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![[PostCom logo]](postcom3.gif) Association for Postal Commerce
"Representing those who use or support the use of mail for Business
Communication and Commerce"
"You will be able to enjoy only those postal rights you believe are
worth defending. 1901 N. Fort Myer Dr., Ste
401 * Arlington, VA 22209-1609 * USA * Ph.: +1 703 524 0096 *
NEW Fax: +1
703 997 2414
More What's New in the Postal
World:
December 31, 2009
Intelisent
has told its readers that "or the January 4, 2010 price change, postage
statements for mailings with a mailing date on or after January 4th must not
be submitted until January 4, 2010. (This includes PS Form 3541 Periodicals,
PS Form 3600 First-Class, PS Form 3602 Standard Mail, and PS Form 3605
Package Services.) Postage Statements submitted for mailings with a mailing
date prior to January 4 must be finalized in the PostalOne! system before
January 4. For any postage statement submission method in the PostalOne!
System (Mail.dat, Mail.XML, Postal Wizard or hard copy submission) the
following three dates must be all before January 4th or all after January
4th: 1. The submission date to the PostalOne! system. 2. The mailing date.
3. The certification date (when the postage statement is finalized.):

The following reports have been posted today on the U.S. Postal
Service Office of Inspector General website ( http://www.uspsoig.gov/).
If you have additional questions concerning the reports, please contact
Agapi Doulaveris at 703-248-2286.
-
Postal Vehicle Service Transportation Routes
– Cardiss Collins Processing and Distribution Center (Report Number
NL-AR-10-002). The Cardiss Collins
Processing and Distribution Center could more effectively manage Postal
Vehicle Service (PVS) transportation processes and schedules, thereby
reducing driver workhours as well as associated fuel use and damage
claims. Once this occurs, we estimate the Postal Service could save
about $18.3 million over 10 years. We also observed that PVS drivers
were not consistently restraining mail and equipment for transportation
as required nor adequately securing some parked mail hauling vehicles.
The
Mainichi Daily News has reported that "A government draft of new plans
to convert the Japan Post group into a three-company system and boost the
government's involvement in Japan's postal system has been unveiled."
Seeking Alpha has noted that "Postal industry dynamics and regulations
have been a tailwind for the postal industry in recent years. The company
has benefited from legislation that established a shape-based pricing system
from a pure weight-based pricing system. Those who sell various mail systems
have profited from this trend as customers converted to equipment with this
functionality and traded up to more expensive machines. Importantly, we
think this tailwind is stalling and should soon become a troublesome
headwind in future quarters. We believe this upgrade cycle is largely
complete and the market for higher end machines, which have inflated
revenues of late, is close to saturation. The nostalgic image of the U.S.
postman has quickly become old-fashioned. Mailing volumes worldwide have
been stagnant since the new millennium - substitution of electronic forms of
communication via the internet is an inevitable process in the long run.
Personal mail has steadily migrated to email, text and social-networking
sites just as news has shifted from print to desktops. The Great Recession
has simply expedited this transformation, as companies have slashed
direct-mail budgets and embraced the internet to reduce costs and maintain
margins."
From the Federal Register:
WREG has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service will hold a public
meeting in Tupelo on Jan. 13 to discuss plans to move some of Tupelo's mail
processing to Memphis."
The
Jackson Sun has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service could move its
outgoing mail processing operation from Jackson to Memphis as part of the
postal service's attempt to halt losses partially caused by lower mail
volumes and increased delivery sites."
The
News Register has reported that "The postal service recently completed
its Area Mail Processing study that shows the struggling organization can
save the $527,000 by moving its outgoing operations from Wheeling to
Pittsburgh. The service expects only six employee positions to be affected
by the proposed move."
The
Environment News Service has reported that "President Barack Obama today
ordered federal agencies to establish a national system for dispensing
medical countermeasures in the event of a large-scale biological attack,
"with anthrax as the primary threat consideration." The U.S. Postal Service
would be responsible for delivering the medical countermeasures, such as
antibiotics, to residents for self administration across all communities in
the United States, according to the President's Executive Order issued
today."
WHYY has reported that "The American Postal Workers Union has filed a
lawsuit to stop the closing of the Postal Service Distribution Center in
Swedesboro, New Jersey, citing failed logic in the decision to close the
facility. Mike Gallagher is a spokesman for the union. He says it will cost
more to move the facility than to keep it operating in South Jersey."
December 30, 2009
According to
Deadtree Edition, "The accounting geniuses at the U.S. Postal Service
calculate that the cost of delivering a publication rose 6% in the past
year, despite lighter copy weights and various efficiency moves. As a
result, the Periodicals class was even more of a money loser in Fiscal Year
2009 than in FY 2008, according to the annual compliance report the USPS
released yesterday. The class covered only 76.1% of its costs during the
year that ended Sept. 30, down from 84.0% the previous year, according to
Postal Service calculations. Those results will fuel claims that Periodicals
rates should be increased drastically so that publishers bear their fair
share of Postal Service costs."
The Monitor has reported that "the European Investment Bank (EIB) and
Poste Italiane signed a contract for 200 million to finance the company’s
multiyear development plan."
Advertising Age has noted that "Hardly a day goes by without
an announcement about the release of a new digital-reader gadget
or some publisher hanging its hopes on such a device. Just this
month, Sports Illustrated announced it is developing an
embellished digital version of its magazine designed to be
displayed on portable tablet computers. And Hearst is placing
its bets on e-reader technology as well, planning to launch its
own device optimized for showcasing ads. It's refreshing,
actually, to see heavy-hitters from an industry beset with
record-breaking circulation declines and sliding advertising
revenue taking a new, hard look at their value proposition.
There's little doubt that we all understand the dire
circumstances these businesses are facing. In just the last 24
months, more than 700 magazines have shut down in the U.S. and
Canada, according to Oxbridge Communications' MediaFinder.com,
as consumers migrate online and the costs of printing, paper and
postage continue to climb in direct reciprocal proportion to
audience and revenue losses. Advertising sales, the true life
support of the industry, have taken a nosedive as well, and
online revenues, while growing, have not been nearly enough to
stem the bleeding."
According to
Yahoo! News, "For more than 60 years, TV stations have
broadcast news, sports and entertainment for free and made their
money by showing commercials. That might not work much longer.
The business model is unraveling at ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and
the local stations that carry the networks' programming. Cable
TV and the Web have fractured the audience for free TV and
siphoned its ad dollars. The recession has squeezed advertising
further, forcing broadcasters to accelerate their push for new
revenue to pay for programming."
The Monitor has reported that "while authorities say this
form of trafficking is as old as the mail service itself, local
and federal authorities are increasingly turning their attention
to those who exploit the U.S. mail and private parcel services
as one of the widest loopholes in ongoing counternarcotic
efforts."
According to
The Globe and Mail, "If anyone should have a good handle on
the global economy, it's Scott Davis, the chairman and chief
executive officer of delivery giant UPS. The Atlanta-based
company delivered about 3.9 billion packages and documents last
year and has operations on every major continent. UPS is
spending $72-million to expand its Canadian operations but it's
also making a big push in Asia, particularly China, where the
road has been bumpier than expected."
As
DM News has noted, "The US Postal Service has reported a net
loss of $255 million for November, and a $476 million net loss
for October and November, the first two months of its 2010
fiscal year. Mail volume for November was down 4% from the
previous year, although its revenue for the month was up 0.9%."
The
Sydney Morning Herald has reported that "A mid all the talk
about a ''People's Bank'' and the possible involvement of the
country's postal network in such a proposal, Australia Post is
facing a real challenge in deciding what sort of business it
will be within the next 10 years. While it is a publicly owned
corporation and a monopoly supplier in its key operation of
delivering letters, it should be remembered that the Post is no
stranger to competition." See also
Business Day.
According to
Media Daily News, "Some of the worst defeats for newspapers
in 2009 came in online advertising."
MediaPost has reported that "Americans aren't just buying
more online because of the recession -- they're liking it
better. A new survey of shoppers at popular Web sites reveals
increases in satisfaction with every leading retailer."
From the Federal Register:
The Pictou County
News has reported that "A Nova Scotia politician has sent nearly 100
letters to Canada Post from residents upset about possible changes to their
rural mail delivery."
The
Washington Post has reported
that:
-
Uncle Sam may be hiring, but he's also trimming staff in
some corners of the government, as agencies suffer through a
budget squeeze or shift their focus. They're dangling
$25,000 buyout offers and varying amounts for early
retirement, depending on a worker's full government tenure.
The Postal Service extended such offers to 30,000 employees
-- by far the most of any government agency this year. A
little more than 21,000 have accepted the offers, which
expire Thursday.
-
Consumers are feeling a little better about the economy
but home prices are flattening out after an unexpected
rebound in the spring and summer
At
the Postal Regulatory Commission:
The Postal Service's
Annual
Compliance Report covering FY 2009 has been posted on the PRC web site.
December 29, 2009
Thaindian News has reported that "Nearly all Dutch send their new year’s
greeting by post cards, according to a poll by TNT Post released on Tuesday.
The poll held by the national postal company shows that 96 percent of the
Dutch send their New Year’s wishes by post, rather than online. Around 39
percent of the interviewed people said they send some of their New Year’s
wishes by e-mail, while 21 percent said they send some through social
networking websites such as Hyves, which is extremely popular in the
Netherlands."
The Baltic
Course has reported that "According to Estonian Post, people sent
numerous Christmas cards and other forms of greeting with the help of the
postal enterprise, despite the economic depression."
The
USPS
Preliminary Financial Information (unaudited) for November, 2009 has
been posted on the Postal Regulatory Commission web site.
December 28, 2009

The latest blog entry has
been posted 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/.
- Total Factor
Productivity (TFP). When people try to discover
whether the Postal Service is operating more efficiently or not, they
often talk about Total Factor Productivity (TFP). TFP measures the ratio
of the Postal Service’s outputs to its inputs, What do you think
about TFP as a productivity measure?
You can visit Office of Inspector General’s public website at:
www.uspsoig.gov. You can also follow us on Twitter
at:
http://twitter.com/OIGUSPS. If you have additional
questions, please contact Communication and Work Life Director Agapi
Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.
According to the
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer, "A recent editorial by the
Washington Times and a columnist in the Los Angeles Times provide
illustrations as to how ideological predilections and reporting on a
deadline produce more heat and less light about how to solve the problems
facing the Postal Service. These commentaries reflect the seasonal interest
in the Postal Service use it to ship packages and send correspondence that
they rarely send in the other 11 months of the year."
From
PR Newswire: "If the shoe fits, wear it; if it doesn't, return it with
one of the package return services available from the U.S. Postal Service.
Merchants, shippers and consumers looking for reliable, cost-effective
solutions for returning holiday gift merchandise have several options
available through Returns@Ease at usps.com."
According to
Advertising Age, "depending on which media forecast you look at, U.S.
advertising spending in 2009 declined for the second or third year in a row.
And U.S. ad spending in 2010 will either show a meager gain or fall a bit
more. But the bottom line is brutally clear: 2009 saw the sharpest
percentage decline in ad spending since the Great Depression."
According to the
Columbia Missourian, "For 35 years, prophets of the "paperless office"
have been waiting for any convincing shred of evidence that Americans are
less committed to paper. The paradox of the digital age, at least until the
economy soured, is that a Web-connected, wireless world was using far more
paper than it did before trashing its typewriters. With greater access to
information comes the convenience of the printer, the 100-copy click and the
Mapquest directions you toss in your car. Meanwhile, book sales and global
paper production keep rising."
As
The Almanac
has noted, "Faced with dwindling revenue thanks to the economic recession
and something called the Internet, the U.S. Postal Service is cutting back.
The cuts have come primarily through attrition, according to Menlo Park
Postmaster Jeff Gaskill. He said that much of the decline in revenue had
come with businesses cutting back on sending mailers."
The
Miami
Herald has reported that "thousands of other Latin American and
Caribbean immigrants living in South Florida use small and mid-sized courier
and freight companies owned by fellow immigrants to send packages, documents
and other goods to friends and families throughout the region. These
couriers, which range from single individuals working from home to companies
with 30 or more employees and offices located in other parts of the United
States, offer a wide range of services to families and businesses. In some
cases, they compete with giant express and logistics services like UPS and
FedEx, carrying packages, documents and freight. Some companies also offer
personalized services, such as purchasing spare parts in the United States
and sending them to international customers."
The Birmingham Mail has reported that "MuslimRoyal Mail workers blasted
the company for including pork in its seemingly meat-free Christmas lunch
option."
Livemint has reported that "At least a dozen logistics firms are lining
up to enter the Rs8,000 crore mail and small cargo carrier industry in
India, attracted by the premium it commands over the state-run postal system
in an economy powered by expanding domestic consumption.The Indian unit of
the $34 billion (Rs1.6 trillion) global logistics firm FedEx Corp. has
already started domestic services. The express freight sector has been
growing at around 20% annually since 2005, and employs close to one million
people, according to a report released by a five-member team of professors
and researchers at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, in May.
While the sector is fragmented, with at least 2,500 firms, a few large ones
including Blue Dart Express Ltd and First Flight Couriers Ltd control almost
80% of the market.New entrants will have to compete with Blue Dart, in which
Germany's courier and logistics firm DHL Express has an 80% stake; Gati Ltd;
DTDC Ltd, in which Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has a strategic
equity stake; First Flight; Safexpress Pvt. Ltd; Transport Corp. of India
Ltd; and state-owned India Post. Dedicated freight carriers such as Aryan
Cargo Express Pvt. Ltd and Quikjet Cargo Airlines Pvt. Ltd, in which the
Tata group has a stake, have similar plans.Other global players are also in
India: Dutch firm TNT NV acquired Secunderabad-based Associated Road
Carriers Ltd (known as Speedage) in September 2006, while Georgia, US-based
United Parcel Service Inc., or UPS, has a tie-up with AFL Pvt. Ltd."
December 27, 2009
As the
Morning Call has noted, "A UPS spokesman, Norman Black, was more
forthcoming when I put the same question to him. ''We believe that the
government plays a role in terms of ensuring that every mailbox is reached
every day,'' he said. ''That is not a responsibility that UPS would want.''
That makes sense. The big private shippers probably would be happy to
cherry-pick profitable urban routes but would want nothing to do with having
to haul mail up and down unprofitable rural roads. It seems to me that the
only privatization scheme that stands even a remote chance of working would
be to break the Postal Service network into hundreds of regions and
territories, and then have local companies compete for mail-delivery rights
in each area. The Postal Service isn't perfect. But it shows why public
options are important -- and, in some cases, necessary."
According to
The Express, "Royal Mail paid out more than £1million every month last
year to customers whose post was lost, damaged or delayed. More than 1,000
complaints a day were dealt with and compensation to customers totalled
£13million. And with prolonged strike action that crippled parts of the
postal service in summer and autumn this year’s figures could well be
worse."
Swissinfo has reported that "Switzerland’s postal authorities say they
processed around 15 million parcels to Swiss households on time before
Christmas, that’s about two for every inhabitant. Swiss Post said that
parcel volumes reached their peak in the week before Christmas when one
million parcels were going through sorting centres every day."
From the Federal Register:
The
Bowling
Green Daily News has reported that "While officials have not made a
decision, a possible consolidation of Bowling Green’s mail processing
operations could have a widespread impact. The U.S. Postal Service is
studying Bowling Green’s mail processing operations to determine whether
they should be moved to Nashville."
December 26, 2009
The
Gazette-Mail
has reported that "Residents up in arms over the suspension of operations at
a tiny Webster County post office have prompted federal authorities to
launch a national review of how the U.S. Postal Service goes about closing
many rural post offices."
The Nation has reported that "Pakistan Postal Services (PPS) Addl.
Director General (Ops) Fazli Sattar Khan has that Pakistan Post is committed
to make secure and timely delivery of mail, money and material at the
doorsteps of the customers at affordable cost. Talking to APP, he said that
Pakistan Post has a broad and varied role to play beyond provision of
communication link for individuals and businesses. “Keeping pace with the
changing communications market, Pakistan Post is emphasizing in the use of
new communication and information technologies to move beyond what is
traditionally regarded as a its core postal business” he said." See also the
Daily Times.
December 25, 2009
According to the
Wall Street Journal, "For Madison Avenue, the decade came in with a
dot-com bang, as an influx of business from free-wheeling Silicon Valley
start-ups drove advertising to new heights financially and creatively. It is
going out on one of the industry's most sobering notes since the Depression,
and 2010 looks less than welcoming."
From
PR Minds:
"Global Markets Direct, the leading business information provider, presents
an in-depth strategic and operational analysis of United States Postal
Service. The report provides a comprehensive insight into the company,
including business structure and operations, executive biographies and key
competitors. The hallmark of the report is the detailed strategic analysis
and Global Markets Direct’s views on the company."
According to
Kyodo News, "Postal life insurance benefits were not likely paid out to
policyholders in around 490,000 cases before the privatization of Japan's
postal services began in October 2007."
Practical eCommerce has told its readers that "the UPS Average Rate
Increase is going to be about 4.9%. UPS Air and International Services will
increase a net 4.9% through a combination of a 6.9% increase in the base
rates, "offset" by a 2% reduction in the fuel surcharge. Shippers of light
weight packages will see a 5.9% increase. Average increase is calculated on
base rates only. Surcharges are also going up. Address Correction Air goes
from $10.00 to $11.00, Ground increases from $8.00 to $10.00. That is a
heavy 25% increase for getting an address wrong.
"Other surcharge increases for UPS:
-
Extended Area Surcharge Export & Import increases $2.00 to $24.00, or
$0.24 per pound whichever is greater
-
Residential Surcharges increase $0.10 for Air to $2.50 and $0.15 for
Ground to $2.20.
-
Large Package Surcharge is up $5.00 (now it's $50.00.)
-
Delivery Area Surcharges: o Commercial $1.60 will now be $1.70 o
Residential $2.40 will now be $2.50 o Extended Commercial $1.60 will now
be $1.70 o Extended Residential $2.65 will now be $2.75"
December 24, 2009
The
Green Autoblog has reported that "After the call for offers by La Poste,
the French Postal Service, a 250-unit contract for electric delivery vans
has been awarded to the Citroën Berlingo First. The model, which is based on
the standard Citroën Berlingo, features batteries and a powertrain developed
by Venturi. The specs? A three-phase electric motor good for 42 kW (57hp)
using nickel and sodium chlorine batteries that provides a range of 100 km
(about 60 miles) with a maximum speed of 110 km/h. Using a standard European
220V plug, an 80 percent charge takes 5 hours. Life expectancy is about
1,000 cycles. Work-wise, the Citroën Berlingo First is able to load up to 3
cubic meters (105 cu. ft.) and 500 kg (1100 lb) of payload. These electric
vans will join the first 100 electric quads, called Quadéo, which are used
for the postal service in the 7th and 8th districts of Paris."
The latest copy of the
National Association of Postmasters of the
U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available
on this site.
H.R. 4399: "Subject to amounts made available in advance in
appropriations Acts, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the
United States Postal Service, shall establish a program, to be carried out
in 2 phases, to award funds for the manufacture, testing, and delivery of at
least 20,000 electric drive United States Postal Service Long Life Vehicles
or other road vehicles 10 for local postal delivery, to further the
deployment of electric drive vehicles and the development of grid services
using electric drive vehicles, including Vehicle-to-Grid."
Check out the latest article posted on the Postal Journal: "So
Far, No Information Model Beats Print" With print evaporating into the
ether, what will become of information communications generally, and
business communications specifically?
Save
The Date for the 2010 NPF April 11-14 in Nashville, TN
Registration for the 2010 National Postal Forum is now open!
Click here to register
online now. (Or click
here to download a printable registration form) (Click
here to download the 2010 NPF promotional catalog) Check back
periodically for updates.

At
the Postal Regulatory Commission:
Sunshine Act Meetings TIME AND DATE: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 11 a.m.
PLACE: Commission conference room, 901 New York Avenue, NW., Suite 200,
Washington, DC 20268-0001. STATUS: Parts of this meeting will be open to the
public. The rest of the meeting will be closed to the public. MATTERS TO BE
CONSIDERED: PORTIONS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 1. Review of postal-related
legislative activity. 2. Reports on international activities. 3. Review of
active cases. 4. Report on recent activities of Joint Periodical Task Force
and status of report to the Congress pursuant to section 708 of the Postal
Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) of 2006. 5. Review of an internal
assessment of Public Representative functions under the PAEA. PORTIONS
CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC: 6. Status of pending litigation (USPS v. PRC). Page 2
of 2 7. Personnel matters—consideration of Commission staff vacancies.
Arutz
Sheva has reported that "A public opinion survey conducted annually by
two university professors shows that public confidence in public servants
and services in 2009 has hit an 8-year-high. Among the high scorers were the
Postal Service and IDF soldiers, while police and politicians fared poorly."
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) has collected and analyzed fuel economy, maintenance and other
vehicle performance data from
UPS's first generation hybrid diesel step delivery vans powered by an
Eaton Corp. electric hybrid propulsion system. The diesel hybrid delivery
vans improved the on-road fuel economy by 28.9 percent resulting in a 15
percent improvement in total cost per mile while maintaining similar
reliability and operational performance as compared to conventional
vehicles.
The
Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette has noted that "it might just be the biggest little post
office in Pennsylvania. In Greene Township, Greene County, where the Garards
Fort post office is 10 feet by 18 feet of white clapboard quaintness, it
doesn't take much to form a crowd. "If you get three or four people, it gets
a little tight," said Postmaster Vivian Bauer, dressed for the season in a
vest embroidered with robins and sparrows over a red satin, button-down
shirt. The area where customers can congregate is only about 5 feet by 10
feet -- smaller when crowded by packages that don't fit in the back
room....There are even smaller post offices in West Virginia and in the
Western United States."
According to
Straits Times, you can "ask a child to write a letter these days, and he
is more likely to turn on a computer than pick up a pen. But when it comes
to writing to Santa Claus, hard copy is still preferred. Over the years, the
number of letters sent to the North Pole has steadily increased, said
SingPost, the nation's post office. In 2002, there were about 100. This
year, 250 letters have been sent. The rise is remarkable for the shift in
human communication over the last decade. Worldwide, postal offices are
facing significant dips in mail volume as e-mail becomes increasingly
common, especially among the young."
According to the
Toronto Sun, "Canada Post mail carriers inside the Charles St. station
got a lesson in health and safety yesterday -- two days after some of their
colleagues spoke out in the Sun when management stamped out their Christmas
decorations. An officer from the Toronto local of the Canadian Union of
Postal Workers was irate when she learned workers at the station showed up
to sort the last remnants of holiday mail yesterday and were told they
couldn't use fridges, microwaves, coffee makers or even turn their radios
on."
The
Ledbury Reporter has noted that "Ledbury Scouts expect to have delivered
up to 2,000 Christmas cards and raised more than £500 by today (Christmas
Eve). The group has been offering an alternative postal service, dropping
off seasonal mail all over the town, in the run up to the big day tomorrow."
Trading Markets has reported that "Bangladesh Post Office has undertaken
an automation project with an aim to render affordable and quality services
to the general people, making the whole process easier, faster and cheaper
with the boon of information technology. The Bangladeshi government's postal
department has assigned Synesis IT Limited, a leading local IT company, to
implement the project titled "Web-Based Application Software for Process
Automation of Postal Department", said a press release of the Synesis IT
Thursday."
Kuensel Online has reported that "The Thailand Post will help Bhutan
Post develop and reform itself as a postal organization, according to a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed between the two
organisations in Dochula, Thimphu on December 18. Integrating ICT in postal
operations, improving processing of international mail in transit via
Thailand, creating ICT-based postal services in rural areas, developing
philately and related products, and printing and issuing commemorative
stamps on agreed themes are some of the areas that the two postal
organisations will cooperate in."
Financiarul has reported that "Communication and IT Minister designate
Gabriel Sandu said during the hearings at the Parliament’s specialized
commissions, on Tuesday, that he is not going to give the green light to the
privatization of the Romanian Post or Radiocom, during his term in office."
Reuters
has reported that "Russian state bank VEB needs 30 billion roubles ($993
million) in the first stage of setting up a federal postal bank, RIA agency
reported on Thursday quoting a director general of Russian Post."
The
Guernsey Press has reported that "Guernsey Post has a year to address
its inefficiencies or face a further reduction of its monopoly, Healthspan
has warned. The company responded yesterday to news that the States-owned
mail service will face increased competition after the Office of Utility
Regulation reduced its ‘reserved area’ of the market. Guernsey Post will,
from April, have a monopoly only over letters and large letters costing less
than £1 to post. The current reserved area gives it a monopoly over all
types of mail costing less than £1.35. Packages and packets will now be open
to full competition."
The Gazette has reported that "Laurel residents who need to send a
package or buy stamps now have another alternative to waiting in line at the
Main Street post office. The United States Postal Service opened a contract
postal unit off Cherry Lane, and some residents said the new location has
already become the go-to place for their postal needs. Folks said he plans
to buy stamps and ship packages at the new location even though the Main
Street office is closer to his home. The up-to-30-minute lines that appear
at the downtown office throughout the day are enough of a hassle for folks
to travel a bit out of the way, he said." [EdNote: More, more....]
According to the Postal Regulatory Commission's latest calculation of the
12-month average change
in CPI-U, through November, the cumulative inflation rate that controls
the cap on market-dominant postal services was -.570%.
The Guardian has reported that "The Royal Mail and the Communication
Workers Union (CWU) are now in their second month of talks to resolve the
dispute, which caused widespread disruption of deliveries all over Britain
and led some large customers to say they would seek alternative providers.
The talks will resume next month, when both sides hope to announce a
long-term agreement over Royal Mail's modernisation programme and how it
affects workers' hours, job security and workload. However, along with pay,
it is this last issue that is at the forefront of postal workers' concerns."
According to
CNN, "Rep. Anna Eshoo wrote the Commercial Advertisement Loudness
Mitigation Act, or CALM, which mandates that TV commercials be no louder
than the programs in which they appear. Representatives unanimously passed
the bill last month and sent it to the Senate for consideration."
December 23, 2009
CNN has reported that "An armed disabled man was holding five people
hostage nearly four hours after his takeover of a Virginia post office on
Wednesday, the town's mayor said. The man entered the Wytheville, Virginia,
post office about 2:30 p.m. and fired a shot, Mayor Trent Crewe said. No one
has been hurt, but three postal workers and two customers are being held
hostage, he said. There also are reports that the man has a "device" and it
appears the man's car, parked outside the office, is equipped with some type
of device, Crewe said. He did not elaborate on what the device could be."

FamilySecurityMatters has noted that "Whenever you think general
incompetence by those who purport to serve by the consent of the governed
can’t get any worse, think again: “Ross stumps for melon stamp”
(HopeStar.com, 12/21/09) Never mind the healthcare debate; forget the
federal deficit; isolate the immigration issues; there are bigger things to
do in Washington, and Fourth District U.S. Representative Mike Ross, D-Ar.,
is in the middle of the effort. Ross is working in Washington to have a
commemorative postage stamp dedicated to the watermelon, putting Hope and
Hempstead County into the spotlight as the center of all things watermelon."
The Baltic
Course has reported that "Yesterday evening, the government ordered the
state-owned joint-stock postal company Latvijas Pasts to make a buyout offer
to the company Mono so as to buy out Mono's shares in the joint-stock
company Latvijas Pasta nodalu tikls (Latvian Post Offices' Network) for
their nominal value of LVL 24,000."
According to
Ice News, "1,500 postbags bound for Iceland are currently stuck in
Copenhagen and look unlikely to be delivered before Christmas. Icelandic
postal workers say this is the first time such a delay has occurred, as post
from the USA used to come direct to Iceland with Icelandair. The US Postal
Service now sends its mail to large swathes of Europe with SAS via mainland
Scandinavia. Icelanders are therefore not the only ones likely to go without
their Christmas cards and presents from the States."
GenevaLunch has reported that "The Swiss postal service, La Poste, will
be keeping only 30 of 114 post offices that were reviewed as part of
cost-cutting measures begun in April 2009. A nearly 50 percent decline in
mailed letters and packages plus a 17 percent drop in postal payments in
less than a decade is behind a major restructuring of services to the
public."
According to
OneNewsNow, "Although the United States Postal Service (USPS) expects to
lose $8 billion this year, some of its employees are "living high on the hog
in the midst of a recession," all at taxpayers' expense. President Obama
said Monday that American needs a government that is more efficient,
effective, and fiscally responsible. "We can't continue to spend as if
deficits don't have consequences, as if waste doesn't matter, as if the
hard-earned tax dollars of the American people can be treated like Monopoly
money," he said. "That's what we've seen time and time again." One
government agency the president may be referring to is the United States
Postal Service. An audit by the USPS inspector general recently found
$800,000 in unjustified and "imprudent" purchases over a five-month period."
ChannelOnline has reported that "More competition will be introduced
into Guernsey's Postal Sector from April. Guernsey Post will only be allowed
to have a monopoly on items costing up to a pound. The OUR expects UK
companies like City Mail to operate in the island soon. UK stamps are also
set to rise by 2 pence."
According to
Army.mil, "Since the start of HooahMail just 21 days ago, more than
3,540 accounts have been set up by families and friends of Soldiers in
Afghanistan, and some 1,690 letters delivered. The letters, many accompanied
by photos, have been delivered to those Soldiers often in less than 24
hours. HooahMail, a one-year pilot program that began Dec. 1, allows
Soldiers in Afghanistan to keep a physical reminder of their loved ones with
them to be read and re-read whether in the field or at their operating base.
The way the hybrid mail system works is family and friends establish free
accounts at www.HooahMail.us where
they create and send their letters which can include black and white photos
not to exceed 4 inches by 7 inches. Those letters are then transmitted
through the HooahMail secure server in Bagram and Kandahar, Afghanistan.
From there, the Army postal office downloads the letters to a special
machine which prints, folds and seals the letters. The final stop is
delivery to Soldiers through unit mail call."
The Financial has reported that "Twenty-eight percent (28%) of Americans
say they are using the U.S. Postal Service less this holiday season than in
past years, but adults overwhelmingly believe there will still be a need for
the Postal Service 10 years from now."
The Age has reported that "postal unions have vowed to continue
industrial action into the new year and even to target mail during the
federal election after they yesterday eased back on pre-Christmas strikes."
Business First has reported that "FedEx Express has launched a new
global advertising campaign titled “FedEx Delivers to a Changing World.” The
campaign highlights how FedEx Express provides access to new markets,
supports local communities and connects the world in sustainable ways."
December 22, 2009
The
Daily Mail has reported that "Royal Mail is to put up the price of first
and second class stamps by 2p, it was announced today. A first class stamp
will go up to 41p while second class will become 32p in April. The increases
are fractionally below the 3p rise that had been approved in principle by
the industry watchdog Postcomm." See also
ICM.
The
Business Spectator has reported that "Australia Post has appointed
former banker Ahmed Fahour as it's new managing director, according to media
reports. After a four month search, the government-owned postal service has
settled on Mr Fahour, who is National Australia Bank Ltd's former boss of
Australian operations. Mr Fahour will assume the role from Graeme John, who
has held the job for 16 years."
ABC News
has reported that "About 250 postal workers in Tasmania will strike today."
CTV has reported that "Canada Post says language regulations require
postal workers in the National Capital Region to be bilingual. However, the
agency says it recognizes the need for bilingualism in Pakenham and other
small communities are often determined by people who don't live in the area.
In the face of bitter opposition, a popular postmistress in Pakenham will be
able to keep her job while Canada Post continues to assess the need for a
bilingual postal worker."
The Tennessean published the following story: "Last week I mailed a
small Christmas package. I weighed it on my kitchen scale, put on 14 stamps,
plus one for good measure, and walked to the corner mailbox. The sign on the
mailbox informed me that anything over 13 ounces could not be put in the
mailbox — a security matter. I drove to a post office, parked in a 12-minute
space, and joined the line. Twenty minutes later, I had reached a white sign
that said “WAIT HERE.” The clerk at the counter said, “Next.” At last, I
could drop off my package. He looked at the package and said, “There are too
many stamps on this.” It was a matter of national security, I was told. It
seems that terrorists who send things through the mail tend to put a lot of
stamps on the package — one of the things the post office watches for. “You
will get this one back,” he said. “You should have used a postage meter, or
had a post office meter it. Metered mail is considered safe.”
Post and Parcel has reported that "Casual employees have been drafted in
by Australia Post to help with deliveries as postal workers strike today (22
December) and tomorrow."
According to the
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer, "The postal industry is in the
midst of efforts worldwide to reduce its workforce. The combination of
automation, more efficient operating networks and declining demand all
require reductions in production employees far greater than attrition
allows."
ABC News
has reported that "Northern Territory postal workers will go on strike
tomorrow. Postal workers in other states and territories have gone on strike
today for better pay and conditions. But Graham Lorraine from the NT and
South Australian Communications Union says today's actions will already have
ramifications for services in the Territory. "There is definitely going to
be delays," he said."
ABC News
also has reported that "striking postal workers in Queensland, New South
Wales and the ACT have called off the second day of their stoppage." See
also this from
ABC News.
The
National Association of Major Mail Users is reminding its members that on
"the January 11 key changes to the: International Incentive Letter-post
services – Premium, Standard and Per Item:
Rate changes:
http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/supportdocuments/lp_pricesheet-2010_e.pdf
Addressing requirements: the envelope or wrapping of an item may bear only one
sender’s address, and one addressee’s address. The sender’s address must be
visible on the outside of the item and be located in the country of posting of
the item. Learn more:
http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/supportdocuments/LPsupportdocuments-e.asp
Parcel Rates – 2010 price changes will apply to the Domestic, USA and
International Parcel Services and associated options. Learn more:
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/business/productsservices/shipping/ratescoming.jsf
Book Presort Rates & All Rate/Specification Highlights: Learn more – go
here:
http://www.thekmrgroup.com/eview/eview_132/2010%20Parcel%20RA%20Cust%20Letter_FINAL%20EN.pdf.
According
to the
Washington Times, "Last-minute shoppers, beware. If you are running behind
in mailing Christmas gifts to loved ones, and you absolutely, positively need
your packages to arrive on time, it's safest to avoid the post office. The U.S.
Postal Service is so slow that even a fruit cake could decompose before making
it to its intended recipient. This is government bureaucracy at its worst."
December 21, 2009
The
latest issue of Logistics
Management is available online.
According
to
Post and Parcel, "2009 will be remembered as a difficult year for the mail
and express industries as companies across the globe continued to battle the
height of recession. But towards the end of the year, many businesses were
beginning to see the green shoots of economic recovery. Furthermore, it was
interesting to monitor developments across the sector as major organisations
began to realise the full extent of the technological revolution - with the
expansion of e-commerce and Internet-based products in full swing."
In light
of the introduction last week of Congressman Jos E. Serrano's new legislation -
H.R. 4399, The American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act or "e-Drive" - MST
and Parcel wanted to ask an early proponent of this concept, PRC Chairman Ruth
Goldway, her impressions of this legislation and the whole concept of "greening"
the USPS fleet to
Mailing Systems Technology.

The latest blog entry has been 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/.
- At the Post Office. Last Monday was predicted to be the busiest
day of the year for Post Offices across the country. Have you visited a
Post Office recently? If so, we would like to hear your story. Why were
you there? What worked well? What didn't work well?
The
Azerbaijan Business Center has reported that "Azerpocht (national postal
operator) is ongoing work on construction and commissioning of new postal
offices in regions of the country in connection with implementation of the State
Programme of Socio-Economic Development of Regions of Azerbaijan. "All the new
postal buildings were designed in national style and equipped with advanced
technical facilities conforming to all modern standards, Azerpocht says."
Be
sure to check out
Postalnews.tv where field update on "scanning excellence" by USPS COO
Pat Donahoe has been posted.
Trading Markets has reported that "SkyPostal Networks, a
private postal network in Latin America, announced that it has
entered into a co-marketing agreement for its PuntoMio online
shopping facilitator under the name GlobalShop, with Garanti
Bank, which represents American Express Cardmembers in Turkey.
Under the agreement, GlobalShop provides Garanti Bank customers
with a way to shop from the U.S., by merging the convenience of
comparison shopping through a searchable online shopping portal
with a virtual U.S. address which they use to receive their
online purchases. GlobalShop will allow Garanti Bank customers
the opportunity to shop at more than 1.7 million American retail
stores, catalogs and websites from the comfort of their own
home. GlobalShop bridges the gap between the online
international shopper and U.S.-based Internet merchants from the
time of purchase through final international delivery to the
customer's home or office."
The
Prague Daily Monitor has reported that "Petr Sedlacek, CEO
of Czech post office Ceska posta, will leave his post at the end
of the year and Friday he announced his resignation to Interior
Minister Martin Pecina, Ceska posta spokeswoman Marta
Selicharova told CTK. Sedlacek said there was not enough
political agreement about where Ceska posta should be heading.
Its transformation into a joint-stock company has been stopped.
In particular the Social Democrats (CSSD) have reportedly pushed
for Sedlacek's departure. According to earlier information of
media, Sedlacek got an offer from another company."
World Radio Switzerland has reported that "The Swiss Postal
Service could become like Nestlé, according the postal service’s
chairman of the board, Claude Béglé. In a weekend interview with
the Sonntag Zeitung, Béglé said that in the future, the yellow
giant will have its headquarters in Switzerland, will develop
products here, pay taxes here - but will earn a good deal of its
money abroad. Part of that foreign growth strategy includes
developing an email system called Swiss Post Solutions. Béglé
says companies in Europe and the Middle East have already been
approached about purchasing the system and are reportedly
interested. The Postal Service hopes the development of an email
system will help offset the decline in traditional mail, which
is expected to drop by one third over the next five years."
The
Mail Tribune has reported that "The president of the
Southern Oregon postal workers union is asking the public to
denounce the Postal Service's plan to consolidate the Medford
and Central Point post offices."
Transport Intelligence has reported that "Unconfirmed
reports have appeared in the French press suggesting that
Deutsche Post-DHL has agreed to sell its French domestic DHL
Express business to the French investment company Caravelle.
According to various reports, the deal has yet to be formally
approved by the DP-DHL management board. The value of the deal
is also unclear with suggestions that Caravelle plans to pay
between $200m and $300m for DHL France. Deutsche-Post DHL has,
as yet, made no statement."
NEXT has reported that "The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST)
intercepted 62 scam letters containing cheques for $2.4 million;
£666,757 and 4, 645 euros last October, the Postmaster General
of the Federation, Ibrahim M Baba, said at the weekend. Others,
according to him, include 179 blank cheques, $4,500 suspected
fake cash, 10 drivers’ licences, three international passports
and three visa cards."
The
National Association of Major Mail Users has reported that
"Alexis Zamkow, General Manager, Direct Marketing Data Products
& Services for Canada Post, provided an update on undeliverable
mail. She stated that 5 to 7% of addressed mail (140 million
pieces annually) is undeliverable. The largest group is movers
(72%), followed by inaccurate addresses (27%). Living relatives
of deceased addressees only account for 1% of undeliverable
mail, however, are quite vocal due to the sensitivity of the
situation."
According to the
New York Times, "Shipping at Christmas is a hectic thing,
enough to give Santa migraines. So it is no surprise that many
people avoid lines at the post office for the one-stop
convenience of a U.P.S. Store, where one can send things by
United States mail as well as by parcel post. At some U.P.S.
Store franchises in Manhattan, however, clerks do not always
tell customers that they may be paying a Grinch-like surcharge
when they send something by the United States mail."
ABC News has reported that "Australia Post says it is
bringing in casual staff to deal with a planned national postal
workers' strike from midnight tonight." See also the
Courier Mail,
The Age, and the
Sydney Morning Herald.
The
Moscow Times has reported that "Russia plans to secure the
future of bankruptcy escapee Svyazbank by turning it into a
postal bank with twice as many branches as Sberbank."
According to
Hellmail, "digital solutions already form part of a range of services
provided by mail operators and a glimpse perhaps, of the impact that digital
technology and software might have on the size and structure of European
postal services in future."
December 20, 2009
According to the
Postal Employee Network, "The United States Postal Service® (Postal
Service) plans to conduct an ongoing data comparison program to identify any
current Postal Service employees who are required by law to register on a
public registry of sex offenders."
WETM has noted that "In an effort to try and save money the U.S. Postal
Service is considering to cut its Saturday delivery or raise postal prices.
A number of people were taking advantage of the Saturday shipping to get
their gifts out in Horseheads on Saturday. Officials say they might ask
congress before the end of the year to end Saturday's services for next year
to save money. Some customers are nervous about the possibility of less
postal service on the weekends."
From
the Federal Register:
The
Los Angeles Times wants to know: "There's been a lot of talk about a
public option for health insurance. But what about the public option for
mail? The U.S. Postal Service offers universal coverage -- that is, it
guarantees that mail can be sent and received by everyone, regardless of
preexisting conditions, such as living in the boonies. It also loses tons of
money. In its most recent fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the postal
service lost $3.8 billion. That's after losing a total of $7.8 billion over
the previous two years. Thanks to the sputtering economy and a steady
transition of business and personal communications to the Internet, the
postal service says it delivered 26 billion fewer pieces of mail this year,
a nearly 13% drop from the year before. It's thus fair to wonder: Can this
system be saved? Put another way, is it time we privatized the postal
service?"
December 19, 2009
The CBC has
reported that "Moya Greene, chief executive of Canada Post Corp. knows
Canada Post needs to change quickly to avoid slinking into irrelevance.
Starting next year, it will tap the capital markets in a major way for the
first time, aiming to raise more than $1-billion to fund upgrades to its
aging plants and equipment. The move is part of a wider transformation
taking place at the Crown corporation that will see it unleashed from
certain regulatory restrictions and push further into new revenue streams to
offset its main — and declining — letter business. In Canada, Christmas mail
volumes are down by more than 15% over 2007 levels. The business lost over
the past 12 months will rip $500-million from Canada Post’s revenue line and
cause it to miss its 2009 profit forecast of $117-million before taxes."
Stuff.co.nz has reported that "The gift forecast this
Christmas is down distinctly on last year, and there's a good
chance we'll have to pay the price for it with higher mail
prices. "People are getting 5-10% fewer presents this year,"
said NZ Post's acting chief executive Sam Knowles, commenting on
the falling mail volumes that are plaguing the giant state-owned
enterprise. "People are being more prudent with their money, and
that is coming through in the attitude towards spending." While
some of the plunge in mail is the fault of the stuttering
economy, the trend of people sending fewer letters is a fact of
life for NZ Post and leads to speculation
New Zealand will follow the Australian example of cutting
Saturday deliveries and increasing mail prices."
Here's an interesting piece: "Reader's
Digest, Revised And Condensed"
The
Washington Post has reported that "although last-minute mailers are
still adding to all those waiting baskets, wicker sleighs and refrigerator
doors, there are signs that plenty of people are giving hard-copy greetings
a complete pass this time around. "We see a 10 to 15 percent decline in the
overall volume of mailed paper greeting cards this year," said Neil Hendry
of Datamonitor, a New York-based retail analysis firm. "There are two
principal reasons: technology and the economy."
lfpress
has reported that "Postal workers in London are giving a new and much more
positive meaning to the expression "going postal." About 135 postal workers
filled a mail truck yesterday with enough food to make a Christmas feast and
enough toys to bring smiles to children staying at Rotholme Women's and
Family Shelter on Stanley St. That act of charity by postal workers is
hardly unique -- they've been a regular at Rotholme for 30 years, as
reliable as Santa Claus, with grins to match.
The
New
York Times has reported that "The space is instantly familiar, and
instantly depressing. With its fluorescent lights, linoleum counters and
stale air, it could pass for a Department of Motor Vehicles office or a
passport agency. But it’s the Kensington Post Office in Brooklyn, which has
been reviled by many as the worst in New York City. At another kind of
operation, people might spend months preparing for the big moment, then
stand at the door eagerly awaiting customers. But at the Kensington Post
Office last week, it might as well have been August: no extra services, not
even a well-meaning supervisor striding around in a dopey Santa hat. The
customers returned the embrace with equal warmth. “It’s a disaster,” said
Sara Kugler, who lives in the neighborhood. “The people who work here are
awful to people."
The
Mail Tribune has reported that "Postal customers and city officials had
more questions than answers this week after learning the Postal Service is
considering "efficiencies" for its Medford and Central Point operations,
including possible consolidation. By year's end, post office officials hope
to identify ways of making the two locations more cost-effective, a process
that could include anything from selling and relocation, reducing square
footage at either site or selling the buildings and leasing space from the
new owners."
According to the
Dayton Daily News, "There are long lines at the post office and packages
sometimes arrive late or are left in odd places. Despite these common
complaints, the Cincinnati U.S. Postal Service district — which includes
Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo and portions of northern Kentucky and Indiana —
boasts a high on-time rate, a postal official said. That’s no comfort to
Joanna Showell of Bellbrook. In recent months, a half-dozen cards and gifts
sent to family members in New York or Florida, including money she sent her
father because he won’t cash checks, have arrived late or not at all. The
public relations consultant says she won’t trust the service to deliver this
Christmas season, the postal service’s busiest time."
From
the CNN
"Investigations Unit": The U.S. Postal Service spent more than $792,000
"without justification" on meals and events in one five-month period even as
it reported losing $3.8 billion this year, the agency's inspector general
says in a report. Employees spent $792,022 on meals and external events
"without justification for food purchases, purchased alcohol without officer
approval and exceeded the dollar limit for meals," the report says.
[EdNote: This is old news....I guess it takes this long for CNN to get with
it.]
December 18, 2009
David M. Walker served
as the seventh Comptroller General of the United States and was the CEO of
the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 1998 to 2008. He is
currently the president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Walker
is a frequent speaker, writer, commentator, and congressional witness.His
new book COMEBACK AMERICA (Random House; On Sale: January 12, 2010) includes
a range of insightful and informative ideas all taking into account the
Obama Administration's current efforts to-date. It addresses a range of
policy, operational and political reforms needed to ensure that America's
future will be better than its past.
The latest issue of the
PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:
-
Here are some suggestions offered by one of PostCom's postal veterans
regarding IMb readiness. (A reprise of a piece that only partially made it
into the Bulletin last week.)
-
Earlier this month, the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) and the
Direct Marketing Association, Inc. (DMA) offer comments in response to the
Postal Regulatory Commission Order No. 292 within Docket No. RM2009-11,
Proposed Rulemaking on Periodic Reporting of Service Performance
Measurements and Customer Satisfaction. Other comments included the Parcel
Shippers Association, Mail Order Association of America, Bank of America,
Direct Marketing Association, and the Postal Service.
-
This week, FedEx Corp. reported earnings of $1.10 per diluted share for the
second quarter ended November 30, compared to $1.58 per diluted share a year
ago. FedEx said that the decline in revenue and earnings was a result of
lower yields due to a substantial decrease in fuel surcharges year over
year.
-
The Courier, Express, and Postal Observer said, “The United States Postal
Service is unique among publicly-owned postal operators in that no executive
department has the "shareholder" responsibility for the enterprise. By
default, this responsibility has fallen on Congress. Since the passage of
the PRA, Congress has tended to downplay its shareholder role which has
resulted in Congressional actions that undermine the competitiveness of the
Postal Service and the value of the enterprise.”
-
The Courier, Express, and Postal Observer points out that “when DHL exited
from its United States domestic business, most commentators suggested that
shippers would face only the duopoly of UPS and FedEx. The Postal Service
was considered a marginal player that could not meet the service quality
needs of business to business customers. More importantly, it rarely was
price competitive on shipments over 5 pounds.”
-
Rag Content said that the Postal Service has begun to lay out what it wants
in the year ahead by speaking to stakeholders at various meetings including
MTAC, hill visits, association meetings, and to the press. It has been clear
in its request for two legislative actions to "right this sinking ship."
-
USPS Governor Kessler reappointed. USPS shortens closure list to under 170.
Global postal industry sets 20% carbon reduction target by 2020. USPS
submits billing determinants for Q4 of FY09 to PRC. USPS busiest day of the
year. USPS processes billionth IM piece. USPS goes green with electric T3.
FedEx hub begins receiving incentive funds. USPS slow to place injured
workers in productive jobs, GAO says. Time for USPS fleet to go green,
lawmakers says. A guide to magazines that have ceased publication.
-
Updates on dockets at the Postal Regulatory Commission.
-
Updates on postal matters published in the Federal Register.
-
An update on DMM Advisory notices issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
-
A review of postal news from around the world.
-
PostCom welcomes its newest member.
-
Postal previews
Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal
newsletter anywhere...bar none?
Send us by email your
name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance
to see what you've been missing.

The PostCom Bulletin is distributed via
NetGram

According to
Advertising Age, "are marketing and media giants ignoring the fact that
their primary communications channels are based on environmentally "toxic"
pixels? And are some of these companies engaging in "tree washing" or "gray
washing" as well as "green washing?" These intriguing issues were at the
center of this week's Sustainable Media Climate Symposium in Manhattan. Don
Carli, director of the Institute for Sustainable Communication, enlightened
many by quantifying how the carbon footprint of electric-powered digital
media is nearly as large and environmentally onerous as that of the
notorious paper-making industry."[EdNote: Notorious??]
The
New York Times has reported that "FedEx said on Thursday that its
second-quarter profit fell 30 percent on a 10 percent decline in revenue and
issued a disappointing forecast for the current period, setting off a 6
percent decline in its share price."
According to one
Baltimore Sun blogger, "Britain's bank payment overseers have voted to
phase out paper checks by 2018."
YLE.fi has reported that "the volume of parcels has dropped slightly,
volumes have decreased by about 13 percent compared to last year,” explained
Kirsi Paakari, Itella Operations Manager.While domestic postal activity has
declined slightly, officials report an increase in the number of packages
imported from abroad. The increasing popularity of online shopping,
particularly during the Christmas season, has seen an increase in imported
consumer goods. Itella’s Paakari said."
From PRWeb:
"DMTI Spatial Inc. (DMTI), Canada’s leading provider of Location
Intelligence solutions, has announced the newest release of Location Hub®.
Available as an online hosted service, Location Hub can now be accessed on a
subscription basis, requiring no downloads, installations, hardware or
storage requirements. This industry-leading software is an address
management solution with analytic and visualization tools that enables
companies to utilize address content, already existing in their databases,
to rapidly transform their business."
The Union has reported that "Despite the possibility that local mail
could shift from being processed in the Marysville area to Sacramento, local
postmasters said Thursday service would not slow in western Nevada County.
Employees in the U.S. Mail Processing Center in Olivehurst fear losing some
of their approximately 140 jobs there. They also have said the switch to
Sacramento would slow mail service in the 959 ZIP codes of northeastern
California."
According to
AllAfrica.com, "The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications seems not be
resting until Liberia's postal system becomes very effective and puts on par
with other postal systems across the globe, which calls for tackling the
constant theft of mail."
Ceske Noviny has reported that "Petr Sedlacek, CEO of Czech post office
Ceska posta, will leave his post at the end of the year and today he
announced his resignation to Interior Minister Martin Pecina"
As
the
Frederick News Post noted, "ZIP code use extends beyond things postal.
Private, government and public entities use the digital groupings to
numerous ends, ranging from targeting populations in demographic research
and establishing insurance rates to estimating housing values, remitting
state tax revenue back to localities and gearing advertising messages. It's
easy to see why this widespread reliance on ZIP codes can create problems
for those of us whose mailing addresses don't match our cities of
residence."
According to
Federal News Radio, "USPS cutting losses, targets Saturday
delivery....The Postal Service says they'll have to ask Congress to end
Saturday mail delivery next year in order to save money.
You can download
the recording.
From Federal News
Radio: "The Postal Service is operating with a tremendous deficit.
They're deep in the red, and sinking deeper. Managers are looking for ways
to trim costs, including a reassessment of "modified work assignments."
Postal workers who are injured on the job are given these modified
assignments, which cost the Postal Service more than a billion dollars just
last year. Phil Herr is the Director of the Physical Infrastructure Team at
GAO, which reviewed the Postal Service's "National Reassessment Process."
Download the
recording of this session.
Deadtree Edition has reported that "Several industries and occupations
related to printed materials will be among those with the worst job losses
through 2018, a new government report predicts. As if we didn’t already know
that. The Postal Service, printing, and newspaper publishing will be in the
top 10 for employment declines between 2008 and 2018, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics report says. The 30 occupations with the largest projected
decreases during that period include “postal service mail sorters,
processors, and processing machine operators” (-30%); “paper goods machine
setters, operators, and tenders” (-21%); “postal service clerks” (-18%); and
“mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service” (-11%)."
Transport Intelligence has reported that "DHL Global Forwarding has
stated that it is to secure additional capacity from commercial carriers to
avoid capacity constraints between North Asia and Europe throughout the
first quarter of 2010. In November and December 2009, the company said that
the global airfreight industry faced a strong increase in demand for
transportation space, which contributed to backlogs of goods shipped from
China to Europe. This resulted in steep increases in freight rates."
Reuters
has reported that "Russia plans to secure the future of bankruptcy escapee
Svyazbank by turning it into a postal bank with twice as many branches as
current largest lender Sberbank."
From the Federal Register:
USA Today has reported that "he U.S. Postal Service says there was an
11% decline in cancellations of first-class cards and letters from Dec. 1-13
— when most Americans mail holiday cards — compared to 2008. Hallmark
spokeswoman Deidre Mize says about 1.8 billion Christmas cards will be sent
this year, down from 1.9 billion to 2 billion in recent years. The use of
Hallmark e-cards sent via e-mail is dropping, she says."
Exclusive EV World
Premium podcast interview with Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman
Ruth Goldway.
Press Release: "BCC Software, a BÖWE
BELL + HOWELL company and a leading developer of high-performance mailing
technology solutions, has launched a new website,
Inside Intelligent Mail,
specifically dedicated to the next-generation Intelligent Mail® program
launched by the United States Postal Service®. The new website – accessible
to all mailers, regardless of whether they are working with BCC – is
designed to guide postal professionals in adopting and maximizing use of the
IM™ barcode and the services it makes available. Inside Intelligent Mail
(www.bccsoftware.com/IMB) takes mailers step by step through the process of
getting started with the IM barcode. Additional resources include an FAQ
section, a Glossary of postal terms, and links to BCC’s recorded Intelligent
Mail-specific web events."
December 17, 2009

Dow Jones
has reported that "-Deutsche Post AG doesn't expect to lose its right to
exempt large customers from paying value-added tax, or VAT, for postal
services, Deutsche Post spokesman Dirk Klasen told Dow Jones Newswires
Thursday. This comes after Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet Wednesday
agreed to abolishing the value-added tax exemption that Deutsche Post AG
offers large companies. The cabinet's aim is to bring taxation for postal
services in line with European Union regulations following a European Court
of Justice ruling in September stating German postal exemption regulations
didn't ensure a level playing field in the European postal market."
FedEx Corp. today
reported earnings of $1.10 per diluted share for the second quarter ended
November 30, compared to $1.58 per diluted share a year ago. “Positive
momentum in the global economy and continued execution of our business
strategy drove volume growth across all FedEx transportation segments,
highlighted by increased international shipments,” said Frederick W. Smith,
FedEx Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer. “We have taken
decisive actions during the economic downturn to reduce expenses while
expanding our networks in growth markets. We are providing outstanding
service levels during our busiest shipping season thanks to the dedication
of our more than 275,000 team members.”
Media Daily News has reported that "In case the outlook was not already
gloomy enough, a new industry forecast from Kubas Associates, based on a
survey of 500 newspaper executives this November, contains grim tidings for
the newspaper business in the coming year. Among the discouraging findings:
publishers seem to agree that advertising revenues will continue to decline
in 2010, although less rapidly (which passes for "improvement" nowadays),
with a 0.2% overall decline."
The
Wall Street Journal has reported that "The economy appears to have begun
recovering after the worst recession in half a century. But businesses
ranging from shoemakers to financial services to luxury hotels don't expect
American consumers to return to their spendthrift ways anytime soon. They
see consumers emerging from the punishing downturn with a new mind-set:
careful, practical, more socially conscious and embarrassed by flashy shows
of wealth. Much as the 1930s shaped the spending habits of an entire
generation, many companies now anticipate a shift in consumer behavior that
persists even after jobs and growth get back closer to normal."
The
Frederick Gazette has reported that "About 150,000 pieces of mail
delivered through Frederick mailboxes may no longer don a Frederick
postmark, under proposed changes announced by the U.S. Postal Service."
As
the
Financial Times has noted, "most Indian consumers accumulate their gold
savings in the form of jewellery, or to a lesser extent, gold bullion. But
efforts are under way to encourage people, particularly lower income
earners, to keep their gold savings in electronic accounts at the local post
office."
The
Gainesville Sun has reported that "A former mail carrier was sentenced
Wednesday to three years of federal probation for stockpiling at least
125,000 pieces of mail over several years. She also was ordered to receive a
mental health evaluation."
Trading Markets has reported that "Pitney Bowes Inc. plans to slash as
many as 10 percent of the Stamford-based company's work force in the next
two years."
The
latest issue of Postal Technology International is now available on the
publication's web site.
According to the
Appeal-Democrat, "Judging by the reaction of the 100 or so people who
crowded into a third-floor meeting room in downtown Marysville Wednesday
evening, the idea of closing a U.S. Postal Service sorting facility in
Olivehurst should be stamped "return to sender." Local public officials and
sorting facility employees grumbled through much of the presentation on a
closure study by postal service officials, before asking pointed questions
and making even more pointed comments."
The
Washington Post has reported that "Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) wants
to put the postal fleet to use during off-hours to help alleviate the
nation's overworked power grids. He introduced a bill Wednesday that would
give eventually give $2 billion to the Energy Department and Postal Service
to convert current mail trucks or manufacture new ones that use
vehicle-to-grid technology or V2G, as it's known."
ABC Online has reported that "Postal workers in Queensland are back at
work after Fair Work Australia ordered them not to take strike action
planned for this week and Monday.
The
union representing Australia Post workers in Queensland is threatening
more stoppages next week if a dispute cannot be settled."
Press Release: "ADS, the technology company behind Docutrail – a three
year-old service that saves companies time and money managing Certified Mail
– has now announced the availability of simple Application Programming
Interfaces (API’s) that enable mail shops to invoke a unique and complete
set of Certified Mail management services with minimal development. The
SimpleCertifiedMail.com platform is now available. Developers can visit
http://simplecertifiedmail.com/support/developers.shtml to get access to
all the development tools and support."
December 16, 2009
CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:
Despite decreasing turnover in the first half of the year
(April- September) Royal Mail was able to increase its
operating profit.
Last week two large-scale investors took a stake in TNT. The
two American hedgefonds AIMCo and Jana Partners which are
considered as agressive investors together acquired 5.39% of
TNT’s shares. Allegedly the shares worth 580m dollars were
bought since December 3. According to analysts the
hedgefonds will target a break-up of TNT. Temporarily TNT
shares rose by 6%.
Fast paced ending: Michel Kunz, CEO of Swiss Post, got
replaced after only eight and a half months.
’The Germans pay to much postage’ and the development of
competition is ’miserable’.
TNT asked the Government of the Netherlands not to dilute
the measures for securing working conditions which were
enacted in spring.
Australias consumer watchdog refused the post’s price hike
intended for 2010. Last week the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that the data provided
by Australia Post did not contain enough information about
the methods used to forecast the development of costs and
demand. The ACCC gave credit for the fact, that ’the
relationship between demand and costs is a critical issue’.
German TV magazine »WISO« (14.12) tested parcel services
with an staggering outcome for GLS. Five of ten parcels were
damaged upon reception. A result Royal Mail’s subsidiary can
not understand.
Last Friday the Universal Postal Union and the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) signed an
agreement concerning the use of the domain ending ’.post’
Pay negotiations at Austrian Post have been brought to a
successful ending. After several weeks of negotiations both
sides agreed upon an increase of 1.65% (at least 25 euros).
An increased demand during Christmas trade has caused a
volume growth for UPS Hong Kong.
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.)
 |
PostCom welcomes its newest
member:
GameFly, Inc.
5340 Alla Road, Suite 110 Los Angeles, CA 90066-7049 represented
by David Hodess, CEO |
WTAE has noted that "More people than ever are shopping online for
Christmas gifts. The convenience of having packages delivered right to your
front door is an attractive option for busy consumers. Some shoppers may be
comfortable letting home delivery services leave the package on the front
porch. But Channel 4 Action News anchor Sally Wiggin reported that thieves
are also looking to take advantage of just such a practice."
Not yet depressed about the future of print media? Then take a gander at the
Advertising
Age feature on periodicals that have ceased publication.
The
Federal Times has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service needs to
convince its managers to support a three-year-old program that provides
alternative jobs for postal employees injured at work, according to a new
report from the Government Accountability Office. GAO said the National
Reassessment Program (NRP), launched in 2006, has helped to reduce the
number of "make-work" jobs at the Postal Service. Injured employees are
often assigned to menial tasks, like answering phones or greeting customers
at post offices, that don't match their skills or boost the agency's overall
productivity. NRP tries to match injured employees with more productive
jobs. But the GAO report said senior managers across the country have been
slow to adopt the program."
According to
The Guardian, "one of the most interesting statements in Monday's
Panorama programme on Royal Mail deliveries came from Michael Fehilly, the
manager of Gatwick Mail Centre. The reporter, Vivian White, was talking
about "the competition … But it's an odd form of competition … TNT and the
others bring their trucks to Gatwick, and the Royal Mail does the final
sorting and delivering of its rivals' mail." Michael Fehilly said: "We don't
have a choice. We are in a regulated business. We have to offer that
service."
Tunisia Online News
has reported that "The African Development Bank in Tunis has recently
approved the financing of two studies related respectively to the Maghrebi
broad band internet network and the new legal framework in the postal
sector, as well as a study on the ICT sector in the Maghreb."
The Wall
Street Journal has reported that "German Chancellor Angela Merkel's
Cabinet agreed Wednesday to abolish the value-added tax exemption that
Deutsche Post AG offered large companies for postal delivery, the finance
ministry said. A ministry statement said that as of July 1, 2010 companies
will need to pay the tax, and that the exemption will only remain for
private customers whose business is a "fundamental service."
ABC
Online has reported that "Postal workers around the country walked off
the job today. The union representing postal workers says a dispute over pay
and conditions has escalated and strike action is likely to continue over
the next week." See also the
Sydney Morning Herald.
Media Daily News has reported that "A regional survey of 8,500 senior
advertising, marketing and media executives by Round2 Communications found
that 72% predict they will increase their spending on digital media in the
coming year. Along with the good news for digital media, the survey
delivered some bad news for traditional: 86% of the respondents say they
expect their spending on traditional media to remain even or decline in
2010."
The
postal blog
Intelisent has posted a piece on "USPS “Spin” on Full Service
Intelligent Mail." Among the items noted: "Speaking from personal
experience, and relaying the experiences I have been hearing from many, many
mailers and mail owners - speedy postage statements in PostalOne! is BEST
CASE SCENARIO. Mailers are reporting HOURS of processing time, multiple
glitches, errors, etc, all jeopardizing getting mail out in a timely manner.
Patches and workarounds and future fixes are the norm. First off - go to the
USPS RIBBS page, Intelligent Mail, Latest News, and in the links box look
for a document entitled “PostalOne! Critical Issues List”. There are
currently 22 pages of critical issues, many with fixes unavialble until late
next year, many with no fix dates determined at all. And this is the Public
list. There is also an internal USPS list."
The
Star-Ledger has reported that "employees at three New Jersey mail
processing plants are worried they might not have their jobs soon after the
season is through. The U.S. Postal Service is still studying whether to
consolidate processing operations at the facilities — which union workers
say could mean the closure of plants in Whippany and Newark and the loss of
a shift in Edison."
The
Berkshire Eagle has
reported that "The United States Postal Service, traditionally one of the
nation’s most reliable institutions, won’t be getting any holiday cheer from
Richard S. Backer anytime soon. The Pittsfield man failed to receive mail
for two delivery days in a row. But, he said, he’s most frustrated by the
seeming lack of concern demonstrated by postal officials, none of whom
sounded particularly penitent when he talked with them on the phone. "The
post office was unresponsive. Actually, they didn’t really care," said the
Beverly Street resident, who said he never got a clear, succinct answer
about what led to the problem. According to Backer, some residents of
Beverly, Wellesley and Andover streets in Southeast Pittsfield failed to get
their mail on Saturday and Monday. And, he added, the poor service comes at
the worst possible time -- as the holiday gift-giving season enters the home
stretch and credit card bills start rolling in."
The
Herald Sun has reported that "Australia Post has applied to the federal
court for an injunction to stop "illegal" picketing at key distribution
centres." See also
ABC Online.
The Age has reported that "The postal workers’ union has agreed to stop
the delay of mail trucks and harassment of workers attempting to cross
picket lines at Victorian postal centres. About a quarter of staff did not
show up for work today as part of the ongoing industrial dispute which began
yesterday evening. In the Federal Court this afternoon, lawyers for
Australia Post sought an urgent injunction to discontinue the alleged abuse
and obstruction of trucks by 6pm to ensure the movement of mail."
Penki News has reported that "The European Commission has endorsed,
under EU state aid rules, a Polish scheme intended to compensate the Polish
Post for net losses incurred in discharging its public service obligations
between 2006 and 2011."
The Baltic
Course has reported that "In a closed meeting on December 16, the
government of Latvia supported breaking the contract, signed by Latvia Post
(Latvijas pasts) with the company Mono and ruled that further on Latvia Post
will be itself in charge of developing its branch office."
Erictric has reported that "United Parcel Service, commonly known as
UPS, announced today that they will be releasing an official [and long
overdue] application for BlackBerry smartphones tomorrow. The application
will be available in the BlackBerry App World for free."
FedEx
Office (formerly FedEx Kinko’s), a subsidiary of FedEx Corp.,
has launched Out of Office a blog designed to provide unexpected
ideas for creative projects at home and on the job. Just
in time for the busy holiday season, customers can turn to Out
of Office for a fresh perspective on how to use FedEx Office
products and services to plan parties, create quick and easy
stocking stuffers or homemade gifts, and more. Even past
the holidays and throughout the year, Out of Office will serve
as a destination for readers who like to see where their
imaginations can take them when they’re allowed to be “out of
office.” The Out of Office blog is located at http://outofoffice.fedex.com.
President Barack Obama has appointed Postal Service Board of
Governors member
Alan C. Kessler of Philadelphia to a second term that will
expire Dec. 8, 2015. Kessler, who was first appointed by
President Clinton in 2000, served as chairman of the Board of
Governors from January 2008 to January 2009. He currently serves
as co-chair of the board’s Governance and Strategic Planning
Committee and served as vice chairman of the board from 2005
until his election as chairman in January 2008.
Media Daily News has
reported that "Despite the rapid decline of the newspaper
industry, consumers still turn to Sunday circulars as their
primary source of coupons, according to a new Borrell study.
Coupon use in general has gone up 36% in the past 12 months --
aided in large part by the recession and changing attitudes
toward spending . Sunday circulars still account for 70% of all
coupons clipped, according to the study."
From the
Federal Register:
At the PRC: Latest USPS list of Stations and Branches being examined for
discontinuance
And then there's this from the
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer: "The United States Postal Service
has announced that the list of post offices being closed is down to 168. The
process of whittling the number of possible closures from 3,600 to 168 raise
real questions about what the Postal Service was doing when it made the
original announcement of closures. Why did the Postal Service even started
the process with such a long list of possible closing Post Offices? Why did
it not do the due diligence and confidential local market research prior to
announcing possible closings rather than once the closings were placed on
the Postal Regulatory Commission that would have have whittled the original
list down to a smaller number that could be easily justified? How much did
the entire process cost the Postal Service in the time of lawyers and other
employees involved in the process? How much did the entire process cost the
Postal Service in lost credibility before the Postal Regulatory Commission
and on Capital Hill? Would the Postal Service have had a different result in
post office closings if it had a plan in place for each possible closing for
replacing the location with a contract or franchised outlet?"
The
DigTriad News has reported that "The FedEx hub at Piedmont Triad
International Airport has received about $2,000,000 since opening in June.
Jim McCluskey, a company spokesman, says most of the incentives involved
waived sales taxes on material used in the hub's construction. The company
could get more than $115,000,000 in incentives if it reaches certain
employment benchmarks. Currently, they employ about 200 workers. FedEx
originally planned to hire 600 to 700 people for sorting operations, but
scaled back because of the economy."
December 15, 2009
Welcome
to PostCom Radio A Postcom Postal Podcast
Join PostCom President Gene Del Polito, PostCom Vice President
Jessica Lowrance, and U.S. Postal Service President of Mailing and
Shipping Services Robert Bernstock
in a discussion of the Postal Service's plans to
develop its mail and package delivery services. |
Swissinfo has reported that "The director-general of the Swiss postal
group has been sacked with immediate effect by the governing board. The
board announced Michel Kunz’s departure in a statement issued on Monday
night, following a “difference of opinion on fundamental questions”.
Parcel2Go has reported that "With the volume of letters and parcels
increasingly significantly over the festive period, it is more likely that
postmen will deliver cards saying 'Sorry, you were out', a
Royal Mail worker has claimed."
ABC News has reported that "The union representing postal workers
says it will hold work stoppages for two days from tomorrow.The CEPU says
its members at Australia Post will not check postage on letters and parcels,
meaning people could mail them for free."
From
PR Newswire: "Fewer than 170 offices remain under review for possible
consolidation under the U.S. Postal Service station and branch consolidation
initiative. Today's announcement updates a review process begun earlier this
summer that initially examined about 3,300 stations and branches in urban and
suburban areas across the country, focusing on facilities in relatively close
proximity to one another. The initiative looks to determine where consolidations
might be feasible without compromising customer access to postal services."
December 14, 2009

The
latest blog entry has been 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/.
- The Changing Change of Address System. Did you know
that one in seven people in the United States change their address each
year? Naturally, this creates a tremendous challenge for the
Postal Service. What do you think about the Postal Service’s
change-of-address process? How can it be improved?
You can visit Office of Inspector General’s public website at:
www.uspsoig.gov. You can also
follow us on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/OIGUSPS.
If you have additional questions, please contact Communication and Work
Life Director Agapi Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.
CNN Money has reported that "T3 Motion, Inc. has been
working with the U.S. Postal Service (U.S.P.S.) on initiatives
to "green" their massive neighborhood delivery fleet. As part of
their effort to find more sustainable, environmentally friendly
vehicle technologies, the Postal Service has been identifying
new alternatives that are less dependent on petroleum-based
fuels to replace 195,000 neighborhood delivery vehicles of its
total 220,000 vehicles which represents the world's largest
civilian fleet. The engineering and design collaboration between
the U.S. Postal Service and T3 Motion, Inc. led to the
development of a T3 Series Electric Stand-up Vehicle (ESV)
specialized cargo rack system, on-board parcel storage, and a
custom solar-powered alarmed trailer. The T3s have been deployed
for mail delivery in Irvine, CA, San Diego, CA, Sun City, AZ,
and two cities in south Florida."
KCBS radio did an interview with Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman
Ruth Goldway.
The
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has noted that "The
United States Postal Service is unique among publicly-owned
postal operators in that no executive department has the
"shareholder." responsibility for the enterprise. By default,
this responsibility has fallen on Congress. Since the passage of
the PRA, Congress has tended to downplay its shareholder role
which has resulted in Congressional actions that undermine the
competitiveness of the Postal Service and the value of the
enterprise. The problem with Congress reflects the inherent
conflict between its interest in the Postal Service as
shareholder and its institutional interest in reelection. As
such, the Postal Service has frequently become a tool to help
balance the Federal Budget, with these actions constantly
weakening the financial position of the Postal Service. (See.
USPS-OIG white paper, Federal Budget Treatment of the Postal
Service) Other actions reflect institutional interests in
serving constituent groups that could be affected by postal
business strategies, many times to the detriment of the
enterprise. The Postal Service has not helped its shareholder
see these conflicts as its business strategy has been opaque to
even many seasoned observers. Its current strategy focusing on
reducing costs by reducing retail locations and delivery days
raise this question again."
From
PR Newswire: "Monday, December 14th, will be the busiest
mailing day of the year according to the US Postal Service and
FedEx. For shoppers, this means that free shipping deadlines are
rapidly approaching. According to FreeShipping.info's analysis
of the Top 500 online retailers, nearly two-thirds say their
free standard shipping deadlines to ensure Christmas delivery
will be on or before December 18. The average order size to
qualify for free shipping is $52."
"Steve Lawson, editor for
Hellmail Postal News, said today that it was 'disappointing'
that a recent survey by Consumer Focus revealed that over half
of the UK's postal users had received a ‘Sorry You Were Out’
card even though someone was at home to receive the item. "This
is disappointing although I have to say, a rather unscientific
survey, but I am concerned that the Royal Mail's efficiency
savings seem to be impacting on the most time-consuming areas of
its operations including the cancelling of stamps. "We must
ensure that the Postal Services Act and any future legislation
actually meets the needs of consumers and that any monitoring of
Royal Mail's performance is targetted correctly. I am not a
great advocate of measures to protect consumers that rely wholly
on targets as these can breed a culture of subterfuge and
manipulation of figures. Royal Mail staff are under enormous
pressure to meet efficiency savings and it is I imagine, rather
tempting for some to circumvent the rules just to meet such
targets. That can have a counter-productive effect on the
Quality of Service for everyone."
WCVB
has reported that "As post offices around the country brace for
the busiest day of the year, services in the Hub may soon be
slashed. There are seven Post Offices in the Boston area that
could soon be stamped out. The reason: for many people it's been
awhile since they've even been inside a post office."
As noted by
Experian QAS, "Postcodes will be introduced across Ireland
over the coming years, it has been announced. Minister for
communications Eamonn Ryan is due to issue tenders for the
design and implementation of the new system shortly. A report
commissioned by the government revealed that postal codes will
lead to financial savings and improve delivery times,
particularly in secluded rural areas. The new system is also
likely to be of benefit to the emergency services."
WTOP has reported
that "At a time when the White House is projecting the largest
deficit in the nation's history, Uncle Sam is trying to recover
billions of dollars in unpaid taxes from its own employees.
Federal workers owe more than $3 billion in income taxes they
failed to pay in 2008. According to Internal Revenue Service
documents, 276,300 federal employees and retirees owe
$3,042,200,000. The agency with the most tax scofflaws is the
U.S. Postal Service, with 28,913 employees who owe $297,933,756.
But that is still a dramatic improvement from 2007 when more
than 54,000 employees owed more than $407 million."
ABC News
has reported that "The union representing the Territory's postal
workers says it is very possible local mail services will be
disrupted as part of industrial action at Australia Post. The
Postal Workers' Union says Australia Post staff have been
waiting three years to get a better wage deal. The union's South
Australia-Northern Territory branch secretary, Graham Lorrain,
has flown to Darwin to meet with postal staff tonight."
According to the
Patriot-News, "There's at least one tradition that even the
worst economic conditions in the last two decades can't break --
the signed, sealed, delivered holiday card. Today -- the second
Monday before Christmas -- is the high-water mark for holiday
mail, according to the U.S. Postal Service. While mail volume
has been dropping for about six years because of increased use
of online bill paying and e-mail, the Postal Service is
anticipating about 17 billion pieces of mail between
Thanksgiving and Christmas -- down 2 billion pieces from last
year."
The
Richmond Times-Dispatch has reported that "As the U.S.
Postal Service heads into its peak mail period -- and the
busiest day of the year today -- some area nonprofit groups say
they're concerned about what they say are increasing disruptions
in the delivery of their mail. They say payments, requests for
donations and newsletters have gone missing or have been
delivered weeks after items were dropped at local post offices.
And they are frustrated that their questions about the delays
have gone unanswered."
The
Elmira Star-Gazette has reported that "The U.S. Postal
Service has been unresponsive and less than truthful regarding
its plans to close the Sullivan Street postal processing center
in Elmira, according to U.S. Rep. Eric Massa. Massa, D-Corning,
met with postal union leaders and workers Sunday evening at the
Catholic War Veterans post in Elmira Heights to discuss the plan
to consolidate Elmira's processing operation with Rochester, a
move that will affect 35 employees."
December 13, 2009
ABC News
has reported that "postal workers around Australia say they will deliver
unstamped mail from today until Christmas Eve. About 32,000 workers will take
part in the industrial action against Australia Post in the hope of getting a
new wage deal. New South Wales union secretary Jim Metcher says workers have
waited three years for a deal. "Postal workers have waited long enough for a new
wage deal and they want one now," he said."
Direct Communications Group has
updated its list of publicly traded firms in the courier, express or postal
service industry. The list of firms includes firms that provide: Physical
Delivery Services, Printing and Document Preparation, Mailroom, Sortation, and
Mail Preparation Equipment, Software, Consulting/Outsourcing, E-Commerce. The
list can be found on the new
Direct Communications Group
website.
The
Daily News has reported that "Submarines, ships, planes, cross-country
buses, trains and even the postal system are being used by drug traffickers to
get their products to local and international markets."
The
Charlotte Observer has reported that "The private companies
are not the only ones feeling the crush. The U.S. Postal Service
also expects Monday to be its busiest day, with about 830
million pieces of mail."
The
Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette has reported that "FedEx shipping network
expects to haul 50 million packages this week."
The
Waterbury
Republican-American has reported that "For those who have
received a bill a day late or found the birthday card they sent
to a loved one didn't arrive in time, the president of the local
American Postal Workers Union might be able to shed some light
on the tardiness. Ray Arcovio, president of the Waterbury area
postal workers' union, says managers at the post office have
been hiding mail in closets and unused rooms at mail facilities
in Waterbury and Wallingford because they've had trouble
processing and delivering a high volume of mail."
VOV-News has noted that "The third Post & Logistics
Conference of the Union Network International – Asia/Pacific
Regional Organisation (UNI-Apro) opened in Hanoi on December 12,
drawing the participation of representatives from Asia-Pacific
countries and the world."
ISRIA has
reported that "During a meeting with Mr Hadj Gley, Minister of
Communication Technologies, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
took cognizance of the various indicators relative to the growth
of telecommunications and internet networks as well as that of
electronic postal services and their generalisation throughout
the country."
According to one writer for the
Burlington Free Press, "I’ve been reusing all types of
envelopes, small and big ones, padded and thin ones, white,
manila and color ones. I’ve also reused the prepaid and business
envelopes from marketing ads or from the bank, as I’ve done all
my banking online for the past five years. I’ve even created my
own envelopes gluing papers together. I’ve mailed stuff
nationally and internationally, including a book I sold through
Amazon.com. And I never had a single problem, so far. If many
other people are doing this, is it complicating the logistics of
the U.S. Postal Service? Has the post office come up with a new
mailing etiquette that endorses reused envelope?"
The
BBC has
reported that "The government is planning to give anyone free
access to postcode data. The move will be made as part of its
commitment to make more use of technology and the web to
transform official services. Currently organisations that want
access to datasets that tie postcodes to physical locations
cannot do so without incurring a charge."
The
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has noted that "New
competition in the United States does not just come from these
regional carriers. Purolator USA, a Canada Post subsidiary, is
slowly expanding its domestic United States business as a
complement to its cross-border business. By expanding its
domestic United States business, it can serve more of the North
America needs of its customers, making it easier for it to get a
larger share of the business of customers with significant
cross-border parcel and express traffic."
December 12, 2009
KOMO News
has told its viewers: "The U.S. Postal Service is promoting flat
rate shipping for the holidays. According to the commercials,
you can send anything that fits in boxes, anywhere in the
country, for a low flat rate. Maximum weight is 70 pounds
domestic. Sounds like a great deal- but is it really?"
Deadtree Edition has reported that "Is the Flats Sequencing System going
to revolutionize the Postal Service’s handling of catalogs and magazines or
is it destined for failure? Good question. The evidence is mixed, partly
because USPS has been forthcoming about some aspects of FSS but secretive
about others. Mailers report little trouble with the few FSS machines that
are operating so far. And some are impressed by postal officials' efforts,
after some initial hiccups, to work with industry on creating an efficient,
“lowest combined cost” approach to the handling of catalogs, magazine, and
other flat mail. But postal officials were also caught off guard by the
rapid decline in flat mail...."
From the Federal Register:
The
Mercury
News has reported that "UPS, the mammoth delivery company, tackles it
with hundreds of cargo jets, thousands of big rigs, tens of thousands of
those familiar brown delivery vans — and Justin Hurst's bike. A UPS delivery
bike. Really."
The latest issue of the
PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:
-
The Postal Service published its unaudited October results with the Postal
Regulatory Commission. USPS lost over $221 million dollars in October 2009,
which is the first month in its Fiscal Year 2010 and the height of fall
mailing season.
-
The Postal Service published its unaudited September results with the Postal
Regulatory Commission. USPS made $2.5 billion dollars in September 2009.
-
The Government Accountability Office released its report on the Information
Technology - - U.S. Postal Service Needs to Strengthen Acquisition and
Management Capabilities to Improve Its Intelligent Mail Full Service Program
to Congressional requesters. It is recommending that the Postmaster General
take several actions to improve the management of the program, including
developing a comprehensive cost estimate and sound acquisition and
development policies. In written comments on a draft of this report, USPS
agreed with three of GAO’s recommendations, disagreed with three, and did
not comment on one. GAO continues to believe that adoption of key
acquisition practices is essential.
-
The U. S. Postal Service has posted its fourth quarter service performance
reports for all market-dominant products, which covers the period from July
1, 2009, to September 30, 2009. The Quarter 4 scores are a mixed bag, with
performance for some market-dominant products showing improvement while
others experience significant service declines.
-
In an article published by the Postal Journal, long-time postal observer
Gene Del Polito wrote: "Designing a new postal architecture is not child's
play. As in designing any new building, every architectural element must be
analyzed thoroughly to ensure it will withstand the structural stresses that
otherwise might bring the new edifice down. The business of designing a new
national postal architecture is better left to those who are charged with
overseeing the nation's postal system. In the case of the United States,
that happens to be Congress and whomever else Congress designates. Users of
a postal system should no more be interested in fashioning a new postal
architecture, than they are for doing the same for electrical, gas, and
water services.
-
Here are some suggestions offered by one of PostCom's postal veterans
regarding IMb readiness.
-
An article by Hellmail chief editor Steve Lawson on the growing interest in
paper-free mail systems by European postal operators and how these platforms
address security and filtering as well as how they differ from Hybrid mail
systems, the functionality of these technologies, a few factors you may not
have considered, and if and when we can expect the paper-free postal
revolution to become a larger part of our everyday lives.
-
According to Butler Mailing Services President Todd Butler, "the problem
with comparing direct mail costs (including disc based mail) to on-line
marketing is that a common lexicon for equivalent consumer actions and costs
associated with those actions has not been established. Until now."
-
PRC approves USPS shipping price change. USPS releases PostalOne processing
times. USPS posts quarterly stat report. Fred Smith shares views on job
growth. No more WANTED posters in PO. Senator Collins questions moves by
USPS. FedEx ups outlook on global strength. Five mags and newspaper
publishers introduce digital newsstand. PRC’s OIG releases semi-annual
report. Ad spending to stabilize in 2010, online to lead the way. Burris at
it again.
-
Updates on dockets at the Postal Regulatory Commission.
-
An update on DMM Advisory notices issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
-
Updates on postal matters published in the Federal Register.
-
A review of postal news from around the world.
-
PostCom welcomes its newest member.
-
Postal previews
Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal
newsletter anywhere...bar none?
Send us by email your
name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance
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The PostCom Bulletin is distributed via
NetGram
December 11, 2009
The
latest copy of the
National Association
of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is
available on the NAPUS web site.
The
Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN) today signed the contract that grants the UPU
managing authority over the top-level domain name, .post (dot.post). The UPU
is the first United Nations agency to obtain a piece of real-estate space on
the Internet for the global industry it represents. ICANN President Rod
Beckstrom and UPU Director General Edouard Dayan signed the contract at the
United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland. Dayan said the .post project
is an important initiative for developing and providing secure and trusted
postal services over the Internet.

DMM
Advisory:
Move
Update.
Just a reminder....The Move
Update assessment charge of $0.07 per piece is
effective January 4, 2010, and applies to a percentage of
pieces in First-Class Mail and Standard Mail mailings failing
Performance-Based Verifications at acceptance. A
noncompliance charge of $0.07 per piece may apply to all pieces in a
Standard Mail mailing that does not comply with the Move Update
standard.
As
Rag Content has noted, "The
Postal Service has begun to lay out what it wants in the year ahead by
speaking to stakeholders at various meetings including MTAC, hill visits,
association meetings, and to the press. It has been clear in its request for
two legislative actions to "right this sinking ship." First, it needs its
retiree health benefits payments restructured to match its current economic
reality, and not the revenue/volume highs of 2006 when the law was put into
place. Second, it has asked to cut delivery and operations from six-days to
five-days a week. It appears that Saturday has become the targeted day of
the week to slash delivery. What is unclear is the Postal Service's plan to
scale back its postal operations. The potential impact of changing
operations is something the Postal Service seems to be doing without much
thought to its customer base these days. As it hides behind the line -
matching resources to revenue, it continues to downsize its operations from
closing post offices to reducing the remittance mail processing on Sundays
in some locations to its AMP consolidation effort. The post office closing
is the only docket open before the Postal Regulatory Commission at the
moment, yet every change the Postal Service is making operationally
affecting its ability to provide uniform service throughout the country."
The
latest issue of the Universal Postal Union's
Direct Mail Advisory Board
update has been posted on this site.
According to
NY1, "a situation has been eating away at the residents of Brevoort East
in Greenwich Village, as locals claim that rodents have been chewing on
their packages at the local post office. NY1 contacted the United States
Postal Service and asked what was being done to address the rodent problem
at Cooper Station Post Office."
The
St. Peterburg Times has reported that "Valpak deals in big numbers. The
direct mail company's highly automated $220 million plant in St. Petersburg
churns out 20 billion coupons a year wrapped in 520 million distinctive blue
envelopes. They land in mail boxes of 45 million households in the United
States and Canada. Valpak was shaken last year by news that parent Cox
Enterprises put it on a list of properties for sale. Then came layoffs of 79
employees, about 6 percent of its work force, amid sluggish sales forecasts.
Now, Cox says the future looks promising and plans for a sale are history.
Valpak's top executives, president Jim Sampey and his boss, Greg Bicket of
Cox Target Media, recently talked with the Times about how the business
works and its good performance in a tough year for direct mailers."
DMA
Offers Extensive Environmental Facts & Tools: Setting the Record Straight.
Capital FM has reported that "The Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) has
said it will partner with the Information Ministry to roll out the digital
villages through which the government intends to increase ICT penetration
across the country. Postmaster General Retired Major General Mohammed
Hussein Ali disclosed to Capital Business that some of the digital villages
would be located in various post offices through which the public -
particularly those in the rural areas – can easily access government
documents and information."
On
Hellmail today:
December 10, 2009
 |
PostCom welcomes its newest
member:
Worldcolor Logistics
1130 Thorndale Avenue Bensenville, IL 60106-1144 represented by
Debbie Cooper |
Press Release: "One hundred and nine commercial mailers can’t be
wrong. That’s the number of mostly high-volume mailers who helped the U.S.
Postal Service deliver one billion pieces of mail using Full Service
Intelligent Mail. The milestone mailing entered the distribution network on
Dec. 4, and the actual number was confirmed earlier this week. Since the May
implementation of Intelligent Mail Full Service, 109 commercial mailers have
submitted more than 11,000 electronic postage statements. “Intelligent Mail
Full Service provides commercial mailers with visibility into the status of
their mail so that they can provide better service to their customers,” said
Tom Day, senior vice president, Intelligent Mail and Address Quality. Day
credited the success of the Intelligent Mail program to the relationships
the Postal Service has with its customers. He cited decisions to simplify a
number of business mail acceptance processes as examples of the Postal
Service responding to the needs of its customers."
Washington Technology has reported that "AT&T Government Solutions has
won a four-year, $120 million contract extension to provide additional
network services to U.S. Postal Service facilities nationwide. Under terms
of the extension of the Postal Advanced Telecommunications Network contract,
AT&T will provide managed network services including IP address management,
design and engineering, onsite installations, router service, firewall and
interactive voice response."

Attend the 2010 National Postal Forum STRAIGHT
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• And Much More! Connect, Learn and Deliver with the best the industry has
to offer! April 11-14, 2010 • Nashville, Tennessee Learn more or register
today at: www.npf.org/reg1
The
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has reported that "in his most
recent statement, Here We Go Again, on the current debate on postal policy,
APWU President Burrus makes a fairly bold statement. The future of the
Postal Service is tied to the revenue generated from letter mail. (All
quotes in this post are in italics.) His statement is both true and
troubling. It leads to two simple questions. If the future of the Postal
Service is tied to letter mail, are there initiatives that can grow letter
mail enough to replace revenue lost to the transition to the digital
documents in order to maintain a workforce of 600,000, current levels of
service quality, and the current operating and retail network; pay the costs
associated with an accurate calculation of the Postal Service's retiree
obligations, debt incurred for current operating losses and workers
compensation payments; and generate sufficient cash to invest in improving
service and efficiency to meet the needs of mailers in 2020 and beyond? If
not, what changes are necessary to ensure that mail remains a critical
economic driver as we work our way out of the great recession as well as
2020 and beyond?"
Call
for Papers – the Center for Research in Regulated Industries is
now accepting abstracts for next year’s conferences. Advanced Workshop on
Regulation and Competition's Eastern and Postal & Delivery Economics
Conference:
18th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics, June 2-5, 2010
Haikko Manor, Porvoo, Finland Abstracts Due: December 15, 2009
http://crri.rutgers.edu/call/Postal_Call10.pdf
29th Annual Eastern Conference, Skytop, Pennsylvania, U.S., May
19-21, 2010 Abstracts Due: January 6, 2010
http://crri.rutgers.edu/call/WSCP10.pdf
The
President of the American Postal Workers Union has complained that
"influential voices within the postal community have once again begun the
drumbeat for postal “reform,” suggesting that the USPS business model is
fatally flawed. We have heard this song many times before – throughout the
1990s and during the early part of this decade. Then, as now, those
clamoring for legislative change drew upon selected facts to bolster their
case. Cost efficiencies, new revenue opportunities, structural change and
expedited rate-changing procedures were promised in the past, and they are
being dangled before our eyes once again as justification for Postal Reform,
Round 3. Despite the miserable failure of the Postal Accountability and
Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), and the revisions to the law governing the
Postal Service in 2003, they are at it again!"
The
News-Herald has reported that "The holiday season and Christmas cards
seem to go hand in hand — at least, they used to. In recent years, holiday
mail volume has been on the decline, said Victor Dubina, U.S. Postal Service
corporate communications coordinator. "We're anticipating 16.6 billion
pieces this year ... across the nation. Last year, we handled 19 billion,
the year before, 20 billion," Dubina said. "We've seen electronic diversion
for quite a few years, and this year with the economy like it is, it will
affect it as well." Dubina said single-piece stamped mail, like greeting
cards and bills, seem to be the product line most affected by electronic
diversion such as online bill pay and online greeting cards. "We're actually
now processing at levels I've not seen since 1964," he said. "Yes, the
holiday seasons are still big times for us, but the past couple of years
it's still gone down. We have seen a steady decline locally as well as
nationally."
DutchNews.nl has reported that "TNT Post has called on the government
not to soften employment regulations agreed when the postal market was
liberalised, as requested by its competitors Sandd and DHL Global Mail."
AMEInfo has reported that
"The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), the UAE's largest higher
educational institution, has signed a memorandum of understanding with
Emirates Post aimed at exploring opportunities for UAE nationals to develop
skills and careers in the postal service sector. According to the agreement,
HCT will qualify students through the work readiness program for employment
in postal services while Emirates Post will be supervising and monitoring
the student training progress throughout the different sectors of the
organisation."
Radio Iowa has reported that "Wednesday’s blizzard blocked mail carriers
from delivering letters and packages to thousands of Iowa households and
businesses. Postal Service spokesman Richard Watkins says plows were unable
to reach side streets in many cities and highway and interstate closures
delayed mail delivery to the primary sorting centers in Sioux City, Des
Moines and Cedar Rapids."
Today
at Hellmail:
From the Federal Register:
The Guardian has reported that "Royal Mail Group has grown its profits
by £7m in the first half of the financial year despite another fall in the
amount of post being sent in the UK. The chief executive, Adam Crozier,
claimed that the process of modernising Royal Mail was paying off, after it
reported an operating profit of £184m for the six months to the end of
September. That is 4% more than last year's £177m." See also
The Independent and
The Times.
Sky News has reported that "Redundancy payments and the cost of funding
a huge pension deficit have sent Royal Mail £434m into the red for the first
half of the year. The postal group paid more than £300m into its pension
fund over the six months and warned it remained a "daunting challenge" to
fund. Its pension deficit is being revalued and is expected to reach £10bn
compared with £3.4bn at the last valuation three years ago. Royal Mail also
blamed its £434m negative cashflow on investment costs, but pointed out that
profits from operations rose 4% to £184m in the period. It said profits were
underpinned by progress in its modernisation plan, which is now around
two-thirds of the way through." See also
Hellmail.
Mintel has reported that "the recession hasn’t pulled the
plug on marketing direct mail for Medicare. On the
contrary, Mintel Comperemedia, a service that provides
direct marketing competitive intelligence, predicts
insurance companies will actually increase Medicare direct
mail during this year’s Annual Election Period (November
15-December 31, 2009). Observing a 13% rise in
Medicare acquisition mailings for October 2009 versus
October 2008, Mintel Comperemedia forecasts this year’s fourth
quarter mail will top Q4 2008 by 20%. In full, the firm expects
insurers to send approximately 350 million direct mail pieces to
non-customers from October to December 2009. Typically,
insurance companies send the most Medicare mailings of the
year from October to December, when they’re allowed to
market Medicare Part D plan information to consumers."
Reuters has reported that:
-
Fresh from jolting stock markets with a rosy earnings
forecast, FedEx, along with its transport nemesis UPS, are
seen stalking Europe for a lucrative target to take on
Deutsche Post’s DHL. Specifically, they are being talked
about – again – as potential bidders for the express unit of
Dutch mail and logistics company TNT. TNT moved a step
closer to being broken up as activist funds took a 5 percent
stake. New York-based Jana Partners and Canadian asset
manager Alberta Investment Management Corp (AimCo) jointly
hold the stake. The duo’s move is seen adding to investor
pressure to split TNT’s lucrative express division from its
troubled mail unit.
-
A possible break-up of TNT moved a step closer on
Tuesday as activist funds, back on the hunt for
opportunities, took a 5 percent stake in the Dutch mail and
logistics group.
December 9, 2009
The Wall
Street Journal has reported that "Dutch postal and express group TNT NV
unit Post Wednesday said it has taken note of the announcement by Sandd and
DHL Global Mail that they will be requesting summary proceedings to
challenge the "Temporary decree on postal contract of employment".
[EdNote: Deadtree Edition
has risen from the dead.]
Bernama has reported that "The Coordinating Body for Pos Malaysia Postal
Unions on Wednesday submitted a memorandum, calling for a review of postal
tariffs, to Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad
Hanadzlah. Ahmad Husni received the memorandum on behalf of Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also Finance Minister, and Chairman of
Khazanah Nasional Bhd. Khazanah Nasional is the largest shareholder in Pos
Malaysia Bhd."
The
Wall Street Journal has reported that "Simon & Schuster is delaying by
four months the electronic-book editions of about 35 leading titles coming
out early next year, taking a dramatic stand against the cut-rate $9.99
pricing of e-book best sellers. A second publisher, Lagardere SCA's Hachette
Book Group, said it has similar plans in the works."
The
Financial Times has reported that "Like all incumbent postal operators,
TNT was already suffering from declining mail volumes due to the rise of
digital communications, writes Michael Steen in Amsterdam. But this year the
Dutch group had to struggle with what it called "the perfect storm" of full
competition in its home market and a collapse in volumes for express
services due to the financial crisis. A perennial subject for takeover
speculation - most recently in July 2008 when its bigger US rival FedEx held
preliminary takeover talks - the group must now face the further challenge
of activist shareholders who may favour splitting the mail business from the
express operations. Peter Bakker, the group's chief executive, told analysts
last Friday that a break-up would not unlock any value, suggesting that
potential bidders for parts of the company should instead just call him."
CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:
TNT announced its new strategy ’Vision 2015’ last week. An increased
growth in parcel and express services is the centrepiece of this
five-year plan. In the mail business TNT will focus on the Benelux
region.
Swiss Post will be transformed into a public limited company under
federal supervision.
Financial products are expected to help Royal Mail’s network to operate
economically in the future.
An attempt by Swiss Post’s CEO Michel Kunz created furor. In an
interview with »Basler Zeitung« (05.12) he came up with the idea of an
annual ’letter box fee’ of 65 Swiss Francs for every addressee. This
idea wasn’t a request by Swiss Post, but an idea of several posts’ CEOs
in Europe, Kunz said. He justified this plan with decreasing mail
volumes and compared the charge to radio and TV fees.
India Post’s deficit further increased this year.
An Post will cut almost 14% of its jobs over the next three years. Due
to a 10% volume loss the Irish post is forced to implement rigorous cost
saving measures. 1,375 jobs will be axed.
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.)
Marketing Week has reported that "The government service has been
reviewing its direct marketing and branding business since February and
opted to retain DraftFCB to handle the £15m account earlier this week. As
part of the four-year contract, DraftFCB will now have to “develop and
exploit the Post Office’s consumer database to optimise customer value… as
the Post Office attempts to migrate the business from product focus to
becoming customer centric.”
BDNews24 has
reported that "The government (of Bangladesh) will launch money transfer
services through mobile phones at all post offices from June next year.
Officials told the parliamentary standing committee on post and
telecommunications ministry on Wednesday that the postal department was set
to run the e-banking services on an experimental basis through post offices
in Comilla from January 2010. Once launched, people will be able to send
money on mobile phones from all post offices."
From the Federal Register:
Questions...questions....we get lots of questions. Check out our
Question of the Month: "Should I get into
IMb now?"
Maine
Business has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service has cut hours at
more than five dozen Maine branches in recent months, and U.S. Sen. Susan
Collins, R-Maine, thinks that's a sure way to make the Postal Service's dire
financial situation even worse. Collins, the ranking Republican on the
Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which
oversees the quasi-public Postal Service, said the Postal Service should be
doing more to attract customers, rather than making it more difficult for
people to mail packages and letters because of reduced hours. Collins said
she would consider stretching out that payment schedule to ease the burden,
but she said the Postal Service must do more to control labor costs, rather
than targeting branches for reductions in operating hours. "It
frustrates me that the Postal Service's response to its financial crisis is
to cut services – and that risks alienating customers that the Postal
Service desperately needs," Collins said."
At
the Postal Regulatory Commission:
"Mailing
Services (Market Dominant Products) Preliminary Revenue, Pieces, And Weight
By Classes Of Mail And Special Services For Quarter 4 Fiscal Year 2009"
The
New York Times has reported that "Five major magazine and newspaper
publishers on Tuesday announced plans to build an industry-standard platform
to present their work on the Web, phones and e-readers in a richer, more
flexible and more lucrative form than is possible today. The consortium of
Time Inc., Conde Nast, the Hearst Corporation, Meredith and the News
Corporation does not lack for ambition, hoping to design software primarily
for devices that do not yet exist – cellphones more advanced than anything
now on the market and e-readers far more sophisticated than today’s mostly
static, black-and-white devices. The unnamed venture, whose outlines were
reported last month, was originally envisioned as being mostly about
magazines, but John Squires, who will serve as interim general manager, said
the ultimate product will work for newspapers, books and other media, as
well."
According to
DC
Velocity, "The U.S. Postal Service, facing what it termed the most
"urgent financial challenge" in its 217-year history, has launched what is
expected to be a sweeping and intensive re-evaluation of its current
business model. Noting that "bold changes" to its operations are needed,
USPS said even those options "that have been dismissed in the past" must be
put on the table for discussion."
Clash
has reported that "Famed Chicago producer Steve Albini has gone to war with
the US Postal Services after their plans threatened to scupper his recent
charity drive.
The
Financial Mirror has reported that "After a year of grueling
negotiations and bargaining rates, Cyprus Post has started offering
MoneyGram money transfers in all its 50 locations, entering the remittance
business valued at EUR 280 mln a year."
The
Financial Times has reported that:
-
Hedge fund activism made a high-profile return to Europe on Tuesday
when it emerged that Jana Partners and co-investor Alberta Investment
Management Corporation had taken a 5 per cent stake in the Dutch postal
services giant TNT. The move is being seen as a prelude to the sale of
the group.
-
Like all incumbent postal operators, TNT was already suffering from
declining mail volumes due to the rise of digital communications. But
this year the Dutch group had to struggle with what it called “the
perfect storm” of full competition in its home market and an ongoing
collapse in volumes for express services due to the global financial
crisis. A perennial subject for takeover speculation – most recently in
July 2008 when its bigger US rival FedEx held preliminary takeover talks
– the group must now face the further challenge of activist shareholders
who favour splitting the mail business from the express operations. See
also
City A.M.
The Wall
Street Journal has reported that "Shares in Dutch Postal and Express
Group TNT NV rose by more than 6% Tuesday, as a joint stake by two
investment funds reignited speculation about a possible break up or sale of
the group." See also
Bloomberg.

The following
report was 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 Agapi Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.
December 8, 2009
The
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has some thoughts on a "Mail Model
for Rural America."

In
Postal Technology International:
The
Wall Street Journal has reported that "FedEx Corp. signaled further
strengthening in the global freight market as the package shipper boosted
its earnings guidance by more than 10%. The company on Monday cited
better-than-expected growth in its U.S. small-package business and from
international express markets, notably in Asia and Latin America."
The
Washington Post has reported that "The economy is likely to expand
moderately in 2010, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Monday,
but his guardedly optimistic assessment for growth contained no hints that
the central bank is looking to raise interest rates anytime soon. "Economic
forecasts are subject to great uncertainty, but my guess is that we will
continue to see modest economic growth next year," Bernanke told the
Economic Club of Washington in a speech. That growth, he said, would be "sufficient
to bring down the unemployment rate, but at a slower pace than we
would like."
According to
Merinews, "huge subsidy-bill of about Rs 5632 crore on postal services
in the current fiscal can and should be substantially reduced for future by
simple rationalisation of postal-tariffs without affecting much, users of
postal services. Inland postal-tariffs should be generally in multiples of
rupees five. Since even beggars refuse to accept coins below one rupee, it
is senseless to price highly subsidised post cards below one rupee."
RTE Business
has reported that "An Post has said that it intends to reduce its 10,000
strong workforce by 1,300 between 2010 and 2012. The job cuts form
part of a drive to realign the company structure
and size in line with a new business reality - where mail volumes
are down 10% year-on-year." See also
Inside Ireland and
Irish Times.
Reuters
has reported that "Two activist funds have built up
stakes in Dutch mail company TNT in a bid to shake up its structure after a
new strategy announced by the group last week failed to incorporate a broad
overhaul, a Dutch newspaper said on Tuesday. Jana Partners and
Canadian asset manager Alberta Investment Management Corp jointly hold just
over 5 percent of Europe's second largest mail and express delivery company,
after Deutsche Post, regulatory filings released on Tuesday showed. Dutch
daily Financieele Dagblad, citing unnamed sources, said
the funds were not satisfied with TNT's plans,
announced last Thursday, to focus more on express transportation while
trying to keep performance at TNT's European postal division from getting
worse.It is likely that the funds would seek a
breakup of TNT into separate postal and express companies, the
newspaper said." See also the
Financial Times and
DutchNews.nl.
MediaPost has reported that "A new comScore report shows that during the
week of Nov. 22, transactions offering free shipping accounted for 50% of
all online sales -- 11% higher than the same week a year ago."
From the Federal Register:
The Age has reported that "Postal workers across the country will launch
industrial action in the lead up to Christmas after negotiations with
Australia Post failed to deliver a new enterprise agreement. The action is
expected to include work stoppages, as well as bans on checking for
properly-stamped cards or letters, effectively meaning postage-free mail.
Australia Post employees are seeking a new agreement which protects penalty
shifts, rosters, and take-home pay and want a commitment from their employer
to improve workplace safety."
WETM has reported that "More than a dozen postal workers don't know
where they'll be working at the end of this month. In November, 60 day
notices were given to approximately 36 clerks and mail handlers at the
Sullivan Street processing facility. A union spokesman expects around 10
maintenance workers will also be affected. The notice states workers will
need to move outside of Elmira if they want to keep their jobs with the post
office."
The Wall
Street Journal has reported that "The former banker ousted as head of
Japan's postal-services group is striking back at the new government,
blasting plans to halt privatization of the agency, which doubles as the
world's largest savings bank."
Posted on the Postal Regulatory Commission web site:
December 7, 2009
Welcome
to PostCom Radio
A PostCom Postal Podcast
Join PostCom President Gene Del Polito, Grayhair Vice President
of Postal Affairs Angelo Anagnostopoulos, and Grayhair' Director of
Client Services Therese Powers in a discussion of service type
IDs in conjunction with the Intelligent Mail program. |
Reuters has reported that "Deutsche Post DHL set up an American
Depositary Receipt programme to attract U.S. investors, with ADRs starting
trading on Monday. "We are seeing significant interest in our stock from
U.S. investors with a considerable percentage of our shares already being
held in the U.S. market," finance director Larry Rosen said on Monday."
[EdNote: I can't even imagine the USPS being able to do anything like this.]
The
Wall Street Journal has reported that "Japan scrapped its plan to
privatize its massive postal-services agency Friday, taking a dramatic turn
away from its strategy of seeking to snap a two-decade economic funk by
freeing up markets."
Materials Handling Magazine has reported that "NetDespatch
has supplied New Zealand Post with an innovative web-based
system that automates and simplifies forms for international
shipments. Called RedClick, the new service is revolutionising
the production of complex documentation for New Zealand Post
customers, saving them hours of paperwork each day. The easy to
use web shipping facility automatically produces CN22 and CN23
Customs Declaration forms for international shipping,
eliminating manual form filling. Using simple web forms, with
built-in intelligence to ensure that information is entered
correctly, the automated production of the Customs Declaration
forms streamlines the whole process. The forms can be printed to
either laser or thermal printers. For higher volumes a manual or
automated bulk import process is used, with either local or
remote printing."
According to
The Times, "Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer and
scourge of bookshops everywhere, is planning a surprise invasion
of the British high street."
According to the
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer, "Amazon is not looking to open
retail outlets where customers can buy goods that the store has in
inventory. Instead, the stores will provide a delivery point for customers
that order larger items that mail or truck delivery is inconvenient. If
Amazon goes ahead with a retail strategy, it should be able to haul items
for pick-up to its "stores" using contract carriers dedicated to their
retail network. Amazon's business case would most likely show that both
customers prefer to pick-up their larger items at a retail outlet and the
overall delivery costs, including the cost of operating retail outlets, is
less than the cost of home delivery. Amazon's reported new initiative would
be a direct assault on Royal Mail, DHL, UPS, TNT, FedEx and road transport
companies."
Yet, according to
PC Pro, "Amazon has denied reports that it's about to open
high street stores in the UK. The Sunday Times claimed that the
online retailer was searching for bricks-and-mortar stores to
complement its ever-expanding online presence. Properties owned
by the defunct bookseller Borders were reportedly among the
targets."
December 6, 2009
"This
report presents the results of our audit of the Postal Service’s
compliance with the Management Instruction (MI) on Expenses for Internal and
External Events1 and follow up to our audit report on Imprudent Spending
Using the SmartPay® Purchase Card2 (Project Number 09BO016FF000). While
overall spending using the SmartPay2® Purchase card3 has declined in the
past year, our audit disclosed non-compliance with the policy on meals and
events and continued imprudent purchases during this time of economic
uncertainty for the Postal Service. Based on our review of judgmentally
selected transactions, we identified over $792,000 in purchases that were
not made in accordance with Postal Service policy and over $54,000 in
imprudent purchases."
According to
Hellmail, "The main selling point of paper-free postal services appears
to be cost, immediacy and environmental considerations. With the world still
coming to terms with what has been a serious banking crisis, a bad
recession, and even greater concerns about global warming, cost and CO2
emmissions may well be the biggest driving factor behind the development and
implementation of digital mail but there are numerous other factors that
come into play."
KAIT8 has
reported that "If you live in southeast Missouri, you may be missing a bill,
card, or even a check. A local fisherman found mail dumped, not delivered,
in Cape Girardeau County. On Thanksgiving day, the fisherman and his son
were walking along the banks of the Diversion Channel near Allenville when
they found a pile of dumped trash. But when they looked closer, they
realized it was stacks of undelivered mail, all neatly bundled together. The
fisherman tells me you can't reach this remote location by car, especially
when it's muddy. So, whoever dumped the mail apparently didn't make the
delivery by accident."
The
Daily Mail has reported that "Thousands of post office closures have
robbed communities of a traditional form of personal contact. Now it seems
there is another threat - Post & Go self-service kiosks. These have already
been fitted in 100 bigger post offices over the past 12 months. It is
believed there could be as many as 700 of them in the 370 main Crown post
offices in the next few years. The units, which are estimated to cost up to
£100,000 each, are hugely complex. For users confident enough to grapple
with the touch-screen technology, the machines dispense with the need to
interact with human staff."
Daily Times has reported that "The yearly earning of Pakistan Postal
Service (PPS) has shown an unprecedented rise of around 25 percent in its
yearly revenue earning for 2008-09, swelling total income to Rs 7.7 billion,
Pakistan Post Director General Muhammad Ahmed Ahmed Mian said. “In spite of
financial crunch and international recession, PPS has been able to record an
increase in revenue from Rs 6.2 billion (2007-08) to Rs 7.7 billion during
2008-09,” he said."
December 5, 2009
The
Financial Times has reported that "The Treasury will slash its provision
for losses from its banking interventions in next week's pre-Budget report
as part of a wider shake-up of the way it accounts for part-nationalised
banks on its books. More problematic for the Treasury has been its
realisation that when the ONS fully classifies RBS and Lloyds as public
corporations, their gross operating profits would reduce the official figure
for public sector net borrowing on a continuing basis,
just as post office profits reduce government borrowing, artificially
flattering the figures." [EdNote: Sort of the British
equivalent to the on-budget off-budget American congressional game.]
PostCom Advisory:
(From the USPS)
Attention PostalOne!® Users Access to PostalOne! is
temporarily not available. The specific cause has not yet been determined.
We will provide a status update as soon as one becomes available. We
apologize for any inconvenience. Thank You PostalOne! ® Customer Care Center.
[EdNote: Ah, yes. PostalOne! Out again.]
National Public Radio has noted that "The next time you walk into a post
office, take a look around. One of the things you probably won't see are the
faces of the FBI's Most Wanted Fugitives. Over the past decade, America's
most notorious mug shots have been fading away from post office walls. "It's
really a move of economy," Nancy Pope, a historian at the Smithsonian
Institution's National Postal Museum, tells host Scott Simon. "The Postal
Service is in need of money, and they're looking at post offices a little
bit differently than they used to," she says. "They're looking at them less
as the community center and more as a place for merchandise and marketing."
Some post offices already sell greeting cards in addition to stamps, but
more merchandise is planned. "Anything they can pretty much get OK'd by
Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission," Pope says, "because they
really do need the extra money." And that means they need as much display
space as possible, so something has to go. So long, Most Wanted posters."
[EdNote: Whew! My picture finally will come down.
]

Fred Smith Shares Views
on Jobs Growth at 'Jobs Summit.'
KTVB has reported that "A retired U.S. postal inspector has admitted in
federal court that he sent nonmailable items through the mail and used
government mailing labels to send dozens of parcels to avoid payment of
postage. Gregory P. Staisiunas, 50, enter his guilty plea in a Boise
courtroom this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mikel H. Williams to two
counts of mailing injurious articles and five counts of misuse of penalty
mail labels. The first two offenses are misdemeanors and the last five are
petty infractions under federal law."
December 4, 2009
The latest issue of the
PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:
-
This week, the U.S. Postal Service published its Assessment of U.S. Postal
Service Future Business Model. The Postal Service believes that a
fundamental restructuring of the its business and regulatory framework is
essential. This paper outlines some of the potential business model options,
including considerations and implications.
-
Alan Robinson, President of Direct Communications Group wrote in the paper
he submitted to the Governors of the Postal Service that "the public face of
the Postal Service is its service to individual citizens through its 6-day
delivery service and local retail post offices. However, the survival of the
Postal Service, and for that matter the ability of individuals, governments,
non-profits, and businesses to send hard-copy communications and parcels
rests on the Postal Service's ability to serve the business customers that
generate over 88% of all revenue, a proportion which has grown as
increasingly individuals have chosen electronic alternatives offering more
convenient and cost-effective solutions. With non-household derived revenue
likely to determine the long-term viability of the Postal Service, policy
makers need to focus on ensuring that the future business model of the
Postal Service can provide non-household mailers with a positive return on
their mail spending in order that there is sufficient volume in the system
to make the continuing use of mail by the general public affordable,
reliable, and convenient.
-
In his paper, Crawford discussed the many challenges facing the USPS, i.e.,
changes due the impact of electronic communication and diversion from the
mail, internally and externally imposed constraints, and the challenges
presented by the changing American economy. He stressed what he believed
were the imperatives the USPS had to face, i.e., the need to fundamentally
restructure, cut costs, and generate revenue. Among the options the USPS
could explore to reduce costs, Crawford offered the following: (1) remove
the inflation-based price cap on market dominant postal products, (2) more
closely align costs and prices more effectively, and (3) offer free post
office boxes as an alternative to street delivery.
-
Elaine Karmack of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government noted that the
challenges the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is facing today are not the result
of ordinary business fluctuations. The Postal Service's business has
undergone some significant fundamental changes that require it to consider
making changes to its oversized human and physical infrastructure. "The
simplest option for the post office," she said, "is to cut its
infrastructure."
-
Jacksonville University colleagues Harvey Slentz (a business school dean)
and Joseph McCann (a practicing lawyer and former postal executive) provided
an analysis of the USPS' current business model, an analysis of alternative
business and regulatory structures, and recommendations focusing on the
inevitability of change and the need for action, a business case on business
model strategies, and ways to test various business models and alternative
regulatory structures.
-
Reflecting a continuation of severe economic downturn and enormous financial
challenges, the U.S. Postal Service released its 2010 Integrated Financial
Plan (IFP).
-
Reflecting a continuation of severe economic downturn and enormous financial
challenges, the U.S. Postal Service released its 2010 Integrated Financial
Plan (IFP).
-
The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and USPS Inspection
Service released its Semiannual Report on the Audit, Investigative, and
Security Activities of the U.S. Postal Service this week. The report
provides statistics and activities for the 6-month period of April 1 through
September 30, 2009.
-
The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and USPS Inspection
Service released its Semiannual Report on the Audit, Investigative, and
Security Activities of the U.S. Postal Service this week. The report
provides statistics and activities for the 6-month period of April 1 through
September 30, 2009.
-
The Postal Service has expanded its options for attachments to Letters and
Flats effective November 29. The Postal Service revised its Mailing
Standards / Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) to allow certain attachments to a
broader variety of Standard Mail letters and flats. There has also been some
mailer feedback based on the new specifications outlined by the Postal
Service.
-
The PRC approved the application of the 7-cent Move Update Assessment Charge
to Presort First-Class Mail and Standard Mail. However, the PRC rejected the
proposal to apply singlepiece FCM rates to Move Update noncompliant Standard
Mail mailings.
-
The USPS this week published on its web site
[http://pe.usps.com/FederalRegisterNotices.asp] an advanced copy of its
proposed rule outlining the applicable prices for commercial flats mailings
that fail to meet the revised deflection (droop) requirements the USPS had
planned to implement on January 4, 2010, but now says it will defer until
June 2010.
-
The U. S. Postal Service has published its 68-page 2009 Comprehensive
Statement on Postal Operations. PostCom’s review of the publication provides
the highlights.
-
According to the Courier, Express, and Postal Observer, "in order to
understand the future of mail, one needs to first understand the future of
the document. The word "document" immediately congers up an image of a
written, printed format. That image is too narrow in today's multi-modal
communications world that includes information that can be provided printed
on paper but also in numerous forms on a computer display or in
text-messages, or other format on a wireless smart phone."
-
DM News features former PostCom director Lee Epstein. USPS requests to defer
parts of ACR. USPS revamps green website. FedEx adds new freight forwarding
facilities. USPS future gets input from First Coast. DMM Revision. UPS'
announced 2010 rate hikes may not tell the tale. PRC Commissioner Blair
supports Iraqi Post. USPS mail tracking system doesn't deliver.
-
Updates on dockets at the Postal Regulatory Commission.
-
Updates on postal matters published in the Federal Register.
-
An update on DMM Advisory notices issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
-
A review of postal news from around the world.
-
From the Mailbag
-
Postal Previews
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The PostCom Bulletin is distributed via
NetGram
PostCom Advisory:
Here is some advice from those who
are in a position to know within PostCom. If the mailer ID you have been
given by the Postal Service begins with any number from zero through eight,
you have a six-digit ID code. If your code begins with nine, then you have a
nine-digit ID code. If someone has told you that you have a qualifying
nine-digit ID code when your code doesn't begin with nine, you're going to
have a problem when you try to use that code for PostalOne! and Full-Service
IMb. And, yes, there are some people who have found out the hard way that a
nine-digit code that begins, let's say, with zero (or one through eight), is
not an acceptable nine-digit code.
DMM
Advisory:
Intelligent Mail Service Update. The
PostalOne!® system processes 99.49% Full-Service mailings
in less than two hours: With nearly 5,000 Full-Service electronic files
submitted between November 15 and November 20, 90% were processed by
PostalOne! in less than 10 minutes, and 99.49% were processed in less
than two hours. The remaining 0.51% that took longer than 2 hours to process
was large volume mailings that are complex in nature and submitted by a
limited number of mailers. The Postal Service™ continues to work with this
group of mailers to improve performance issues.
Hand-Held Scanning Devices used in Full-Service Verifications: The
use of hand-held scanning devices (FS-IMD) has been introduced to assist in
Full-Service verifications. Based on feedback from the industry via the
Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC), the Postal Service has
simplified verifications to limit disqualifications of Full-Service mailings
to:
- No electronic documentation
- No Intelligent Mail® barcode on
containers OR- Intelligent Mail container placards are placed inside
(under) shrink wrap
- No Intelligent Mail barcode on handling
units
- No Intelligent Mail barcode on
mailpieces
Other error types will be documented and
supplied to the mailer to help improve mailing quality and assessments for
these will be deferred until March 2010. A description of the verification
and acceptance procedures can be found in
Changes to Acceptance Processes in Support of Full-Service Mailing on
RIBBS™ under
Intelligent Mail Latest News .
Millions of Mailpieces Processed with Intelligent Mail Full-Service:
The Postal Service has processed over 900 million mailpieces with
Intelligent Mail Full-Service. Since implementation in May 2009, Intelligent
Mail Full-Service customers have submitted 10,000 electronic postage
statements.
The
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has posted that "Sometime in the
next few months the Postal Service will receive approval from the Postal
Regulatory Commission (PRC) to close less no more than 241 post offices,
stations or branches. This is a far cry from the more than 3200 sites in its
initial proposal that it presented to the PRC. Those communities that found
their Post Office on the original list but are no longer under consideration
for closing are likely relieved that their Post Office will remain open.
These communities will be less pleased when the hours that the Post Office
is open shrink as the Postal Service looks at ways to deal with declining
demand for retail services."
According to the
Wall Street Journal, "Publisher Hearst Corp. plans to launch next year a
service called Skiff to sell digital versions of newspapers and magazines on
electronic readers and other devices, in a system it believes will be more
visually appealing to readers and more lucrative for media companies. Skiff
would give publishers an alternative to Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle store,
which currently dominates the burgeoning field of digital reading. Through
Skiff, Hearst said consumers will be able to buy digital publications that
have better graphics and look more like their print counterparts, including
the inclusion of advertising, than versions offered elsewhere. The service
will include a digital storefront as well as a back-end system that
publishers can use to render publications for a range of electronic devices,
including Apple Inc.'s iPhone and small laptops called netbooks. The Skiff
venture seems to have similar aims as a consortium of magazine publishers,
including Hearst, which are working on a common technology standard and
digital storefront to sell their titles on electronic readers and other
devices. That initiative may be announced as early as next week, according
to people familiar with the matter. The consortium also includes Time Warner
Inc.'s Time Inc., Condé Nast Publications Inc. and Meredith Corp., according
to these and other people familiar with the matter."
The
Financial Times has reported that "Government plans for financial
products and services in post offices were attacked yesterday by political
opponents and trade unions as a missed opportunity. Lord Mandelson, business
secretary, announced a consultation on services that could be offered
including a current account, an account for children, a business account and
a weekly budgeting account aimed at low-income households. He said it would
help to secure the future of the network, which has suffered closures in
recent years. But Ken Clarke, shadow business secretary, said the ideas were
uncosted and would not be introduced before the general election."
From
PR-Inside:
-
RFID has unveiled its new series of PDA RFID Reader Writer in LF or
HF version. These user-friendly PDA RFID terminals are ideal for
industrial and outdoor applications with its WiFi, Bluetooth and GPRS
wireless transfer functions. These lightweight Handheld PDA RFID
Readers/Writers DL710/DL720 are suited for information management,
information collection or data transfer. They are designed optional with
combining LCD touch screen or user-friendly keyboard, and integrated
with WiFi, Bluetooth and GPRS functions.
-
ResearchInChina, the vertical portal for Chinese business
intelligence, announces the release of a new report -China Express
Delivery Industry Report, 2009. For details of this report please visit
http://www.researchinchina.com/Htmls/Report/2009/5792.html.
According to its first worldwide survey, the
Universal Postal Union – the United Nations specialized agency for
postal services – estimates that Posts in its 191 member countries generated
at least 26 million tonnes of CO2 in 2008 through the operation of postal
vehicles and buildings. These Posts, employing more than 5 million people,
operate a global network of more than 600,000 post offices and almost one
million postal vehicles. They represent the planet's largest physical
distribution network. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates
total annual worldwide greenhouse gas emissions at 38 billion tonnes,
meaning that postal operations produce 0.07% of these emissions. Posts in
industrialized countries emitted around 11 million tonnes of CO2, or 41% of
the total, while those in the developing and least developed countries
released 15 million tonnes, or 59% of the total.
ConnectMid-Michigan has reported that "Postal workers held an
informational picket Thursday as of jobs may be on the chopping block at
Saginaw's main post office. Dozens of workers picketed outside the post
office building on Washington Avenue in effort to keep their jobs from
moving to Lansing. Concerns followed reports that mail processing for the
Saginaw area would be moved to Lansing, taking dozens of jobs."
Transport Intelligence has reported that "TNT Group, the smallest of the
'Big Four' express parcel operators has successfully recovered its balance
after selling its logistics subsidiary three years ago, yet it cannot afford
to stumble again if it is to avoid being snapped-up by one of its bigger
competitors. Yesterday TNT's CEO, Peter Bakker, and his senior managers
presented their 'Vision 2015' outlining a clear if slightly surprising
strategic direction for the business. Most surprising was the company's
comments on the future of its Mail business. In the past few years the Dutch
national post provider has sought to expand its mail businesses across
Europe with growth in Germany and the UK. However there appears to be a
change of heart triggered in part by the difficulties of 'mail
liberalisation' in Europe. TNT now perceives that its Mail business in both
the Netherlands and in the rest of Europe operates in an environment of
"sharp further volume decline" as well as suffering from a high cost base.
This has led TNT to look for what it calls, "partnership options including
possible future European Mail incumbent consolidation", whilst its non-Dutch
European Mail Network business will be managed with view to a possible sale.
It appears that TNT is looking to float off its mail business outside the
Netherlands because of its poor growth prospects. Such a move would make TNT
Express the group's dominant business." [EdNote: Looks as if no one
really believes in mail's economic vibrancy. Seems everyone gets this except
some postal unions.]
The
Wall Street Journal has reported that:
Japan passed a law Friday to halt the privatization of the country's
postal service, holder of $3.446 trillion in Japanese investments and
household wealth, in a move symbolic of the new government's efforts to
overturn nearly a decade of deregulation in the world's second-largest
economy. The law blocks the planned sale of shares in Japan Post's
banking and insurance arms and paves the way for a drastic overhaul of
the group during the next parliamentary session starting in January."
Dutch
postal and express group TNT NV won't carry out any share buybacks
in 2010, Chief Financial Officer Henk van Dalen said during an analyst
meeting Thursday. Van Dalen said the current economic situation doesn't
allow the company to buy back shares and it needs to invest money in
carrying out its Vision 2015 strategy. He reaffirmed the company's
dividend policy, which aims to pay out 40% of normalized net income.
From the Federal Register:
On Postal Explorer:
DATE: Pending publication in the Federal Register.
Eligibility for Commercial Flats Failing Deflection
AGENCY: Postal Service™.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY:
The Postal Service is filing this proposed rule to describe the
applicable prices for commercial flat-size mail failing to meet new
deflection standards, to be effective on June 7, 2010.
Unpaid and Shortpaid Information-Based Indicia Postage Meters and PC
Postage Products
AGENCY: Postal Service™.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: The Postal Service is revising the Mailing Standards
of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), to
implement revenue assurance procedures for information-based indicia
(IBI) postage generated from postage evidencing systems. An automated
process will be implemented to detect mailpieces with unpaid or
shortpaid IBI postage. This automated process will supplement and
enhance current procedures.
The Wall
Street Journal has reported that "Dutch postal and express group TNT NV
has said it wants to accelerate growth in its European and emerging markets
parcels businesses, but signaled that it will sell or seek partnerships for
its mail operations outside the Netherlands. Revealing its strategy for the
next five years, the company said the slow pace of liberalization in
Europe's mail markets had forced it to consider its options for its mail
unit and its expansion into markets outside the Netherlands hadn't provided
the growth it had hoped for. Instead, it will now focus on its Dutch mail
unit, parcels, and freight. It will try to get more value out of its express
parcels business by offering more customers guaranteed time and delivery
slots."
Postal Sanity wants to know:
"International e-commerce: How big will it grow?"
Federal News Radio has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is trying
to make mail 'smarter' -- but more needs to be done. That's according to the
Government Accountability Office, which released a report about USPS's
Intelligent Mail Full Service program. It started back in 2003 with the goal
of standardizing barcodes to track mail and help USPS do its job better. The
GAO has found, however, that parts of the program is behind schedule."
Download the MP3
The
Associated Press has reported that "FedEx Corp.
will raise shipping rates for its Ground and Home Delivery units by an
average of 4.9 percent in 2010 — 1 percentage point less than this year's
rate hike. FedEx announced in September it will increase shipping
rates for Express packages shipped within or from the U.S. by an average of
5.9 percent in 2010, also 1 percentage point lower than FedEx's rate
increase this year. That rate is partially offset by a lower fuel surcharge.
The company, based in Memphis, Tenn., said Thursday that SmartPost rates
also will change, but didn't specify how. SmartPost is FedEx's partnership
with the U.S. Postal Service. All of the rate increases will go into effect
on Jan. 4." See also the
Memphis Business Journal.
The Daily Times has reported that:
WEAU has
reported that "The U.S. Postal Service has agreed to pay the federal
government thousands of dollars in fines for violations at a facility in Eau
Claire."
December 3, 2009
From
PR-Inside: "Newgistics Smart Label® Intelligent Returns Management
Handles the Onslaught of Holiday Returns Newgistics, the leading provider of
Intelligent Returns Management (IRM) through its SmartLabel® technologies,
has partnered with leading direct merchants to offer cost effective
Postal-based returns management solutions. With over 200 million
SmartLabels® active in the marketplace, Newgistics is the leader in returns
management for the direct-to-consumer retail industry. This holiday season
Newgistics' Intelligent Returns Management (IRM) will save retailers and
their customers time, confusion, and money, leading to an improved shopping
experience."
CNET News has reported that "Apple's tablet is all the rage these days.
Companies are lining up to pledge support for the tablet even though Apple
hasn't acknowledged its existence. The latest publishing company to throw
its hat into the tablet ring is Time Inc. With a concept version in hand,
the publisher showed AllThingsD a version of the tablet-size edition of
Sports Illustrated. Time says with some confidence that its digital magazine
format will run on "whatever tablet Apple or [anyone] else has up their
sleeves." As you might expect, Time is planning to make all of its titles
available on the new format. Time isn't the only company getting ready for
the Apple tablet. Conde Nast said in late November that it is preparing a
version of Wired for the elusive tablet computer."
Europolitics has reported that "The Ecofin Council adopted, on 2
December, conclusions noting that the third Postal Directive will enter into
force on 1 January 2011 (1 January 2013 in some member states). The Council
stresses the importance of taking all necessary measures to solve the
political problems originating from the VAT treatment of postal services
before the third Postal Directive will enter into force and the
liberalisation of the postal market is a fact. Taking account of existing
tax arrangements in member states, the Council invites the upcoming Spanish
and Belgian Presidencies to explore and examine all options in order to make
steps forward in this respect and to report the progress made at the Ecofin
Council, in December 2010, at latest."
The Guardian has reported that "Royal Mail looks ready to cash in its
equity holding in Camelot, the operator of the National Lottery, in a move
that could raise up to £85m for the cash-strapped postal business."
The
Wall Street Journal has reported that "E-commerce sales grew 5% on Cyber
Monday—the first Monday after Thanksgiving—compared with sales on Cyber
Monday last year, and the day's sales matched the single-day record for
online shopping."
SwissInfo has reported that "The head of the Bern-based Universal Postal
Union has urged postal services around the world to reduce their CO2
emissions. Edouard Dayan’s call for action comes after the UPU – the United
Nations specialised agency for postal services – reported that it estimates
at least 26 million tonnes of C02 emissions were produced by its 191
members’ postal vehicles and buildings in 2008. A statement from the UPU’s
headquarters said that on the eve of the World Climate Conference in
Copenhagen, the sector was committed to helping curb climate change and
finding more eco-friendly ways to process and deliver mail items."
From the
Federal Register:
The
Financial Times has reported that "Government plans for financial
products and services in post offices were attacked yesterday by political
opponents and trade unions as a missed opportunity."
As
the
Minneapolis-St. Paul Pioneer Press put it: "Imagine a $64 million
construction project four times the size of Target Field. Enough dirt is
removed to fill the Foshay Tower twice over. Its electrical wiring could
roll out 69 miles. Loading docks number in the triple digits. Is it an
airport? A steel plant? A football stadium? No, no and no. The "quiet giant"
under construction on Eagan's Lexington Avenue South will be a steroidal
mail distribution center — a Hulked-out post office, if you will — and
easily the largest of its kind in the state."
The Times has reported that "When Joan Najbar sent a chatty letter to
her soldier son, who was deployed in Iraq, she looked forward to getting his
reply with all his news. Instead, Ms Najbar from Minnesota, was devastated
to receive her own letter returned - with "deceased" stamped on the
envelope. Having had no contact with her son for some weeks, the horrified
mother contacted the American Red Cross to try to get details of how and
where her son had died. They, however, informed her that he was still very
much alive. Now Ms Najbar is suing the US Postal Service for the distress
she suffered after receiving the stamped letter."
Wales Online has reported that "plans to introduce business banking
facilities to the Post Office network could bolster community life in rural
Wales, it was claimed last night. The public consultation launched on
Tuesday could see Post Offices offer an improved set of financial products,
including current and children’s savings accounts, corporate banking and a
weekly budgeting account for low-income households. Growing its financial
services arm could secure the future of the postal network, which has
suffered a wave of closures in recent years, lobbyists said yesterday."
The
New Lenox Patriot has reported that "As the debut community for the
paperless postal system Zumbox, the Village of New Lenox has been sending
digital mail to its residents since March. Now, cities across the country
are jumping on board. Zumbox officials announced the national rollout of the
digital mail technology in September, with San Francisco, Calif., and
Newark, N.J. as the first major cities to begin sending paperless mail via
Zumbox. Just a few weeks later, on Oct. 1, Zumbox officially launched in New
York City after Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a pilot project to send
municipal paperless mail to all five of the city's boroughs. Minneapolis,
Minn., is the latest city to begin utilizing Zumbox's paperless mail service
by sending public notices and letters from the mayor to its residents."
The
Washington Post has reported that "After a federal judge in Maryland
sent a former Howard County postal clerk to prison for stealing $682,000
worth of stamps, federal authorities posted this warning: "Anyone who buys
stamps at a discount should be on notice that they are purchasing stolen
property," U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said. Authorities said Foster
sold the bricks of stamps to others who made money selling them at a
discount. One alleged co-conspirator sold more than $259,000 worth of the
stamps on eBay for about $229,000."
Hellmail has reported that:
Dutch postal operator TNT said that it was "surprised and
disappointed at the trade unions’ stance on the company’s collective
labour agreement and social plan", as announced by the unions yesterday.
The company said it saw no common ground whatsoever between the unions’
stance and the seriousness of the issues faced by TNT Post. It said that
since 2007, the necessary cost savings had been extensively discussed
with the unions and that a recent study by research agency Ecorys,
commissioned by the unions, reconfirmed that far-reaching cost measures
are necessary to maintain the viability of the company. TNT Post warned
that it facied serious challenges in the liberalised postal market, with
price representing a decisive factor in a market that is free to make
its own choices. It said it was unable to lower its rates below cost
price, which is largely determined by labour costs and that from the 1st
of January 2010, almost all Dutch radio and television guides, totalling
over 100 million mail items, will be distributed by competitors of TNT
Post. It also pointed to a strong decline in mail volume as customers
continued to switch to digital solutions.
Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, said today that he welcomed the
announcement of the government consultation on financial products and
services for the Post Office, but warned of its limitation and urged the
government not to let it be a "wasted opportunity".
Editor's Note: We have been told by the editor of Deadtree Edition
that a Google induced glitz (they own Blogger) has caused his (or her) blog
to crash. It will take a few days to restore.
Direct has
noted that "A group of industry trade organizations has launched
postaljournal.com, a Web site
they hope will serve as a discussion forum to exchange ideas about the
future of the U.S. Postal Service. The founding organizations...deny the
site will be used for overt lobbying. “It’s sort of like an online journal
where papers are contributed and people can feel free to offer additions or
alternative points of view by writing to the editor. We'll have it serve as
a basis where thoughts can be freely expressed,” said Gene Del Polito,
president of Postcom. “It’s not our intention to use this as a vehicle to
convince anybody about the passage of any particular or future legislation,"
he continued. "But our feeling is you've got to create some place where
those who are responsible for creating policy can go and learn about pros
and cons, learn about the ideas that people have been willing to contribute
and then judge for yourself whether the ideas need to be focused on more
closely.”
According to the
President of the American Postal Workers Union, USPS is living in
"Fantasy Land." His beef? The "postage discounts enjoyed by major mailers."

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 Agapi Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.
As
B2B has noted, "A consortium of direct marketing organizations has
introduced a new online forum to encourage an exchange of ideas on how the
U.S. Postal Service can continue to be relevant to commercial mailers. The
site, www.postaljournal.com, contains essays and slideshows by various
authors, downloadable in PDF form, on topics such as “The future of the
postal sector: the elephant in the room” and “New business models for tough
problems.” The site is supported by the Association for Postal Commerce,
Direct Communications Group, Direct Marketing Association, Envelope
Manufacturers Association Foundation, and the Mailing and Fulfillment
Service Association. The groups said the new site was launched “to create an
exchange of ideas about the industry, without consideration to professional
affiliations.” [EdNote:
Robert J. Brinkmann LLC and Transformation Strategy
Inc. also have joined as supporters of the site.]
December 2, 2009
The following papers have been added to the
Postal Journal:
The
Saginaw News has reported that "Saginaw U.S. Postal workers are planning
an informational picket in support of their jobs in front of the Saginaw
Post Office at 1233 S. Washington from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., says Mary A.
Greene, a 16-year postal employee and American Postal Workers Union Saginaw
Area Local 486-487 representative."
From
PR Newswire: "Avery Dennison Office Products and Stamps.com unveiled the
Desktop Postal Center as part of Avery's Mailing Center service, a
comprehensive set of tools and services for mailing and shipping needs.
Together the Avery Dennison and Stamps.com alliance provides the most
convenient and cost-effective postage solution for small businesses and home
office professionals, helping them accomplish all their day-to-day shipping
and mailing projects. By transforming a computer/printer into a shipping
machine, the Desktop Postal Center can save time and resources by accurately
calculating exact postage with a postal scale, automatically verifying
addresses through Stamps.com, tracking packages via e-mail notifications and
eliminating the need to ever go to the post office again."
CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:
Germany’s letter market saw a decline in 2008. The Federal Network
Agency’s just published market report shows that the mail volume
decreased last year by 250m pieces (-1.4%). Revenue fell by 3.5% to
9.71bn euros. The regulator also reported that alternative providers
lost ground.
Alternative Post the only private mail service on a national scope in
France besides Adrexo seems to be bankrupt.
Last week the initiative ’For a strong Post’ was introduced in
Switzerland. The initiative which was founded by labour union
Kommunikation, the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions and the Social
Democratic Party focuses on amending the constitution to provide a
nationwide network of post offices.
Österreichische Post intends to become active in the tourism industry.
At the beginning of parliamentary discussions on the new postal-law in
Switzerland the KEP&Mail association demanded a statutory defined access
to the postal infrastructure.
The trend for early retirement of civil servants at Deutsche Post,
Postbank and Telekom costs German tax payers more than 200m euros every
year.
Swiss Post backpedals from its controversial price hike for the press
distribution.
Japan Post obviously intends the takeover of Nippon Express’s domestic
parcel service.
DHL, Agility and Schenker as well as 17 other CEP- and logistics
providers find themselves in the firing line of the Italian competition
office.
DHL announced a drastic reduction in jobs in Belgium.
Mail Alliance, the new joint delivery network by TNT and the mail
subsidiaries of German publishing groups Holtzbrinck and Madsack will
start operations in January 2010.
TNT
Post UK offers a new service that enables its clients to add a scent to
their direct mail. The aroma is touch sensitive, a method already used
by the cosmetic and perfume industry in magazines for quite some time.
Customers may choose between a range of fragrances or will have the
opportunity to create their own signature aroma.
The trend to buy online remains unbroken in Germany.
CitySprint (revenue 2008: 51.5m euros), by his own account Great
Britain’s largest private SameDay-network, bought british CEP-service On
The Dot Courier for an undisclosed sum.
Deutsche Post was able to secure one of the biggest contracts in
Germany’s mail market for five further years. The Bonn based company
announced it will deliver ADAC’s (German automobile association)
member’s journal for the next five years.
Mario Frusch, CEO of TNT Germany, demanded a level playing field on the
german postal market from the Government.
The front of protest against French La Poste’s conversion into a
corporation seems to crumble.
Zeitfinder is a new software, Deutsche Post offers private users for
free. This widget includes a calendar and a diary. Additionally it can
be used in conjunction with programmes like Skype and Facebook.
Zeitfinder is downloadable at www.zeitfinder.de or can be used as an
online application.
Deutsche Post currently tries to generate so-called opt-in-addresses of
consumers. Via direct mail potential customers are asked to send a reply
card or to register on the website www.Gewuenscht-geliefert.de. A
spokesperson referred to the amendment of the German Federal Data
Privacy Act, which makes the commercial use of home addresses subject to
a consent caveat.
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.)
Editor's Note: What to do about the Postal Service? Simple. Give it to
AIG. That will ensure it will forever get all the federal money it will ever
need to keep operating.

UPS Canada has formally opened a (US)$70 million expansion of its
Toronto distribution centre, once again demonstrating its commitment to
boosting Canadian trade by simplifying the import and export of goods.
The
Kalamazoo Gazette has reported that "Tuesday’s public meeting on the
proposed consolidation of some mail operations from Kalamazoo to Grand
Rapids was missing a key element: information."
From
PR
Web: "Packed with intelligence to automatically format the USPS
Intelligent Mail barcode as well as over 40 other one and two dimensional
barcodes, the BarCodeJet and BarCodes Complete solutions by TypeHaus turn
nearly any HP LaserJet or other laser printer into a professional quality
barcode printer."
According to SNP News, the
Scottish National Party "has welcomed the UK Government’s consultation on
developing Post Bank services but warned that the focus of the consultation
must be on the needs of communities – not the needs of banks."
The
Press Association has reported that "The Government is promoting new
financial products and services that could be offered via the Post Office,
ranging from a business account to children's savings. Business Secretary
Lord Mandelson said growing financial services would help secure the future
of the postal network, which has suffered a wave of closures in recent
years."
As
DM News has noted, "A coalition of postal, mailing and marketing groups
launched a Web forum on December 1 to bolster discussion about the state of
the US Postal Service and how the federal agency can maintain its relevance
in the future. The goals of PostalJournal.com are to explore the evolution
of the USPS as part of the nation's economic and communications
infrastructure and to create an exchange of ideas about the industry,
without consideration to professional affiliations. The Association for
Postal Commerce (PostCom), the Mailing and Fulfillment Service Association
and the Envelope Manufacturers Association launched the site with the
support of the Direct Marketing Association and Direct Communications Group.
The portal contains reports and papers by external authors and conference
presentations from a number of industry experts."
Marketing Direct has reported that "Royal Mail
today announced its first-ever 'DM Sale' to boost the use of
direct mail amongst new and existing clients. A
discount of 20 per cent will be available on new or additional mailings in
March and April 2010. Royal Mail said the move was in tune with
discounts being offered on other media channels and was not designed to
counteract any negative perceptions of direct mail in the wake of postal
strikes this autumn."
Kudos to David James who wrote the
following in a letter to the editor of
The Record-Courier:
I read once of a man who heated his New England home all winter with
logs rolled from junk mail. Although possibly annoying, without bulk
mail our postal system would not exist in its current affordable form.
Without the revenue gained from advertisers mailing third class mail, to
send a payment to your credit card company or mail a Christmas card to a
loved one would require several stamps with a dollar sign rather than
one with a cent sign.
Free broadcast TV is paid by advertising. Commercial free cable
channels are only possible by the paid subscriber fees. There is no free
lunch. With the cream of the crop postal profit centers being taken by
the private carriers which can limit where they deliver, the U.S. Postal
Service will attempt to deliver every piece regardless of destination
and do it affordably. The U.S. Postal system may not be perfect, but it
is definitely a government agency we all depend upon because it is
reliable. Yes, the check really is in the mail.
Junk mail may be annoying but it pays the tariff so that we can enjoy
an affordable and ubiquitous postal system. Next time you get a piece of
third-class mail which you may consider annoying, just imagine your ire
at paying $3 to mail a letter across town. Dollar stamps anyone?
From
PR Web: "Window Book is pleased to announce that Wallace Vingelis has
joined Window Book as Director, Postal Industry Practice. Wallace brings to
our clients an additional industry expert on the creation, development and
support of innovative solutions for the mailing industry."
From the Federal Register:
|
Postal Service
|
|
NOTICES
|
| Establishment of Prices and
Classifications for Inbound Air Parcel Post at Universal Postal
Union (UPU) Rates , |
| 63161 [E9–28766] |
[TEXT] [PDF] |
| International Product Change: |
| |
Canada Post-United States Postal
Service Contractual Bilateral Agreement for Inbound
Market-Dominant Services , |
| |
63161–63162 [E9–28767] |
[TEXT] [PDF] |
| |
Inbound International Expedited
Services (1) , |
| |
63161 [E9–28830] |
[TEXT] [PDF] |
The
Frederick News-Post has reported that "The United States Postal Service
is investigating moving mail-processing from a Frederick distribution center
to one in southern Maryland. Recommendations from the results of a study
would shift operations, but not close the Frederick distribution center."
See also WTOP.
On
Hellmail today:
The
New
York Times has reported that "As first graders from Public School 33 in
Chelsea gathered in the lobby of the James A. Farley Post Office on Eighth
Avenue in Manhattan on Tuesday morning, they might not have realized that
they were part of the return of a nearly century-old tradition — Operation
Santa. But when the guests of honor — Postmaster General John E. Potter,
Santa Claus, and Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear (both representing the
Muppets, who have partnered in the program) — took to the stage, there was
understandably no mention of a scandal that shook the program last year and
caused it to be temporarily shut down in New York and other major cities.
The service was briefly suspended when a postal worker in Maryland
recognized a registered sex offender as having “adopted” a child’s letter.
The man was prohibited from answering the child, and new privacy rules were
put into effect."
Bloomberg has reported that "United Parcel Service Inc. expects shipment
increases in the “low single digits” during the peak season between
Thanksgiving and Christmas, helped by purchases made online, Chief Executive
Officer Scott Davis said."
Reuters has reported that "Dutch mail company TNT appealed to workers'
unions on Tuesday to reconsider their proposals for a labour deal as
negotiations aimed at preventing massive job cuts and avoiding strike action
dragged on. Labour unions have so far rejected the company's proposals for a
new deal that include a pay cut of up to 3.5 percent. On Tuesday the unions
put forward alternative proposals, including a 1.5 percent pay rise."
Nextgov has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service's new bar code system
for tracking mail has been delivered behind schedule, over cost and without
key functionalities, according to a report from the Government
Accountability Office. USPS began the Intelligent Mail program in 2003 with
the goal of developing one system that could interact with its more than 25
separate information technology systems and consolidate more than 30 types
of bar codes. But according to a report (GAO-10-145)
released on Monday, the system has experienced delays and missteps due to
deficiencies in USPS' program management and acquisition offices. The system
was scheduled to be completed in January, but instead was delivered in two
phases -- the first in May and the second on Nov. 29. The Postal Service did
not respond to multiple requests for comment by the time this story was
posted."
December 1, 2009
According to Rag Content,
"In publishing its own report on potential future business models, the
Postal Service repackaged old ideas in a new way. More than half of the
43-page document has the Postal Service whining about its current situation
that it seems to blame on everyone but itself. It appears that the Postal
Service was completely happy with the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 and
wants nothing to do with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of
2006. According to the Postal Service, the Postal Act of 2006 has done
nothing but hamper its flexibility, constrain its pricing, burden it with a
prefunding requirement, stifle its ability to offer other product and
services, and provide no means to reduce its costs." [EdNote:
Gee....Someone who tells it like it is. How refreshing.]

A busy
day at the IG's office....
(1) 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.
(2) The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General has
posted their Fall 2009 Semiannual Report on the Audit,
Investigative, and Security Activities of the U.S. Postal Service
(SAR). It is located at:
http://www.uspsoig.gov/sarcs/Fall09.pdf
(3) The
latest entry has bee 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/.
- We “Advertise” for You? In these times of doing what it
takes to maintain fiscal solvency, what if the Postal Service started
offering advertising space on its property to generate revenue?
Read the blog and add your opinion.
You can visit Office of Inspector General’s public website at:
www.uspsoig.gov. You can also
follow us on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/OIGUSPS.
If you have additional questions, please contact Communication and Work
Life Director Agapi Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.
Hellmail has noted that "As the deadline approaches for the start of new
EU full postal competition rules, are EU national postal services prepared
to operate in the new marketplace? That is, does each postal service
understand the new rules and how the changes will impact their operations
and revenue streams? Are required cost saving measures and automation
already completed or near completion? Do strategies exist to defend against
competitors capturing high margin services and profitable large volume
customers? What are the strategies for maintaining the unprofitable and
declining letters business, to include universal service, as greater postal
competition results in further revenue declines? Are improvements to
existing services underway to avoid as many customer defections as possible?
Is there a strategy for identifying and introducing new innovative services
vital for future success and self-sustainability?"
According to
Deadtree Edition, "Despite equipment problems, schedule delays, and
evidence of engineering miscues, postal officials are eagerly moving ahead
with installation of the Flats Sequencing System."
Hellmail has reported that "Billy Hayes, general secretary of the
Communication Workers Union described regulation of postal services in the
UK as unlike that found in any other country and "uniquely bad". His
comments at the Institute of Employment Rights Conference on Saturday,
concern what the CWU sees as a 'rigged' regulatory framework by Postcomm
that has allowed competitors to select the most profitable parts of Royal
Mail's operations and discard the least profitable, leaving Royal Mail to
provide an increasingly costly Universal Service."
The
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has reported that "In a recent
post, APWU President suggested that the Postal Service's financial problems
has one cause and one cause only, the onerous payment schedule for funding
retiree health plans. He is right that this is a serious problem. There are
reasonable arguments that both the amount that Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) says the Postal Service owes significantly overstates what
the Postal Service actually owes and that payment schedule makes no sense
for the enterprise. (See USPS-OIG white paper, PRC Report) Furthermore, the
position that correctly measuring the Postal Service's CSRS payments by
excluding obligations for time credited while not in USPS employment needs
to be reexamined on its merits regardless of the Federal budget
consequence."
From
PR.com: "Announcing the
launch of a new web site (http://postaljournal.com),
the mission of which is (1) to explore the evolution of the American postal
system as part of the nation's 21st century economic and communication
infrastructure and (2) to facilitate an exchange of postal perspectives by
individuals without regard to past or present occupational affiliations. The
Postal Journal has been launched through the initial support and
participation of the Association for Postal Commerce (http://postcom.org),
the Mailing and Fulfillment Service Association (http://www.mfsanet.org),
and the Envelope Manufacturers Association Foundation (http://www.emafoundation.org/).
Participation and support is open to others who share interest in the study
of the American postal system as a vehicle for communication and commerce."
[Editor's Note: Support also is being provided by the
Direct Marketing Association and
Direct Communications
Group.]
WKZO has reported that "The Postal Service is planning a hearing tonight
on plans to ship some mail sorting operations from their 9th St. facility to
Grand Rapids. Postal Service spokesperson Sabrina Todd says as their
business shrinks, due to the internet, and competition from private
shippers, they are looking for ways to cut costs."
CNN Money has reported that "Stamps.com® (NASDAQ: STMP), the leading
provider of USPS® postage online and shipping software to approximately
400,000 customers, today announced that it will offer its Professional
Shipper software without any monthly fees (regularly priced at $34.99 per
month) to all customers that ship at least $1500 per month worth of parcels
of any mail class that includes Priority Mail®, Express Mail®, Priority Mail
International®, Express Mail International® or Global Express Guaranteed®.
Stamps.com Professional Shipper features a suite of advanced USPS shipping
and order fulfillment tools."
BizReport has asked: "Online retailers - is your postal service really
delivering?"
Online Media Daily has reported that:
- The
Newspaper Association of America is touting online behavioral
targeting as a partial fix for the industry's revenue woes.
- With more consumer spending shifting to the Web, eMarketer predicts
that
online holiday sales will increase 5.4% over last year to $30
billion in 2009. That would mark a rebound from the 5.7% decline in
2008, but would still be less than the 30.2 billion total in 2007.
"In the News" this week at
Postal Technology
International:
Report on
the Future Business Model of the Postal Service
 

|
The USPS Report
Full Document
(pdf) Executive Summary
(pdf)
Appendices: • Appendix A. List of Related
Documents to Future USPS Business Model Paper
(pdf) • Appendix B. Lessons Learned from Other
Posts and Industries
(pdf) • Appendix C. National Regulatory Authority
Information
(pdf)
Papers by External Authors |
Papers by External Authors
  |
Toward a New Business Model for the
United States Postal Service, Stephen Crawford
(pdf) |
  |
The Future of the United States
Postal Service, Elaine C Kamarck
(pdf) |
  |
United States Postal Service Future
Business Model Analysis & Action Recommendations,
Joseph McCann and Harvey Slentz
(pdf) |
  |
Examination of the Potential Postal
Business Models. Report for the United States Postal
Service, Alan Robinson
(pdf) |
|
The
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has reported that "In choosing a
potential business model for the Postal Service, policymakers are as much
choosing a path for the entire industry within which the Postal Service
operates as choosing a path for the Postal Service itself. The United States
Postal Service is only one supplier within a much larger communications and
parcel delivery market...."
In a
recent post on the
Postal Journal web site, postal commentator Gene Del Polito wrote that
"Congress has directed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to
undertake the search for alternative postal business models. GAO has begun
to reach out to interested parties for ideas on how some new postal
architecture might lead to greater cost-efficiency, new postal revenue
opportunities, and provide the nation with a well-run, self-sufficient
postal system that can provide universal postal service without the need for
taxpayer revenue. Designing a new postal architecture is not be child's
play. the real focus of those who use mail for the transaction of business
communication and commerce, as well as those who provide products and
services to those who do, should be on whether a postal infrastructure is
working (i.e., satisfying its intended infrastructure mission)."
The
Daily Californian has reported that "Officials at the Postal Regulatory
Commission are considering closing the Park Station post office branch on
Sacramento Street in Berkeley in the face of a multi-billion dollar deficit
for the U.S. Postal Service. Community members voiced their concerns about
the proposed closure at a town hall meeting on Nov. 24 at Longfellow Middle
School."
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