WSLS has reported that "Senator Jim Webb, along with a
bipartisan group of seven Senators, today called on the United
States Postal Service to issue the Purple Heart stamp on a permanent
basis as a “forever” stamp. In a letter to Postmaster General John
E. Potter, the Senators praised the reissuance of the Purple Heart
stamp at the new 42-cent First Class rate but urged that the stamp
be made permanent to honor servicemembers and veterans who have been
awarded the Purple Heart."
The
New Nation has reported that "Speakers at a day-long workshop
here today said quality service has become indispensable to make the
Bangladesh Postal Service profitable and sustainable in the
competitive globalisation age."
Economic Times has reported that "The face of Indian postal
department is changing, under pressure from modern communication
systems. Gone are the days when post offices were used for screening
and distributing letters. Today, it is entering into every possible
business segment, be it money exchange or logistics. With a network
of 1,55,516 post offices in every nook and corner of the country,
India Post is all set to conquer new frontiers."
According to
Zf.ro, "Compania Nationala Posta Romana (Romanian Post Office
Company) estimates it will employ more than 35,500 people by the end
of this year, 400 more than last year, despite the gradual
elimination of 2,650 jobs."
May 14, 2008
If you haven't been there in a while, take a look at the
newly designed web site for the
Postal Regulatory Commission.
Experian QAS has noted that "New developments across the
Atlantic could prove to have an impact on the direct mail marketing
sector in the UK. With consumers becoming increasingly
environmentally aware, Canada Post has warned that it is looking
into taking steps to reduce the volumes of junk mail being sent out
to households across the country. While clamping down on this area
of marketing could mean the national postal service takes a
financial hit in the short-term, Laurene Cihosky, senior
vice-president of Canada Post's direct marketing division, has
stated that if this issue is not addressed soon "there may come a
day when we're not distributing any mail". Significantly, the
organisation sees the way forward as being the increased adoption of
data quality systems to eliminate waste mail, rather than the total
eradication of postal advertising in general."
An Officer of the Postal Regulatory Commission is designated to
represent the interests of the general public in public proceedings
that come before the Commission. The Commission has posted on its
website
a list of individuals that have been designated Public
Representatives in the Active Cases pending before the
Commission.
From
Business Wire:
- The
American Red Cross will honor FedEx with its prestigious
Henry Dunant International Partnership Excellence Award at the
organization’s Heritage of Service Dinner this evening. This
award is given to an individual or organization whose
international work exemplifies or inspires the humanitarian
values of human dignity, respect, compassion and assistance in
support of the American Red Cross mission.
-
FedEx Corp. has announced Brian D. Philips has been promoted
to president and chief executive officer of FedEx Kinko’s.
Philips, executive vice president and chief operating officer of
FedEx Kinko’s, has been acting CEO since March 31.
According to the
Associated Press, "The U.S. is proposing that dozens of
countries ease their airline ownership rules in an effort to spur
international investment in the industry, a State Department
official said Tuesday. The proposal would change restrictions in the
current, mostly bilateral system that require airlines to be owned
and controlled by nationals of the two participating countries."
From
PR Newswire: "To help alleviate the high costs of carrier
insurance, Zoovy, Inc. a leader in e-Commerce technology has formed
a strategic partnership with U-PIC Insurance services. U-PIC is an
insurance provider offering full coverage for packages shipped
through most major carriers, while offering substantial discounts
ranging up to 80% off competitor pricing. Zoovy merchants are now
able to take advantage of this service to decrease their operational
costs and thus increase overall profit."
Business Week has reported that "Mail and express delivery
company Deutsche Post AG saw first quarter net profit fall 18
percent as its Postbank unit lost earnings tied to the financial
markets crisis, the German mail and logistics company said
Wednesday." See also
Bloomberg.
May 13, 2008
The
Evening News has noted that "Royal Mail slated for slow
deliveries."
PostCom
extends its congratulations...and thanks...to the National
Association of Letter Carriers for its work in behalf of the nation's hungry. Kudos!
Dow Jones has reported that "Postal giant TNT NV's performance
was back on track in the second quarter, according to its Chief
Executive Peter Bakker."
According to
Robert Schrum of the Lexington Institute, "Yesterday the price
of a First-Class stamp rose by a penny. With gas now costing nearly
four bucks a gallon, a 42-cent stamp might not sound like much. But
while stamp prices climb, the Postal Service keeps offering
sweetheart deals to bulk mailers and the postal labor unions."
The
Yorkshire Post has reported that "sixty three post offices
across West Yorkshire are facing the axe in the latest wave of
closures to be announced today. The Tories have already pledged to
fight the closures – the first to be announced since the local
elections – while one Yorkshire MP described them as a "huge blow".
Calder Valley is the hardest-hit constituency in today's closures,
with seven branches facing the axe. In total, around 18 per cent of
the 345 branches in West Yorkshire are facing closure as part of the
Post Office's controversial plans to close 2,500 branches to cut
losses."
According to
Director of Finance, "Poor UK postal services are forcing an
increasing number of companies to seek alternatives to the state
provider - which principally means TNT or UK Mail. They now handle
more than one letter in five delivered in Britain and could easily
double that, very possibly taking a majority of the mail. The more
successful the private providers become, the weaker Royal Mail will
be. But this is not a classic model of splitting market share: these
new rivals to the state monopoly are not only competitors of Royal
Mail, they are its customers too. The newcomers collect post and
sort it but they hand it to the government-owned mail business to
deliver to customers’ doors. Gaining market share and shrinking the
Royal Mail business further thus puts the private companies’ own
business at risk too. Delivery depends considerably on critical mass
to give economies of scale, but without the state organisation to
deliver the post, UK Mail and TNT, part off the Dutch post office,
have no business."
According to
MediaDaily News, "Amid all the dire talk of falling revenues at
big newspaper publishers, some good news gets lost: Many smaller
operations are doing quite nicely--even during an economic downturn.
Above all, smaller newspapers are benefiting from their
still-unchallenged ability to deliver local audiences for local
advertisers."
Precision Marketing has reported that "Postcomm, the independent
regulator for postal services, has refuted suggestions that it will
recommend a reduction in postal deliveries."
ZDNet India has reported that "The Yahoo Internet Location
Platform provides programmers "with the vocabulary and grammar to
describe the world's geography in an unequivocal, permanent, and
language-neutral manner", the site said. "The Internet Location
Platform is designed to facilitate spatial interoperability and
geographic discovery; users can traverse the spatial hierarchy,
identify the geography relevant to their users and their business,
and in turn, unambiguously geotag, geotarget, and geolocate data
across the Web."
Sky News has reported that "There are no plans to get rid of the
Saturday postal delivery, according to the Post Office Minister. Pat
McFadden told Sky's Jeff Randall Live that the Government, the Royal
Mail and the postal watchdog are all determined to maintain the
current delivery service."
Press Release: "Vertis Communications, the premier provider of
print advertising and direct marketing solutions to leading retail
and consumer services companies, today launched “Vertis Optimal
Postage,” a predictable and cost-effective mailing solution that
will provide marketers a guaranteed flat-rate postage and processing
fee. This new service addresses rising postage rates across
standard-class, letter-size mail, including handling and freight
surcharges. The vision of Vertis Optimal Postage is to provide
industry-leading, guaranteed-rate postal processing with the highest
delivery predictability to Vertis customers."
As
B2B magazine has noted, "As U.S. postal rates continue to rise
each year—including a projected increase of around 4% this
May—direct marketers are continually challenged to offset these
costs, which can represent up to 65% of total direct mail project
budgets. Yet many marketers fail to focus their cost-reduction
efforts on postage, trying instead to reduce expenses involving
printing, materials and other campaign elements."
The latest copy of the
National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.
DMM Advisory:
Be sure to check the
Postal Service's DMM update. The latest issue provides
information on rate changes and mail preparation requirements.
This is ESSENTIAL reading.
May 12, 2008
The
Postinsight web site has a link to a recent paper by Bradley
Tisdahl, strategy analyst at Pitney Bowes, on household generated
mail in the U.S. Key findings include: - U.S. household generated
mail, or mail which is primarily consumer originating, has been in a
steady decline over the past six years. - Changes in consumer
behavior based, in part, around electronic substitution, have led to
a reduction in the amount of mail individuals send, but despite
these changes it still accounts for around 10 percent of the total
mail mix in the U.S. - Electronic substitution appears to have a
greater impact on transaction based mail, most notably bill
payments. - Correspondence mail volume, like greeting cards, is
stable overall. However, on a per capita basis, it is also in
decline. Looking forward we recognize three key levers that impact
household generated mail: regulatory changes, continued
technological innovation and expansion, and consumer behavioral
shifts. We predict that there will be continued declines in overall
household generated mail, however, changes are not likely to take
place suddenly."
The
Financial Times has reported that "Pat McFadden, post office
minister, will today risk further political damage to the government
by making clear he will press ahead with controversial closures. Mr
McFadden will tell the annual conference of the National Federation
of Subpostmasters that the post office network has no choice but to
continue to reorganise itself and modernise if it is face the
challenges of "lifestyle, technology, and competition". He will
argue that the key objective of the programme - "which can get lost
in the heat of the debate about individual post office closures" -
is to increase the sustainability of the remaining network of 11,500
outlets."
From
Business Wire:
- Pitney Bowes Inc.
Executive Chairman Michael J.
Critelli today informed the company’s board of directors of his
decision to retire as executive chairman and as a director of the
company at the end of 2008. Critelli has worked for Pitney Bowes
since 1979, when he joined the company as a staff attorney in the
legal department. His rise through the company included successful
leadership positions as general counsel, chief personnel officer,
president of Pitney Bowes Financial Services, and vice chairman. He
was named chief executive officer in 1996, and chairman in 1997. He
stepped down from the CEO role in 2007 when he was named executive
chairman. Critelli has left an indelible mark on the history of
Pitney Bowes, according to Martin. Among Critelli’s many
achievements, Martin cited the strategic repositioning of the
company to focus on growth opportunities in its core mailstream
business. To achieve this, Critelli led the divestiture of the
fax and copier business, and the financial services businesses
unrelated to the mailstream. As CEO, Critelli also embarked upon
an aggressive acquisition and organic investment program that
has led Pitney Bowes into faster-growing new businesses in
adjacent markets, including software, marketing services, mail
services, and expanding international opportunities.
- Newgistics Inc., the only provider of a postal-based,
intelligent logistics solution for forward and returns shipping,
today announced that
Vice President of Business Strategy David Plemons has been
elected as president of the Parcel Shippers Association (PSA).
From the
U.S. Postal Service: "For the past several weeks, we’ve been
beating the drums about the new era for the Postal Service that
begins May 12. The new era has begun. Today, USPS combines its
established reputation as a trusted, reliable service provider with
an unmatched delivery and retail network, with the ability to offer
competitive pricing."
According to
Transport Intelligence, "Royal Mail said its [recent dour]
results were dominated by the profit fall in the letters business
where overall market volumes had declined by 3.2% year on year "in
line with other major European postal markets". However, Crozier
said the last year had seen "strong" revenue growth from Parcelforce
Worldwide and GLS, the group's UK and European parcels businesses,
"both of which operate in tight, highly competitive markets."
[EdNote: It looks as if the U.S. Postal Service will be looking to
the packages market for its near-term revenue gains.]
As MediaPost
has noted, "Newspapers and the substantive journalism that has long
been their hallmark are fighting for survival–and they might just be
able to help each other. Newspapers can reinforce their own value
online by reinventing and delivering more of the contextual analysis
and in-depth reporting that’s all too scarce in the slapdash
interactive marketplace. It is a race against newspapers’ plummeting
subscription and advertising dollars, and consumers’ diminished
expectations for pithy information. There are no quick fixes."
UPS Freight today
announced it has reduced
transit times on nearly 1,000 traffic lanes originating in
metropolitan areas in the Southwest and Southeast to points
across the United States. Transit times have been reduced by one or
two days from points in 11 states, including Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
The customer improvements
are being made without adjusting rates. [EdNote: Imagine
that. Improved service at no increase in rates. What a concept!]
The Guardian has noted that "Addressing 600 sub-postmasters,
minister Pat McFadden will defend his government's policy of opening
up postal services to more competition. And he will be told that
3,000 more post offices could close if the government allows benefit
payments to be handled entirely by competitors. This debate shows up
everything wrong in our debate over postal services. They are on the
way to becoming a heritage industry, romanticised over by the
able-bodied and the urban but used only by the isolated and
financially excluded. Ever since the turn of the decade, as benefit
payments, TV and driving licences were all shifted away from the
post office, more and more branches have shut, while ministers and
civil servants have come round to the unspoken view that the only
sensible thing to do with vast tracts of the postal network is to
manage its decline."
The
Financial Times has reported that "Just because the “final mile”
is a natural monopoly does not mean that the ex-monopoly should
automatically still run it. An alternative approach would be for the
government to set service standards and then put the contracts up
for auction. The service would still be financially supported
through the fees charged to other mail users. But the threat of not
winning the contract – or of losing it if performance was poor –
would encourage efficiency."
The Times has reported that "Business
customers are deserting Royal Mail and most firms do not find
the postal group an efficient organisation to work with, a study by
the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) for The Times has revealed.
The BCC sought the views of nearly 1,000 businesses throughout the
country about their use of Royal Mail and their experience of the
organisation. Sixty-eight per cent said that they did not find the
postal group to be a “professional, efficient organisation to do
business with”; 55 per cent said that Royal Mail was less reliable
than it was five years ago and only 8 per cent thought that it had
improved. In a striking example of how much electronic communication
has hit the use of postal services, nearly 86 per cent of businesses
said that they used the internet and e-mail for transactions that
they would have put through Royal Mail five years ago."
May 11, 2008
According to the
Augusta Chronicle, "As postal rates continue to inch upward, it
places the question into business owners' minds: What really needs
to go out with the mail?"
The
Harrisburg Patriot New has reported that "Local businesses might not like
paying more for their mail, but some say they appreciate a new law
that annualizes postal rate hikes and limits them to inflation.
However, one major mailer -- Bookspan, the Upper Allen Twp.-based
book club -- is expressing concern over rising postage rates."
As the
San Diego Union-Tribune has noted, "But rather than curse the
Internet, the Postal Service is embracing it. Its Web site,
usps.com, requires little more than a few mouse clicks to purchase
stamps, design greeting cards, order shipping boxes and print
shipping labels from a home computer. More important, the Postal
Service has formed strategic alliances over the last several years
with major companies and online retailers such as eBay and Coldwater
Creek to protect its lucrative package-shipping business from
competitors like FedEx, UPS and DHL Express. But rather than curse
the Internet, the Postal Service is embracing it. Its Web site,
usps.com, requires little more than a few mouse clicks to purchase
stamps, design greeting cards, order shipping boxes and print
shipping labels from a home computer. More important, the Postal
Service has formed strategic alliances over the last several years
with major companies and online retailers such as eBay and Coldwater
Creek to protect its lucrative package-shipping business from
competitors like FedEx, UPS and DHL Express."
The
Washington Post has reported that "The funds that pay pension
and health benefits to police officers, teachers and millions of
other public employees across the country are facing a shortfall
that could soon run into trillions of dollars. But the accounting
techniques used by state and local governments to balance their
pension books disguise the extent of the crisis facing these
retirees and the taxpayers who may ultimately be called on to pay
the freight, according to a growing number of leading financial
analysts." [EdNote: Thank God all of this was addressed in PAEA.]
Globes Online has reported that "The government is to indemnify
the Postal Bank against future prosecutions arising out of the
provision of banking services to banks in the Palestinian Authority
(PA). Officials are currently thrashing out the extent of the
indemnification and the manner in which it will be provided with
Ministry of Finance Accountant General Shuki Oren. Israel Post
Company Ltd. director general Avi Hochman has made it clear that
without the guarantee of full indemnification by the state, Israel
Post would not provide banking services to Palestinian banks. The
Postal Bank has requested indemnification in the event it is
prosecuted for offenses under the Prohibition on Money Laundering
Law (5670-2000), or the Prohibition on Terrorist Financing Law
(5765-2004)."
May 10, 2008
Internet Retailer has noted that "Looking to cooperate more with
its competitors, the U.S. Postal Service is hoping to expand its
package returns service through major carriers UPS, FedEx Corp. and
DHL, says Jim Cochrane, acting vice president of ground packages at
the U.S.P.S. But while none of the three big carriers have yet to
publicly express an interest in the service, the Postal Services’
sole returns partner for now, Newgistics Inc., plans a major
expansion of the service this year, Newgistics CFO Mike Twomey
says."
According to the
New York Times, "Cellphones have become consumers’ most personal
technological devices. Some industry executives, along with consumer
groups and security experts, are concerned that unwanted text
messages on phones will be an even greater headache than unwanted
computer messages. Cellphone spam is particularly annoying to its
recipients because it is more invasive — announcing itself with a
beep — and can be costly. American consumers are expected to receive
an estimated 1.5 billion unsolicited text messages in 2008,
according to Ferris Research, based in San Francisco, which tracks
mobile messaging trends. That is nearly double what they received in
2006."
WCCO has noted that while stopping mail delivery on Saturday may
seem a logical alternative for a Postal Service under stress, the
decision to do so is more complex than initially perceived.
According to
Hellmail, "a rapid downturn in profits on letters at Royal Mail,
already putting pressure on the 'one-price deliver anywhere'
universal service, is prompting rumours in terms of possible
solutions. One idea making the rounds is the abolition of Saturday
deliveries although Royal Mail is vehemently against such a proposal
and it would impact on other postal providers feeding into Royal
Mail's network. It seems an unlikely scenario and would mark a real
step backwards for postal services, particularly since Sunday
collections have already gone.
The
Washington Post has reported that "in a recent survey by the
Gallup Organization, both the U.S. Postal Service's Northern
Virginia District and the Capital District (which includes
Montgomery County, Prince George's County and parts of Southern
Maryland) emerged with five-star customer service ratings. Among 80
postal districts nationwide, Northern Virginia is one of only four
to notch the distinction for 10 consecutive quarters, starting in
2006, when the Postal Service began tracking customer satisfaction
through the Five Star Customer Service Program."
The
American Chronicle is wondering "so what is the best way to get
your mail? It´s common knowledge that most city dwellers use a
mailbox stuck to the side of their home or apartment, while rural
folks use a roadside/curbside mailbox."
The Sun has reported that "Royal Mail will pay £800 bonuses to
its 160,000 posties in the next month, it emerged yesterday. The
payouts come despite the postal service making a full year pre-tax
LOSS of £77million — compared with a profit last year of
£313million. It is Royal Mail’s first pre-tax loss since 2003-04 and
comes after the first national postal strike in 11 years."
Teletext has reported that "A postal consumer group has denied
claims it will advise Royal Mail to end deliveries on Saturdays. A
spokesman for the Postcomm group said: "There is no truth in this
suggestion. The status quo is totally enshrined in law."
The Telegraph has reported that "Postal deliveries on Saturday
may be discontinued under plans by the industry regulator to save
money for the Royal Mail."
MTAC minutes for the April 30 - May 1 General Session Meeting are
now posted on the MTAC website (http://ribbs.usps.gov/mtac.htm).
The latest copy of the
National Association of Postal Supervisors electronic governmental
affairs newsletter is available on this web site. NAPS President Ted
Keating, in his Congressional testimony at a House postal oversight
hearing, called for aggressive efforts to provide the Postal Service
with additional revenues to offset its sagging financial health."
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