'Eleventh-hour criticisms'
'The U.S. Postal Service’s "eleventh-hour criticisms" of postal reform legislation have surprised reform supporters on Capitol Hill, who appear adamant that the biggest change the Postal Service is seeking will not take place.'
Federal Times
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Houston Mail Deliveries to Resume
'The U.S. Postal Service said on Saturday that it would resume delivery and retail operations wherever possible in Houston today, following the evacuation of large portions of the city and the onshore arrival of Hurricane Rita over the weekend.'
DIRECT
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DM Views: A Government Monopoly on Words?
'May the federal government prohibit use of words such as 'Social Security,' 'Medicaid' and other public policy terms on carrier envelopes by advertisers and nonprofits so that government letters are opened instead?' DMNews.com
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Growth management is coming - Post Office-style
'The Postal Service is quietly delivering the word to the area's building and real estate industry that house-by-house delivery will not be made to new subdivisions of eight or more houses...'
Naples Daily News
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Hurricane Rita Related Service Updates
Retail, Delivery Service and Drop Shipments suspended to ZIP Codes 770, 773, 774, 775, 779, 783, 784 and 785. Suspension of retail, delivery and certain drop shipments to some Louisiana Zip Codes. USPS.com
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NAPUS Executive Committee Supports PERF
Also from NAPUS: 'National President Wally Olihovik has contacted USPS Headquarters concerning adjustments to Total Operating Expenses and Revenue plans in many post offices. Postmasters are concerned that the unexplained adjustments to their plans were received with just a few weeks remaining in the Fiscal Year and could have a dramatic impact on their NPA ratings.' NAPUS Hotline
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USPS Releases August Financials
'Year-to-date, Total Revenue is $1.4 billion or 2.2% over plan with the largest contributor being Permit Revenue at $1.6 billion or 5.9% more than plan. ... YTD, Total Revenue is $1.0 billion over SPLY.'
'Year-to-date, personnel costs are $54 million or 0.1% above plan and non-personnel expenses are $135 million or 1.0% below plan. ... YTD Total Expenses are $2.4 billion or 4.0% above SPLY.'
'Total Mail Volume for August, FY 2005 was 999 million pieces or 5.9% above SPLY. First-Class Mail volume increased by 256 million pieces or 3.3%. Standard Mail volumes, at 627 million pieces or 7.8% over SPLY, continue to be positive primarily because of the increasing strength of direct marketing channels.'
'Year-to-date, Total Mail Volume is 2.9% or 5.5 billion pieces over SPLY. Over 2.4 billion of the 5.5 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 5.1 billion pieces or 5.9%. YTD, First-Class Mail volume is 0.2% more than SPLY generating $318 million or 0.9% less revenue than SPLY.'
'Total Workhours for August 2005 YTD are 15.7 million hours or 1.2% above plan, and 10.8 million hours above SPLY. The most significant plan overruns lie in Delivery Services by 8.4 million hours, Mail Processing by 6.8 million hours, and Customer Services by 3.2 million hours. These overruns in workhours are a reflection of growth in mail volume above plan and continued growth in delivery points. YTD, major contributors to the workhours growth to SPLY are City Delivery and Rural Delivery workhours. Combined these operations workhours are 13.5 million hours above SPLY.' USPS web site
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USPS To Chairmen Collins & Davis: Thanks, But No Thanks
'... the question remains how postal champions will view the USPS in light of its letter, and the years of Congressional effort that went into drafting the legislation.'
eNAPUS Legislative Newsletter
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Rally protests USPS rejection of park plan
'The U.S. Postal Service has placed its prime 20-acre Marina Processing and Distribution Center near Playa Vista on the market, despite pleas from a collection of elected officials and residents trying to transform the land into public open space.'
Daily Breeze
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Friday, September 16
Postal Service Board's Criticism of Bills Could Hamper Agency Overhaul
'The board of governors at the U.S. Postal Service muddled the outlook for a post office overhaul yesterday, saying House and Senate bills would give postal regulators too much power over the agency's internal operations.' Washington Post
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Postal Service for Katrina Survivors
'The U.S. Postal Service has experienced many disasters in the past, and it was relatively well prepared for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. While the hurricane damaged some 500 post offices, the Postal Service was able to establish limited services just days after the disaster.'
Congressional Research Service Report via Postcom.orgComment
Respond, reconnect, re-establish
More employees contacting hotline, more COAs filed, more offices reopen... Also: Delivering the 'Dome: Houston employees help Astrodome evacuees get mail service. USPS Link Online
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Potter to America:
Mail services being restored where possible and safe to do so, displaced customers need to file change of address, displaced employees are asked to call in USPS Link Online
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PSoTD They're Going To Be There A While
'One of the most maligned agencies of the Federal Government [The US Postal Service] was planning before Katrina for refugees. So why were other federal agencies so surprised?'
PSoTD.com
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Cleaning up records mess
Katrina victims must deal with loss of mail, files; agencies, companies help
Washington Post
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Congress Focuses Attention on Hurricane Relief
Also: '...And Then There Were Six': with the retirement of Governor Walsh, there are now only six Presidentially appointed members, five of them Republicans.
NAPUS Legislative Newsletter
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Economic Activity as a Driver of Mail
'Will economic variables have the same influence on mail volumes in the future or will other factors become more predictable determinants of mail demand?'
Paper by Elena Diakova, Manager, Strategy Projects, Corporate Strategy Group, Pitney Bowes
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One of Katrina's many lessions
'To its credit, the U.S. Postal Service was one of the first of first-responders to mobilize its resources to deal with this disaster.'
Gene Del Polito commentary for DIRECT
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