribution operations.
On Monday, a Russian air cargo flight from Malmö in Sweden to Moscow was delayed by several hours after two crew members were found to have a high level of alcohol in their blood.

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.)

According to Supply Chain Digest, "Some observers believe even with its small share of the U.S. market, DHL still acts as an important force that benefits shippers in negotiations with UPS and FedEx."

From PR Urgent: "Popular Science magazine recently named TrackingtheWorld’s GPS Letter Logger “Invention of the Month” in the publication’s February 2008 issue. The Letter Logger, a GPS tracking system for snail mail, was originally commissioned by the United States Postal Service to find causes of delivery delays. Less than one-quarter inch thick and weighing no more than a few sheets of paper, its compact enough to slip conveniently into any standard size business envelope.The GPS tracking Letter Logger packs a big technological punch in a small and discreet package. Disguised as an ordinary piece of mail, the tech-savvy “letter” flows through postal sorting systems without notice."

February 5, 2008

The Daily Mail has reported that "The future of the Post Office has been undermined by the Government. The revelation was made in a submission to the Business and Regulation Select Committee by the Post Office. It said that post offices had lost business in recent years partly by decisions of Government departments and public bodies to remove contracts. It reported that around four million fewer people visited post offices every week and that the current network of more than 14,000 branches was no longer sustainable."

According to the Earth Class Mail Blog, "The definition of junk mail is simple: Poorly targeted, unsolicited advertising mail is “junk” – to the unwitting recipient, to the shareholders of the company that sent it, and, most of all, to the environment."

From PR-USA: "Earth Class Mail Corp., a global service that delivers postal mail online, announces the appointment of 15-year Microsoft veteran Rajeev Dujari as its Vice President of Product Management."

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle has reported that "Three men from Brooklyn were thwarted in their recent attempt to invade a Charleston couple’s home, according to the Staten Island Advance. The men disguised themselves and their moving van in FedEx attire and then attempted to “deliver” a package to the couple. As the man opened the door to receive the package, the would-be invader began to step inside the home. The quick thinking home-owner “was offended” and called his wife. Together, they quickly forced the door closed as a second would-be invader came to aid his cohort. The invaders jumped back in the van and took off, but not before the Charleston couple wrote down their license plate number and called the police."

Last call for nominees for this year's Triangle industry leadership and recognition awards.

Smarter Money has reported that "Some 19 per cent of online bankers would switch providers if they were no longer able to receive statements and confidential information through the post, a Royal Mail survey has found."

As the Motley Fool has noted, "Rumors have been flying that DHL's United States operations are up for sale. With the recent announcement that Deutsche Post's DHL business unit lost 600 million Euros ($879 million) last year, the company is seeking strategic alternatives. The leading candidate to purchase DHL is thought to be FedEx. While some may think that a FedEx acquisition of DHL could spell trouble for UPS, the new FedEx/DHL could actually provide some much-needed relief for both of these transportation companies."

A summary of the Postal Service FY09 appropriations request and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposal for the same period have been posted on this site..

The United States Postal Service has asked the Postal Regulatory Commission to suspend proceedings in docket C2008-2 temporarily. The suspension would allow Postal Service management to finalize and present to the Governors for their consideration and potential action classification changes intended to resolve the substance of the instant Complaint.

February 4, 2008

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

Huffington Post has one commentator that maintains "the unsolicited distribution of phone books is absolutely absurd? First of all, phone books are terrible for the environment. Just consider the massive amount of energy consumed for their production and distribution. 540 million are doled out every year. And even though many are 40% post-consumer recycled, phone books still require enormous quantities of paper, ink and oil. When we throw them out--usually within five seconds of finding them on the doorstep--they steal space in the local landfill. Second, NOBODY EVER USES PHONE BOOKS! Honestly, when's the last time you opened one? They're absolutely outmoded dinosaurs. Who needs them when there's Google 411?"

As the Federal Times has noted, "The 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act includes a mandate that the U.S. Postal Service comply with Securities and Exchange Commission rules that implement the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) by fiscal 2010. The act requires corporations to report on the effectiveness of their internal controls, with the goal being to ensure the accuracy of financial reporting. The Postal Service is the first federal agency mandated to comply with the act and thus faces unique challenges."

Harte-Hanks has announced that it has named company veteran Jim Davis to the firm's first-ever chief customer officer, direct marketing. Davis also serves as a corporate officer, senior vice president, for the worldwide direct and targeted marketing company.

HellMail has noted that "Fret DV is a venture aimed at establishing a high speed rail freight operation in France. The company was formed in 2006 between SNCF and La Poste, the French postal service. Already, trains operate between Paris, Mâcon and Cavaillon and Fret DV is now considering expanding operations to take in Rennes and Bordeaux. Other possible destinations include Toulouse, Strasbourg, and Lille. The high speed service could benefit rival postal operators as the final phase of mail deregulation draws closer."

AMEInfo has reported that "Emirates Post has declared record net profit of Dhs190m for the year 2007, an increase of 20% over the previous year."

According to Transport Intelligence, DHL Express sees the creation of its new joint venture cargo airline with Lufthansa Cargo, formally branded AeroLogic at a press conference in Frankfurt, Germany as in line with the company's worldwide aviation strategy to build a "virtual global airline". More specifically, the global express operator, part of German logistics group Deutsche Post World Net, claims that development should enable it to substantially improve overall delivery performance in both directions between Europe and Asia (including China) – the main target sector for AeroLogic's B777-200 long range freighter operations when they begin in 2009 – and offer customers in those markets "very economic" solutions. "

The Industry Standard has reported that "As marketing budgets tighten in 2008, advertisers will put a premium on performance. They will demand greater accountability which media companies will respond to with a wider range of performance-based advertising programs. Advertisers will spend less and less on inefficient brand campaigns and shift remaining budgets to direct marketing instead." [EdNote: That is, of course, unless the Postal Service prices its "value-add" mail service transparency products beyond where mailers are willing to pay.]

Forbes has reported that "Danish transport group DSV AS said it has agreed to sell its 50 pct stake in Norwegian transport company Tollpost Globe AS to Swedish postal service. DSV said it has operated Tollpost as a joint venture with Swedish postal service, Posten AB, since 2001, when Posten acquired its initial 50 pct stake in the Norwegian company in connection with its takeover of DSV Parcel."


Be there or be square...and then pay postage penalties.


The latest issue of PostCom's PostOps Update has been posted on this site. In this issue:

The Associated Press has noted that "the U.S. Postal Service and its counterparts in other countries are tapping technology to cut costs and expand into electronic services _ including services designed to attract more "junk" mail. Many postal agencies are having to serve more households because their nations' populations are growing but are getting less mail to deliver to each, said Dean Pope, general manager of business development at Canada Post."

The Union Leader has reported that "A bill that would create a do-not-mail list to let people block junk mail ran into a major defeat Thursday. The House Commerce committee voted 14-1 to recommend that the full House kill the bill, HB 1506. Those who spoke against the bill said consumers already have a choice of contacting merchants and direct marketing associations to get their names off delivery lists. The state doesn't need to get involved, they said."

The BBC has reported that "Union leaders have warned postal bosses that workers could strike over plans to shut Coventry's sorting office and move it to another county."

The News & Observer has reported that "Fast Search & Transfer(TM) (OSEAX: FAST.OL) (FAST(TM)), the leading global provider of search technologies, today announced that Norway Post has selected the award-winning FAST Enterprise Search Platform (FAST ESP(TM)) to improve their customer facing portals and several other of the organization's internal solutions."

Business Week has reported that "A new "dot-post" Internet address in the works aims to set apart the electronic services increasingly offered by postal agencies around the world. Backers say restricting the ".post" domain name to postal agencies or groups that provide postal services would instill trust in Web sites using such names. By contrast, popular suffixes such as ".com" and ".org" are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. The Internet's key oversight agency, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is trying to work out contract terms for the suffix with the U.N. Universal Postal Union. Approval could come as early as mid-February and implementation several months later.Services unveiled or proposed around the world include electronic postmarks, online billing and payments and hybrid mail -- when a digital document gets printed by the postal service and delivered as paper, or when physical mail gets scanned into an electronic document for delivery. If the suffix is approved, the U.N. postal agency would assign domain names under it to individual national agencies, which could then distribute sub-domains to contractors and other service providers. The U.N. agency also could assign names directly to mail-related industries, such as direct marketing and stamp collecting. "

As Air Cargo World has noted, "The shifting cargo scene is spreading out distribution of cargo operations along the North American east coast."

The Warsaw Business Journal has reported that "Postal workers could strike at any moment to demand wage increases, while the government is drastically seeking a way to diminish the role of trade unions. Five days ago trade unions of Polish Post (PP) submitted its demands to the general director seeking a wage increase of zł.800 gross on average with today named as the deadline for a reply."

February 3, 2008

ISO and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have agreed to increase their cooperation in the development of international standards for postal services. ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden and UPU Director General Edouard Dayan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Bern, Switzerland, on 30 January 2008 to formalize the partnership. ISO and UPU already have a long-standing collaboration. The UPU has liaison status with five of ISO's technical committees developing standards with relevance to postal delivery, including paper and board, packaging, information processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), radio frequency identification (RFID), bar coding and country codes.

February 2, 2008

WNEWSJ.com has reported that "Representatives of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) have a Feb. 11 appointment with the governor’s chief of staff concerning the future of DHL Express in Wilmington. “We’re out to make sure DHL, if they do sell, that whoever DHL sells to, that they guarantee that this work will stay in Wilmington, Ohio. That it won’t be moved elsewhere,” Olson said Friday." [EdNote: Sorry boys and girls. This isn't the Postal Service.]

According to CNews, "A campaign that started in Vancouver to help people stop junk mail has drawn a response from across the country."

The Economic Times has noted that "India Post fights to retain marketshare in small savings."

The International Times has reported that "The Pakistan Post will hold an international letters contest entitled ‘Why tolerance and forbearance is compulsory for our world’ to bring the attention of new generation towards writing letters. The children with 15 years of age or less will be eligible to participate in the contest and first three position holders would get Rs10,000, Rs7,500 and Rs5,000 as cash prize respectively. The participants can write the letters in Urdu or English language, the selected letters will be send to the Universal Postal Union (UPU) for the representation of Pakistan."

February 1, 2008

The Association for Postal Commerce, joined by the Direct Marketing Association, Inc., has filed the following reply comments in response to Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) Order No PI2008-1, Service Performance Measurement Systems for Market-Dominant Products.
 
 
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According to the Oxford Mail, "Twenty-two post offices have been earmarked for closure across Oxfordshire, it emerged last night."

Interactive Investor has reported that "Oesterreichische Post AG said it completed its acquisition of Scanpoint Europe Holding GmbH by purchasing the 49 pct stake it did not already hold in the German specialist for the digitalisation and administration of documents."

The European Commission has welcomed the adoption of the EU Postal Directive. It said that the market opening will bring clear benefits for postal users.

From Business Wire: "Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c81390) has announced the addition of "Snapshots UK Postal Services 2007" to their offering."

The New York Times has reported that "Consumer spending slowed in December and inflation continued to rise, the government said Thursday, leaving the Federal Reserve less maneuvering room as it ponders policy decisions in the months ahead. Spending by consumers, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation’s economic growth, rose by an anemic 0.2 percent in December after jumping 1 percent in November. Adjusted for inflation, spending was flat for the month. Economists have predicted a significant downturn in spending as consumers grapple with record-high oil and food prices. The report from the Commerce Department reinforces the disappointing holiday sales figures that leading retail chains released in the last few weeks."

From the Federal Register:

According to B2B magazine, "There is a natural synergy between the postal and e-mail channels that should be maximized to capitalize on consumer spending and behavior. In fact, consumers spend about six times more dollars offline than they do online yet respond to e-mail more readily than a direct mail piece."

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News has reported that "A Vancouver businesswoman is launching a new campaign to help people who want to cut down on junk mail. The Red Dot Campaign aims to draw attention to a little-known Canada Post policy that allows people to stop unaddressed junk mail arriving in their mailbox or dropping through their mail slot. A red dot on your mailbox is one way of telling Canada Post you don't want junk mail, according to the Red Dot Campaign website."

The Periodical Publishers Association has reported that "DHL Global Mail, an international mailing and delivery solution provider, has joined Royal Mail, St. Ives Web, Polestar and RBS as PPA’s latest strategic partner."