Postal News

Summary of Key Points of House Postal Oversight Hearing
"In convening the hearing, subcommittee chairman Danny Davis noted that providing the Postal Service with market-response flexibility was extremely important to ensuring the nation universal mail service. He noted the progress that already has been made by the Postal Regulatory Commission and the Postal Service in adapting rules and procedures to the requirements of the 2006 postal reform law." (PostCom.org) -

Sick Leave: The Math and the Morality?
"Sick leave, for FERS employees, is more like the private sector: use it or lose it. Because of the use-it-or-lose it nature of sick leave under FERS, many chose to use it rather than lose it. Sick leave usage for FERS employees increases in their last year of retirement. So the question is, is this okay? Is sick leave only for when you are sick? Or do you "earn" it and, if so, what's wrong with using it even if you aren't running a fever or are a prisoner in your own bathroom." -

Verizon designs IP network for Postal Service
"Verizon Business has completed the design and implementation of a new, fully managed IP-based network for the U.S. Postal Service. Under a 30-month, $60 million contract, Verizon Business is managing the USPS Postal Information Technology Network Upgrade Project, consolidating three previously distinct networks to control costs and reduce bandwidth requirements." -

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

Video: Strange Behavior in Dorchester
"Emergency lines lit up. Concerned drivers dialed 911 to report a postal worker pulled over on the side of the road having some kind of problem. Was she under the influence or suffering from a medical condition? FOX25's Debbi Rodman has the story in Dorchester." -

Potter Names Three VPs, One Acting VP
"Two major functional areas - Delivery and Retail - offer significant opportunities in enhanced customer access, revenue/profit growth and cost management," said Potter. Because these require stronger focus than ever, Potter has appointed Vice Presidents to lead these units. Kathy Ainsworth, former VP of Delivery and Retail, will lead Retail Operations. Jordan Small, who most recently served as South Florida District Manager, will lead Delivery. Both will report to Senior Vice President of Operations Bill Galligan." -

He Has This Job Licked, Says Postal Chairman
"Wynnewood resident Alan C. Kessler has received a stamp of approval from the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, having recently been elected its chair for the next year by his peers. Kessler, 57, wears many hats in addition to this new position. He also serves as co-finance chairman for the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), and is a partner in the law firm of Wolf Block in the litigation group." -

Public Workers' Shield Against Reprisal for Bias Claims Pondered
"Congress decided more than 30 years ago to make it clear that the nation's age discrimination law protects federal employees. So does it make sense that Congress at the same time chose not to shield workers from retaliation for making discrimination allegations?" Grumpy Young Men -

Postal Service Tries HBO Tie-In
"Some experts question whether the arrangement makes financial sense for the Postal Service, which relies on revenue from operations rather than taxpayer funding. HBO, which is not paying the Postal Service a marketing fee, appears to be receiving valuable advertising through a public agency without offering much in return, they said." -

Proposed FMLA Revisions
"In June, 2007, the Department of Labor published an update on its request for information from employers, and employees, in regards to the Family Medical Leave Act Regulations. The report, in and of itself, is interesting reading, and I would recommend at a minimum, a perusal of its contents." -

A stack of issues for postal board chief
"According to Fineman, "The biggest challenge for this board is the constant decline of first-class mail, which is the largest profit center for the Postal Service. So you have to find ways to dramatically cut costs in a very political atmosphere. The board has to have the political will to force management to close large facilities, like we did in Philadelphia at 30th Street. Otherwise, rates will continue to escalate, and the competition will take more and more business." -

PRC Universal Service Obligation and Monopoly Study
"In the next few weeks, the mailing community will be asked by the Postal Regulatory Commission to begin providing comments for its study of Universal Service and the Monopoly. The Postal Regulatory Commission's study will look at a number of issues that are critical for business mailers that have never been examined in any economic or policy study to date." -

More Layoffs, Likely Sale for Lillian Vernon
"Things have gone from bad to worse for Lillian Vernon. Two months after it cut 25% of its staff, the struggling gifts and housewares cataloger on Feb. 15 laid off about half of its full-time staff, or nearly 200 employees... Citing devastating increases in postal and parcel rates, coupled with a paper price hikes and a decrease in value of the U.S. dollar, Muoio says the company was left with no alternative than to find a new owner." -

Police investigate after mail carrier fatally struck by car
"PARMA HEIGHTS -- The U.S. Postal Service says one of its letter carriers was struck by a car as he delivered mail on his route Thursday afternoon in Parma Heights. Dave Van Allen with the U.S. Postal Service says the letter carrier was flown to the hospital by medical helicopter. Sgt. Bernie Walls with the Parma Heights Police Department says the mail carrier died at the hospital. The victim has been identified by police as 42-year-old David Donafee." -

Jury Ruse Defrauds Postal Service
"Neither wind nor rain nor even ice storms kept Joseph S. Winstead from doing his job as a mail processor for the U.S. Postal Service in Washington. But pretending that he was serving on a jury sure did. Winstead spent 144 days goofing off from his work at the Brentwood mail processing plant -- by telling his boss that the rigors of jury service prevented him from sorting the mail. Over the course of Winstead's hoax, from fall 2003 to fall 2004, court papers show, the Southeast Washington resident collected $31,000 in pay from the U.S. government that he didn't earn." -

Catalogers React to Rate Hike News
"Other catalogers, such as Michael Muoio, CEO of Virginia Beach, VA-based Lillian Vernon, are more pessimistic about the fate of the catalog business. Lillian Vernon is still reeling from last year's exorbitant rate hike, which increased its postage bill 20 percent and in part forced the mailer to lay off about 25 percent of its staff in December. "For those not going out of business, it will be relief," Muoio says about the lower rate hike, "but for many, I assume, it may be too late." USPS Boosts Mag Mailing Rate by 2.7 Percent -

USPS 2007 Annual Report
USPS: "We finished the year with an income of more than $1.6 billion, before taking the financial impact of legislation into account. However, the new law assigned escrow funding we set aside last year, and an additional $5.4 billion payment, to a new retiree health benefits fund. Those payments changed our bottom line, which now reflects a net loss of $5.1 billion. We will make additional annual payments of $5.4 to $5.8 billion to the retiree health benefits fund until 2017. When these payments are complete, we will have substantially funded this obligation. But in the interim we will bear substantial costs that will have to be made up by revenue increases as well as operating efficiencies." -

USPS: New Stamp Prices Coming May 12
"On May 12 we (the USPS) will adjust prices for mailing services - First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services, and Special Services. The average increase by class of mail is at or below the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. A First-Class Mail stamp will be 42 cents. Customers can continue to use the Forever Stamps they purchased for 41 cents, even after the price change. We will have 5 billion Forever Stamps in stock to meet increased demand before the price change." Postal Service Debt-free, But Still Raising Rates? - Cost of postage for a letter to rise in May -

Businesses pay for weekends off
"It will cost just under $400 a year," said Mary Kassel, CEO of the Members Own Federal Credit Union, of a recent change that requires business owners to purchase mailboxes or larger post office boxes to hold mail received on Saturdays. The Victorville office of the United States Postal Service began phasing out a long-standing policy of holding mail for businesses that are not open on Saturdays earlier this month. The change came due to population growth and size constraints of the facility, according to earlier statements by Postmaster Kristy Kremer." -

Subprime Woes Cause Credit Card Mail Decline
"Credit card direct mail volume declined during the fourth quarter, as issuers were strained from the fallout of the subprime mortgage crisis and unsure about the economy, according to Synovate. Specifically, mailers sent out nearly 1.29 million offers, down 14% from more than 1.5 million offers in the prior year. Response rates were flat at 0.5%. Overall credit card mail volume for the year was 5.2 billion, down almost 10% from 5.8 billion in he previous year." -

Panel hears pros and cons of junk mail
"In the bill, Vermont would have a state registry that listed people who signed up because they didn't want to receive junk mail. Businesses that wanted to send advertising mailings would pay a fee to access the registry. The fee would be reduced or waived for small businesses and nonprofit groups. Penalties would be assessed for mailing to people on the list." -