Wednesday, August 31

Hurricane may delay married TSP participants' loans, withdrawals

Government Executive

Keeping Direct Mail Out of Katrina's Wake

MultiChannel Merchant

USPS Employee Emergency Hotline Number

Employees in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina can call the USPS Emergency Hotline Number for updates on facilty closings. The nationwide toll free number is 1- 888-EMERGNC (1-888-363-7462)

TSP: Hurricane Katrina Announcement

TSP web site

Report: $51 million in 'casual in lieu of' settlements in Philadelphia, Wilmington

21st Century Postal Worker Message Exchange

Hurricane Katrina: Contact Information

APWU News

Greco Advises DMers on Reaction to Katrina

DMNews.com

Hurricane Katrina Update

USPS.com

Saturday, August 27

Commentary: Turf Wars and the New Mail at the Postal Service

'The problem with CD/DVD mail is that the rules, designed to ensure that mail pieces claiming discounted rates can be processed on letter sorting machines, are useless in evaluating CD mail designs. Most CD/DVD mailers that comply with letter processing regulations are not compatible with letter processing equipment.'
Postvcom.org

Thursday, August 18

Strasser: Current Reform Bills Would Be 'Disastrous' for USPS

DMNews.com
... and there is more on Strasser's comments at Postcom.org.

Worker diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease at Brentwood facility

Newsday

Mail Volume Is Not Eroding, Pitney Bowes Study Finds

DMNews.com

USPS releases June and July Financials

'Total Mail Volume for July, FY 2005 was 227 million pieces or 1.4% under SPLY. First-Class Mail volume declined by 394 million pieces or 5.0%. Standard Mail volumes, at 164 million pieces or 2.2% over SPLY, continue to be positive primarily because of the increasing strength of direct marketing channels. Additionally, Periodicals were 13 million or 1.8% over SPLY.

'Year-to-date, Total Mail Volume is 2.6% or 4.5 billion pieces over SPLY. Over 2.4 billion of the 4.5 billion pieces increase occurred in November 2004. The most significant mail volume increase over SPLY for YTD is in the lower revenue-per-piece Standard Mail category, which increased 4.5 billion pieces or 5.7%. YTD, First-Class Mail volume is 0.1% less than SPLY generating $391 million or 1.3% less revenue than SPLY.'

USPS.com

Sunday, August 14

USPS Pocket Change Please

Bush is willing to spend almost $300 billion in porkbarrel projects, but won't give the USPS back it's own money because of 'adverse budget impacts'?
e-NAPUS Legislative Newsletter

Thursday, August 11

CNN probe finds weak link in air security

'... for three straight days, outside Chicago's busy O'Hare International Airport, at the U.S. Postal Service Chicago International/Military Service Center, CNN found gates unlocked and wide open, and open containers left at the side of the road.'
CNN

Ex-carrier gets probation for keeping 2,200 letters

Chicago Tribune

Tuesday, August 9

GAO urges training about suspicious mail

Associated Press
Click here to view the GAO report

RPW numbers updated

The RPW (Revenue, Pieces and Weight) reports posted last week have now been updated with year to date data. The link above is for the Adobe .pdf version- click here for a .csv version that can be opened in Excel.

USPS Begins Premium Forwarding Test

DMNews.com

Monday, August 8

Saturday, August 6

APWU Members Ratify Contract Extension

APWU News

USPS releases June Financial Results

The USPS had a net loss of $75 million in June, but year to date income is still positive at $1.7 billion. The growth in revenue at 1.7% above the prior year still falls far short of the 4% growth in expenses however. Click here for the .pdf version, or here for the Excel version.

Thursday, August 4

White House plan missing Senate stamp of approval

Government Executive

Mediator calls UPS, pilots union to Washington

Reuters

Quarter 3 Mail Volumes Released

Revenue, Pieces and Weight data for the three month period ending June 30 show total mail volume increasing by 2.4%, or about 2 billion pieces. Standard mail accounted for half of the increase, while first class mail rose only slightly. First class single piece volume dropped 4%, while first class presort rose by the same amount. Priority, Express and package services all showed healthy increases over the prior year. (As of early this morning, Fiscal Year to Date RPW data has not been posted on the USPS RPW site.)

FedEx Pilots Plan Picketing in Alaska

DMNews.com

Wednesday, August 3

USPS Board: Without Reform, Rate Increase in 2007

DMNews.com
Click here to read the statement by BOG Chair James Miller

Postal Service may deliver drugs in case of pandemic, official says

Associated Press

Deal to move postal reform in Senate hits snag

Postcom reports that agreement had been reached between the White House and Senate Republicans to move the postal reform bill on Friday, but that a 'hold' by Senator 'Kit' Bond (R-MO) sank the effort.