Northern Virginia Postal Customer Council Articles RSS Feed

USPS adjusts mailing services prices for 2012

Patrick Murphy - noemail@novapcc.org — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:00:00 GMT

Beginning early next year, customers will spend a penny more to mail letters to any location in the United States, the first price change for First-Class Mail stamps (Forever stamps) since May 2009. The new 45-cent price for Forever stamps is among price changes filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) yesterday.

Highlights of the new single-piece First-Class Mail pricing, effective Jan. 22, 2012, include:

Letters (1 oz.) – 1-cent increase to 45 cents
Letters additional ounces – unchanged at 20 cents
Postcards – 3-cent increase to 32 cents
Letters to Canada or Mexico (1 oz.) – 5-cent increase to 85 cents.
Letters to other international destinations – 7-cent increase to $1.05

Prices also will change for other mailing services, including Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and Extra Services. Express Mail and Priority Mail prices will remain the same. Click here for more information on the new pricing.

While actual percentage price changes for various products and services vary, the overall average increase across all mailing services is capped by law at 2.1 percent, the rate of inflation calculated based on the Consumer Price Index.

“The overall average price change is small and is needed to help address our current financial crisis,” said PMG Pat Donahoe. “We continue to take actions within our control to increase revenue in other ways and aggressively cut costs. To return to sound financial footing, we urgently need enactment of comprehensive, long-term legislation to provide the Postal Service with a more flexible business model.”

There is good news for First-Class Mail Presort mailers. When the new prices take effect Jan. 22, the second ounce for presorted letters will be free. “This gives companies expanded opportunities to advertise new services and products to their customers as part of bill and statement mailings,” said Paul Vogel, president and chief marketing/sales officer.

Another new offering is a three-month pricing option to rent PO Boxes — a potential option for people on the move and those who need a PO Box for a short time.

21-Oct-11 12:00 PM

Simpler way to return

Patrick Murphy - noemail@novapcc.org — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:00:00 GMT

E-commerce shipping is an increasingly busy two-way street. In addition to its delivery strengths, the Postal Service is making sure USPS is the preferred shipper for packages traveling the returns lane as well.

This month the Postal Service launches a new suite of shipping choices under the umbrella of USPS Returns. The new options, including Web-based label printing, enhanced tracking and streamlined payment, will speed start-up and make it easier for online retailers to use the Postal Service for returns.

“With e-commerce sales expected to continue to grow 10 percent annually over the next few years, we’re offering online merchants an easier way to return,” says Paul Vogel, president and chief marketing/sales officer. “This is an exciting opportunity for the Postal Service to grow our package business. We’re building on the shipping products customers already are familiar with, and adding new features for increased ease and convenience for both consumers and merchants.”

The Postal Service will offer three returns options: Priority Mail Return Service, Ground Return Service and First-Class Package Return Service.

For e-commerce businesses, USPS is introducing a simple, easy-to-install label printing application that can be offered by e-tailers to their customers. This tool will enable label printing through a merchant’s website, or customers can call the merchant’s call center to request a returns label be emailed to them. The labels will include the Intelligent Mail package barcode. There will be enhancements at retail outlets and usps.com as well.

“We’re showing our customers that value in shipping with the Postal Service goes both ways,” says Vogel.

The new Priority Mail return label.

23-Sep-11 11:00 AM

President Recognizes Value of USPS to Nations Economy Backs Bold Action to Acheive Financial Stability

Patrick Murphy - noemail@novapcc.org — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:30:00 GMT

The plan to reduce the federal deficit submitted today by the Obama Administration to a congressional “Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction” includes provisions to provide USPS up to $20 billion in savings over the next several years.

“Bold action is needed to ensure that USPS can continue to operate in the short run and achieve viability in the long run,” said the President in his message to the committee. “The Administration recognizes the enormous value of the Postal Service to the nation’s commerce and communications, as well as the urgent need to reform to ensure its future viability.”

The President’s plan includes the following provisions:
Restructure the Retiree Health Benefit Fund’s pre-funding requirement to reduce USPS payments.

Provide USPS over a two-year period a refund of the $6.9 billion in surplus funds it has contributed to the Federal Employee Retirement System.
Reduce the Postal Service’s operating costs by granting authority to reduce mail delivery from six to five days per week.
Allow USPS to offer non-postal products and increase collaboration with state and local governments.
Give USPS the ability to better align the costs of postage with the costs of mail delivery.

PMG Pat Donahoe thanked the President for his proposal. “I would like to thank the President for acknowledging the enormous value of the United States Postal Service to the nation’s commerce and communications,” he said. “The President has offered helpful recommendations to stabilize the Postal Service’s financial crisis. We are looking forward to reviewing the plan in more detail and continuing to work with the White House and the Joint Select Committee on specific proposals that involve the Postal Service.”

The President’s provisions are in addition to an earlier proposal to delay by 90 days the Sept. 30 deadline for the USPS payment to the Retiree Health Benefit Fund. Legislation authorizing the 90-day extension is pending consideration in the House of Representatives.

20-Sep-11 7:30 AM

USPS Network Optimization Proposal and Service Standards Change Proposal

Patrick Murphy - noemail@novapcc.org — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:00:00 GMT

“The marketplace has changed and we need to build a sustainable business model for the future.”

That was one of the key messages from PMG Pat Donahoe at a September 15 news conference announcing network consolidation. Donahoe said the consolidation proposals were designed to build a more prosperous future for USPS. “The Postal Service is not going out of business,” he said. “We’re a vital part of the American economy and will continue to be for a long time.”

The PMG was joined at the news conference by Chief Operating Officer
(COO) and Executive Vice President Megan Brennan, who said, “We want the Postal Service to be leaner and more efficient.” To reach this goal, she detailed proposals to:

Study operations at nearly 250 processing facilities for possible consolidation or closure.
Make more efficient use of processing equipment.
Decrease the nationwide transportation network.
Revise service standards — from 1-3 days to 2-3 days — for First-Class Mail.

Stakeholder information

To make accessing information about these proposals as easy as possible, USPS has created a website http://about.usps.com/news/facility-studies/welcome.htm. The website contains:

A link to media kit including a press release
Frequently-asked-questions
Advanced notice of rulemaking,
Fact sheets
List of processing plants studied
Video of Postmaster General
Industry FAQ's.

Because the questions and concerns expressed by industry and mail owners are likely to be more sophisicated and technical than those of consumers, the materials will be developed specifically for these stakeholders.

Feedback

The Postal Service is looking for feedback from the mailing industry regarding these proposals. Please send you comments and feedback to industryfeedback@usps.gov.

19-Sep-11 8:00 AM

US Postal Services Finances

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:00:00 GMT

8-Sep-11 11:00 AM

2011 National PCC Day + Vendor Opportunity

Lee Garvey - noemail@novapcc.org — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:00:00 GMT

On September 21st, 2011 NOVA PCC's annual National PCC Day event at CIT will bring together Northern Virginia's Postal community for the mailing industry's most important local event. Registration is open now on NOVAPCC.com and I would encourage you to sign up today.

If your company sells equipment, supplies or services to mailers, this is your opportunity to meet customers and find new prospects whille supporting the NOVA PCC by signing up as a vendor at the event. This will be our third year at the prestigious CIT complex and we''re expecting over 120 local mailers and industry participants to spend the day networking with peers and postal officials.

Space is limited to only 12 booths at the event, so early registration is encouraged. More information and a sign up page can be found on our website: www.NOVAPCC.org.

I look forward to seeing you at CIT on September 21st.

Lee Garvey
Industry Co-Chair

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4-Aug-11 4:00 PM

Postal Service Outperforms Green Goals

Patrick Murphy - noemail@novapcc.org — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Postal Service Outperforms Green Goals
Annual Sustainability Report Released
USPS

Continuing its green innovation and leadership strategy, the U.S. Postal Service released its fiscal year (FY) 2010 Annual Sustainability Report, which demonstrated the agency had exceeded a number of its sustainability goals — including nearly a 30-percent reduction in facility energy use, a 33-percent reduction of supplies purchases and a 133-percent increase in alternative fuel use.

“Delivering the mail to every person and business in America is a big job with enormous responsibilities to our customers and the environment,” said Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Donahoe. “That’s why ‘leaner, greener, faster, smarter’ is our sustainability call to action as we eliminate waste, reduce fuel and energy use and lower our carbon footprint, driving costs down in a sustainable, responsible way.”

Chief Sustainability Officer, Thomas Day, credits the agency’s culture of conservation for its gains. “Postal employees care very much about the environment. With the help of 400 green teams created to identify low- and no-cost conservation projects, we reduced energy and water use in 2010, saving more than $5 million. We also reduced waste to landfills and recycled 222,000 tons of material in 2010, which avoided $9 million in landfill fees and generated $13 million in revenue.”

Highlights from the report include:

171 billion — pieces of mail delivered to 150 million delivery points, along 230,000 routes, with 215,000 postal vehicles, of which 44,000 are alternative fuel-capable, logging 4 million miles a day.
27 billion — Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM stamps and shipping supplies provided to customers. USPS is the only mailing and shipping company in the world to have earned this certification for materials that meet established standards for human and environmental health and recyclability.
1,067,834 — metric tons of CO2 reduced from an FY 2008 baseline, an amount equal to the annual emissions of nearly 204,000 passenger vehicles.

These energy-conservation actions are part of a comprehensive strategy USPS is using to meet its goals to reduce facility energy use 30 percent, increase alternative fuel use 10 percent, and reduce vehicle petroleum use 20 percent by 2015 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020.

USPS also helps customers practice sustainability. In FY 2010, lobby recycling programs in more than 10,000 Post Offices helped customers divert 22,000 tons of discarded mail from landfills. USPS also helped customers recycle more than 1 million small electronics and printer cartridges.

The FY 2010 Annual Sustainability Report is available in multiple electronic formats, including online at http://www.usps.com/green/report/2010/welcome.htm and in several digital eBook formats used by reading devices and smart phones. For additional information, visit

http://www.usps.com/green/report/2010/downloads.htm, usps.com/greenand the green newsroom.

USPS has won more than 75 environmental awards, including 40 White House Closing the Circle, 10 Environmental Protection Agency WasteWise Partner of the Year, Climate Action Champion, Direct Marketing Association Green Echo awards, Postal Technology International Environmental Achievement of the Year and Climate Registry Gold Status Recognition.

11-Jul-11 7:00 AM

Postal Service: The real story

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Postal Service: The real story
By Fredric Rolando
The Courier-Journal

Few institutions touch more Americans than the U.S. Postal Service, which six days a week delivers mail to 150 million homes and businesses in big cities and remote areas. And we do more than link the country; we become part of local communities, getting to know our customers and occasionally saving elderly residents who are ill, finding missing children, putting out fires and more. In our spare time, we conduct the nation's largest single-day food drive, replenishing food pantries in your community in tough economic times.

That degree of familiarity and personal interaction is why the amount of misinformation floating around about the Postal Service is so counterintuitive. There's plenty of room for differing ideas about public policy, but we should all start from a factual basis — something too many columnists and commentators with an ideological ax to grind fail to do.

We can't change the habits of the media. What we can do is provide people with accurate information, so the next time you read screaming headlines about multibillion-dollar losses or taxpayer bailouts, you'll know the real story.

So, for starters, the Postal Service doesn't use a dime of taxpayer money and hasn't for more than a quarter-century. Its revenue comes from the sale of its products and services.

And those services are delivered to residents and businesses at the best rates in the world, despite the size of our country compared to many postage-stamp-sized — pun intended — nations.

If any of that surprised you, this may shock you: The Postal Service, whose existence and duties are set forth in the Constitution, runs a net operational profit delivering the mail. You read that correctly. Even with the worst recession in 80 years, even with Internet diversion, the Postal Service takes in more money from its postal operations than it spends. Over the last four years, revenues derived from delivering the mail exceeded costs by $837 million; last quarter's net operating profit alone was $226 million.

What about those news reports of multibillion-dollar losses? Well, the $20 billion in losses over the last four years has nothing to do with what you've been told about a failing business model or obsolete mail. Here's the real skinny: In 2006 Congress mandated that the Postal Service pre-fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years, and do so within a decade — something no other public agency or private firm does. The resulting annual payments run $5.5 billion a year, costing the Postal Service $21 billion since 2007. That's the difference between a positive and a negative balance sheet, as it would be for virtually any entity facing a similar burden — if any did.

Read entire article.

29-Jun-11 7:00 AM

PMG: USPS needs Congress’s help

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:00:00 GMT

PMG: USPS needs Congress’s help
By Jim Tierney
MultiChannel Merchant

The United States Postal Service can't begin to gain profitability without help from the federal mandates that hold it back, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe told attendees at the National Catalog Forum held June 21-22 in Washington by the American Catalog Mailers Association.

“We can’t just keep kicking the can down the road,” he said. “We’re looking for some kind of resolution, not a bailout. We can only control what we can control. These mandates have to go. We need to get beyond this stuff so we can help grow this industry.”

By shedding its annual $5.5 billion payment for retiree healthcare benefits as dictated by the 2006 Postal Reform legislation, switching from six- to five-day delivery – which Donahoe said should have happened five years ago – and having the freedom to close postal facilities, the U.S. Postal Service would then find itself in a favorable fiscal position, Donahoe said.

The USPS lost $8.5 billion in fiscal 2010 and those kinds of losses will continue in the future unless Congress acts on the aforementioned items, Donahoe said.

Read entire article.

28-Jun-11 8:00 AM

Issa introduces bill to overhaul U.S. Postal Service, increase regulation

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Issa introduces bill to overhaul U.S. Postal Service, increase regulation
By Lisa Rein
The Washington Post

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) introduced legislation Thursday to restructure the U.S. Postal Service, saying more regulation is necessary to “prevent another taxpayer bailout” of the financially strapped agency.

The bill would eliminate Saturday delivery and give the Postal Service greater latitude to close post offices and regional mail processing centers. A panel would be created to oversee the agency, modeled on the District of Columbia’s Financial Control Board, with a broad mandate to reduce costs and bring the agency back to financial solvency. “Congress can’t keep kicking the can down the road on out-of-control labor costs and excess infrastructure of USPS,” Issa said in a statement.

Read article.

24-Jun-11 7:00 AM

Postal Service suspends payments to retirement fund

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Postal Service suspends payments to retirement fund
By Joe Davidson
The Washington Post

The U.S. Postal Service took another step that demonstrates its abysmal financial state when it suspended its contribution to the defined-benefit portion of the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Fortunately, the suspension will not affect employees or retirees because of a $6.9 billion surplus in the Postal Service’s FERS account. “The Postal Service believes there will be no impact on employees. Also, the action will have no impact on current retirees,” spokesman David A. Partenheimer said.

But the move also will have no substantial impact on the agency’s financial situation.

“This is cash conservation, and it is short-term,” Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said in a telephone interview. “It in no way gets us out of the financial bind we are in.”

That bind is so bad that Donahoe said that the USPS could be out of cash to make payroll and pay suppliers by October. It does not use tax dollars for operating expenses.

The suspension of payments, which will save about $800 million this fiscal year, takes effect Friday, unless the Justice Department intervenes. The USPS sends $115 million to the Office of Personnel Management every other week for the FERS annuity.

Although the subheadline on a Postal Service news release says “Payment to FERS suspended,” some legal questions about that move apparently remain. OPM said it and the USPS “have agreed to seek a resolution of the important legal issues surrounding the Postal Services’ decisions by submitting a request for a legal opinion to the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the Department of Justice.”

Click here to read entire article.

23-Jun-11 7:00 AM

USPS eyes growth opportunities in its global business

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:00:00 GMT

USPS eyes growth opportunities in its global business
Post & Parcel

The US Postal Service may handle around 40% of the world’s mail, but international mail volumes represent only a small part of its annual revenues.

Out of last year’s $67bn turnover at the USPS, international mailing services brought in around $900m, while international shipping services brought in around $1.5bn.

Nevertheless, as she took over this month as the new head of the USPS Global Business division, Giselle Valera revealed her confidence that the segment offers plenty of valuable growth opportunities for the struggling Postal Service.

Holding both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in international affairs, the former from Boston’s Tufts University, the latter from George Washington University’s prestigious Elliot School of International Affairs, Valera certainly has the academic background to help USPS carve out a better market share in the international arena.

“I’ve always had an interest in international business, so I’m particularly delighted they’ve given me this opportunity and this challenge,” she says.

Valera also brings plenty of experience drawn from years in logistics and supply chain consultancy work, including work for European logistics companies and blue chip brands like IBM.

Click here to read entire article.

21-Jun-11 7:00 AM

Donahoe: USPS finances are like Greece

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Donahoe: USPS finances are like Greece
By Ruben Gomez
Federal News Radio

Billions of dollars in savings over the last four years will not put the U.S. Postal Service back in the black, the agency's leader told Federal News Radio.

The Postal Service has reduced costs by $12 billion, said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, through improvements to the agency's inner-workings. USPS has also reduced the number of people in career positions by 110,000. Still, the organization is expecting major losses.

"Just like the economy, our revenue is down. There's economic pressure, plus electronic diversion of people paying bills online," Donahoe said. "Over the last four years, we've experienced a 20 percent drop in mail volume. But in that time, we would have turned a $1 billion profit if it were not for some mandates that we've got with Congress that need to be addressed this year."

Click here to read/listen to entire article.

20-Jun-11 7:00 AM

Postal Service must find market opportunities: PostalVision 2020

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:00:00 GMT

Postal Service must find market opportunities: PostalVision 2020
By Frank Washkuch

Direct Marketing News

Jeff Jarvis, author and associate professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, said the US Postal Service must look for consumer needs that the private sector does not meet in order to survive. The author of What Would Google Do? told attendees of the PostalVision 2020 conference in Arlington, Va. on June 15 that the USPS must adopt an entrepreneurial attitude as personal letters, business mail and First Class volume fade away in coming years.

The Postal Service's attitude towards embracing digital communications should be “what the market does not do, that is what I have to make sure gets done,” he said.

Jarvis said social media networks such as Facebook have made personal letters irrelevant to younger generations. He added that businesses will continue to adopt digital communications methods, such as email or a future platform that has yet to be invented, because they are easier to use and less expensive than the mail.

“Digital is always going to be faster, cheaper and more efficient. If it can be digital, it will be digital,” he said. “For businesses, paper is an inferior form of communication.”

Click here to read entire story.

16-Jun-11 6:00 AM

USPS Report on PRC Five-Day Opinion

Patrick Murphy - noemail@novapcc.org — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:00:00 GMT

USPS Link Publication Article

In a report delivered to Congress, USPS asserts that the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) based a recent advisory opinion (Link, 3/25) on a “questionable” analysis of the potential cost savings that could be achieved by implementing a five-day delivery schedule to street addresses.

The Postal Service has estimated that making the move to a five-day schedule would yield a net annual cost reduction of $3.1 billion, based on extensive market research and financial estimates provided to the PRC last year. The PRC’s advisory opinion concluded a five-day street delivery schedule would only achieve $1.7 billion in net annual savings.

In its report to Congress, USPS said the $1.4 billion discrepancy results from:

The PRC’s unwillingness to recognize $760 million in savings from increased letter carrier productivity and efficiency under a five-day schedule.

The PRC’s failure to account for more than $260 million in highway transportation and mail processing economies associated with one less day of street delivery.

The Commission’s summary dismissal of testimony by market research experts to reach its conclusion that the Postal Service estimate of annual revenue loss resulting from the change was understated by $386 million.

The Postal Service report says the total impact of transitioning to a five-day delivery schedule will significantly improve its financial stability. “No other single action the Postal Service could take operationally will result in such large costs savings,” it says.

The Postal Service report also disputes the PRC claim that the five-day delivery proposal did not sufficiently take into account the needs of customers in rural and remote areas. USPS contends its extensive market research considered the views of rural customers and incorporated them into its implementation plan.

Finally, the report says the PRC hasn’t fulfilled its core function in the nonbinding advisory process, which is to address whether the proposed service changes would be consistent with governing statutory policies.

Click here to read the USPS report.

14-Jun-11 7:00 AM

Postal Service cuts emissions 8 percent over 3 years

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Postal Service cuts emissions 8 percent over 3 years
The Federal Times (News Digest)

The U.S. Postal Service says it has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent since 2008.

The more than 1 million metric tons of reduced carbon dioxide equals the annual emissions of 204,000 passenger vehicles.

Emil Dzuray, the acting chief sustainability officer at the Postal Service, said the agency is committed to reducing its emissions by 20 percent by fiscal 2020. "Our leaner, faster, smarter energy reduction and conservation efforts have placed us more than one-third of the way to our goal," he said in a news release.

Click here to read entire article.

6-Jun-11 7:00 AM

Commission told to reconsider postal rate increase

Patrick Murphy - noemail@novapcc.org — Tue, 31 May 2011 11:00:00 GMT

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has sent the Postal Service’s request for a significant rate increase back to the regulators who denied it, ruling that they erred in rejecting revenue losses from the recession as the main factor driving the hike.

The Postal Regulatory Commission must take up the case again and decide how much of the agency’s financial losses stem from the bad economy and whether rates should be adjusted to reflect that “extraordinary” circumstance.

In the rate request filed with the commission in July, the Postal Service sought a wide range of increases that would have far exceeded the rate of inflation. It was the first time the agency had sought to raise prices to address financial losses it said resulted from decreased mail volume — a so-called “exigent” need to help recoup more than $8 billion in lost revenue in the past fiscal year.

The price of a first-class stamp, for example, would have risen to 46 cents, up from the current 44 cents.

Postal officials said the agency’s financial situation qualified as an “extraordinary and exceptional” circumstance and predicted that the rate increases would help raise about $2.3 billion in the first nine months of this year.

Click here to read entire article.

31-May-11 7:00 AM

Appeals court sends 'exigent' rate increase decision back to PRC

Wed, 25 May 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Appeals court sends 'exigent' rate increase decision back to PRC

By Frank Washkuch

Direct Marketing News

A federal appeals court said May 24 that the Postal Regulatory Commission must reexamine the US Postal Service's request to enact “exigent” rate increases, or price hikes higher than the rate of inflation.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the PRC had incorrectly rejected the rate increase when it claimed the USPS had to show the impact of only the recession, and not other circumstances, on its finances. However, the court agreed with the commission that there would have to be extreme circumstances for the Postal Service to enact an exigent rate increase. The appeals court has not yet issued the parameters by which the PRC must reassess the request.

“We are encouraged by the court's decision to return the exigent filing to the PRC for further consideration,” the USPS said, in a statement. “While we continue to evaluate the court's opinion and ruling to understand the full implications and options it presents to the Postal Service, we have renewed confidence that we are entitled to a rate increase under the exigency provision.”

Click here to read entire article.

25-May-11 10:00 AM

USPS approved to run smartphone barcode mail promotion

Tue, 24 May 2011 12:00:00 GMT

USPS approved to run smartphone barcode mail promotion
Post&Parcel

The US Postal Service has been cleared to run a promotional campaign this summer encouraging mailers to make use of mobile phone technology to link physical mail with internet communications.

The Mobile Barcode Promotion will run during July and August, offering a 3% discount for mailers including two-dimensional barcodes that can be scanned by consumer smartphones to link through to online promotional campaigns.

The barcodes – which include so-called Quick Response (QR) barcodes – must feature on the inside or outside of Standard Mail or First-Class Mail letters, flats or cards to qualify for the discount.

Recipients would be able to use iPhones, Androids or BlackBerry handsets to scan the code, offering them access to additional information or offers related to the mailing.

The Postal Service received the go-ahead from regulators at the Postal Regulatory Commission last week, on the understanding that the USPS will extend the promotion to allow non-profit mailers to claim the 3% discount for using mobile barcodes, although it is expected that mainly for-profit direct mail companies are likely to take part.

Click here to read entire story.

24-May-11 8:00 AM

Postal Service expects $8.3 billion loss this year

Wed, 18 May 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Postal Service expects $8.3 billion loss this year

By Sean Riley

Federal Times

The U.S. Postal Service estimates it will lose $8.3 billion this year, not counting adjustments for workers' compensation liabilities, which could add another $2 billion to the total.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe disclosed the loss estimate during a Senate panel hearing Tuesday, a week after the agency posted worse-than-expected second-quarter results, driven by a sharp drop in profitable first-class mail volume.

Last year, the agency suffered a $6.5 billion loss.

Workers' compensation liabilities for this year are unknown, but last year they amounted to $2 billion.

Donahoe said the agency's failing financial condition requires dramatic responses. He urged senators to reconsider an idea he has unsuccessfully pushed before: allowing the agency to end Saturday delivery, which would save $3.1 billion annually.

But lawmakers have been unsupportive. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said any move to cut back on delivery days could spark "a death spiral" for the agency.

At the hearing, Donahoe also signaled a retreat in the agency's goals for closing post offices.

Click here to read entire article.

18-May-11 7:00 AM