Candidates Use Direct Mail to Get Voters

Associated Press

USPS posts employee statistics

The Postal Rate Commission web site has the latest 'On Rolls and Paid Employees' (ORPES) report, summarizing the USPS career workforce. This report is to be posted bi-weekly on the site in the future. The USPS last week posted a more detailed report, the 'Active Employee Statistical Summary'.

Letter carrier hero honored for fast action

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

UPS Raises Shipping Rates

"Rates for UPS Ground, UPS Next Day Air, UPS 2nd Day Air, UPS 3 Day Select and U.S. international services will rise 2.9 percent."
DMNews.com

Internal e-mail reveals Postal Service may have mishandled ballots

"The same day postal officials publicly denied responsibility for 58,000 missing absentee ballots, an internal e-mail sent by the South Florida District Manager to his employees expressed concern that his staff was not handling ballots within the region properly."
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Florida County Plays Down Missing Ballots Scare

Fears that thousands of absentee election ballots had gone astray in a hotly contested Florida county appear to have been allayed on Thursday when officials said a far small number were missing.
Reuters

Avery offers personalized stamps

MadeForOne.com

North Carolina carrier tells police man shot at her

Shelby Star

Mailers: RPN Fee Should Be Part of Rate Case

DMNews.com

Commentary: USPS Gets Nothing From Senate Tax Bill

DMNews.com

Magistrate recommends commitment for accused mailbox bomber

Duluth Tribune

U.S. Postal Service selects Israeli scanning and tracking systems

"The USPS has selected Motorola Israel from among nine competitors to provide $300 million in scanning and tracking systems over the next three years."
Arutz Sheva

ICANN approves .post domain

"The Universal Postal Union in Bern, Switzerland, wants ".post" for national postal services, local post offices, business partners and stamp collectors around the world. Private companies that provide postal services, such as Federal Express and UPS, also would be eligible."
Domain Times

Florida postal inspectors hunt for missing ballots

An update on the missing absentee ballots in Broward County, from the Jurist weblog at the University of Pittsburgh Law School... and click here to read the USPS press release denying any "backlog of absentee ballots in Postal Service facilities".

Mailer Groups Mixed on New USPS Standard Mail Rules

"Mailing industry observers gave mixed reactions to the U.S. Postal Service's new rules for standard mail eligibility and centralized structure for making pricing and classification decisions. In a press conference Wednesday, USPS VP Stephen Kearney unveiled new rules governing what mailings qualify for standard mail (as opposed to the more expensive first class)."
DIRECT

USPS Board Accepts PRC's Decision on Discover NSA

DMNews.com
click here to view the text of the Board's decision.

Teens to Stand Trial for Postal Worker's Murder

KDKA TV Pittsburgh

USPS publishes new Standard Mail eligibility standards

The revised standards clarify the circumstances in which mail containing 'personal' information may be eligible for Standard Mail, rather than First-Class Mail, rates. The USPS also published yesterday a proposed rule 'to require an endorsement requesting forwarding or return on certain mailpieces containing checks sent at Standard Mail postage rates.'
Federal Register

Broward officials blame U.S. Postal Service over missing ballots

Broward County officials blamed the USPS Tuesday for misplacing nearly half of the absentee ballots requested in the county, as frustrated voters trying to find out what happened overwhelmed phone lines at the elections office.
Associated Press

Postal Carriers Have Heavy Load Before Election

KELO TV Sioux Falls, SD

Postal unions address cutbacks

Budget cutbacks are accomplishing what neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night could do: making the mail late and a mailbox harder to find. That's according to officials with three unions, who charged yesterday that Postal Service cutbacks have led to slower deliveries and fewer collection boxes on Manhattan sidewalks.
New York Daily News

Delayed Maine plant project restarting

A sprawling mail-processing plant planned for the Scarborough-South Portland line is moving forward after a two-year delay.
Portland Press Herald

USPS Board sets agenda for meeting November 4 in Washington

Federal Register

USPS faces first USERRA appeal

"In the Postal Service case, the reservist alleged that his military duties were the motivating factor in his dismissal from a 16-week associate supervisory training program. The Labor Department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service - which is the first office to see veterans' employment cases - determined that the complaint had merit, but the agency could not reach a settlement with the Postal Service. The case was then turned over to OSC."
Government Executive

Postal managers may face tougher performance-pay standards in ’05

"The U.S. Postal Service and leaders of postal management organizations are considering tougher standards for pay-for-performance raises in fiscal 2005. ... [NAPS President Vince] Palladino said that under draft goals, higher percentages of second-day Priority mail, overnight, second-day and third-day first-class mail must be delivered on time. The number of sick days and accidents in fiscal 2005 must be lower than the previous year. There would be no change in the next-day Express mail delivery rates, Palladino said."
Federal Times

Seasonal postal work a holiday tradition for some

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Pitney Bowes Reports Higher 3Q Earnings

Associated Press

Mail-sorting glitch gives some ballots a heave-ho

The Oregonian

NALC responds to Bush accusations against letter carriers

The Bush campaign has accused carriers of "failing to deliver election mail in Florida and other states 'from homes that appear Republican'". NALC President Bill Young responded "It is a shame the Bush-Cheney campaign chose to denigrate the reputation of hard-working letter carriers across the nation by publicizing these unsubstantiated rumors without any evidence of their validity. The Bush-Cheney campaign owes every letter carrier in America an apology."

Click on comments to read the text of the Bush letter.

Is time right for bulk-mail pictorial permits?

"If the photo-stamp experiment is not revived, Vermont stamp collector John A. Lutz thinks his idea for a form of personalized postage could be a likely replacement, especially for bulk mailers. The photo-stamp project, which was operated experimentally by Stamps.com of Los Angeles, ended Sept. 30 after seven weeks. The United States Postal Service is evaluating the program. For three decades, Lutz, publisher of a line of high-priced stamp albums, has been championing the use of pictorial bulk-mail permits."

The States Want to Tax a Tax!

Gene Del Polito commentary for DIRECT

Rural carriers ratify contract extension

Tennessee Rural Letter Carriers web site

Postal Employees Invited to Join Class-Action Suit on 'Clock Rings'

"Postal employees have been invited to join a lawsuit against the Postal Service if their clock rings were arbitrarily deleted by management in order to avoid overtime pay. Private attorneys representing four postal employees – including two APWU members – have filed a lawsuit against the USPS, and are seeking to establish the suit as a nationwide class action."
APWU News Bulletin

Railway mail clerk witnesses end of an era

Retired RPO clerk reminisces about the end of the Railway Post Office service, thirty-seven years ago this month.
Wytheville (VA) Enterprise

Deputy PMG Says Agency Working on PhotoStamps Decision

The U.S. Postal Service is evaluating whether it will let Stamps.com continue offering PhotoStamps, according to deputy postmaster general John Nolan, speaking at the Direct Marketing Association's fall conference.
DMNews.com

UPS Net Income Rises 20% in Q3

"United Parcel Service reported solid third-quarter growth yesterday, with revenue rising 7.7 percent and net income increasing 20.4 percent. For the three months ended Sept. 30, worldwide average daily volume rose by 445,000 packages to 13.7 million, or 3.4 percent."
DMNews.com

NALC preparing national grievances on DOIS and COR

"I have asked the CAU to prepare national level Interpretive Step grievances protesting the use of the DOIS and the COR programs," Young said. "I am deeply troubled that the Postal Service is making a number of important decisions on the basis of information contained in these two systems that I think is flawed."
NALC President Bill Young in the NALC Bulletin

Stamps.com reports 1st-ever profitable quarter

Los Angeles Business Journal

Advo 4Q Profit Falls 10 Percent

"Direct mail company Advo Inc. reported Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 10 percent because of start up costs at new facilities in Southern California and Pittsburgh and minor losses from Florida hurricanes, but still beat analysts' estimates for the quarter."
Press release

FedEx Rebrands Parcel Direct as FedEx SmartPost

Press release

Clerk Delivers Joy to Berkeley (CA) Post Office Regulars

When Tom Citron says he'll buy you dinner if you catch him in a bad mood, it's not an idle promise. "I mean a nice dinner," Citron explains, "I know some excellent chefs in San Francisco. We're not talking McDonalds."
North Gate News Online

NALC: MSPB Ruling (With USPS Assist) Weakens Anti-Violence Statement

NALC Bulletin

Commentary: Postal Reform: There's More Work to Do

"The good news in the fight for postal reform is that there has been more legislative progress during the current session of Congress than there has been since John McHugh started the crusade in 1995."
DMA Government Affairs committee chair John Van Horn writing in Catalog Age

Decision Time

"You need to dig deep to determine whether a second George W. Bush presidency or a John Kerry presidency would be best for catalog businesses. The key political issues of concern to catalogers — use taxes, postal affairs, privacy regulation — obviously aren't commanding the same attention as the war in Iraq, terrorism, or unemployment rates."
Catalog Age

Getting better at going postal

"Pitney Bowes is using new technology to take the mailroom to places where it's never been."
Reuters

What Can We Expect With The Next Rate Case Filing?

"Current projections point to increases that will average between seven percent and 12 percent across all classes of mail. Obviously, if those are the average numbers, some rates will increase more while other rates will experience smaller increases. Unfortunately, it looks like Periodicals and Standard Mail will be hit the hardest."
Commentary by Joe Schick, Director of Postal Affairs, Quad/Graphics

You've got political mail: facing the campaign flood

"One piece looks like an express envelope sent overnight, complete with a tracking number and the signature of the sender: Democrat John Kerry. Another has a voter-registration application folded inside a card featuring an image of Ronald Reagan, the popular Republican president who died this year after a long battle with Alzheimer's...."
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Box is secure, but mail isn't coming

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

UPU Adopts Five-Day Standard for International Priority

DMNews.com

Stamps.com Q3 Financials Conference Call Tomorrow

The call will be webcast via the the Investor Relations website.
Press release

USPS International VP to Lead Group in Global Postal Congress

USPS Vice President of International Business, James Wade, has been elected chairman of the Postal Operations Council of the Universal Postal Union
Press release

Backlog at border delaying international mail: Canada Post

"As many as 150,000 packages – about 45 tractor-trailer loads – are waiting to clear customs at the Vancouver processing plant. Post office officials say they understand the need for tight security, but say a five week delay is just too much."
CBC

Why FedEx Is Flying High

"Take one eerily prescient CEO. Stir in some savvy acquisitions. Execute like no one else. Result: returns that soar above the pack."
Fortune

Mailman charged with throwing away 'junk' mail

Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record

Military post office workers help build morale in Iraq

"In a deployed environment, morale is very important and comes in many forms, shapes and sizes, but often by mail."
Air Force Link

Phone, e-mail Get Top ROI in New DMA Survey

Call it a study in contrasts. Americans have signed up for the Do Not Call List in droves, but people are still responding to the ring. A Direct Marketing Association response rate survey released yesterday put telephone marketing at the top of the chart for ROI, with a 5.78% average response rate.
DIRECT

Former postmaster sues for gender discrimination

Beaufort (SC) Gazette

Charities protest Combined Federal Campaign rule for employee "terrorism" checks

One of the largest national nonprofit associations in the United States on Oct. 12 condemned the Combined Federal Campaign’s requirement for participating charities to check their employees against terrorist watch lists.
Federal Times
In a related story, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported last month that "The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has warned 12 big charity coalitions that raise money through the Combined Federal Campaign that they have violated federal regulations and must fix problems in their operations or risk getting kicked out of the drive."

APWU: Bush Nominates Postal Worker Foe to Board of Governors

APWU News Bulletin

Dumped Donations

More about the Tacoma P&D recycling controversy.
Tacoma Tribune

Direct marketers feeling the pressure from spam filters and the do not call list are going back to traditional direct mail

Crain's B to B magazine reports in the October issue that DM spending is up, "but the real excitement is centered around good old-fashioned direct mail". The article cautions that "The key factor that could slow down direct mail's growth is a postal rate increase. Postal reform, which made significant progress last year because of the work of a presidential commission, has stalled in both chambers of Congress."

Commentary: Postal Water Torture

Gene Del Polito for DIRECT

FBI increases reward in ricin case

"The FBI has increased a reward to $120,000 for information leading to an arrest of anyone responsible for leaving a package containing the deadly poison ricin at a South Carolina postal facility a year ago."
Charlotte Observer

Leaking insecticide sickened postal workers

"A chemical that sickened several postal workers and closed a mail annex for several hours Wednesday night was identified as Diazinon, an insecticide banned from residential use."
Rocky Mountain News

White Powder Still Making News 3 Years Later

"It has been three years since anthrax infiltrated the U.S. mail system, and it's still on the minds of many as reports of white powder close offices, newspapers, postal facilities and mail firms around the country on a weekly basis."
DMNews.com

Police, postal workers and worried wife watch carrier deliver mail

"The worried wife of a postal employee drives down Clanton Street. U.S. Postal Service officials canvas one block, Shreveport police patrol the other. All to ensure that the letter carrier is out of harm's way while delivering mail in the 1400 and 1500 blocks of the Caddo Heights street."
Shreveport Times

PRC OKs Priority Mail Flat-Rate Box Test

The Postal Rate Commission approved the U.S. Postal Service's proposal for a two-year experiment to test two flat-rate Priority Mail boxes. The rate for the boxes is $7.70, regardless of package weight and destination. The USPS chose the rate for customer convenience: Two Priority Mail $3.85 stamps will cover the postage exactly, with no need to look up zone charts or weigh the parcel. Consumers or businesses, however, can put any type of stamps or meter strips on the boxes.
DMNews.com

PRC Backs Discover NSA

The Postal Rate Commission approved the U.S. Postal Service's proposal for a three-year negotiated service agreement with Discover Financial Services Inc.
DMNews.com

APWU posts final national election results

APWU web site (Adobe .pdf file)

Trashing this program means everybody loses

A local Postal Service program that salvaged books, merchandise and CDs from piles of dead mail has been killed by a new manager. The program, created in 1998 by employees at the Tacoma Processing and Distribution Center, generated thousands of dollars in donations to nonprofit agencies and saved thousands of dollars in landfill fees.
Tacoma News Tribune

Postage Behind New Mexico Voter Ballot Scam

The Albuquerque Journal reports in its print edition that voters casting absentee ballots are receiving telephone calls "telling them the postage is wrong, then offering to pick up the ballots in an attempt to make sure votes for their respective candidate or interest get in". The USPS and the county clerk's office say the calls are some kind of scam, and that the postage on the ballots is correct- the newspaper was unable to track down the callers.

Postal plant closures mean delays for parcel delivery in Canada

The Calgary Herald reports that "a change in how the U.S. Postal Service routes packages into Western Canada means it's probably a good time for Calgary Christmas shoppers to buy Canadian." The story says that "Calgary is in for its first holiday season without a postal clearing house that handles American parcels". It quotes a spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency as saying that the USPS opted not to ship parcels to Calgary or Winnipeg, so incoming mail centers there have been closed.
Calgary Herald (subsciption site)

Hamilton P&D slowly recovering from anthrax attack, cleanup

"Three years after Mercer County learned it was the starting point for the nation's first bioterrorism attack, the Route 130 mail facility where at least four anthrax-laced letters were processed slowly is returning to life. The first-known anthrax letters were postmarked Sept. 18, but it wasn't until three years ago today that officials announced the letters passed through the U.S. Postal Service's Route 130 mail distribution and processing facility in Hamilton."
Trenton Times

Postmasters to Connect with Local Businesses

"USPS is launching a new program that will reward Postmasters for connecting with their local businesses. The effort is an extension of Customer Connect and seeks to educate local businesses on USPS.com and how it can serve all business segments. The new program intends to use Postmasters and station managers to create awareness of USPS.com with businesses and business leaders."
Postmasters.org

Canada Post Re-launches Picture Stamps

Canada Post web site

Lawmakers doubt Bush's commitment to postal reform

"Lawmakers of both parties are frustrated by the White House’s inaction on legislation to overhaul the way the U.S. Postal Service operates. House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., is frustrated that the White House does not appear to recognize the urgency of reforming the Postal Service and has not lent its clout to advance the bills, said Davis spokesman David Marin."
Federal Times

Bush Nominates Carolyn L. Gallagher, Louis J. Giuliano to BOG

Giuliano is Chairman of the Board of Directors of ITT Industries, Inc. Gallagher was a member of the Bush Commission on the Postal Service- the commission's web site says she is "currently an investor and advisor to several businesses".

ADVO Declares Quarterly Dividend

ADVO announced today that its Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share of common stock payable on November 5, 2004, to stockholders of record on October 22, 2004.
Press release

Royal Mail could be privatised during next parliament

"Any sell-off of the Royal Mail would be contentious, sparking a clash with trade unionists. The Communication Workers Union is looking for assurance that there will be no sale. Allan Leighton, the Royal Mail chairman, is said to favour a partial sell-off with workers getting shares as part of a motivation package."
DMBulletin

ADVO Names Scott Harding CEO

Press release

Armed robbers hit Tennessee Post Office: $25,000 reward is offered

A reward of $25,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of two men who robbed a Tennessee Post Office at gunpoint last Wednesday.
Tullahoma (TN) News

Growing Global Mail: Opportunities and Obstacles

Commentary by Michael J. Critelli, Chairman/CEO of Pitney Bowes Inc for DMNews.com

Postal carriers aid search for child

Postal carriers distributed nearly 60,000 fliers as the search continued yesterday for 3-year-old Tyreek Davis, who was last seen with his mother's boyfriend more than a week ago.
Richmond Times Dispatch

Customers say good bye to letter carrier/reservist being deployed overseas

Residents give a temporary good-bye to McKeesport postal worker Francis Rozgonyi who's set to be deployed by the military.
McKeesport (PA) Daily News

Commentary: Did PhotoStamps Have to be Cancelled?

"At a time when first-class mail use has been declining, and is facing further declines in the years to come, if a few miscreants want to spend more than twice the cost of a stamp to put controversial figures on 'em, power to them."
DIRECT

Wales: Panic-attack postman hid 110 mailbags

A postman who delayed almost 25,000 postal packets when he could not cope with the job was sentenced to eight months in jail suspended for two years today.
ic Wales

DMA Chief to Members: Postal Reform Looks Dead...For Now

Catalog Age

Appropriations Shortage Could Hurt USPS

"Most mailers are aware that the size of a postage rate increase in 2006 could grow heavily if postal reform legislation is not signed into law during this session of Congress. What they might not know is that the current lack of funding in both the House and Senate postal appropriations bills could force postage rates to rise even higher."
DMNews.com

Ex-Postal Official Admits Taking Nearly $800,000 in Bribes

A former purchasing specialist for the U.S. Postal Service pleaded guilty yesterday to accepting nearly $800,000 in bribes from businesses that received preferential treatment on printing contracts.
Washington Post

Merck will pay UPS costs to return Vioxx

"Merck had instructed buyers to return unused pills in the original pharmacy packaging, along with the receipt, by U.S. mail for a refund. But USPS rules allow only manufacturers, pharmacies and licensed vendors to mail prescription drugs. Merck spokeswoman Anita Larsen said the company had gotten complaints about mailing problems, and, starting today, will change its refund instructions."
St Louis Post Dispatch

Postage snag won't halt mail-in ballots

Arizona Republic

DHL Smart & Global Mail Forms From 3 Firms

DMNews.com

Box of watches makes time stand still at post office

Houston Chronicle

DHL makes US push, takes on rivals FedEx, UPS

Reuters

Texas Postal Worker Attacked

KGBT TV Harlingen, TX

Psychologist pleads guilty in disability fraud case

Albany Business Review

APWU posts election updates

The APWU is posting results of their national election as ballots are counted: "Unofficial results are being posted and will be updated frequently. Official results will be posted as soon as they are certified by the Election Committee, and will be published in the November/December edition of The American Postal Worker."

23rd UPU Congress Completes Work

DMNews.com

NALC: Bush derails postal reform

NALC Bulletin

Letter carriers overtake clerks

According to the August payroll report of the Postal Service, dated September 6, there were 228,016 city letter carriers on the rolls and 226,984 clerks, making city carriers the largest USPS craft.
NALC Bulletin

UPS to Acquire Menlo Worldwide Forwarding

UPS acquires the CNF subsidiary that formerly operated the USPS Priority Mail Processing Centers.
Press release

USPS publishes August Financial Results

The USPS reported net income of $32 million in August. With one month left to report for the fiscal year, net income for the year stood at $2.8 billion, with revenue virtually flat compared to 2003, and expenses up by 2.1%.

Union Election Results to be Posted on APWU Web Site

APWU News & Events

Commentary: Has the USPS Lived Up to Its Mandate?

Murray Comarow in DMNews

Over 600,000 PhotoStamps Ordered on Final Day of Market Test

Press release

Georgia post office held up at gunpoint

WALB TV Albany GA

Postal Service delivers single sign-on

NetworkWorld

Lockheed Martin Wins Big U.S. Postal Service Contract

Lockheed Martin has been chosen by the U.S. Postal Service to provide managed network services in a potential $6 billion deal. Under the program, the postal service will integrate all postal data communications networks including the wide area network (WAN) and local area networks (LAN) into a single network service.
Washington Business Journal

Pitney Bowes to Acquire Ancora

Press release

FedEx Kinko's Launches Packing Service

Press release

Manually set electronic meters must be retired by 5/31/2005

Federal Register

Mailers Make Late Push for Postal Reform

DMNews.com

Stamp has Utahn on cloud 9

Deseret News

Click on the stamp image for more information on the Cloudscapes series from USPS.com

Taiwanese-American postmaster makes 'American Dream' come true in Cleveland

WKYC TV

Stamp Bandits Raiding USPS Machines

KGTV San Diego

USPS Plans Online Problem Reporting

DMNews.com