March 31, 2010

According to The Consumerist, "if you mess up a zip code on an overnight UPS package, they will charge you an $11 "address adjustment" fee to fix it."

From PRNewswire: "Valassis, one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, announced today greater insight into consumer savings habits with coupons - what they are buying, where they are shopping and how the economy is defining a new "normal" when it comes to shopping behavior."

The Jersey Evening Post has reported that "Jersey Post could go from making millions in profit to a loss next year as a result of a decision by the Island’s competition regulator. The utility business is set to lose the monopoly it enjoys on delivering packages and large letters for the fulfilment industry."

As one writer for the National Post put it: "In the age of email, instant video messaging, texting and Facebooking-- not to mention ubiquitous cellphones, cheap long distance and voice-over-Internet telephone calls -- the "right" to a one-price-fits-all universal postal service is as obsolete as the mail car on a passenger train."

According to The Economist, "the Japanese cabinet is a contentious lot. When Shizuka Kamei, the minister of financial services and postal reform, unveiled plans in March to halt the planned privatisation of Japan Post, several ministers publicly balked. The finance minister was shouted down on TV by Mr Kamei. On March 30th the government adopted Mr Kamei’s plans nonetheless. Japan Post, which is not only a post office but also the world’s biggest bank, with assets of more than ¥300 trillion ($3.2 trillion), will be allowed to double the amount of deposits it can take from a customer to ¥20m. Its life-insurance unit, which controls 40% of the market, will be permitted to raise its coverage limit to ¥25m from ¥13m. The government will retain a stake of more than one-third, giving it veto power."

EurAsiaNet has reported that "Activists are criticizing draft legislation that would expand the Kyrgyz government’s ability to monitor telephone calls and email. Parliament adopted amendments to the laws, "On Operative Investigation Activities" and "On the Electronic and Postal Services," on March 25. The changes now await President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s signature before they become law."

The Washington Post has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service this week used e-mail as the means to inform regulators of its plans to cut Saturday mail delivery, a move that might seem to go against the grain for an agency tasked with delivering snail mail."

PostCom welcomes its newest members:
The Hartford, One Hartford Plaza Hartford CN 60155 Contact: Lucie Rossitto Marketing Production Manager;
Clark Group, Inc., 5008 Lenker Street Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 Contact: Marc Waldman

KCRG has reported that "A U.S. Postal Service plan to cut out Saturday delivery will ultimately fail, predicted a spokesman for the National Association of Letter Carriers. “We don’t see this thing — despite the hoopla that the postal service management has come up with — being approved by Congress,” said Drew Von Bergen, chief spokesman for the union that represents about 200,000 city mail carriers, and 100,000 retirees."

The Postal Employees Network has told its readers that "Time and time again postal employees continually read that postal employee pay and benefits are just too high – critics always like to point out that 80% of USPS costs is labor. Just today Newsweek states “Perhaps the biggest failure of the five-day delivery plan is that it ignores 80 percent of the Postal Service’s costs: labor. Postmaster Potter has made headway in reducing work hours and the costs of benefits and pensions, but the average postal employee still makes $83,000 in salary and benefits a year, placing postal workers among the highest-paid government employees.” We, as postal employees, get sick and tired of hearing this same broken record over and over. We try to point out to these people that USPS is a service company – we ARE NOT a retail, manufacturing, or banking entity – we are a SERVICE COMPANY. As a service company, providing the most extensive service in this nation, our employee base MUST be large and subsequently compose the vast majority of costs for USPS. Please – tell us how else could this service exist without a work compliment in place to carry out the service?"

Business Week has noted that "As the U.S. Postal Service proposes to trim its weekly mail service to five days, the deputy postmaster general addresses employee morale."

The Mainichi Daily News has reported that "A conflict within the coalition Cabinet over postal reform has called Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's leadership ability into question." [EdNote: Amazing. A dispute over postal reform can actually bring down the government of a sovereign state.]

Dutch News has reported that "New postal delivery companies such as Sandd, SelektMail (Deutsche Post) and Netwerk VSP (part of TNT) have failed to make sure at least 14% of delivery workers have a proper contract as promised last year, Trouw reports on Wednesday. Although the necessary 3,500 workers have been offered a contract, just 0.5% of delivery staff have signed them, the paper says."

The New York Daily News has reported "Post office named after hero Marine slain in Iraq faces being shut down." [EdNote: You had to know this was coming when Congress began its post office naming spree. Okay, Congress. You named them. Now figure out where you're going to get the money to keep them open.]

The Guardian has written: "Don't take posties' bikes away Royal Mail wants us to stop delivering on bicycles and drive vans instead – a move at odds with sustainable transport policy." See also Bike Radar.

Helsingin Sanomat has reported that "Itella, the former Finland Post (the name changed in 2007), will begin an entirely new postal service experiment, which involves opening the customers’ letters. The letters will then be scanned and emailed to the receiver. The experiment will begin next week in the southern city of Porvoo. It is an extension of the already existing NetPosti service, which will consequently now also include first and second class letters written on paper. Simultaneously, the number of traditional mail deliveries will be reduced to only twice a week. However, mail will be made available for the customers to pick up from a box at their local shop."

From PRNewswire: "Under terms of a new five-year, multi-million-dollar agreement, Quad/Graphics will become Hearst Magazines' largest print supplier starting in January 2011."

NBC Miami has reported that "Everyone knows the wait at the post office can take an eternity, so when a West Palm Beach father left his seven-month-old son in the car while he tended to his mailing needs, he probably should have known better. Seven Emeka Ezumba (that's right, the number), was charged with child abuse Tuesday for leaving his kid behind in a hot car as he dealt with postal bureaucracy for a solid two hours, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The youngster was taken to a nearby hospital after he was found with a high temperature and in distress outside the post office in the 3200 block of Summit Blvd. The car's window had been lowered a scant three inches." [EdNote: Has the world gone mad?]

Reuters has reported that "UniCredit (CRDI.MI), Italy's largest lender, is one of three firms shortlisted to join state bank VEB as a strategic partner in a planned federal postal bank in Russia, VEB head Vladimir Dmitriyev said on Wednesday."

The Edge Malaysia has reported that "Buyers for POS MALAYSIA BHD have not been determined conclusively, although Khazanah Nasional has received some indications of interests."

According to the Washington Post, "Confronting the prospect of ever-increasing operating losses, the U.S. Postal Service this week officially proposed terminating Saturday home deliveries and pickups from street corner mail boxes. As postal executives see it, that's the fairest and least painful way to avoid another round of rate increases that would inevitably lead to further volume declines and even deeper service cuts. Recent polls find that a solid majority of Americans is willing to live without Saturday mail service, but the idea still faces stiff opposition in Congress, which has nixed it in the past. In the context of a $15 trillion U.S. economy, this is a relatively small, $5 billion item. But in many ways it is a preview of things to come. Because if we don't have the will to accept even this modest and relatively painless reduction in our collective standard of living, then we are never going to make the hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to annual consumption, both public and private, required to bring our over-indebted economy back into balance."

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

Swiss Post faced declining turnover and profits in the year of crisis 2009.
Hasler, chairman of Swiss Post’s administrative board, called on the government to concede sufficient entrepreneurial freedom to his company.
TNT’s shares rose as rumors about the possible group’s split up emerged again. This was caused by a report of ING-Bank’s analysts which suggested that TNT had changed its strategy and the sale of its letter division bit by bit wouldn’t be unimaginable anymore.
’They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind!’ Georg Pölzl, Austrian Post’s new CEO obviously doesnt know this saying. How else could be explained that he called some unionists charlatans, in an interview with daily newspaper »Presse« (25.03)? Furthermore he said, it would be impossible for postal offices, which operate at a loss since years, to get back into the black with the help of non-postal services. Anyone who suggests this, ’is lying to the employees concerned’, he said.
In the crisis-ridden fiscal year 2009 Poste Italiane achieved a rise in turnover and earnings. Last Thursday the company reported a revenue of 20.1bn euros, a 12.6% increase. With this result Poste Italiane is on its best way to replace French La Poste - turnover 2009 20.53bn euros - as Europe’s second largest postal operator. Financial and insurance services becoming an increasingly significant part of this development.
The Federal Network Agency estimates that turnover in Germany’s letter market fell by 4.3% in 2009.
China Post Group’s speed of growth decreased in February.
Revenues in the German CEP market fell considerably in 2009.
TNT Express and American logistics group Con-Way agreed to expand their co-operation, which was arranged last spring."
After more than 50 years Japan Airlines (JAL) will withdraw from dedicated cargo business at the end of October.
Investors from Europe may acquire the majority of US airlines in the future. [EdNote: Maybe they can run them better.]
Royal Mail has to charge VAT for some of its services in the future. The new rule will come into effect on February 1 next year. While standard services like 1st and 2nd Class Mail as well as registered mail will still be exempted from VAT, the post has to charge VAT on services like Special Delivery 9.00am, Royal Mail Tracked, Royal Mail Sameday and international services.
Siemens will provide sorting technology for Beijing Post’s new hub.
Deutsche Post DHL restructured and expanded its agency network.
The EU Commission’s lawsuit about alleged aid for Deutsche Post seems to finally fail.

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.)

Postal news from Hellmail:

The Wall Street Journal has reported that "Japan's Cabinet Tuesday approved a plan proposed by the bank minister to scale back postal privatization and allow the postal system to raise more funds, in a move that will likely be unpopular with the country's financial sector and Washington. However, in what appears to be a compromise between banking and postal reform minister Shizuka Kamei and some Cabinet officials who have complained that his plan could put private banks at a big disadvantage, the Cabinet ministers also decided to review and possibly lower the new postal saving deposit limit at a later date if needed." See also Business Week and the Mainichi Daily News.

Deadtree Edition has told its readers that "Magazine publishers have put lots of energy and resources into making our publications more suited to the Postal Service’s sorting equipment. We’ve participated in co-mail to create more carrier-route bundles, moved mail from sacks to pallets, turned our addresses upside down in preparation for the Flats Sequencing System, and are converting our tabloids to other formats to comply with the “droop” test. But more than ever, according to O’Brien, postal facilities are letting the machines sit idle while employees handle newspapers and magazines (and, presumably, catalogs) manually. These employees are "automation refugees" – whom O'Brien describes as “mail processing employees who were assigned to manual operations when automation eliminated the work they had been doing.” So much for using automation to decrease the Postal Service's costs." [EdNote: At the same time, all we hear from postal officials and regulators these days is the moaning about flat mail being "under water." Of course they're under water. They're being held down for the three count by the Postal Service itself. Where in blazes is the IG in all of this?]

According to the Washington Times, "The postman won't even ring once on weekends. In a desperate attempt to trim costs, the U.S. Postal Service is cutting off your Saturday service. This move is too little, too late for one of the federal government's most bloated and incompetent bureaucracies. It made sense to establish a government postal monopoly in 1782. Back then, no other reliable means of long-distance communication existed. Now, electronic bill-paying options, telephone, e-mail and fax machines have cut the need for envelopes and stamps by 20 percent in just the past few years. What better time could there be to repeal the statute making it a crime for companies like FedEx and UPS to deliver first-class mail. Taxpayers should insist on cutting off the lumbering postal union bureaucracy and see how well it can truly survive on its own. Opening up America's mailboxes to the free market would ensure better service while saving nearly a quarter-trillion dollars."

March 30, 2010

On April 13 and 14, marketers, technology mavens and internet entrepreneurs will converge at the annual Ad Age Digital Conference in New York to connect the dots between innovation and business results and discuss their views on marketing and where it's headed.

At the Postal Regulatory Commission: Docket No. 2010-1: The Postal Regulatory Commission today established Docket N2010-1 to thoroughly review whether the U.S. Postal Service plan to eliminate Saturday delivery should be implemented. The Postal Service is required to ask the Commission for an Advisory Opinion on any change in nationwide service it proposes. This is one of the most significant changes the Postal Service has ever presented to the Commission. See also the PRNewswire and the Associated Press.

The following report has been posted today on the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General website (http://www.uspsoig.gov/). If you have additional questions concerning a report, please contact Wally Olihovik at 703.248. 2201, or Agapi Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.

Powered Industrial Vehicle Management System at the Indianapolis Processing and Distribution Center (Report Number NO-AR-10-004). The Indianapolis Processing and Distribution Center did not always use the Powered Industrial Vehicle Management System as intended and consequently had not realized all possible efficiency improvements from the system.

From Business Wire: "FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (FDX 92.82, +0.59, +0.64%) and the world's largest express transportation company, continues to expand its FedEx International Economy(R) Freight (IEF) and FedEx International Economy(R) (IE) services to more parts of the world. This latest expansion will provide US customers with more reach when shipping worldwide."

MSNBC has reported that "Netflix is in many ways the epitome of the 21st century company: It's based in Silicon Valley, it sells its services exclusively online, and it employs a hip bit of Web-speak in its name. But even as it boasts many of the trappings of a New Economy juggernaut, Netflix is still almost entirely reliant on that most 19th century of institutions: the United States Postal Service. Indeed, Netflix is the Postal Service’s biggest corporate customer. And sadly for Netflix, its big partner is also in the red — the Postal Service lost $3.8 billion last year. In an effort to stop the bleeding, on Wednesday, the USPS took the first step toward eliminating Saturday mail delivery — it asked the Postal Regulatory Commission for an opinion on the matter. (Congress still has to approve the change.) The USPS says it hopes to implement the change in fiscal year 2011. In addition to eliminating Saturday delivery, the Postal Service has also said that it wants to raise postage fees. If these changes are implemented, Netflix's finely tuned business model could suffer a serious blow."

NALC launches "5-Day is the Wrong Way" website to keep public informed.

United States Court of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Circuit: Case No. 09-1032. "The United States Postal Service seeks review of a Postal Regulatory Commission order concluding that certain activities carried on by the Service – the provision of philatelic services (relating to stamp collecting) and the leasing and licensing of Postal Service property – are, under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, subject to the Commission’s review for possible termination. We deny the Service’s petition....we conclude that the Commission’s construction of § 404(e)(3) this time to include property leasing and licensing as nonpostal services is quite reasonable and therefore permissible."

John Lenser recently told his readers that "the catalog industry is not dead—not even close; catalogs will continue to be a significant driver of sales even as ecommerce grows. In fact, as catalog companies achieve more sophistication with ecommerce, they will benefit from the appropriate integration of both channels. Despite the fact that the catalog industry is thriving as it adapts to the new age, I’ve started to think of it as a displaced person."

Press Release: "Com-Pak Services, Inc. has announced that it has acquired the critical assets and personnel of MarketPoint Direct to create a more powerful direct marketing solutions company. Clients of both Com-Pak Services and MarketPoint Direct can benefit from technologies that will enhance the results of their direct mail marketing efforts, as well as services designed to significantly reduce cost. This acquisition will enhance Com-Pak Services, Inc. position in the Direct Marketing arena in the Northeast. The expanded footprint of the organization will be better positioned to thrive in the ever changing, competitive Direct Marketing industry. Com-Pak’s core competency of Direct Mail Lettershop, Fulfillment and Packaging along with In-house Commingling, IMB Full Service ~ all enhanced by cutting edge technologies of Selective Insertion, and Read-Write systems will cement Com-Pak as the dynamic leader in the Direct Marketing industry."

InformationWeek has told its readers that "One of the world's top CIOs says the technology strategy at UPS is very simple: "It's the business strategy. There's no difference."

From Business Wire: "Sicap, confirmed mobile solutions provider across Africa, has announced the launch of cash-in, cash-out mobile money services on specially designed ATMs. The cash transactions are accounted for on the customer’s mobile account, so no bank account or card is required. For operators, the mobile money ATM offer from Sicap constitutes a secure circuit for a variety of money transfer scenarios. Adapted to meet operator needs, the ATMs, can be deployed as a simple prepaid credit channel to the 95% of African mobile users who use prepaid subscriptions and top up on a daily basis. This use case has been identified as particularly interesting for mobile users in countries like Cote d’Ivoire, because there is no door to door national postal service. Until now, the unbanked have had to physically go and find out how much their bills are."

According to WALB, "U.S. Postal Service plans to raise the cost of passports."

MSNBC has asked: So long to Saturday mail delivery?

Road.cc has reported that "The Royal Mail has confirmed long-standing rumours that the traditional postal worker’s bike is to be phased out, citing the dangers faced by cyclists on Britain’s roads as a prime motivation behind the decision, and has rejected calls to use cargo tricyles instead of vans to deliver letters and parcels."

Business Times has reported that "Khazanah Nasional Bhd said it will sell its 32.2 percent stake in Pos Malaysia Bhd, the national postal company, via a bidding process where qualifying bids must be majority-controlled by Malaysian parties."

All Headline News has reported that "In view of the shrinking mail delivery business, the British Post Office is expanding its services by offering a wider range of financial services to the public. Among the new services the postal office will roll out are youth savings account, home mortgage for first-time buyers and weekly budgeting accounts. The expansion will provide new income streams to the Post Office, while it would make available affordable services to lower income Britons. For instance, in its planned home mortgage, only 10 percent downpayment would be required from the house buyer."

"A majority of Americans support ending Saturday mail delivery to help the U.S. Postal Service solve its financial problems, but most oppose shuttering local branches, according to a new Washington Post poll. As for the future of U.S. mail delivery, nearly as many Americans said they trust e-mail to send messages reliably as they do the Postal Service. Overall, 43 percent said they think e-mail is more dependable; 47 percent said the Postal Service is. That's up considerably from a 1994 poll when the Internet was in its infancy and the Postal Service had a better than 2 to 1 advantage. A majority of people younger than 30 put more faith in e-mail, and seniors overwhelmingly support traditional mail."

According to Fast Company, "The U.S Postal Service has long flirted with electric vehicles for its fleet. Now it's FedEx's turn. The company debuted the first all-electric FedEx delivery trucks this week--all four of which will navigate the streets of Los Angeles beginning in June 2010."

Postal news from Postal Technology International:

European quality of service exceeds EU objectives again
Royal Mail hit by VAT in 2010 budget
DHL wins Vendor of the Year award
Vanderlande Industries goes down under
News in Brief

From the Federal Register: Postal Regulatory Commission NOTICES Meetings; Sunshine Act , 15753 [2010–7155] [TEXT] [PDF] Post Office Closing , 15753–15754 [2010–6974] [TEXT] [PDF]

Postal news from Hellmail:

Business Week has reported that "Japan’s government will follow the recommendations of Postal Reform Minister Shizuka Kamei in reorganizing the national postal bank, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said. The Hatoyama administration has yet to determine whether to double the cap on deposits at Japan Post, Hirano told reporters today in Tokyo. Kamei has proposed increasing the limit to 20 million yen ($217,000) from the current 10 million yen."

Cato@Liberty has told its readers that "The USPS has taken the first step toward reducing mail delivery to five days a week by sending a request to the Postal Regulatory Commission. However, it will be ultimately up to Congress whether or not Saturday delivery is eliminated. The USPS, which is in a death spiral, views the elimination of Saturday mail delivery service as a step toward regaining its financial footing. Not surprisingly, the decision is proving controversial among some members of Congress. Here’s a better idea: give Americans the freedom to choose the mail services they want by repealing the USPS monopoly. That way consumers and businesses could choose to provide and use mail services zero days a week or seven days a week."

Government Executive has reported that "Eliminating Saturday mail delivery could save the U.S. Postal Service $5.1 billion annually by 2020, most of which would come from lower personnel costs, agency officials said on Monday. In the face of declining mail volume and a 10-year, $238 billion budget deficit, the Postal Service is proposing to reduce mail delivery days from six to five. The move would eliminate the equivalent of 40,000 full-time positions, including 26,000 city letter carriers, according to USPS Vice President Sam Pulcrano. Most of the cuts would come during the first year after Saturday delivery ends, he said."

Bloomberg has reported that "The U.S. is considering lodging a complaint with the World Trade Organization about Japan’s proposal to raise the deposit cap at the nation’s postal bank."

According to the President of the National Association of Letter Carriers, "The national president of the 295,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers union (NALC) today criticized the U.S. Postal Service for arrogantly lobbying the general public with a misleading Internet web site to win approval of elimination of Saturday mail delivery despite the fact that Congress has shown little interest in such a move. NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said the recently announced postal web site offers misleading information and planning guides for businesses and households regarding its plan to cut Saturday collection and mail delivery services. "The arrogance of the Postal Service in this campaign to lobby the public to embrace five-day delivery as the answer to the Postal Service's problem is astounding," he said. "Given that Congress has shown very little interest in eliminating Saturday service and must approve any change, the Postal Service should focus its energies on real solutions, not risky and counterproductive service cuts." "The Postal Service should stand down on this reckless drive to end Saturday delivery," Rolando added. "It would do more harm than good and it distracts us from the real solution, eliminating the crushing burden of a deeply flawed health benefits pre-funding policy. The web site and the public relations campaign launched by the Postal Service appears designed to fool mailers and the American people that 5-day delivery is a done deal."

From the PRC's report: "List of Market Dominant Products and Services with Respective Negative Contributions to Institutional Costs"

First-Class Inbound International Single-Piece Mail
Standard Flats
Standard Not-Flat Machinables and Parcels
Periodicals, Within County
Periodicals, Outside County
Package Services, Single-Piece Parcel Post
Package Services, Inbound Surface Parcel Post (at UPU rates)
Package Services, Bound Printed Matter Parcels
Package Services, Media Mail/Library Mail
Special Services, Registered Mail
Special Services, Stamped Cards
Special Services, Address List Services
Special Services, Confirm
Special Services, Inbound International Ancillary Services

The Daily Mail has reported that "More than a third of people are fed up with their service, a major poll by Britain's postal regulator revealed today. The poor service has a crippling impact on thousands of businesses and anybody working from home. When asked how they feel about the time that the post is delivered, a shocking 37 per cent of people said they are 'not satisfied'."

March 29, 2010

The Washington Post has told its readers that "A majority of Americans support ending Saturday mail deliveries to help the U.S. Postal Service solve its financial problems, but most oppose shuttering local branches, according to a new Washington Post poll. The public support for moving to five-day deliveries may bolster a new proposal to end six-day deliveries to help the mail agency trim hundreds of billions of dollars in losses by 2020....Potter’s proposal has the support of 71 percent of Americans, with most Democrats, Republicans and independents in favor of the idea, according to the poll. But the revisions would mean big changes for how customers send and receive mail."

Press Release: "BCC Software, a BÖWE BELL + HOWELL company and a leading developer of high-performance mailing technology solutions, announces a new partnership with InfoPrint Solutions Company, a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh and a leading provider of output solutions for clients across many industries. Through this partnership, InfoPrint Solutions’ customers will have enhanced access to BCC products and services including the cQuencer high-volume statement-processing solution; Mail Manager Full Service presorting and list-management software; and ZIPFOURce, a proprietary address quality resource that improves transactional data. BCC’s Professional Services—offering training and software installation services—will also be available. For more details about BCC offerings, please call (800) 337-0442, e-mail info@bccsoftware.com or visit www.bccsoftware.com."

At the Postal Regulatory Commission:

The Postal Regulatory Commission today issued its Annual Compliance Determination (ACD) assessing the financial and service performance of the Postal Service in fiscal year (FY) 2009. The Commission reported that 14 separate Postal Service products or services failed to cover their direct costs. Shortfalls in these products cost the Postal Service $1.7 billion dollars in FY 2009. Despite surpluses in other products such as First-Class Mail, the Postal Service lost $3.8 billion overall. The report also identifies 30 instances of workshare discounts offered to large mailers where the discounts exceeded the savings to the Postal Service from the work performed by the mailers. Only in 17 of those instances could the Postal Service show that special circumstances justified the discount....The ACD also provides a detailed analysis of the Postal Service’s deteriorating financial situation. It is questionable whether the Service has maintained the capacity to provide fundamental postal services to the Nation as required by law in the future. (The full report is available on the Postal Regulatory Commission web site.)

Here are two white papers from the folks at WindowBook you might find of interest:

Mail.dat/Mail.XML: http://www.windowbook.com/maildat
Presort/Post-presort: http://www.WindowBook.com/postpresort

The folks at Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP will be presenting a brand new full-day seminar on postal contracting entitled: "Making Sense of Your Postal Service Contract: Do You Really Know What You Just Signed?" Attached is the brochure for the seminar, which will be presented on May 14 at the Westin Hotel in Tysons Corner, VA. This seminar focuses on the contract clauses contained in most Postal Service contracts, explains what they mean, and describes how they impact suppliers. Individuals can register online at www.regonline.com/postalseminar or by calling Stephanie Dorssum at 314.345.6646.

Materials used by the Postal Service to brief members of the press on the filing it will make with the Postal Regulatory Commission on its five-day delivery proposal has been posted on this site:

The International Mailers Advisory Group has told the U.S. Postal Service that it "appreciates the Postal Service’s decision not to adjust postal rates this year in recognition of the negative and potentially permanent impact such a change would have on mail volumes. However, there is a second piece to the pricing puzzle and, as we look towards extending our relationship with the Postal Service and finalizing our global negotiated contracts this year, we hope USPS understands that any reduction in discounts offered in those contracts is actually a rate increase - and one that would not be welcomed by IMAG member companies or their customers."

At the Postal Regulatory Commission:

Ruth Y. Goldway, Chairman, Postal Regulatory Commission Discussing The Historical Relationship Of The Post Office And Periodicals In The U.S. Federal Trade Commission Workshop “How Will Journalism Survive The Internet Age.”
Docket No. MT2010–1. The United States Postal Service hereby gives notice that it intends to conduct a test of a proposal for an experimental competitive product to gain information concerning the operations, costs, and potential market for the product. The experimental product has been provisionally titled the “Samples Co-Op Box.” The Samples Co-Op Box is a parcel box that will contain an assortment of product samples from multiple consumer packaged goods companies and will be mailed to the companies’ target consumers, with the companies sharing the postage costs. The market research test, which will begin on or shortly after May 1, 2010, will consist of one mailing of co-op boxes to consumers in certain test markets. The test will also include research efforts designed to gain information about the product proposal.

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 a report, please contact Wally Olihovik at 703.248. 2201, or Agapi Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.

Rural Delivery Christmas Operations (Report Number DR-AR-10-003). Although the U.S. Postal Service significantly reduced supplemental Christmas overtime hour utilization from fiscal years (FY) 2008 through 2009, these overtime hours were no longer necessary to ensure timely delivery of mail.
Windows Access Controls at the Information Technology and Accounting Service Centers – IS General Controls FY 2009 (Report Number IS-AR-10-006).

Here is the latest blog posted today on the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General’s Internet site “Pushing the Envelope.” The public, mailers, postal employees, and other stakeholders are invited to weigh in on the online discussions taking place. To view the site, visit http://blog.uspsoig.gov/.

Guest Blog: Automation Refugees. Jim O’Brien, Vice President, Distribution & Postal Affairs for Time Incorporated, is our guest blogger this week. He provides a point of view on the manual processing of Periodicals mail and “automation refugees.” He asks, “What can be done to address the automation refugee issue?”

Hellmail has reported that "Postcomm, the UK postal regulator, said today that their latest research reveals the majority of people in the UK – ranging from the ordinary householder, to a small business and all the way to a large corporation – are happy with their postal services. The data was gathered during the Royal Mail postal workers’ industrial action late last year and a time of falling mail volumes as a result of the economic recession and the growth of digital media."

The Washington Post has noted that "Cutting Saturday mail deliveries would save the U.S. Postal Service $3.3 billion in its first year and about $5.1 billion annually by 2020 and would mean eliminating the equivalent of 49,000 full- and part-time jobs, officials said Monday as they prepared to file their plans with postal regulators. Emphasizing "five days of delivery, six days of service," Postmaster General John E. Potter said Saturday cuts are one of the greatest potential savings for the mail agency as it faces declining mail volumes and a $238 billion cumulative deficit by 2020." See also Business Week.

The Consumer Postal Council has posted its review on the Kenyan postal system.

CNET News has reported that "MediaPost reports that Apple's next next big thing, after iPads invade the world next weekend, will be iAd, a mobile advertising platform to be debuted April 7. Coffee dates and patent suits aside, this could be the true Apple-Google battleground. Of course, if you've been reading the tea leaves, Apple's move into mobile advertising is anything but surprising. In January, they bought mobile advertising company Quattro for a reported $275 million, after Google snatched AdMob out from under them months before. More recently, we saw glimpses of Apple's mobile advertising future in an "App Store Tip" they published that discouraged developers from creating apps that "use location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user's location." Because that's exactly what they want to do themselves, of course. MP's sources say that Steve Jobs has described iAd as "our next big thing" and "revolutionary," naturally."

PC World believes that "As a device that bridges the gap between smartphone and laptop, Apple's new tablet may be the ideal personal computer for technophobic seniors (or the tech-wary of any age, perhaps). The iPad is very light, weighing just one and a half pounds, and its (paper) notebook-like dimensions make it easy to hold and carry around the house. Better yet, the iPad doesn't look anything like a computer. There's no telltale keyboard, clamshell design, or mouse pad. The visual clues that make the technophobe's blood run cold -- I can't use a computer -- aren't there." [EdNote: It could make for an interesting platform for the postal service of the 21st century.]

According to PC Magazine, "For most people, the digital experience is dominated by three screens. Until recently, the PC was at the center of this world. However, over the past three to four years, the smartphone has become integral in the ways we interact with our digital content. Meanwhile, the other primary screen—the television—has played a minimal role in the delivery of Internet-driven digital content. More and more, however, the PC is becoming the new holy grail for such content. Services like YouTube, Hulu, and Twirl TV are becoming important ways to deliver television content on demand. TV is swiftly becoming a battleground for the PC, consumer, cable, and telecom industries." [EdNote: Who knows? Maybe the first thing you'll do when you get home from work or school is NOT to check the mailbox, but to turn on the TV to look at your "mail."]

The Wall Street Journal has told its readers that "It was perhaps inevitable that the opponents of Junichiro Koizumi's 2007 privatization of the Japanese postal savings system would some day regain power and scuttle his bold reform. Indeed, that was one of the first moves by the Democratic Party of Japan when it ended the postwar dominance of Mr. Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party in the general election last summer. LDP defectors who had opposed privatization aided the DPJ victory. Postal service privatization, intended to proceed gradually over 10 years, was halted last November by the DPJ. Last week the government of Yukio Hatoyama announced that the state will not complete privatization but instead will retain a controlling interest in Japan Post Holding Co. Moreover, it will try to expand the system by doubling the limit on the size of postal savings accounts and nearly doubling the ceiling on postal insurance policies. While cloaked in populist cant, these measures are coldly calculated."

The Financial Times has reported that "Plans to turn the Post Office into a "people's bank", with £180m of new funding for the state-owned network supporting an expansion of its financial services, will be announced by the government today, as both main parties prepare a blizzard of preelection policy initiatives. Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, will commit £180m of extra funding for 2011-12, the financial year following the election, to help the Post Office maintain its 11,500 branches. A significant proposed increase in its banking services will include a new mortgage for first-time buyers, linked to a target of doubling the value of its mortgage book in 2010-11."

The Mainichi Daily News has reported that "National policy minister Yoshito Sengoku on Sunday reiterated the need to think twice about a proposal by postal reform minister Shizuka Kamei to scale back the privatization of Japan Post."

The Azerbaijan Business Center has reported that "State-governed company Azerpoct (a company of the Ministry of Communications & Information Technologies of Azerbaijan) has announced a tender procedure for construction of postal buildings and their provision with equipment. The tender commission informs that the tender consists of 4 lots: construction of administrative building of postal offices; construction of buildings of postal offices for settlements; construction of buildings of postal offices in villages of regions; and purchase of equipment."

From SourceWire: "ONEPOST, the UK’s leading provider of independent postal advice and management, today announces it has become one of the first companies to attain the DataSeal standard. DataSeal is a new BSI-backed standard developed by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) specifically for companies that use consumer data for marketing and is the only recognised standard for information security management systems other than ISO:27001. The standard provides an accessible, achievable and cost-effective route for companies to demonstrate that they have implemented appropriate information security measures for their business."

People's Daily has reported that "Hong Kong Post announced Monday that postal remittance service to Canada will cease with effect from April 1. A spokesperson of the Hong Kong Post told Xinhua that the cessation, which is made in accordance with a request by the Canada Post, will last unless there is new arrangement by the Canadian side. Such service to other countries and regions remain unchanged."

World Radio Switzerland has reported that "The new head of Swiss Post wants to reopen discussions on the postal bank, despite the reluctance of political bodies. Peter Hasler says he’s not looking for a full banking license for PostFinance. Rather, he says, the organization wants to be able to make mortgage loans without partnerships and loans to small and medium enterprises."

MoreRFID has reported that "Postal Innovation, a new global initiative, bringing to life the first international think-tank and observatory on innovative technologies and methods in the postal market, was officially launched last week by Wise Media, at the Poste Italiane headquarters in Rome to a distinguished group of prominent players in the postal, transportation and express shipping sectors. Among others, the CIO of Poste Italiane, Ing. Agostino Ragosa attended the launch, along with the Chairman of the Telematics Cooperative of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a UN organization, Mr Giorgio Pomponi."

Hellmail has reported that:

French postal regulator ARCEP, has asked La Poste to put forward proposals to improve access to it's Mini-Max product after a study conducted by the INC and financed by ARCEP. revealed inadequate availability and information regarding it's Mini-Max product which forms part of La Poste's obligations to the universal postal service. Mini-MaX allows consumers to send small goods of low value (within 2 cm thick and 1 kg total weight).
A phone survey, initiated by Belgian postal regulator (The BIPT) revealed that the average number of addressed letters sent per month in Belgium last year was 3.34, with 9.67 received. The average number of letters sent in 2006 was 6.52, revealing almost a 50% fall. The survey was conducted between October and November last year (2009) and forms part of a report looking at trends in post and parcel useage. The survey looked at the behaviour of users of postal services (number of items, frequency in post offices and postal points), the possible use by other postal users than La Poste, satisfaction about prices, sales outlets and La Poste in general. The report noted however, that mail volume received was four times higher and close to the European average.

Petitions [/1 /2] have been filed in federal district court to hold in abeyance a ruling by the Postal Regulatory Commission regarding the licensing of USPS of its intellectual property until the court has had a chance to determine whether the PRC's action on the matter was proper.

The Economic Times has reported that "The postal department will introduce pre-paid cards that will enable cashless transactions at retail outlets across the country, as it looks to leverage the cash-handling expertise of its 1.5 lakh post offices to generate revenues. The magnetic strip-based cards could be used at merchant establishments and automated teller machines (ATMs) where cards from VISA, Mastercard and American Express are accepted."

According to the MetroWest Daily News, "If you do business locally or want to enter a new market area quickly, you don’t want to overlook the value of a saturation mailing within a radius of your business or across a specific zip code. Imagine having a salesperson who never calls in sick and consistently delivers your company’s best sales pitch to everyone within a three-mile radius of your business. Marketing nirvana if you do business locally, right? Imagine that you can hire this salesperson for about 20 cents per sales call, with a guarantee that he or she will "knock on every door you specify" with the exact same offer presented in the same way to every prospect. What is old is indeed new again, especially for small businesses trying to expand in their local market. Long before CRM became the acronym for customer relationship management it had a different meaning: carrier route marketing, which also describes what is more commonly known as saturation mailing."

March 28, 2010

The Wall Street Journal has reported that:

It was perhaps inevitable that the opponents of Junichiro Koizumi's 2007 privatization of the Japanese postal savings system would some day regain power and scuttle his bold reform. Indeed, that was one of the first moves by the Democratic Party of Japan when it ended the postwar dominance of Mr. Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party in the general election last summer. LDP defectors who had opposed privatization aided the DPJ victory. Postal service privatization, intended to proceed gradually over 10 years, was halted last November by the DPJ.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, contemplating his first six months in office Friday, told a press conference that "because we were inexperienced some problems did occur." That's an understatement: Look no further than the unfolding brawl within the government over postal reform. Japan Post doesn't merely deliver mail. It's the world's largest financial institution by assets, with $3.3 trillion on its balance sheet.

The Daily Mail has reported that "The Government will tomorrow signal whether it intends to rip up a contract that gives the Bank of Ireland the right to provide current accounts and other banking services through post offices. Business Minister Pat McFadden and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will announce the Government's response to the Post Office banking consultation launched last December."

March 27, 2010

From PR-Inside: "Datamonitor's Express Logistics in Italy industry profile is an essential resource for top-level data and analysis covering the Express Logistics industry. It includes detailed data on market size and segmentation, plus textual and graphical analysis of the key trends and competitive landscape, leading companies and demographic information."

From PRNewswire: "PowerShopper is a new direct-to-door, co-op polybag media program branded and developed by PowerDirect, a national firm specializing in data-driven, front-door marketing and media solutions. It's designed to carry retailers' pre-printed weekend circulars and will reach the top 50% of all retail shoppers. PowerShopper will debut initially in Las Vegas on July 31, 2010 and be quickly rolled out to other major markets underserved by traditional media, including those with dwindling newspaper subscriptions."

The Victoria Times Colonist has reported that "Canada Post is defending its proposal to truck letters from Victoria to Vancouver for sorting, arguing that the bulk of mail from Vancouver Island is destined for elsewhere anyway. Canada Post said yesterday that about 70 per cent of the mail from Vancouver Island is destined for off-Island locations. The company also said that the majority of letters being sent from one Island address to another will continue to be sorted in Victoria."

The Guardian has reported that "The government is now drawing up plans to amend the Postal Services Act to allow tax inspectors to intercept and open people's mail before it is delivered. Given the state's ambitions to collect all communications data this is hardly surprising, but we must ask ourselves how many more rights are seized by government and its agencies before Britain becomes the GDR's most obvious European imitator."

The Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has noted that "Post and Parcel posted an interview with the CFO of Swiss Post USA Debbie Deakin. In the interview she provides a fairly good picture of the services that Swiss Post USA offers. She notes the difference between offering services in the unregulated European market and the regulated US market and provides a picture of how Swiss Post will cope with the decline in letter volumes that the United States Postal Service could only dream of. From an American perspective, her approach to answering questions and the answers themselves illustrate a stark difference from what is often said by Postal Service executives whom are always cognizant of the political and regulatory restrictions and overseers watching every move they make."

Deadtree Edition has reported that "In what may be a troubling precedent for the U.S. Postal Service, The Washington Post is about to launch a paid subscription magazine that will bypass the USPS delivery network. Capital Business will be delivered each week to paying ($49 per year) subscribers along with their Monday copy of the Post, according to the Post’s announcement. The move suggests that the country’s newspaper industry may be ready to try a new twist on a strategy that failed in the 1990s -- competing with the Postal Service to provide home delivery of magazines."

The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that "an estimated 19,000 people who live in residential hotels in San Francisco do not receive individual mail service, under U.S. Postal Service policy. Instead, carriers deliver a clump of mail to a residential hotel's front office, often leaving the residents to fish for their personal correspondence."

Postal news from Hellmail:

The Japan Times has reported that "Shizuka Kamei, minister in charge of postal services reform, said Friday he has no intention of modifying his proposal to revamp Japan Post despite days of turmoil among members of the government over the issue, which could deal a blow to the already frayed Cabinet ahead of the July Upper House election."

The Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has reported that "Today Gallup published the results of a new poll asking Americans about what they think about the idea of reducing mail delivery by one-day a week. This survey should aid the Postal Service in convincing members of Congress that supporting its 5-day delivery proposal would not result in political suicide."

DMM Advisory: Intelligent Mail Update. PostalOne!^® and FAST^® Outages: PostalOne! Release 24.0.1 and FAST Release 14.1 will be deployed to production environment on Sunday, March 28, 2010. The PostalOne! and FAST Production systems will not be available from 4:00 a.m. through 8:00 a.m. (CST), Sunday, March 28, 2010. PostalOne! Release 24.0.1 and FAST Release 14.1 will be deployed to the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) environment on Monday, March 29, 2010. The PostalOne! and FAST Test Environment for Mailers systems will not be available from 4:00 a.m. through 8:00 a.m. (CST) Monday, March 29, 2010. A new Mail.dat^®client application is being deployed in this release to relax some of the validations deployed in PostalOne! Release 24.0 on March 14, 2010, where leading zeros were required in a number of the Mail.dat numeric fields (job Id, seg Id, cpt Id, mpa Id, cqt db Id and container Id). This change will allow these fields to be populated with/without leading zeros. It is important that mailers use/not use the leading zeros consistently across the multiple files included in a Mail.dat job submission. A new version of the Mail.dat client will be available for download by mailers on March 28, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. (CST), but will not be required and will not automatically be downloaded. Mailers who would like to take advantage of the above validation changes or be able to submit Mail.dat file that include Periodicals Flat Machinable Prices will need to download the new client. Effective on April 11, 2010, the new client will be required for all mailers.

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

2010-2011 Postal Operations Outlook
USPS’ 10-Year Plan Creates Pricing Wildcards…
New Move Update Requirements
Mail piece design....Letters, Flats
NDC Preparation Changes In the Works?
USPS to Continue Providing EMD Scans Until May 2010
New Products or Services on the Horizon?
Intelligent Mail Barcode Changes
Potential 2011 Pricing Changes
2010/2011 Operations Changes At A Glance
Industry Conference Planner – Postal Operations Focus

The Washington Post has reported that "With just six days left until 2010 Census forms are due back, the Senate approved a measure Friday that bans deceptive mailings that use the word "Census" without a disclaimer."

March 26, 2010

Who's making what at the USPS?

On March 25, 2010, through a "Dear Colleague" letter, Reps. Lynch, Chaffetz and Davis announced the reconvening of the Congressional Postal Caucus (CPC). Recently, the United States Postal Service unveiled a new business model to address unprecedented challenges largely due to the current economic environment and the rise in alternative means of communication. If nothing is done, the Postal Service expects to have an $8 billion shortfall by September 30, 2010 and suffer a net loss of $238 billion over the next 10 years. Bringing the CPC back on line is intended to inspire and stimulate new ideas on how to put the Postal Service back on sound financial footing, assess the benefits and drawbacks of the proposals in Postal Service’s new business plan, and help Federal Policymakers tackle important postal matters such as 6-day delivery. The caucus will allow for a productive exchange of information and insight among members and will make sure that Congress is well-equipped to provide successful, permanent solutions to the Postal Service’s current and future issues. Collectively, the Members of the Congressional Postal Caucus will evaluate all viable options for securing a robust and vibrant Postal Service for years come.

According to the Courier, Express, and Postal Observer, "Consumers are shifting to electronic payments even if they still receive paper bills due to either a requirement of the merchant or the convenience that electronic payment offers."

The Wall Street Journal has reported"

It turns out there really is growing inequality in America. It's the 45% premium in pay and benefits that government workers receive over the poor saps who create wealth in the private economy. And the gap is growing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), from 1998 to 2008 public employee compensation grew by 28.6%, compared with 19.3% for private workers. In the recession year of 2009, with almost no inflation and record budget deficits, more than half the states awarded pay raises to their employees.
Watch what they do, not what they say. U.S. consumer sentiment took a turn for the worse in February and has been downbeat lately, sparking fears that the recovery may lose momentum. Yet consumer spending hasn’t followed suit. The sentiment slump shouldn’t be scoffed at. There is a strong historical correlation between the University of Michigan’s sentiment index and the Conference Board’s confidence index, and consumer spending—the biggest component of the U.S. economy.
Shoots of optimism are emerging in the high-end restaurant world. Expense-account spending is trickling back and consumers are starting to shell out for luxuries again.

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

USPS 7-point plan “Envisioning America’s Future Postal Service”, service performance, and its five-day delivery proposal were the major topics covered in the USPS Board of Governors open session this week. The Board of Governors approved management’s request to move forward with its five-day delivery proposal and to file a request for an advisory opinion with the Postal Regulatory Commission on March 30.
The Postal Service published its unaudited February results with the Postal Regulatory Commission. USPS lost more than $611 million in February 2010. This is on top of a $592 million loss for January 2010, and a $297 million loss for the USPS’ Quarter 1. The net loss-to-date is $1.5 billion.
The USPS Office of Inspector General (IG) released the results of its self-initiated audit of the management of special studies this week. The IG concluded that adequate controls exist over special studies that are updated with recurring data, but improvements are needed to control non-recurring financial and operational data.
The Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has reported that "Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) plans to introduce legislation that would change some of the rules controlling multiemployer pension plans, or union-operated retirement pools to which United Parcel Service as well as companies in trucking, retail grocery and a number of other industries participate. Teamster multi-employer pensions are in trouble as competition from non-union firms and rail intermodal services as well as changing market conditions resulted in the bankruptcy and/or liquidation of most of the firms that contributed to the pensions over the past 30 years. Today, these pensions are paying benefits to more retirees from firms that are no longer in business than they pay to employees of firms that are still in business. The first two of these three provisions would relieve companies still contributing to these pension plans from the burden of paying for all of the benefits of employees of defunct firms."
Jeff Jarvis, owner and editor of the Buzz Machine (and author of "What Would Google Do?" asked his readers to "imagine an America in which everyone has an internet connection, a device to use it, and a printer. Ruth Goldway, the chairman of the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission, imagined such a world when the head of the U.K.'s Royal Mail International asked at an industry conference a year ago what Google would do with the Postal Service."
According to Todd Butler, President of Butler Mailing Services, "The question for our industry is whether we are going to have an acceptance and delivery system that is consistent across the country? Will the system provide the same level of service (which constitutes more than the vaunted 1st Class delivery score) or is local management going to determine the level of service each of us will receive. Does the Postmaster General have a rational plan for his organization and the services it provides? Or has he relinquished control of the USPS to the cost cutting deity he created and to whom local management bows in worship? Cutting costs is important; cutting core services only contributes to the death spiral the USPS has inflicted upon itself."
Rag Content asks the questions, “So if Congress can be swayed to make the wrong decision and the Commission does not have the legal authority on individual facilities, then should it be left to the Postal Service?”
Postal contract given on energy conservation. Collins’ opening remarks at appropriations hearing. USPS readies five-day filing. USPS launches five-day plan website. USPS extends NFMs. USPS to allow more booklet designs.
Updates on postal matters published in the Federal Register.
An update on DMM Advisory notices issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
An update on business before the Postal Regulatory Commission.
A review of recent reports released by the U.S. Postal Service's Office of the Inspector General.
Postal previews.
From the Mailbag.

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According to Ursa Major's John Callan, "Savvy marketers are using a well coordinated multi-channel mix of messages, all very targeted and personalized. Direct mail is one essential channel. And, if USPS can learn from Google, maybe Google cam learn from USPS! Imagine if Google were to take what it knows about our personal interests from search and gmail, match our email addresses to our street addresses and add direct mail to their multi-channel marketing mix!!"

The Times Colonist has reported that "A Canada Post proposal to truck mail from Victoria to Vancouver for sorting and then bring it back here for delivery will lead to job losses and service delays on Vancouver Island, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers warned yesterday."

"In a recent article by Hellmail Editor, Steve Lawson, the EU Commission (EUC) defended its position that EU Postal Liberalization is not detrimental to national postal services providing Universal Service (USO). Logically, the EUC truly has no reason to change their position or stated direction on postal liberalization rules, that is, not until such time they see clear supporting evidence that the rules are detrimental or are open to logical arguments that call their position or conclusion into question. If the decision is to wait until it is obvious to everyone, the question then becomes, “Does one really have to wait and see or experience detrimental results (or disaster) first, or is there sufficient empirical evidence today to warrant consideration for changing the rules before disaster is obvious to everyone, and difficult and expensive to alter? An examination of EUC quotes, market conditions and historical events are sufficient to evaluate if pending disaster is probable."

Third Sector has reported that "Charities that send out bulk mail could see a large rise in their postage costs after an announcement in the Budget that the standard rate of VAT must now be paid on many postal services. The costs will apply from 31 January 2011 and are intended to cover all mail services that are open to competition, including bulk mail."

Daily Finance has reported that "Netflix is making the transition from DVDs to streaming video and currently allows you to do both. But don't worry: DVDs are not going away anytime soon. But the pressure is on. The company says that over the next several years, it expects United States Postal Service charges for shipping DVDs to climb from $600 million a year to $700 million a year. The company plans to increasingly focus on online streaming and says it will make more titles available for download."

Interactive Investor has noted that "Germany's Bundesrat upper house of parliament agreed on Friday a change in legislation to end from July Deutsche Post's exclusive exemption from VAT tax so that other providers of mail services will also be allowed to claim this exemption. Deutsche Post was the only postal service provider in Germany that is exempt from paying VAT, which German media say gives the firm a cost advantage of up to 500 million euros over rivals. The justification for exemption has always been Deutsche Post's obligation to deliver mail to every single household in the country, be it on a tiny North Sea island reachable only by boat or in the alpine regions of Bavaria."

The Economy News has reported that "Online shopping is a channel to market that retailers cannot afford to overlook. However, online fraud and data breaches are also on the increase, and so are the penalties if this should occur, as from 6th April the Information Commission will have new powers to impose financial penalties of up to £500,000 on any company that is found to have contravened ‘the Commission’s’ data protection principles. If retailers are to capitalise on the growth opportunities that online shopping offers they need to understand the internal and external risks they face, and have robust cyber risk management processes in place. Retailers can also employ automated detection tools that can help to determine whether an incoming order presents a fraud risk. These automated systems can quickly evaluate orders and reject those that don’t match pre-established criteria. In addition, other popular fraud detection tools are customer history and postal address validation services.

Transport Intelligence has reported that:

TNT Express has expanded its international "Economy Express" freight service in Russia with a new road connection to Yekaterinburg, the largest city in the Urals with 1.3 million inhabitants. The service extension is geared towards importers and exporters requiring a day-definite delivery service for shipments weighing up to 500 kg per piece (palletised).
DHL Supply Chain has been awarded a £30 million, three-year contract with Birds Eye to handle exclusive distribution of all Birds Eye frozen foods to UK customers. The deal will see DHL handle around 550,000 pallets annually and manage activity to ensure seasonal peaks in product harvesting are supported. Under the new arrangement, DHL will transport all Birds Eye frozen foods by road and ferry from all European production points to Birds Eye's national distribution centre in Birmingham, as well as onward distribution to retail and wholesale distribution centres.

The Focus Taiwan News Channel has reported that "Taiwan's first electric postal vehicle will hit the road in April, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) said Friday. Jointly designed by the institute and the Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium, the vehicle will carry out everyday courier service for Chunghwa Post -- Taiwan's largest postal service providers -- across the country. The vehicle has passed initial tests and will be road-tested before it is officially launched, ITRI officials said, adding that the car showcases the institute's efforts to expand from electric sedans to electric commercial vehicles." See also Radio Taiwan International.

The Plainview Old Bethpage Herald has reported that "Congressman Steve Israel (D – Huntington) recently joined postal workers and leaders from the letter carriers, mail handlers and clerks to oppose ending Saturday mail delivery. Seniors, veterans and many others rely on the postal system for urgent deliveries, according to Israel. Recently, the United States Postmaster General proposed eliminating Saturday delivery to address issues with the Postal Service budget."

Postal2020 has told its readers about "something in the mail that you don’t often see: An envelope suitable for planting. No kidding, this was an envelope sent by PowerOfEnvelopes.org and saturated with seeds. All you do is place the envelope in the ground, add water and Nature will take care of the rest. We sometimes forget the envelopes provide important values in the communication process. Mail is a tactile medium that you can touch and hold. It offers the benefits of utility, economy, authenticity, and universality. Words on paper are real, and so are signatures and sentiments. Envelopes, in particular, convey privacy and security. They are socially inviolate."

PC World has reported that "United Parcel Service (UPS) will make about US$1 billion in technology investments this year to improve the efficiency of its operations, with the goal of cutting billions more from its costs over the long term. One of its main goals is to improve the speed and efficiency of its delivery operations. To achieve that, UPS is equipping its vans with sensors that allow it to collect data about things like fuel consumption, chosen routes and how much time its engines spend idling."

The Federal Times has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service said Thursday it will not renew two sole-source contracts that were steered to business associates of an agency executive, and will hold open competitions to replace the contracts. A $412,500 contract with consultant Richard Sorota will expire March 30. Another $600,000 contract, with consultant Lynne Alvarez, will expire May 17. Federal Times reported in January that Robert Bernstock, the Postal Service's president of Mailing and Shipping Services, worked with Sorota and Alvarez when he was an executive at Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. and Vlasic Foods International Inc. The contracts showed he approved their no-bid deals, and the Postal Service said he directed the contracts their way because he was familiar with their expertise and had to bring people on quickly. Sorota and Alvarez were each hired to create marketing plans to increase Postal Service revenue."

One reader of the Washington Times has written: "Your editorial in support of Fed Ex Express' contention that its package delivery drivers should continue to be classified as airline employees ("Express delivery in jeopardy," Comment & Analysis, March 10) contains numerous errors of fact and logic. In fact, these employees are truck drivers and like every other truck and package delivery driver in the United States, should be covered under the National Labor Relations Act. Right now, a loophole in the law gives FedEx a huge competitive advantage by placing the company under the Railway Labor Act, a law meant to cover pilots, mechanics and the like. FedEx uses this government "winner picking" to threaten or cajole customers into using it rather than competitors--on the grounds that strikes are almost impossible under the RLA. But the other 120,000 or so FedEx employees have been covered by the NLRA for years, and guess what? No strikes. History trumps hysteria."

The New York Times has reported that "Advertisers initially approached new media as if they were going duck hunting, tiptoeing cautiously into the waters of mobile phones and the Internet. With the iPad, it’s big-game season. Getting ready for the April 3 iPad introduction, FedEx has bought advertising space on the iPad applications from Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. Chase Sapphire, a credit card for the high-end market, has bought out The New York Times’s iPad advertising units for 60 days after the introduction. Advertisers including Unilever, Toyota Motor, Korean Air and Fidelity have booked space on Time’s iPad application. In a draft press release, The Journal said a subscription to its app would cost $17.99 a month, and the first advertisers included Capital One, Buick, Oracle, iShares and FedEx."

March 25, 2010

From OfficialWire: "The Express Courier market is valued at INR 62 bn in 2008 and is expected to grow rapidly in the future. The increase in demand for reliable and efficient express delivery services from a wide spectrum of consumer segments is expected to drive the market. Domestic and foreign participation has been continuously increasing as they compete for a sizeable share in this market with high profit opportunities. The report begins with an introduction to the market stating the various segments in the market and the benefits accrued to users. This is followed by an overview of the industry indicating market size, growth and the share contributed by each segment to the market. An analysis of the drivers explains growth factors, for each segment, such as strong economic growth to drive demand, growth in BFSI segment, development of infrastructure, inclination towards services provided by private players and online shopping. The key challenges identified include postal amendment bill, increasing petroleum prices, increasing use of Internet as a mode of communication and lack of skilled employees. The report identifies the key trends including globalization and consolidation within the industry, players entering third party logistics (3PL) and growing usage of technology."

The Times of Malta has reported that "DHL International, the global international express and logistics leader, has been granted a 10-year licence by the Malta Communications Authority to provide ‘universal postal services’ in Malta, including a basic counter service. In an announcement last month, the MCA said “the granting of this licence offers users of postal services in Malta more options in terms of quality and price”. “The licence which has been granted to DHL International authorises it to provide services which are not reserved for MaltaPost plc, but which are within the Universal Postal Service Area. Until December 31, 2012, certain postal services are ‘reserved’ to Maltapost plc and are not open to competition. The reserved area is constituted of items which weigh less than 50 grams and the price of which is less than 2.5 times the ‘local stamp’ tariff of €0.19. This reserved area will be abolished by December 31, 2012, in accordance with Directive 2008/6/EC.”

The Yomiuri Shimbun has reported that "Many in the government expressed objections Thursday to the final draft of a bill on postal business reform compiled by Shizuka Kamei, state minister for postal reforms, and his team.....The nation's financial sector also is upset with the government's plan to turn Japan Post Group into an entity that could considerably expand its business activities under the government's support."

From the Postal Bulletin:

From PRNewswire: "When it comes to customer service, the U.S. Postal Service doesn't rest on its laurels, so it recently launched a new measurement system designed to better understand customers' total experience doing business with USPS at every level of the organization. The Customer Experience Measurement (CEM) assesses end-to-end service with the Postal Service by allowing customers to provide ratings on four separate Postal Service experiences: receiving mail, sending mail, visiting the Post Office and contacting the Postal Service for assistance."

The presentation by Sam Pulcrano, USPS Vice President, Sustainability, on Five-Day Delivery at a recent Board of Governors briefing has been posted on this site.

AppleInsider has reported that "More than a third of those eyeing Apple's forthcoming iPad will read books, newspapers and magazines on the touchscreen device, a new study has found." [EdNote: And mail? What about mail?]

According to the Courier, Express, and Postal Observer, "In February, the Postal Service continued to show financial results that were significantly better than plan and slightly better than last year. Its results reflect a more robust advertising environment that resulted in the first month of growth in Standard mail volume in revenue this year and a smaller decline in periodical revenue than volume that most likely indicated that periodicals in February had more advertising pages per issue than a year earlier. While it is clear that the Postal Service's financial results are better than plan they are not sufficient to ensure its self sufficiency."

Rag Content has told its readers that "In taking the latest Office of Inspector General’s Survey, “Who should bear the primary responsibility for determining which postal facilities should be closed as the Postal Service implements its new business model?” (http://blog.uspsoig.gov/) I voted for an independent commission/body. The Postal Service will argue that it is a business decision and oversight from Congress or regulatory interference from the Postal Regulatory Commission only hinders its ability to make business-like decisions and hampers its flexibility to respond to changing market conditions. The Postal Regulatory Commission made it clear in its advisory opinion in Docket No. N2009-1, Station and Branch Optimization and Consolidation Initiative, 2009, that is does not have authority over individual postal facilities. So if Congress can be swayed to make the wrong decision and the Commission does not have the legal authority on individual facilities, then should it be left to the Postal Service? No."

The Montreal Gazette has reported that "Canada Post is replacing its aging fleet of mostly urban light delivery vehicles with Ford Transit Connects made in Turkey, not the Windsor-made Chrysler minivan. The decision was a final blow to an unsuccessful lobbying effort by the Canadian Auto Workers and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers urging the post office to adopt a "buy Canadian" policy and to select the Chrysler minivan. CAW Local 444 president Rick Laporte, who represents workers at the Windsor minivan plant, said he is outraged."

Federal News Radio has reported that "The White House is leading a new effort to secure online transactions across the federal, state and local governments and eventually in the private sector. Federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra made public for the first time some of the details of the National Strategy for Secure Online Transactions in his written testimony Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement. "The goal of this effort is to improve the trustworthiness and security of online transactions by facilitating the establishment of interoperable trust frameworks and implementation of improved authentication and authorization technology and processes for all online transaction participants across federal, civil and private sectors. GSA says the departments of Defense, State, Justice and Treasury as well as the Postal Service, the Government Printing Office, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Patent Trademark Office have agreed to the standards set up by the federal bridge."

According to Kyodo News, "Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Thursday that the government has not decided yet on the ceilings of postal savings deposits and life insurance coverage at the Japan Post group amid a feud within the Cabinet on a postal reform plan unveiled the previous day by minister concerned Shizuka Kamei." See also the Financial Times and Reuters.

Dow Jones has reported that "A senior Japanese finance ministry official said Thursday the government needs to deal carefully with postal service reforms, given worries about the impact an expanded postal role could have on the private sector." See also the Mainichi Daily News and the Wall Street Journal.

Dutch News has reported that "A number of major Anglo American shareholders in post and delivery company TNT are opposed to company plans to limit their influence, particularly on the naming and firing of supervisory and executive board members, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Thursday, quoting industry sources. TNT wants to continue its current two-tier board set up (structuurregime) - with both a managerial board and a supervisory board. Under the traditionally Dutch system, both boards are supposed to act in the interests of the company and board members effectively name each other. But a number of shareholders are set to vote against this at the April 8 AGM and the influential lobby group Riskmetrics is also recommending investors oppose the move, the paper says."

Post & Parcel has reported that "Swiss Post has entered into an agreement with Siemens Mobility to promote a higher degree of digitalisation. Swiss Post was one of the first national postal operators to look into the possibility of offering new services in addition to the existing physical delivery of letters. Postal customers are already making use of today’s new flexible service of having paper items converted into digital information and their letters delivered in digital form to an electronic mailbox or forwarded physically to a real address, if requested."

AllAfrica.com has reported that "Tunisian Posts has recently signed a series of partnership agreements with posts from African countries, as well as launching a new product offering investment and the setting up of a new virtual office. Following the signing of agreements with 14 African countries including Mauritania, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Egypt and Senegal, Tunisian Posts also signed agreements with other countries such as Cote d 'Ivoire, Congo, Mauritius, Uganda and Liberia."

The Frederick News-Post has reported that "In a move that could save $1.1 million annually, the U.S. Postal Service announced it will consolidate its mail-processing center in Frederick . The Tilco Drive processing center handles outgoing mail, and the new plan will have outgoing mail in the evening shipped to a center in Gaithersburg, said Bruce Wall, plant manager of the Frederick Processing and Distribution Facility. The Frederick Processing and Distribution Facility will continue to operate, he said. The change will affect employees working the evening shift, from 3 to 11:30 p.m."

From the Federal Register: Postal Regulatory Commission NOTICES New Postal Product , 14475–14476 [2010–6643] [TEXT] [PDF]

Your issue of The Prescott Report awaits you at www.PrescottReport.com. In this report:

Pranab Shah of USPS International: Surprising Success and an Exciting Future... and frank words for some countries.
Privacy Update: Rumanian privacy tort. Is an IP Address Personal data? Article 29 sets agenda
EU Lingo Explained by FEDMA
USPS and ETOE Policy, a response by Lea Emerson, the USPS expert.
Border Bully and Border Buddy- both in the USA
A Marketing Masterpiece from Holland - swimming in dangerous waters!
Reader's Trivia: What do the NY commuter trains tell us about the state of the economy, and other brain twisters
The Address Association is on its way!
UPU Global Address Summit in less than one month.

March 24, 2010

"With the April 15 deadline for IRA contributions quickly approaching, new data from Mintel Comperemedia, a service that provides direct marketing competitive intelligence, suggests that March will be a record month for IRA direct mail."

The Telegraph has reported that "All letters, parcels and packets are exempt from VAT, but the small print in the Budget revealed that Royal Mail will have to start levying VAT on some items from next year."

Business Week has reported that "Mail and document-management company Pitney Bowes Inc. spent $200,000 in the fourth quarter to lobby for legislation that would mainly affect the U.S. Postal Service, according to a recent disclosure form. That's 33 percent less than the $300,000 the company spent a year earlier. Pitney Bowes receives a large portion of its business from the U.S. Postal Service. It continued to lobby on the legislation aimed at funding for the Postal Service, along with funding for retiree health benefits. It also lobbied for legislation focusing on employee health issues."

The St. Cloud Times has reported that "A St. Cloud man who was a former letter carrier pleaded guilty today to embezzling more than $50,000 from the local letter carrier’s union while he was its president."

At the Postal Regulatory Commission: Posted on the Postal Regulatory Commission website are the USPS financials for February 2010.

Aol News has reported that "It seemed, then, the unlikeliest of times for the Senate to approve a major piece of legislation -- unanimously. But that's exactly what happened Monday, when 93 senators advanced a $35 billion aviation bill--a long-delayed reauthorization measure for the Federal Aviation Administration. At a time when even minor bills and noncontroversial nominations have provoked partisan battles, the lack of any opposition to the aviation bill came as a surprise to some industry insiders. Industry officials said that one reason the legislation passed so smoothly out of the Senate was because lawmakers there stripped out a few of the more disputed provisions that were included in the House bill -- suggesting that a battle over the proposal has been deferred but not avoided. At the top of the list is a labor measure that would subject shipping giant FedEx to the National Labor Relations Act and make it easier for its employees to unionize. FedEx has launched a fierce lobbying campaign against the change, claiming it amounts to a "bailout" for its top rival, UPS, which is already subject to the labor law."

Japan Today has reported that "Postal services minister Shizuka Kamei, a key figure in the ruling triumvirate, stirred more controversy Wednesday by unveiling a plan to effectively maintain the government's grip on the postal financial system and thus dilute the full privatization previous administrations put in place. But the plan drew fire from other Cabinet ministers as well as private-sector financial firms, prompting Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to suggest later in the day that Kamei's plan may be revised."

And this from a recent postal news search: [EdNote: I think the Postal Service has made its point.] Yahoo! News Search Results for postal Options

Postal Service
RULES
Nomenclature Change Relating to the Network Distribution Center Transition ,
9343–9345 [2010–4172]	[TEXT] [PDF]