Advertise on your local mail truck?

Advertising on USPS vehicles “could raise $360m a year”

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

The US Postal Service could be making more than $360m a year in extra revenue by using its vehicles as a platform for advertising.

That is the claim of Denver-based Light Promotions, Inc., (LPI) a company that has been running a pilot on-vehicle advertising project for USPS since June 2009.

Struggling USPS has been looking for various ways to bring in more revenues as part of its efforts to restore financial stability in the light of accelerated mail volume declines this year.

Using its extensive vehicle fleet to host advertising has been one idea included within postal reforms currently proposed by the US House of Representatives.

The pilot project has involved advertising on trucks used by independent contractors for ferrying mail between USPS sorting plants, and would not require Congress to change the law for expansion nationwide.

However, LPI chief executive Daniel Goter told Post&Parcel today that what a legislative change could do is open access to the 185,000 mail delivery vehicles for advertising, which would bring in hundreds of millions in extra revenue.

A full roll-out to a total of around 200,000 postal vehicles would most likely take two to three years to achieve, including regulatory clearances, he suggested.

Goter said: “We think it becomes a win-win situation, because this allows you to take a step forward in dealing with those financial issues without cutting staff and without cutting service.”

Pilot

The pilot project is still ongoing, operating with 17,000 vehicles within 11 Western and Midwestern states. Goter said USPS executives are now actively considering rolling it out to transportation routes across the nation.

He said the project had so far proven that there were “plenty” of advertisers interested in making use of Postal vehicles for their campaigns, and had found a price point at which advertisers were willing to commit.

Advertisers particularly like the prospects of postal vehicles because they can be used particularly well to target specific locations and demographic groups, he said. “The great thing about the Postal Service fleet is it is reliable,” said Goter. “It runs on time, it runs 6 days a week, it runs on particular routes – you know exactly where this vehicle is going to be. That has been the downfall of other types of mobile advertising, but we can overcome that with the Postal Service fleet.”
The LPI advertising system, which uses lighted displays, means the advertising is effective in low light levels, allowing the targeting of nighttime drivers and commuters, a key demographic for advertisers.

The LPI chief executive said the only potential downside to the advertising was the possibility of damaging the USPS brand with inappropriate advertising, but while LPI sells the advertising, USPS had full control over the advertisers and messages displayed on vehicles.

However, Goter said there was no shortage of appropriate advertisers out there in the $8bn-a-year US outdoor advertising market.

Public campaigns

A segment of the market with particular potential would be government and state agencies, who can use USPS vehicles to target key groups within multi-million dollar publicity campaigns. Potentially, it could see hundreds of millions in federal grants for state campaigns recycled to the Postal Service each year.

The Nebraska Office of Highway Safety is one state agency that has been making use of the platform for its “Driver Sober” campaign since the start of the holiday season, a campaign aimed at reducing drunk driving.

Administrator Fred Zwonechek said the Office of Highway Safety had been using on-truck advertising for its campaigns for three years, but the use of postal vehicles has been particularly attractive for the ability to target specific areas where alcohol-related traffic incidents are more prevalent.

“There have been signs on buses for a long time,” he said. “Lighted Promotions is a new venture for us that, using lighted boards, allows us to target at night. They’ve arranged to use postal vehicles in the Omaha Metro area – it’s where there are the largest number of alcohol-related crashes, where the most drunk drivers are arrested.”

Zwonechek said using the postal vehicles in December would mean more exposure for the campaign in areas it may not have previously reached, particularly with the rise in postal volumes because of the run-up to Christmas.
As an advertiser, he said using postal vehicles was just as effective as other forms of advertising used for the campaign, and that if delivery vehicles were included, advertisers would be able to target particular neighbourhoods, offering daily exposure for appropriate campaigns.

“It’s a creative way to try to reach people,” he said. “I’m certainly going to encourage my colleagues in other states to explore the same possibility of using these particular vehicles.”

UPS Rate Hike on Jan 2nd higher than forecasted

UPS rate hikes: more than meets the eye?

Consultant says ground parcel rate increases could well exceed UPS's stated average.

By Mark B. Solomon

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UPS Inc.'s recently announced 2012 tariff rate increases on its core ground parcel business may underestimate the magnitude of the rate hikes that will actually hit on Jan. 2, according to an analysis from a leading parcel consulting firm.

UPS said Nov. 18 that it would raise non-contract rates on ground parcel, domestic air, and U.S.-originating international services by a "net" amount of 4.9 percent, after factoring in reductions in the applicable fuel surcharge. The Atlanta-based transportation logistics giant said its base rate increase of 5.9 percent would be adjusted downward by one percentage point after incorporating a one-percentage-point reduction in the applicable ground fuel surcharge.

However, Hempstead Consulting, an Orlando, Fla.-based firm run by parcel industry veteran Jerry Hempstead, said an analysis of rates for parcels weighing between one and 20 pounds and shipped across virtually all of the country shows much more pronounced increases than the average announced by UPS. With few exceptions, the rate increases will be well in excess of 7.5 percent, according to the analysis. In some instances, the increases will be pushing 9 percent.

For example, UPS will raise rates by more than 8 percent on shipments weighing between two and 10 pounds and moving between 300 and 1,000 miles, according to the Hempstead study. The increases will be somewhat less on shipments of the same weight range moving beyond 1,000 miles, the analysis found. Officials at UPS were unavailable to comment at press time.

Hempstead, who spent decades in top sales and operational positions at the former Airborne Express and then DHL Express, acknowledged that many UPS shippers have contracts with the carrier and are awarded discounts that result in much lower package rates. He added, however, that virtually every UPS customer is subject to what is known as a "minimum charge" for each package, and that those charges are rising at a clip greater than the total average charge of 5.9 percent.

The 2012 minimum charge of $5.49 is more than 6 percent higher than the 2011 charge of $5.17 per package, and is a significant jump from the 2008 minimum of $4.20 per package, according to Hempstead data.

Analysts who follow UPS said the annual tariff rate increases have little real-world significance because the formula assumes that a customer's shipment is equally distributed across each weight class and each "zone," lingo for geographic regions of the United States. The United States is divided into eight zones.

Hempstead said only those shippers with equal weight and distance distribution would pay the announced tariff rate hike. "But the reality is that shipments are not equally distributed," said Hempstead, who calls UPS's calculations "mathemagic."

Douglas O. Kahl, executive consultant at TranzAct Technologies, a transport consultancy in Elmhurst, Ill., said no UPS shipper should use the published tariffs as a beacon to guide their annual parcel spending decisions. "It really goes to show that shippers can't budget off an announced average, nor can they use a median," said Kahl. "They need to take a look at their particular book of business and understand the actual increases that apply to their unique distribution pattern."

USPS Increases Rates for Competitive Products

Governors’ Decision No. 11-8  Page 2

I. Domestic Products

A.  Express Mail
Overall, the Express Mail price change represents a 3.3 percent increase. The existing
structure of zoned Retail, Commercial Base and Commercial Plus price categories is
maintained.  New for January 2012, we will be introducing a Flat Rate Box, priced at
$39.95 across all channels.

Retail prices will increase an average of 4.4 percent. The price for the Retail Flat Rate
Envelope and Legal Flat Rate Envelope, a significant portion of all Express Mail volume,
is increasing 3.6 percent to $18.95.  

The Commercial Base price category offers lower prices to customers who use online
and other authorized postage payment methods.  The Commercial Base prices will
decrease 5.0 percent.  

The Commercial Plus price category offers even lower prices to large-volume
customers.  Commercial Plus prices, as a whole, will receive a zero percent increase,
although some prices will increase and other prices will decrease.

B.   Priority Mail
Overall, Priority Mail prices will increase by 3.1 percent.  However, the price increase
varies by rate cell and price tier.  The existing structure of Retail, Commercial Base, and
Commercial Plus price categories is maintained.  

Retail prices will increase an average of 3.2 percent.  Flat Rate Box prices will be: Small,
$5.35; Medium, $11.35; Large, $15.45; and Large APO/FPO/DPO, $13.45.  The regular
Flat Rate Envelope will be priced at $5.15, with the Legal Size and Padded Flat Rate
Envelopes priced at $5.30 at retail.

The Commercial Base price category offers lower prices to customers using online and
other authorized postage payment methods.  The average price increase for
Commercial Base will be 3.0 percent.  A new, larger-sized Regional Rate Box price tier
will be added to the two existing sizes.  If deposited at retail, a $0.75 fee will be added.

Governors’ Decision No. 11-8  Page 3

The Commercial Plus price category offers even lower prices to large-volume
customers.  The average price increase for Commercial Plus will be 2.8 percent.  This
price category will continue to contain Critical Mail letters and flats, a half pound price,
an assortment of Flat Rate packaging, and Commercial Plus Cubic pricing.  Cubic
mailers will have a reduced threshold of 150,000 pieces per year (reduced from
250,000) to qualify.  Cubic mailers will also be able to use soft packaging.  Finally, Open
and Distribute pricing for specified trays and flat tubs will be introduced in January.

C. Parcel Select
 
On average, prices for Parcel Select, the Postal Service’s bulk ground shipping product,
will increase 8.5 percent.  For destination entered parcels, the average price increases
are 7.6 percent for parcels entered at a destination delivery unit (DDU), 7.8 percent for
parcels entered at a destination plant (DSCF) and 6.8 percent for parcels entered at a
destination Network Distribution Center (DNDC).  

For nondestination-entered parcels, the average price increases are 1.5 percent for
origin Network Distribution Center (ONDC) presort, 0.9 percent for Network Distribution
Center (NDC) presort, and 0.8 percent for nonpresort.  The three-cent barcode discount
will also be eliminated.  Prices for Lightweight Parcel Select, formerly Standard Mail
commercial parcels, will increase by 8.9 percent in order to complete its transfer to the
competitive product list.  Also, the maximum dimensions for Regional Ground will
increase to accommodate any machinable parcel within this price category.  Finally, in
January 2012, the Intelligent Mail Package Barcode (IMpb) will provide customers with
free visibility for these parcels.

D. Parcel Return Service

Parcel Return Service prices will have an overall price increase of 4.6 percent. Prices for
parcels retrieved at a return Network Distribution Center (RNDC) will have a zero
percent overall increase, and prices for parcels picked up at a return delivery unit (RDU)
will increase 8.9 percent.  Additionally, the Postal Service’s suite of returns offerings,
including PRS, Merchandise Return Service, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail, and Package
Services, will have new “Return Service” branding.

Governors’ Decision No. 11-8  Page 4

E. Commercial First-Class Package Service
Commercial First-Class Mail parcels were recently transferred to the competitive product
list, and will be renamed Commercial First-Class Package Service.  This product is
positioned as a lightweight (less than one pound) offering used by businesses for
fulfillment purposes.  Overall, Commercial First-Class Package Service prices will
increase 3.7 percent, with no structural changes.  

F. Domestic Extra Services

Premium Forwarding Service prices will increase 3.4 percent.  The weekly reshipment
fee will increase to $15.25. On average, Address Enhancement Service prices will
increase 7.3 percent.  The 49 Post Office Box locations that were added to the
competitive product list in June 2010 will be joined by 6,800 additional Post Office Box
locations in January 2012.  Additional fee ranges for these boxes in Fee Groups 2
through 7 will be added as well.  Lastly, Package Intercept service will be introduced
within the Competitive Ancillary Services product, priced at $10.95.  

II. International Products

A. Expedited Services

International expedited services include Global Express Guaranteed (GXG) and Express
Mail International (EMI).  Overall, GXG prices will rise by 6 percent, and EMI will be
subject to an overall 11.6 percent increase.  Classification changes include changes to
published discounts.  In lieu of offering an across-the-board discount for customers using
approved postage payment methods, published discounts will be expanded to include
rate cell-specific discounted schedules for both GXG and EMI.  The commercial base
discount schedules replace the current across-the-board percentage discounts for
eligible shipments using selected payment methods.  Customers tendering at least
$100,000 in revenue per year for GXG, EMI, and Priority Mail International (PMI) may
request authorization for new commercial plus discounts. We are introducing two
versions of a new Express Mail International Flat Rate Box, with a maximum weight of
20 pounds. Customers pay a flat rate of $59.95 to Canada and $74.95 for all other
countries that accept Express Mail International.  Classification changes also include

Governors’ Decision No. 11-8  Page 5

country group assignments for the country of Tonga, and changes to the dimensional
limits for EMI.    
 

B. Priority Mail International

The overall increase for Priority Mail International (PMI) will be 8.7 percent.
Classification changes include the simplification of dimensional criteria for flat rate
envelopes and boxes, changes to the dimensional limits for PMI, and the introduction of
commercial base and commercial plus discounts as described for GXG and EMI.

C. International Priority Airmail and International Surface Air Lift

Published prices International Priority Airmail (IPA) will increase by 1.0 percent, and
International Surface Air Lift (ISAL) prices will increase by 13.7 percent.  

D. Airmail M-Bags

The published prices for Airmail M-Bags will increase by 3.5 percent.  

E. International Ancillary Services and Special Services

Prices for several international ancillary services and paper money orders will be
increased.  For international ancillary services, the overall increase is 5.0 percent.
Money order prices will increase by 4.7 percent.  

ORDER

The changes in prices and classes set forth herein shall be effective at 12:01 A.M. on
January 22, 2012.  We direct the Secretary to have this decision published in the
Federal Register in accordance with 39 U.S.C. § 3632(b)(2).  We also direct
management to file with the Postal Regulatory Commission appropriate notice of these
changes.

By The Governors:
Louis J. Giuliano
Chairman

USPS Must reduce costs by $20 Billion by 2015

« Sen. Sanders’ Bill Addresses USPS Crisis

NALC President Rolando speaks at National Press Club »

Postmaster General Urges Congress to Reevaluate Current Postal Reform Bills

 

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2011

In a speech delivered today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe encouraged Congress to step back and take a second look at postal reform legislation as currently drafted in the House and Senate.

Providing his first public commentary on postal reform packages, Donahoe argued for providing the Postal Service with a more flexible business model that would enable the Postal Service to quickly implement cost cutting measures. “Unfortunately, both bills have elements that delay tough decisions and impose greater constraints on our business model. Taken as they are, they do not come close to enabling cost reductions of $20 billion by 2015 – which they must do for the Postal Service to return to profitability.”

“If passed today, either bill would provide at best one year of profitability, and at least a decade of steep losses,” said Donahoe. “However, by taking the best of both the House and Senate approaches, Congress can provide the Postal Service with the legal framework and the business model it needs.”

The Postmaster General expressed his gratitude for the strong leadership and engagement of the Congress and the Administration in advancing reform legislation, and expressed confidence that an effective solution would be enacted. Both HR 2309 and S 1789 were introduced earlier this year to respond to an urgent liquidity crisis and to address long-term structural constraints in the Postal Service business model.

Throughout its recent fiscal crisis the Postal Service has advanced proposals that would allow it to operate more as a business would, with greater flexibility to quickly reduce costs and respond to a dynamic marketplace for mailing and shipping services.

The Postal Service is seeking changes in the law that would provide it with the authority to: determine delivery frequency; develop and price products quickly; control healthcare and retirement costs; rapidly realign mail processing, delivery and retail networks; operate under a streamlined governance model; and leverage its workforce with greater flexibility.

Within the constraints of its current business model, the Postal Service has aggressively cut costs, reducing the size of its workforce by 128,000 career employees and annual operating expenses by $12.5 billion over the past four years.

“America needs a Postal Service that can operate more like a business,” said Donahoe. “I have no doubt the Postal Service will endure as a great American institution. But to do so, we need to operate with a great business model.”

Germany Online Customer Dis-satisfaction

Poll finds 34% of German online shoppers return their purchases

Friday, November 18th, 2011

A third of German online shoppers are returning their purchases because they fall short of expectations, according to a new survey from software company Novomind.

The Hamburg-based firm polled 1,069 German internet shoppers between May and June, with the results underlining the huge importance of the returns delivery market at the moment.

The survey found one in 10 online shoppers were returning goods because the photographs and accompanying information gave a false impression of the products.

Fashion purchases were the most frequent items to be returned as unwanted, according to the study, with more than half of all customers revealing that they sent back garments because they did not like them, or because the clothing did not fit properly.

Other categories with a high returns rate included furniture and household goods, with 20% of shoppers stating that they had had home furnishings sent back.

Novomind said product returns could potentially “decimate” profits for online merchants, costing several euros in transport along with extra work in customer service and returns accounting.

It meant online retailers were very interested in finding ways to reduce the number of returned parcels.
Markus Rohmeyer, director and head of product information management at Novomind, said an important aspect for online retailers to get right was in presenting their products on their websites in an accurate and realistic way.
“The more information we can put together about a product from different sources, the more accurate the consumers’ impression and the better they can judge whether the article really is what they are looking for.”

Source: Post&Parcel/Novomind

14.1 Billion Loss Predicted for USPS in 2012

After $5.1 Billion Loss, Postal Service Predicts Weaker 2012

By BLOOMBERG NEWS

Published: November 15, 2011

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The United States Postal Service is forecasting a record $14.1 billion loss for the 2012 fiscal year as a drop in mail volumes accelerates.

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• Times Topics: Postal Service and Post Offices | United States Postal Service

“We continue to see steady declines, unfortunately, in first-class mail, which is our most profitable product,” the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, said at a board meeting in Washington on Tuesday. “We have to build tomorrow’s postal service based on revenue and volume projections as we look forward. We can’t look backward.”

The amount of mail delivered by the Postal Service will probably fall about 6 percent in fiscal 2012, exceeding the drop of about 2 percent a year earlier, said its chief financial officer, Joseph Corbett. Revenue is expected to decline to $64 billion in 2012, from $65.7 billion in 2011, he said.

Mail volumes have dropped more than 20 percent in the last five years, hurt by the recession and the increasing use of electronic communications. The service, which is supposed to support itself financially, is closing post offices and processing plants, cutting jobs and promoting the mailing of letters and packages.

The Postal Service, which also said it might run out of cash by next September, posted a 2011 net loss of $5.1 billion in the year ended Sept. 30 after a $5.5 billion benefits payment was delayed into fiscal 2012. The loss in 2010, when the agency made a benefits payment equal to the deferred one, was $8.5 billion.

The loss forecast for 2012 assumes that the agency will not make any of the $5.6 billion in retiree health payments coming due, Mr. Corbett said in a conference call with reporters.

In September, Congress delayed the benefits payment deadline until Friday. If that remains in place, the Postal Service will default on the payment, Mr. Corbett said.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week approved a bill intended to help the service remain solvent and to lengthen the payment schedule to its retiree health benefits fund.

Exigent Rate Request Could Take Months

USPS “exigent” rate rise may take months to decide, regulators warn

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

US regulators said today that any move by the US Postal Service to seek an “exigent” increase in postal rates could take months to review.

The Postal Regulatory Commission convened today for its first public meeting since the USPS decided to pursue its long-running bid for an above-inflation price rise to counter the financial impacts from the 2008-09 recession.
Officials said that they did not yet know what evidence the Postal Service would present to back up its latest effort to claw potentially $2.3bn in extra postal income through higher product pricing. USPS will have to present evidence to show the recession did have an “extraordinary” affect on its bottom line that was outside its control.

Even once evidentiary hearings are complete, the Commission could find it difficult to come to a decision on the rate change within a 90-day period.

“Based upon what we know now, it’s unlikely that we will have a decision on the case before early next year,” said Vice Chairman of the Commission Mark Acton today. “That’s our best guess at this time.”
However, a decision on the inflation-linked 2.1% postal rate rise proposed by the USPS for January 2012 could come from the Commission as early as Monday of next week, officials said.

Delays

The extraordinary scale of the changes that the near-bankrupt US Postal Service must go through to shave $20bn off its annual budget by 2015 is leading to a colossal regulatory bottleneck at the moment.
Along with the various product pricing changes, the USPS is looking to close thousands of post offices, hundreds of major mail processing plants and adjust its mail service standards to suit a collapsing First Class Mail volume. Meanwhile, the Postal Service is also looking to expand revenues with new or improved postal products, all of which could require regulatory attention.

The USPS proposals to close up to 3,700 post offices next year is already flooding the regulators with appeals cases.
The Postal Service confirmed publicly today that it is temporarily suspending all post office closures from November 19 to January 2 in order to focus on the holiday season surge in mail volumes, but the moratorium relates only to the physical closure of post offices. The closure review process, and notification of new post office closures, will continue.
The Commission received 61 separate appeals to post office closures in the last month alone, with the paperwork expected to build from there. Under the rules, the regulators have 120 days to come to a decision on a closure appeal.
The workload could cause difficulties in speeding a decision on any exigent rate proposal.
Ruth Goldway, the chairman of the Commission, said her hope was that USPS would improve its post office closure process so that the number of appeals would reduce. However, she expected that the process would still put considerable strain on the limited extra resources available to the Commission to cope with the USPS reforms and restructuring.

“We’re doubling up, multi-tasking, seeing what we can do to gain additional resources through the Administration,” she said, warning: “Our workload will continue to grow.”

Congress

Delays are also expected in Congress regarding much needed reforms to USPS pension and healthcare arrangements, as well as reforms to add more flexibility to the postal business.

Officials at the PRC said it appeared that the House and Senate were waiting for the Congressional “Supercommittee” to decide whether a national deficit plan should contain help for USPS before current bills move to the respective floors for the next legislative stage. The Supercommittee is expected to reveal its recommendations on November 23.
Word from Capitol Hill is that floor debates on the House and Senate bills could be scheduled for December, but are more likely to be bumped into 2012.

Nevertheless, Goldway said today she was a little more optimistic at the moment that signals from Congress were driving towards legislation being passed.

“All of us in the postal community feel somewhat more hopeful than we did the last time we had a public meeting, because both the House and the Senate seem to be focusing on the serious financial problems that the Postal Service has,” she said.

“We all may have somewhat different opinions about some of the aspects of the legislation, but in general we’re really pleased the Congress has taken on this issue.”

This week saw a Continuing Resolution released in Congress, which should be passed next week in order to keep the US government funded through to December, that is expected to give the Postal Service until December 18 to pay its already-delayed $5.5bn payment for pre-funding its Retiree Health Benefits Fund.

The resolution will give USPS more time to make its payment, though it does not currently intend to make the payment at all, with executives preferring to default if pushed.

USPS Running out of Cash

USPS to run out of cash in 2012, even without federal payments

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

The US Postal Service looks set to run out of cash by October 2012, even if it refuses to pay its $11.1bn government obligation to prefund future healthcare benefits for its retirees.

That was the warning from USPS chief financial officer Joe Corbett today as he commented on the Postal Service’s full-year results for the 2011 fiscal year.
The Postal Service recorded a $5.1bn loss this afternoon, which would have been $10.6bn had it not been for a two-month delay to its annual $5.5bn payment into its Retiree Health Benefit Fund.
Corbett said today that even if USPS continues to refuse to pay its prepayment obligations for this year and next, it was still looking like running out of cash by October next year.
He said: “Together with the 2012 payment, that’s $11.1bn – assuming we pay neither of those payments, we would still be looking at running out of cash by the end of next (fiscal) year. By mid-October we would get to the point where we would have plus or minus $100m in cash – that’s about four hours of operating cash for the Postal Service.”
Corbett said in a media conference call this afternoon that USPS was making significant cuts in its operating costs, but insisted that there are no plans to make cuts that will affect the quality of service.
He said: “We have a significant number of large payments due to the federal government, to the extent that we need to balance who gets paid and who doesn’t. We are paying our employees and our suppliers first, to ensure that we accomplish our mission, which is to protect the brand and deliver the mail.”

Payments resume

Corbett revealed today that USPS will have to resume its contributions into its federal pension fund, after receiving a Department of Justice ruling on its proposal to withhold payments since the fund has a $6.9bn surplus.
USPS chief financial officer Joe Corbett said he could not comment on the details of a letter sent by the DoJ regarding its ruling two weeks ago.
However, in a media conference call this afternoon, he said that in response to the DoJ, payments into the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) would resume as soon as early December, while the funds withheld since June would also be paid “as soon as is practicable”.
“Based on the input from the recent Department of Justice opinion, we’ve decided to begin paying the FERS payments on a bi-weekly basis, and will also pay slightly over $1bn of accumulated cash into the fund beginning next month,” Corbett confirmed.
The USPS CFO said the Postal Service would have enough cash to pay its pension contributions because of the extra mail volumes from the holiday season.
However, he said there was concern about how the Postal Service would cover its costs in the New Year, as volumes reduce once more.

Congress

The situation places an even greater importance on the passing of legislation by Congress to restructure the RHB fund prefunding and support for restructuring and downsizing at the Postal Service.
However, while the US Senate and House of Representatives have quite different proposals on rescuing the Postal Service, the US Deputy Postmaster General Ron Stroman told the press this afternoon that neither bill, in their current forms, would be enough to shore up the long-term sustainability of USPS.
Stroman said: “There are great elements in the bills moving through both the House and Senate, but it is fair to say that the cost reductions that we need to build solvency long-term neither of these bills gets us where we need to go. We are hopeful that we can work with both the House and Senate to move to where we need to go.”
In the mean time, widespread cutbacks in the USPS infrastructure will be made, including a massive downsizing in processing infrastructure and the closure of thousands of post offices.

Source: James Cartledge, Post&Parcel

USPS Going Digital ?

USPS should develop digital mailbox, says Inspector General

Monday, November 14th, 2011

The US Postal Service should develop its own digital mail service and secure archiving facility, a new white paper from the Office of the Inspector General’s office has recommended.

The fourth in a series of papers issued by the OIG this year looking at possible opportunities for USPS in the digital world, it proposes development of an eMailbox service and an eLockbox facility.
An eMailbox would be at the cornerstone of a secure, private and confidential network for consumers to communicate with each other, with users authenticated through a USPS verification process that might involve a visit to a post office with identification papers.
Linked to a person’s physical address, an eMailbox would allow a user to opt in to certain communications like opt-in marketing promotions, bills and statements as well as government communications. There would also be a hybrid mail element, with users able to send messages in electronic or physical form.
eMailbox addresses would make use of the Universal Postal Union’s “.post” domain along with a USPS signifier, along the lines of “benjamin.r.franklin@usps.post”. Corporations could also be registered with a corporate eMailbox, the paper suggested.
An associated eLockbox would provide, for a premium fee, a secure archiving and document management for user records, with the potential for consumers to open access to certain sub-folders to third parties.

Security

The recommendations for a USPS eMailbox come on the back of a review of digital mailboxes provided by foreign posts, including Deutsche Post and Israeli Post, and US-based private sector solutions including Doxo, Manilla, Zumbox, Volly and Google’s Postini.
The OIG paper argued that the private sector digital mail boxes in the US had the potential to sacrifice consumer privacy in the interest of advertisers, while stating that USPS would always have a “trusted” brand, backed by the regulation of the federal government.
Security for the USPS digital services would need to be above federal government standards, but a USPS eMailbox would have the enforcement power of the Postal Inspection Service to support it, said the OIG.
The paper said in the interest of privacy, an eMailbox database could not be shared with USPS business customers in the way the updated Address Management System is shared to help reduce undelivered letters.

Core competencies

In its paper, the OIG said the services would reflect a “natural extension” of the role of USPS in the physical world, building on core competencies and assets like its address and change-of-address databases.
Rather than looking to replace the physical mail network with a virtual system, assistant inspector general Mohammed Adra said at a recent mail industry seminar that USPS could “seamlessly” bring together the two.
“There will be both digital mail refugees and physical mail refugees in this revolution,” he said. “I think it would be a huge mistake to see this as an ‘either/or’. There are some that say ‘if it can be digital, it will be digital’, but you will always need the physical mail.”
Adra said the new eMailbox would be a “trusted platform” for communications in the way that a company like Visa has become regarding payment.

Source: Post&Parcel/USPS OIG

Senate Committee Sends USPS Bill to the Senate Floor

Senate committee approves bipartisan Postal Service reform bill

Thursday - 11/10/2011, 8:22am  ET

By EMILY KOPP

@ekopp
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Emily Kopp, reporter, Federal News Radio

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The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Wednesday approved a bipartisan plan to cut the Postal Service's costs so it can return to profitability. The legislation is the latest effort to salvage the Postal Service, which expects to lose $10 billion this year. The agency attributes its financial problems to a workforce and network of facilities that are too big for its mission in an era dominated by the Web.The bill combines Democratic and Republican proposals to pave the way for the USPS to shed jobs, close post offices and reduce mail delivery with certain restrictions.
It would return $7 billion in Federal Employee Retirement Service (FERS) payments to the Postal Service so that it could offer "compassionate early retirement incentives" to 100,000 employees, said committee ranking member Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), ranking member. (Photo: Emily Kopp)

The legislation focuses on cutting the workforce and trimming benefits because labor is 80 percent of the agency's costs, she said.It also would impose new limits on workers' compensation that federal unions oppose. That measure led Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) to vote against the bill. He was the only lawmaker to do so.
"The bill reported by the committee makes unnecessary and unfair cuts to elderly disabled employees' benefits, including retroactive changes that will reduce benefits for many who are already injured," Akaka said in a written statement after the vote.
Yet the 9-1 vote masks contention within the committee that could resurface when the bill goes to the full Senate. Committee members debated more than 40 amendments to the bill.
Conservative lawmakers argued the bill would not give the Postal Service enough flexibility to streamline operations. The bill, as amended, would let USPS end Saturday delivery and close rural post offices only after exhausting other cost-cutting measures.
"This is a slow death," said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). "We have an opportunity to fix things and give them power to do what they need to do and we're not letting them go far enough."
Coburn said he supported legislation similar to a bill approved in October by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. That bill would give a new control board authority to restructure the Postal Service's operations and network. It awaits a House vote.
Committee debate also reflected the populist anger with corporate CEO salaries and bonuses that have led to protests like Occupy Wall Street.
"If our employees have to sacrifice, there is no reason on God's green earth why the administrators shouldn't sacrifice too," said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). He proposed an amendment to prevent Postal executives from receiving bonuses and cap the postmaster general's salary at $174,000, which is what U.S. Senators earn. That is roughly $100,000 less than Postmaster General Pat Donahoe makes now.
The pay cap would send the wrong message to leaders responsible for turning around the Postal Service, argued Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a sponsor of the underlying bill. He pledged to work with Tester on a less severe amendment that they could offer when the bill comes before the full Senate.
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) promised a vote on the Senate floor as soon as possible, said Sen. Joseph Lieberman(I-Conn.), the committee's chairman.

USPS Bailout Package Sent to the Senate

USPS rescue package passes out of Senate committee

The US Senate’s Government Affairs committee passed the bipartisan 21st Century Postal Service Act, which will now face a hearing by the full Senate.

The Act proposes to provide a $6.9bn rebate to the struggling USPS to help it cut its work force by 100,000, restructure its multi-billion dollar healthcare prefunding obligations and allow sale of additional non-postal products.

This week’s hearing saw the Senate committee adding new requirements for retail standards when closing post offices, while rejecting proposals to immediately allow a move to five-day-a-week delivery, leaving in place the proposal for a two-year ban on eliminating Saturday deliveries.

USPS Requests Additional Increase

USPS will pursue bid for above-inflation postal rate increase

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

The US Postal Service told regulators today that it will pursue its request to make an above-inflation or “exigent” increase in postal rates.

The move came after USPS was told to declare its intention quickly by the Postal Regulatory Commission as they refused a delay in the process on the grounds that it would prolong uncertainty for mailers.

USPS wanted to delay the process of seeking an “exigent” postal rate rise – a price increase above its usual inflation-linked price cap – to allow time for Congress to sort out comprehensive postal reform legislation.

The process continues last year’s attempt to secure a 5.6% increase in prices for Postal Service products in order to avoid a financial crisis in the wake of the 2008-09 global recession.

The case has been through the US courts after the regulators rejected the request last autumn, on the grounds that it wasn’t only the recession that had caused the USPS financial problems.

Today, USPS attorneys said in the filing it will pursue its case, but in order to do so, needs to carry out extra analysis to work out what portion of its mail volume losses can be attributed to the global recession.

The Postal Service said the rates proposed in the original exigent case were now “unworkable”, since 16 months had passed since the proposals were made, but suggested that it could accept the Commission’s estimate that the recession had cost it $2.3bn in terms of the extra funds to be recovered from higher postal rates.

“If the plan outlined above is acceptable to the Commission, the Postal Service will proceed with filing its witness statements and any further legal analysis by November 21st,” said the USPS filing.

Commenting on its case, the Postal Service said continuing uncertainty that Congress will pass a rescue package meant that it had “little choice but to proceed with the case for now”.

“If legislation passes that promotes the Postal Service’s financial stability, the Postal Service will review its position any may choose to withdraw the case if warranted,” it said.

Canadian Mail Delays

Customer Update: Change Continues to Impact Postal Service

*         Canada Post is experiencing service issues in certain areas of the
country.
*         These challenges are being caused primarily by transition issues
related to a massive investment in new technology and processes throughout
Canada Post's network.
*         This investment is required as much of the equipment used in our
mail processing facilities is over 20 years old, and the processes used to
deliver the mail were first introduced in the early 1970s.
*         For this reason, we are investing $2 billion in new technology and
processes to improve our equipment, reduce costs and better position the
postal system to cope with declining mail volumes.
*         The scale of the network-wide changes being introduced represents
a tremendous challenge. Mail flows are being disrupted by the technology
change over.
*         Canada Post has undertaken more change in the past four years than
in the previous 40 years.
*         The company is now working through the complexities of changing
its infrastructure while attempting to maintain normal operations.
*         We are taking steps to resolve the current challenges by providing
employees with additional training on new equipment and hiring additional
staff where needed.
*         The measures being taken are starting to help.
*         All of us at Canada Post take pride in our service and understand
the frustration experienced by some customers in recent months.
*   We appreciate your patience as we take steps to improve service. Our
objective is to use these changes to offer customers better service at lower
costs over the long-term.

*   Your Canada Post Sales and Service team will keep you updated on our
progress going forward.

Christmas Last Mailing Dates

The United States Postal Service Announces 2011 Holiday Mail-by Dates

WASHINGTON — As the “Official Shipper of the Holidays,” the United States Postal Service today released the suggested mail-by dates to ensure packages, cards, and letters reach  their intended destination before the 2011 celebrations begin. Dates are provided as a guide for dropping holiday wishes into the mail. Customers who use the United States Postal Service as their“Official Shipper of the Holidays” can trust the Postal Service will provide reliable, trusted and secure delivery at home or abroad.  Postmarking for domestic mail — mailed from and delivered within the U.S. — and international mail  destined for overseas should occur by: Domestic Mail Product Mail-by Date First-Class Mail Dec. 20 Priority Mail Dec. 21 Express Mail Dec. 22 Parcel Post Dec. 15 DNDC Drop Ship Dec. 19 DDU Drop Ship Dec. 22 International Mail Addressed To Global Express Guaranteed® (GXG)1*** Express Mail® Inter-national (EMS)2 Priority Mail® Inter-national (PMI)3 First-Class Mail® Africa Dec-20 Dec-10 Dec-2 Dec-2 Asia/Pacific Rim Dec-19 Dec-15 Dec-9 Dec-9 Australia/New Zealand Dec-19 Dec-15 Dec-9 Dec-9 Canada Dec-21 Dec-16 Dec-12 Dec-9 Caribbean Dec-20 Dec-15 Dec-12 Dec-9 Central & South America Dec-20 Dec-10 Dec-2 Dec-2 Mexico Dec-21 Dec-15 Dec-9 Dec-9 Europe Dec-20 Dec-15 Dec-12 Dec-9 Middle East Dec-20 Dec-15 Dec-12 Dec-9 ***GXG Notes: 1) Cutoff date does not take into account time needed for customs clearance. 2) Should allocate extra transit day(s) for delivery outside major cities. 3) Last day to ship to Afghanistan is Dec 19 and Iraq is Dec 16. “We suggest holiday shippers both in and outside the country use one of our Priority Mail  products to send gifts and good wishes,” said Gary Reblin, vice president Domestic Products. “The Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes come in a variety of sizes and are always free. Remember — ‘if it fits it ships’ for a low flat rate.”  The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of  postage, products and services to fund its operations.