PostCom President Gene Del Polito, PostCom Vice President Jessica Lowrance, Postal Consultant Kathy Siviter, and Mailing & Fulfillment Association Vice President Leo Raymond discuss PMG Jack Potter’s action plan.

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Favorite quote from the podcast is Raymond’s comment on the prospect of Congress correcting the USPS retirement overpayment (aka “trust fund”) issue: “I don’t see them [i.e. Congress] doing the things they should do to fix it. I think their viewpoint is ‘we stole it fair and square.’”

PRC February monthly meeting:

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PRC March monthly meeting:

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CHRISTOPHER ISAAC, age 20, of Marrero, Louisiana, was charged in a one count indictment by a Federal Grand Jury with Assault on a Federal Officer, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.

According to the indictment, ISAAC used a dangerous weapon to forcibly assault a United States Postal Service letter while the Postal letter carrier was engaged in his official duties.

ISAAC faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years, a fine of $250,000.00 and three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.

U. S. Attorney Letten reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case is being investigated by United States Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Loan “Mimi” Nguyen .

DMA press release:

Boston, MA, March 11, 2010 — The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and the American Catalog Mailers Association (ACMA) have come to an understanding of their common goals in protecting the catalog segment from legislative and regulatory threats. We pledge to work together on postal issues at the US Postal Service, Postal Regulatory Commission, and Congress, and in fighting Do-Not-Mail proposals at the state and local level.

Going forward, both groups will continue to represent our respective members’ best interests, which may differ at times. ACMA will continue its aggressive work in postal and other catalog-specific matters. DMA will continue its work on postal issues, as well as the many other issues that affect catalogs and the broader direct marketing community, including tax, privacy, and offers.

There is an enormous amount of work to do. It requires significantly increased participation from every company with an economic stake in cataloging. Both ACMA and DMA are under-resourced from the catalog community. Our ability to operate successfully requires the financial resources, executive time, and broad-based membership of catalog mailers and their suppliers.

ACMA and DMA would like to call on all companies that mail catalogs to join both organizations if you are not a member already; and to become active participants. We need a broad-based and unified effort to continue the endeavors both organizations have shaped. ACMA and DMA are excited about developing a productive and cooperative relationship and look forward to making a difference for catalogers on a long list of public policy issues.

March 10, 2010
Washington, DC – The Postal Regulatory Commission today issued an Advisory Opinion to the U.S. Postal Service in its “Station and Branch Optimization and Consolidation Initiative” in Docket N2009-1.

The Postal Service is required to seek an Advisory Opinion if its actions constitute a nationwide change in service levels. This advisory opinion responds to the Service’s 2009 request for an opinion on its Initiative to review more than 3,000 stations and branches nationwide for possible closure. The Postal Service reports that (as of February 2010) only 162 remain under review; however, the program will be applied to additional retail facilities in the coming months.

The Commission gathered a wide range of input from the public in hearings and written submissions before reaching its conclusions.

“I urge the Postal Service to take our recommendations to heart and implement them quickly in order to respond to public concerns and build goodwill. This public process is an example of how the Postal Service’s and the Commission’s complementary authorities improve policy in an open and transparent manner,” said Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway.

The Commission affirms the Postal Service’s authority to adjust its retail network but recommends several improvements. The Commission finds that the current ten days advance customer notice is insufficient and limits opportunities for community consultation. Further, inconsistent financial and operational analyses impair evaluations of facility closures and consolidations. The Commission finds that standardized review procedures should be developed and consistently applied nationwide to ensure adequate and efficient service levels and comply with statutory guidelines.

“The Postal Service’s nomenclature differentiates among stations, branches and post offices. But customers do not recognize any difference. They expect and deserve the same public notice, opportunity for comment and rights of appeal if and when postal facilities they depend on may be closed.” Goldway said.

The key recommendations in the Advisory Opinion are:

1. The Postal Service should articulate its Initiative’s objectives more clearly
2. Postal Headquarters should develop and disseminate guidance for local managers
3. The method used for evaluating proposals for consolidations and closures should include a separate category for community issues
4. Public notice should be improved:
   • By providing actual (as opposed to “constructive”) notice; and wherever possible, expanding methods of providing public notice
   • Through longer notice and comment periods
   • By soliciting public comments earlier in the process
5. Financial analysis of station and branch operations should be improved
6. The Postal Service should implement uniform procedures for closing or consolidating all types of retail facilities – post office, station or branch
7. Customers should be assured that the Postal Service will adhere to its published procedures
8. The Postal Service should coordinate this Initiative with any other initiatives affecting access (such as removing collection boxes or changing retail hours)

Quick links to key documents

• The Commission’s Advisory Opinion
• Field hearing transcripts: The Bronx, New York, Independence, Ohio

WASHINGTON — With more than 7 billion pieces of mail processed and $2 billion in revenue generated for the U.S. Postal Service, the Intelligent Mail Full Service program has been a success story for business mailers, too, says Thomas Day, senior vice president, Intelligent Mail and Address Quality.

According to Day, “Early adopters of Intelligent Mail Full Service have one thing in common: They worked closely with all stakeholders in their mail supply chains and developed Full Service project plans.”

To date, there are 300 business mailers participating in Intelligent Mail Full Service. According to Day, one reason is because Intelligent Mail Full Service provides mailers with “start-the-clock” information, electronic data that lets mailers know when their mailings enter the Postal Service network. Free address correction service (ACS) information is another reason.

“The publishing industry is a big fan of free ACS,” says Pritha Mehra, vice president, Business Mail Entry and Payment Technologies. “Many of them are on target to save millions of dollars a year. Considering the savings from free ACS as well as the postage discount for participating in Full Service, the return on investment can be very high.”

For mailers who are still thinking about signing on to the program, Mehra has these tips:

• Talk to colleagues who generate the mail in your organization to determine the return on investment of Full Service price discounts and free ACS.
• Work closely with your mail service providers, including equipment manufacturers and software vendors, to determine their capabilities, such as the ability to print the Intelligent Mail barcode.
• Make sure your mailing software is capable of submitting postage statements and other supporting documentation electronically through the PostalOne! system. (Mailers are encouraged to use one of three electronic options: Postal Wizard, Mail.dat or Mail.XML.)
• When developing solutions with your mail supply chain, determine how barcodes will be created. Will you use your own Mailer ID or that of the mail owner? How will you ensure uniqueness of the barcodes? (A unique barcode on each mail container, for example, enables it to be scanned for “start-the-clock” when it’s inducted into the Postal Service network. Also, a unique barcode on each piece of mail enables tracking of that piece.)

For more information about Intelligent Mail Full Service, visit ribbs.usps.gov.

Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway will speak at today’s Federal Trade Commission workshop on “Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age”. Goldway’s will speak on “The History of Postal Periodicals Subsidies”.

The speech will be available as a webcast at:

http://htc-01.media.globix.net/COMP008760MOD1/ftc_web/FTCindex.html#Mar09_10

The full agenda for the workshop is at:

http://www.ftc.gov/opp/workshops/news/mar9/agenda.pdf

Postal employment statistics filed yesterday show a decrease of 51,150 career employees compared with the same period last year, or -7.9%. The numbers are for pay period 5 in February, and fully reflect the impact of the voluntary early retirement offers that were made over the preceding year, as well as the normal seasonal spike in retirements that occurs near the beginning of the calendar year, which were not included in the end of year stats released in January.

The largest decline was in the clerk craft, which declined by 26,037, or -13.9%. City carriers, the largest employee group, declined by -4.9%, or 10,106 employees. Career rural carriers saw a much smaller decrease, -1.5%, or 1,054 employees. A significant number of rural carriers are part time, non-career employees, however, and that group saw its numbers drop by 4,586, or -8.7%. Mail handlers, the smallest craft, saw a decline of 4,530, or -8.4%.

Supervisor and manager staffing in the field dropped by 3,095, or -10%, while combined Headquarters/Area office staffing remained virtually unchanged.

The full On Rolls and Paid Employee Statstics report is available at the PRC web site.

WASHINGTON, March 3 — Rep. Jo Ann H. Emerson, R-Mo. (8th CD), issued the following news release:

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) responded to an announcement that the U.S. Postal Service will seek to drop one day of home delivery in an effort to offset budget shortfalls. Emerson, who represents the mostly-rural Eighth Congressional District in Southern Missouri, says the reduction of delivery days would adversely affect residents of her part of the state.

“There are many, many considerations the U.S. Postal Service must take into account before making a decision about removing a day from the weekly mail delivery to American homes and businesses,” Emerson said. “Especially in rural areas, the timeliness of financial information, bills to be paid and even deliveries of medicine by mail is important. Many of our daily rural newspapers rely on six-day delivery to get their news to their customers. And I am also concerned that the postal service is focused on cutting back service and potentially losing millions of customers rather than finding long-term solutions to these budget woes. Read the rest of this entry »